Category: Science

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On By StevoIn anthropology, climate change, conspiracy, critical thinking, elon musk, energy, Environment, religion, Science, UncategorizedLeave a comment

After several decades of study, observation, and introspection, and looking at all the avaliable evidence and lack therof, I am, by my own choice, a religious agnostic and a peaceful, apolitical, human being.

However, I will use any means at my disposal – sticks, rocks, guns, germs, or steel – and maybe even venomous snakes – to protect the ones I love as well as all peaceful innocents – no matter their age, sex, orientation, ethnicity, religion, or lack therof.

Example: If a tiger tries to eat you, you frighten off, defend yourself, or end the tiger’s life. ( I love tigers, but if one was about to take me out – I would have no choice but to choose my life over the tiger’s.)

Similarly, if a predatory human tries to harm you, you choose to defend yourself…or you suffer and die and the predatory humans win, breed, and train their offspring to be more predatory humans. That strategy serves to help noone but the predatory humans.

My decisions and choices are mine alone. They did not arise out of superstition or support of some narrow ancient controlling religious dogma, or toxically bent political party or ideal, but fully out of pure love for my family and friends and evidence-supported logic.

Sadly, the events of the first few weeks of 2026 suggest that a growing number of highly dangerous predatory humans are attempting to take control of this country – and the world – by force, by lies, by intimidation, bullying, and even the murder of innocent people – by hate and huge piles of propaganda and FUD.

Evidence suggests that these people, that we the people have chosen to represent we the people, are as horribly bent, twisted, and deranged as all the evidence seems to suggest that they are – especially the fact that they themselves have intentionally suppressed and redacted evidence, and have constantly and consistantly rapid fire lied directly to all of our faces – every time they open their filthy little hateful mouths.

In fact, it is even worse than we ever thought possible. They are disgustingly twisted, triggerhappy, bloodthirsty, and have zero compassion, empathy, or one single shread of honor, and it is blatantly obvious that they do not care about human lives or this once great country – all they care about is themselves and how much money, power, and control they can amass and unleash upon the world. IMO, if these monsterous people had their way, they would repeatedly and aggressively force their rotten festering thalus down the throats and up every orifice of each and every one of us until we expired. They are the definition of monsters.

What then do our choices say about those of us who consciously (or maybe unconsciously) chose to place these horribly bent and twisted, bloodthirsty, sexually deviant, sleazy scumbags in so many places of great power?

What is blatantly obvious to me is that we the people have made a HUGE and terrifying mistake.

It is time to own up to the reality of that mistake and start working to set things right.

To those who make excuses and toss out lie after lie, while trying to defend and even protect these disgusting evil trolls, why can you not accept the evidence and facts?

This is not a damn football game. You are not required to support your team at all costs, just because you or your family has always done it that way. That way of thinking is in no way productive and in fact, it is a highly destructive and harmful way to use your brain…or to not use it.

This is the hard reality of this situation: these people at the top of – almost everything that makes everything work in this world – they are greed and power driven, disgusting, pedophilic, predatory, monsterously evil animals that also just happen to be human. They do not care about you, your spouse, your son or daughter*, your home, your farm, your cars and trucks, your health, your land, your sweet grandmother, or your chosen god or lack therof. They do not care about veterans, the military, the elderly, the arts, science, or reality, they do not care about anyone or anything but themselves. *if they could find a way, they would kidnap your children, lock them away on a private island fortress, and defile them at their leisure at night, then by day spin rapid-fire lie after lie on live television about how much good they are doing for the country while waving flags and bibles.

What a disgusting cadre of horrible monstrous humans this twisted cult has spawned.

We the people need to wake up from whatever misguided cultish dreamstate we are all in, and take back our country and our freedom from those vile gangsters trying to destroy it to enrichen themselves, further their own twisted agendas, and have their way with our stolen children.

Whatever this festering pestilence is, it is deeply rooted, twisted like toxic tentacles throughout our government, the honorable offices of the military, the sacred worship halls of religion, business/wall street, Hollywood, entertainment, music, energy, trade, international relations, and more than likely – all aspects of our society.

This is not about political parties, sides, fences, wings, crosses, scrolls, bibles, books and flags – this is about the reality of what is really happening to us, to our families, friends, neighbors – and all those missing innocent children whose faces are on milk cartons and social media sites.

More and more evidence suggests that this is a sickeningly dark and deeply twisted, hate and fear-driven, toxicly-tribaliastic, highly malignant disgustingly deviant s3x cult that goes far deeper than one quickly fading dirty old man and his rotten to the core hateful friends.

If the full scope of this malignant infection is ever revealed, I predict that it will connect so many people, many that all of us collectively hold in high regard, that it will shake our country to its core…and possibly collapse our society for a time until it can be rebuilt from the bottom up…and that in fact, may be the only way we Americans will be able to survive this.

A growing fear I have is Armageddon. Not the one in the Bible, but the one that could be unleashed if the cult leaders feel threatened, if they see no way out. These madmen have access to the entire nuclear arsenal of the United States and I fear that they may use it as a way out of prosecution. I hope I am wrong but ever since “agent orange” took control a decade ago I have been concerned about this possibility. Give a bully a weapon and they will search for any chance to use it.
I hope I am wrong.

It is obvious now that one of the keys to opening this sickening Pandora’s box of lies, deceit, hate, fear, greed, control, pedophilia and cold blooded redrum – are the Epstien files.

If those in control and power do not have the courage to release the ENTIRETY of the INTACT AND UNEDITED FILES, they are either having their lives threatened by the cult and/or their own rotten names must in fact be IN the files.

Release ALL of the INTACT files!!!

Abolish ICE!!!

“That which can be destroyed by the truth, should be.” – P.C. Hodgell

“One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back.” – Carl Sagan

“Some people need to get out of the way and let the old become the new.”
– Colbie Caillat

Today’s Taboo = Tomorrow’s Troubles

On By StevoIn anthropology, climate change, conspiracy, COVID-19, critical thinking, earth, electric vehicles, elon musk, energy, Environment, EV, NASA, nature, nature vs. nurture, religion, renewable energy, Science, space, Uncategorized, wildlife conservationLeave a comment

I was told as a kid – at home and in class – that there are some things we just do not talk about with others. I believed my learned elders and did just that…and you know what…that just made things worse.

I have a scientific mind. I need to ask questions, I need to know know how things work. I will not accept things without evidence and/or evidence supported theories. This is why I started asking the big questions when I was a teen. This is also why I often found myself in debates with those who choose to never ask questions and just believe what their authority figures would tell them.

When I would find myself in these situations, I would always respectfully and calmly draw from the peer-reviewed evidence (or the huge lack of evidence), as well as real world examples, to make my point during conversations about these topics. Almost without fail a truly strange thing would happen: I would often get rapidly and aggressively shot down with heated emotions, wild eyes, hateful words and phrases, and even personal attacks, bullying, and mockery.

These unusual responses would totally turn me off from the conversation – I learned a very long time ago to never poke angry bears, they will never listen to reason. More than that their responses totally threw me off track and made me wonder what was going on in the other person’s mind that, rather than have a rational conversation about a difficult topic, they would choose to be so easily triggered and resort to attacking my genuine questions and commentary, and even me personally, with so much venom and vitriol. It was truly odd to experience as a teen, but even more bizarre to experience as I aged. Yes, I have even encountered this type of attack from some humans i once considered friends and family – some I still have contact with, others, not so much. In today’s post-truth world, attempting to have these conversations with some people is like walking on broken glass, egg shells, and hot coals, while masked*, hevily armed, thugs point guns at your head while waving crosses, and flags – all at the same time. *identity concealing, not germ stopping – these hateful thugs would never voluntarily wear a PPE mask.

When I was young, almost all the adults in my life had far more restraint with their reactions around other adults and especially children. Today however, things have changed and it seems that some adults have lost the ability to restrain themselves, they seem to be walking around with big fat (cow) chips on their shoulders just asking someone…anyone, to try and push it off so they can slip into full-on enraged screaming Chimpanzee attack mode. Why are they so brittle? What are they missing that our parents had? Respect? Self control? Empathy? An education? Common sense? All of these things?
Sadly, my real world experience says all of the above.

Some personal examples;
(Note: these examples are each followed by a small sampling of the bizarre and often unthoughtful and even hateful comments that I have received from easily triggered reactionary individuals.)

Evolution by natural selection –
I don’t believe in evolution! My preacher and my family said I can not hear this blasphemy!! It is not real. I did not come from no fish or monkey!!

Anthropogenic climate change –
No!! It is not happening, its cold outside, and look, i just made a snowball – therefore it is not real…its a manufactured problem invinted by the chinese working with the WOKE leftist greenies to take our jobs and force us to drive electric cars!

The definition of theory –
There’s no real evidence to support any WOKE theories.

Renewable energy –
Not viable, does not work, takes American jobs, kills billions of birds, causes cancer, solar panels steal energy from the sun making the world colder, wind turbines stop the wind making it hotter…yada yada yada woke woke WOKE!

Fossil fuel subsidies –
More lies made up by the evil WOKE leftist greenies.

Fossil fuels –
They were put here by our god for us to use. If we don’t use them, we are going against God’s plan. The stuff that comes out of my car’s tailpipe is clear so it can’t be harmful. Coal rolling dosent hurt anyone and this is a free country so I can do what I like!! Drill baby drill!!

Pollution –
There is no air/water pollution because the air/water is clear !! That smell in the air is harmless and it is the smell of money!!

Electric vehicles –
They will never work, they are a passing fad, they are WOKE democrat cars, their batteries are tossed into landfills, they catch on fire all the time, they generate a dangerous EM field that makes you sterile, they are stealing our jobs!!!

Space exploration –
What a waste of money, space stuff does nothing for us here on earth…and youtube told me that space is not real and the earth is flat.

The age of the earth –
You are wrong!! My god said it is 6000 years old, so it is!!

Science –
I dont believe in science. Its part of the WOKE leftist liberal aganda!!

Religion –
My religion is the only one and my god is the one true god and you will burn in hell for eternity if you dont convert to MY religion!!!

Human rights –
My people are the chosen ones!! My rights are more important than yours!! Its my birthright and my way is the right way, the only way, and no outsider or immigrant will step on my rights and my god given freedoms!!!
My god painted them all brown to show that their blood is not pure and they do not matter.

LGBTQ+
They are all wrong, dangerous, and WOKE!! Their pronouns and choices do not matter, my sacred book and my favorite politician says they are all sinners and they will all go to hell!

Gender –
You are wrong – There are only 2.

The holocaust –
It did not happen.

COVID pandemic –
It was manufactured in a lab to reduce the population, it was a plandemic. Wearing a mask does nothing, it only shows that you are weak. Masks reduce your oxygen. Masks are WOKE!!! I don’t see any particles/droplets in the air so I do not believe they exist. My god will protect me – those who get sick and die – they were living wrong.

Vaccination –
Vaccines are full of toxins and will damage your brains!! Bill Gates is putting microscopic tracking devices inside vaccines to track our movements!!
Vaccines are evil!! Vaccines will shorten your life!!!

Natural disasters –
Earthquakes, tsunami, and volcanoes happen because god is angry with certain people and he is punishing them.

Wildlife conservation –
WOKE!!! Wildlife are dumb animals. They were put here by our god for us to have dominion over and use as we please.

Nature conservation –
WOKE!! Nature was put here by our god for us to have dominion over and use as we please.

Air/water conservation –
WOKE!! There is so much air and water, we don’t need to worry about it. It was put here by our god for us to have dominion over and use as we please.

Snake conservation –
Snakes are evil, it says so in my holy book! Kill all serpents!

Guns –
!!!2nd amendment!!! Dead school kids are unfortunate, but you will not take my guns!!!
Thoughts and prayers. !!!2nd amendment!!!

The Government –
Before trump: the gubment is keeping us down, down with the gubment!!
During trump: praise our savior trump – or die! Do as I say or die! Look like me, act like me, think like me, vote and pray like me – or die.

Recycling –
Recycling is stupid, it is so WOKE!!!
Recycling takes people’s jobs.

Star Trek –
WOKE!!!

Taking care of the planet –
WOKE!!! No need to take care of the earth, it is imperfect. It was put here for us to use, so we can use it up, it does not matter. Heaven is perfect.

Homeless people –
Just get a fukin job already you lazy strung out bum!!!

_______________

These are just a small sampling of the oddly disturbing, highly emotional, comments I have encountered from both students and adults over the last 40 or so years of my adult life on this strange wet rock floating in space.

Concerning these topics, topics we all should have been taught to have calm, respectful, evidence-supported conversations about, in my experience, it seems that many humans today cannot even have respectful conversations about anything real, without going off like a gun with a hair trigger. Why do they choose to act like this? Who, or what hogwash has implanted itself into their minds to cause them to react with such malice, instead of calmly using their rational brain to actually think? It seems obvious that many humans today simply cannot think for themselves, they need others – father/authority figures real or imaginary – to make their decisions for them.

Could it be that they have been poisoned by their fairy tales?

Fairy tails about imaginary gods, promised lands, freedoms, money, politics, dreams and picket fences, etc. Bizarrely, many of these individuals know inside, that their old fairy tails are invalid examples as teachers of reality, yet for some reason they continue to self-medicate themselves and their offspring with all these highly addictive religiopolitical fairy tale toxins (as well as all the legal and illegal varieties of OTC and Rx medications, herbs, and potions) – because it is the easy way out.

In taking the easy way out, they are choosing to not use their amazing evolution-derived meat computer mega-brain to critically analyze all the avaliable peer-reviewed evidence and make up their own minds…yet they will loudly cry and pray to their gods and policy makers why their personal life, society, and the world, are having so many problems. Their gods are too small, their rulers are too fat.

When no answers come (or the answers are inconvenienant so they choose not to accept them due to their lifetime of cultural conditioning – aka “indoctrination” in some circles – into their family’s religiopolitical cult of choice), they often choose to refuse/refute/redact facts, evidence, and knowledge in favor of pointing blaming fingers at the “other” – when their own personal choices and/or the choices of their tribe are the true root of all their problems.

Even more disturbing is that the functioning systems and infrastructure that make our society and lives even possible – science, engineering, technology, trade, energy, farming, etc. – have been politicized to the point where they have become tools used by greedy charlatans, bent snake oil salesmen, twisted pedophilic dictators, and malignant freaks all seeking religiopolitical power, control, and riches while their scowling, talking head minions distract over who is right or left, winning and losing, wrong or right…not what is real, factual, and supported by actual reality and incontrovertible physical evidence…such as their fellow human beings being deleted with extreme prejudice – live on several cameras.

Critical thinking in a dieing virtue.

Growing numbers of the population have lost the ability to have respectful, knowledgeable, peaceful conversations about almost anything and everything that really matters, and instead they resort to meaningless rambling small talk, or no talk at all.

I am guilty of this as well. I have distanced myself from these important conversations because I have encountered so much angst, attacks, and hate from so many people over these taboo topics. Most of my intentional distancing has been in the last decade and, while I know this hermitlike tactic is not productive for face to face communication, there comes a time when one must protect one’s sanity over the alternative.

This is why I write. It helps me winnow the wheat from the chaff. It helps me sort things out and share my thoughts in a peaceful, thoughtful, respectful way. I know that some who read my words will disagree with me, but that is OK. We are all adults here. If you are angered by my thoughts and words, maybe you need to ask yourself why? Why are you so angry? I had to have this conversation with myself long ago and the answer I found was this: unless i have done something genuinely in error, unless i have harmed them or their loved ones, their anger is theirs and theirs alone. It is not my problem, it is theirs. It comes from their mind, not mine. I have my evidence-supported facts in order and do not need to become venomously heated to defend the facts – the evidence stands on its own and needs no defense.

Yet, for whatever the reason and despite the piles of peer-reviewed evidence on whatever the topic may be, the anger remains. It is this anger and hate that and this creates division.

Sadly, this division among people often leads to fractured relationships, misunderstandings, anxiety, fear, and sometimes even hate of the “other.” For some, this seperatist mindset can lead them deeper into the territory that I call the “lunatic fringe.” These are fringe dwelling factions of misguided people that see anyone and anything outside of their chosen way of life – their tribe – as a threat to their existence. Example: ICE and the radical right facist-leaning mal-administration currently in power in the USA, as well as the far left lunatics that would use harmful tactics to get their points across.
Let us not forget the white christian nationalist/evangelical christo-facist types – they are a special kind of crazy, a crazy that is boardering on absolute insanity. If christ were alive today they would call him an imposter and crucify him because of his empathy, love, and generosity toward the sick, weak, poor, the immigrant and infirm.

Some deep thinkers are calling this a “post-truth” world, and with the rise of AI and deep fakes, I predict that things will only get worse before they ever start to get better. However, concerning AI – it is we humans that invented this technology using science and engineering, and it is we humans who are choosing to use these technological tools for hateful, nefarious, greed, and control-focused reasons…instead of actually using them to solve the big problems we all collectively face.

Post-truth, obviously – and as far as I am concerned, we are also living in a post-humanity world where many fearfull people have lost their common sense, empathy, compassion, kindness, peace and love for their fellow human beings.

Common sense has been deleted.

Knowledge is being deleted.

Critical thinking is being deleted.

Art is being deleted.

Kindness is being deleted.

Empathy is being deleted.

We have become our own most limiting factor.

IMHO The only way we will ever hope to survive as a species is if we can find a way to kindly and respectfully communicate with each other about these topics again, and maybe then will we re-awaken our lost humanity, and our lost hearts.

Or we will continue down this easy but dark path and extinct ourselves while blaming everyone but ourselves.

Choose wisely.

Do only Pretti Good things.

They walk among us.

On By StevoIn COVID-19, electric vehicles, elon musk, energy, Environment, EV, NASA, nature, nature vs. nurture, parasites, religion, renewable energy, Science, space, Uncategorized, wildlife conservationLeave a comment

Yes, they walk among us. EDIT 1.12.26 – and now they are running our government…

I met one once, he was wearing a tinfoil hat and totally convinced the gubment was following him – so he lived in a motor home, always on the move – a nomad terrified of reality.

He and others like him see conspiracy and deceit everywhere. From governments following their every move using bird-shaped drones to, flat planets, hollow planets, chemtrails, faked moon landings, planned pandemics, vaccine tracking devices, secret control groups – and today’s not at all secret death squads aka ICE, reptilians and/or all-powerful vengeful but entirely invisible god-beings and devils pulling strings from behind a curtain of clouds or magma and yada yada yada.

It is all really bizarre. And really scary.

Some of them seem to be attention seekers, some are profit seeking charlatans such as DJT and all the Alex Jones types, but sadly, others are truly missing something and I’m just not sure what it is and what will help them or if they even want help. It is a really very sad and growing mental health issue that needs to be addressed.

IMHO science, good critical thinking skills, and a bit of good ole common sense all work together to help us filter out the hate, fear, and all the crazy, and learn and understand how reality works.

In nature, most of the time life is really quite slow, methodical, and downright boring (have you ever watched grass grow) but absolutely necessary and remarkably beautiful for those who can see it – with an occasional natural disaster and pandemic tossed in to spice things up a bit – but this is our reality and yes, birds are real, (I ate a chicken leg for lunch and it was not a robot chicken (LOL).

Just to set things straight: we landed on the moon – 6 times – the earth is round, the government is staffed by real humans and recent events suggest that none of them have a clue how to govern…anything…and they are only in it to make bank.

Chemtrails are water vapor, sasquatch, nessie, santa, and god do not exist until evidence supports their existence. Evolution by natural selection is real and so is anthropogenic climate change. The power of peace, positive change, love, and compassion comes from the people. Seatbelts, masks, and vaccines work, and science is the best thing we have ever come up with to help us understand the reality in which we exist and then engineer ways to adapt and evolve to make it through whatever challenge nature randomly throws at us.

Knowledge conquers fear.

Do only good things.

Be Peace.

More on the Birds aren’t real project: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birds_Aren%27t_Real

WTF has the USA become?!?!

On By StevoIn anthropology, conspiracy, critical thinking, earth, electric vehicles, elon musk, energy, Environment, EV, NASA, nature, nature vs. nurture, parasites, religion, renewable energy, Science, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Something I wrote a little over 5 years ago…and it is even more relevant today.

I have not had this deep of a feeling of dread since 911 when radicalized religious terrorists killed thousands of innocents with hijacked airplanes.

Sadly today, it seems it is us – US. WTF!
The threat is not from outside, it is from inside.

Again – WTAF!

These are radicalized Americans. WTAF!!

I cannot understand how some of our own have developed such a twisted, misguided, wrongful, idea of freedom.

Mr. trump sir, as prime instigator, racist-terrorist-in-chief, bully-incubating, tantrum-tweeting, conspiracy-dreaming, deranged puppet master, – you have yet again crossed the line. You now have the freshly flowing blood of innocents and the warm blood of the heart of our once great democracy soaking your already deeply blood and viral stained tiny hands. You sir, are a moron and a complete and total disgrace to what it means to be an American.

Your robotic, hate, fear, and doubt spouting, gun, flag and bible waving, goose-stepping, bully-perpetrators are the lowest of the lowest form of humanity. They are disgusting, domestic terrorists who cannot accept reality/facts/science/math and who, at your direction, are attacking, defacing, and disrespecting law and order, harming and murdering innocent people in cold blood, and damaging/destroying public/government property. They, and you, should all be swiftly thrown under the jail and left there to rot for a very long time.

End of rant.

I do not care who any of you support or vote for, but if you in any way support any of this madness, any of these un-american, bullying, violent, twisted, fearful, hateful, racist, tantrum tossing, domestic terrorists – you are a traitor.

Today, I am not proud to be an American.

I am embarrassed and I am heartbroken.

Fossil Fuel Fools – revisited.

On By StevoIn climate change, conspiracy, critical thinking, earth, electric vehicles, elon musk, energy, Environment, EV, nature, renewable energy, Science, Uncategorized, wildlife conservationLeave a comment

In logical response to all the recent, and increasing negatively pitched “reports” and mud and FUD slinging being manufactured (by organizations funded by big oil) and spread all over the mainstream and social media about electric vehicles…and the ensuing wave of negative/emotional/thoughtless comments from oponents and haters in regards to the technology…I offer just the facts on EV’s from the point of view of an EV owner and educator of over a decade.

FACT: In 2013 I purchased a one year old 2012 Nissan Leaf (100% electric car) with 1,200 miles on the odometer. I drove the Leaf for over 6 years and 75,000 gas-free miles.

In 2019, I traded up to a new 2019 Chevy Bolt EV which i have driven over 80,000 miles and i am still driving today.

In 2025 I moved up yet again into a new, 2026 Chevy Silverado EV (CSEV) pickup that currently has clocked over 7000 miles on it odometer.

I drove all of these vehicles as daily drivers commuting to work daily and back in all weather, on paved and gravel roads, and up and down the mountains we call home. I drive an average of 40-45 miles/day and more on weekends. Due to the wonderful and growing EV charging network that continues to expand and open the roads to EV drivers – I can go almost anywhere with no problems. I have driven across NC, SC, TN, and several times to North central Florida without issue.

Here are a few of the most repeated myths followed by the peer-reviewed facts about EVs.

MYTH: It is very expensive to charge an EV.

FACT: Just the opposite. It costs me an average of 0 – .02 cents per mile to drive electric. I drive ~200 miles/week so for my use case I pay zero to $4/week for automotive fuel depending on where I charge my EV.
It is zero cost for fuel when I charge on solar-produced electricity (over 75% of the time). The remaining 25% of the charging is at home and rarely at community EV charging stations (level 2 and 3) where I usually pay around $2 – $12 to fully charge my EV and many of these stations are in fact – free. Many of these stations are also solar, hydroelectric, nuclear powered – so a good portion of that electric free-range fuel is renewably driven by locally produced energy sourced in the US (not half a world away in the mid east etc) and therefore, zero emissions and energy secure(no oil wars and dirty politics needed)!

FACT: Even when I account for the cost of all the electricity I have used to fuel both my EVs over the last decade – I have still saved many thousands of $$$$$ that I would have spent on single-use gas and oil had I continued to drive a toxic old fossil burner.

MYTH: EV’s have very short range, will run out of “juice” and leave you stranded.

FACT: While my LEAF did have very limited range at ~75 miles – the Bolt will travel up to 250 miles on a single charge and my CSEV will take me upwards of 475 miles on a single charge!! Like most newer Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) powered vehicles they all have alert systems to let you know when your charge level is getting low. They also have sophisticated GPS navigation systems that allow you to plan your trip ahead of time taking into account stops at charging stations along the way.

While it is understandable that this lifestyle is not for everyone, advances are being made in the EV, battery, and charging infrastructure that, within a few years time, will put 500+ mile range capable EV’s on the roads from most of the world’s major auto makers.

FACT: No matter if you run out of a charge or you run out of gas – it is your fault for not planning ahead.

MYTH: “Electric Vehicles are not zero emissions, they run on coal, and are dirtier and more polluting than internal combustion engine (ICE) powered vehicles that run on gas/diesel fuel.”

Let’s break it down.

FACT: Battery Electric Vehicles BEV’s (the focus of this report) do not run on anything but electricity and are themselves – truly and fully zero emission. That being said, depending on how that electricity is generated– the place it gets its electricity to charge its traction battery–could be “dirty” (coal) or “clean” (renewable energy) but in most places it is a combination of both so let’s dig deeper.

FACT: A small ICE car emits ~390 grams of Carbon Dioxide CO2/mile.

FACT: The average power consumed by a small EV is ~.25 KWh/mile.

FACT: ~907 grams of CO2/KWh is emitted from coal fired power plants in the dirtiest 100% coal-based electricity generation areas.

FACT: 907 (g) x .25 (KWh) = 226 grams/mile in dirtiest 100% coal-based electricity generation areas, which remains lower than the 390 grams from the small ICE car so in reality, even if your EV is charged in an area that gets all of its electricity from coal, EV’s are still cleaner than a comparable ICE powered vehicle… and FAR cleaner than these children.

MYTH: Building more EV’s will require us to build many more power plants to provide all the electricity to operate all of them.

FACT: EV’s are charged from the same utility grid that your mobile devices use. Like your devices, EV’s come with their own charging cable that plugs into a standard 120v outlet*. Like your mobile electronic devices they are most often charged at night, while you are sleeping, and when electricity generated from emissions-free wind (and no, wind turbines do not kill all the birds, feral cats, windows, pesticides and fossil fuels do), hydro, nuke power is in low demand, lower in cost, and goes mostly unused – so there is ample supply to power your EV. *In development now are inductive charging highway lanes that, when you need a charge, you will just simply drive in the lane and your car will charge while moving at speed! There are now available inductive charging pads (just like you can buy for mobile devices) but made for EV’s. This will eliminate the need to plug in your EV and one day you will be able to just park in an EV charging parking space or in your garage and your car will automatically start charging.

FACT: The US power grid is getting cleaner every day as more fossil fuel fired power plants are retired and more renewable energy power systems go online – so in these areas especially, EV’s are much cleaner.

FACT: Due to the fuel mix of the grid getting cleaner, EV’s get cleaner as they age. This is never a fact with ICE cars that constantly loose efficiency as they age due to wear and tear of all their moving parts.

Learn more here:
greencarreports.com/news/1086927_coal-makes-electric-cars-bad-no-plug-ins-show-coal-as-worse

and

ucsusa.org/sites/default/files/legacy/assets/documents/clean_vehicles/electric-car-global-warming-emissions-report.pdf

FACT: One parking space covered with a canopy of photovoltaic solar panels (2.5KW) in the southeast would produce around 3,292 KWh/year. This will operate an EV for around 13-16K miles of 100% emissions free driving on clean, sunshine generated electricity!

FACT: EV’s produce a portion of their own fuel via the process known as regenerative breaking – try to find an ICE powered vehicle that does that!

FACT: The average EV travels an average of 4 miles/Kilowatt hour (KWh) of electricity.

FACT: It takes 6 KWh of electricity to refine one gallon of gasoline (source US DOE).

FACT: The average EV can travel 24 miles on the power that it takes to refine just one gallon of gasoline!

FACT: It takes ~9 KWh of energy to extract and transport the crude oil that will be refined into that gasoline.

FACT: An EV could travel an additional 36 miles on this energy.

So, no new power plants are needed, especially if we do not produce the gallon of gas. So…get an EV, and drive 60 all-electric miles on the same amount of energy we are generating today to refine all that dirty gasoline…and fight all those wars to keep it flowing.

And…

Save the 44 gallons of water that it takes to refine that one gallon of gasoline! It is a no-brainer.

MYTH: It is very expensive to power an EV.

FACT: The average cost of electricity in the US is 12 cents/kWh. Therefore the average person driving an average EV 15,000 miles per year will pay about $540.00 per year to charge it. How much did you pay for gasoline/diesel last year? I bet it was much more than $540. Think about what could you have done with all that extra money you spent on gas and oil? Just think about it…or feel free to remain in denial of the facts. It is your choice, not mine – I made my choice decades ago.

FACT: Believe it or not – five 100 watt light bulbs left on continuously for a year use nearly the same amount of energy as it takes to power an electric car 15,000 miles! Here’s how: Five 100 watt light bulbs use 500 watts. In 24 hours they use 12,000 watt-hours or 12kWh. In 365 days they use 4,380kWh. A typical EV that uses 30 kWh for every 100 miles will use 4,500 kWh to drive 15,000 miles! Simply by turning unnecessary lighting off at your home, you can drastically reduce or completely eliminate your annual transportation fuel cost. Try doing that with an ICE powered vehicle! (The cost of LED lighting products has dropped recently so we have replaced almost all of our light bulbs in our house with LED’s. This has not only saved us money but we have also totally offset the cost of driving our EV just by upgrading our lights to LED!)

Learn more here: pluginamerica.org/drivers-seat/how-much-does-it-cost-charge-electric-car

Cars are not the only way you can reduce emissions by switching to EV’s

FACT: One piece of gas burning lawn equipment such as a lawn mower emits more hydrocarbon pollution into our shared atmosphere than a gasoline-guzzling crew-cab pickup truck! You would have to drive a 6.2L V8 truck almost 4000 miles to equal the emissions produced in 30 minuets of use by a gas powered 2-cycle engine such as a string trimmer (weed-eater). Why not use an all electric string trimmer or lawn mower—there are many available now and they all can even be fueled with renewable energy you can generate at home! I made the switch to all-electric lawn equipment over a decade ago and it just works. Even my two chain saws are all-electric.

MYTH: EV’s, solar, and wind power are not American because they do not create jobs or use the oil/gas that we fight deadly wars to acquire.

FACT: The Nissan Leaf is made in Smyrna Tennessee and provides good jobs to thousands of American and Tesla provides over 120,000 jobs!!

Today there are more Americans employed in solar construction/maintenance jobs than there are coal miners mining coal. The wind energy industry provides great jobs to over 50,000 Americans. And that’s just for starters…

FACT: Sourcing our energy domestically (be it solar, wind, hydro, coal—whatever the source) provides many good jobs to Americans and is much more efficient and much safer than traveling thousands of miles, dealing with governments—that are often hostile and feed money to terrorism groups—extracting it, then finally bringing it back to be refined and used only once- thats right, fossil fuels are single use and that single use comes at great cost and loss of life due to the needless wars that often must be fought to keep it flowing.

FACT: It is far more American to be self sufficient and produce your own energy at home, than it is to rely on an outside source to provide you with that energy.

FACT: You can power your home and your EV with off-the-shelf renewable energy (solar, wind, hydro, etc ) that you make at home…and even make a profit from the excess!

Maintenance

MYTH: EV’s are expensive to work on.

FACT: EV’s rarely need major servicing because they have fewer moving parts than ICE vehicles. EV’s have only a handful of moving parts in their power plant whereas the average ICE engine has thousands! Therefore, EV’s require far less maintenance to keep them “healthy” and are therefore they are much more economical to drive.

I have been driving electric for over a decade and over 160,000 miles, and my EVs have required no specialized routine maintenance by me other than the occasional washing and vacuuming, a set of new windshield wiper blades, adding a little air to the tires, and the occasional topping off of the washer fluid, changing the cabin air filters, and one set of brake pads on the LEAF – you know, the things you would need to do to any type of vehicular construct no matter its fuel source.

Had I been driving a legacy vehicle I would have had to spend far more time and money over the same time-frame. For example, to keep my 2013 Honda Pilot 4×4, (the last ICE vehicle that I owned) running in an efficient as possible manner (for a machine with so many miles – 120+k – and so many moving parts that can and will wear out due to constant use thereby lowering the fuel economy of the vehicle and lowering the amount of money in my bank account) I used a bio-based fully synthetic American made motor oil, and I change the oil filter when I change the oil. Just the oil/filter change and new spark plugs for the Honda cost us ~ $230** over its last 30k miles! Operational costs for user replaceable parts and non warranty covered parts for the Bolt EV during this same period of time = $55 (wiper blades and cabin air filter)!

The simple fact that EV’s do not have as many moving parts as petroleum powered vehicles makes them much more reliable and cost effective to operate than their fossil fuel powered counterparts. The do not have or need any of the parts that commonly wear out in gas/diesel vehicles such as: belts, chains, hoses, air/fuel filters, water pump, spark plugs, glow plugs, oil, filter, clutch, transmission, muffler, catalytic converter, exhaust pipe…they do not even have an engine.

MYTH: EV’s are new…scary…future technology.

FACT: Electric vehicles are anything but scary and nothing new. The electric motor that moves them has only a few long lived moving parts and is a proven technology that has been used to make our lives easier since the mid-late 19 century.
They pre-date ICE powered vehicles and were hitting the roads of the world in the late 1800’s – see the timeline here: energy.gov/articles/history-electric-car!

FACT: Most of our houses/businesses are totally electric. Washer, dryer, refrigerator, heating and cooling, lighting, entertainment systems, power tools…all electric…with many electric motors and systems that quietly work in the background keeping our lives comfortable. Why is it then that we continue to use outdated petroleum powered transportation systems to get around?

MYTH: “EV’s are slow, like golf carts, dangerous, and I heard that they catch on fire and burn to the ground all the time.”

FACT: EV’s are anything but slow. The little Nissan Leaf EV will go 0-60 in around 10 seconds. The Bolt EV 0-60 in 6ish, and the CSEV – 5 seconds. The Tesla Model S Plaid 100% electric car has the world record for the fastest accelerating production four-door car ever! It accelerates from 0 to 60 mph in a brain melting 1.8 seconds!

Dangerous, totally the opposite – the Tesla Model S was rated by the NHTSA as the safest car ever tested…in history! And each new Tesla product is safer than the last.

Fires, there have been around 287,000 vehicle fires per year since 2003…less than a dozen of those involved electric cars…ALL of the others were ICE powered vehicles.

News agencies just love to manufacture drama and the fact that gas powered cars burn all the time is not anything new, its not dramatic anymore…but let an EV catch fire and it is all over the headlines because sensationalist drama centered around anything new feeds the weak minded. (Note: I am not saying anyone reading this is weak minded because if you have read this far you obviously are interested in the facts and not the manufactured drama :-))

Think of it like this: if everyone had been driving clean, fast, safe, low maintenance electric vehicles for the last century, and someone tried to get you to drive or even ride in a vehicle powered by an incredibly toxic, flammable, explosive liquid fuel—what would you do? Personally, I would R.U.N.N.O.F.T!

MYTH: Electric vehicles are expensive.

FACT: While it is true that a new top of the crop EV will set you back over 100K, you can get a new EV such as a Nissan Leaf or Chevy Bolt for less than $40k and a used one for much less. You must also remember to factor in that you will NEVER pay for gas and oil again and that in itself adds up to thousands of dollars/year…even when you account for the cost of the electricity used to fuel your EV! Then, when then you factor in all the money spent on tune-ups and engine/transmission/exhaust system repairs for most ICE powered vehicles – all the savings add up to reveal that most EV’s are much more economical to own and drive than your average ICE powered vehicle. Oh and since EVs don’t have catalytic converters to steal, you won’t have to worry about that issue…ever.

MYTH: When the battery wears out a new battery will cost more than the car is worth.

FACT: When an EV’s battery degrades to the point where it is no longer able to store enough energy to propel you in your daily commute, the battery can be easily replaced with a new one-it is as plug and play as the one in your mobile device…only larger. After the battery is replaced you essentially have a new car. Note: all EV manufactures have excellent battery warranties/leasing options that serve to help new EV drivers “ease into” a better way to drive and are great incentives for adopting a this technology.

MYTH: A used EV battery cannot be used for anything and is toxic waste and must be tossed in the landfill.

FACT: Used batteries can be recycled just like any battery but before that time comes they can be used in stationary power storage facilities, as back up generators connected to homes and businesses and off-grid power stations especially when connected to renewable energy power systems. Learn more here: nytimes.com/2015/06/17/business/gm-and-nissan-reusing-old-electric-car-batteries.html?_r=0

and here

greencarreports.com/news/1093810_electric-car-batteries-what-happens-to-them-after-coming-out-of-the-car

It is illegal in most places to toss out a 12volt car battery and it is the same with a used EV traction battery – and since they are fully recyclable, they can be remanufactured into new EV batteries over and over without needing to continually mine the earth for raw materials.
Check out https://www.redwoodmaterials.com/

MYTH: There is nowhere to charge an EV?

FACT: Most EV drivers charge their cars at home but when out on the road there are thousands of EV charging stations (EVSE) in the USA alone and the number is growing every day. To find out how many are near you just take a look at Plugshare.com.

FACT: Most EV owners love their cars so much that they have become “crusaders” of the technology and promote them every chance they get because they know from experience that that they are a much better way to drive.

MYTH: “EVs are “woke” democrat cars.” Yes, I have heard that bizarre comment from some people. Really, you are going there…why, and what productive purpose does it serve?

FACT: EVs are a transportation technology. Thay are the next most logical step in the story of transportation. Get over your attempt to politicize…everything. If you want to live in the past, go ahead. The only direction any of us can move in life is forward.

FACT based OPINION: Driving ICE powered vehicles is like purchasing a subscription to dependency on a highly toxic, highly addictive drug that shortens your life while constantly draining your bank account and damaging everything it comes in contact with.

OPINION supported by SCIENCE, RESEARCH, and EXPERIENCE: All of these reasons and more are why EV’s are superior to everything else on the road and one day in the near future gas/diesel will go the way of the dinosaurs.

Be the change you wish to see in the world and the world will change.

Special Thanks to Bob Harris of Black Bear Solar Institute for compiling some of the facts in this document! Learn more at: blackbearsolarinstitute.org

Special Thanks to the members of the Blue Ridge Electric Vehicle Club for supporting the future of transportation and renewable energy technologies.

I will never go back to gas.

All that being said, here is another take on this subject from the land down under:

“Alright, strap in because the dummies need infinite education.

Every time you clowns think you’ve kicked a goal with the “ahhh but wind turbines need oil, batteries need mining, steel needs coking coal” routine, I can practically hear the last two brain cells high-fiving. No shit, Sherlock. Nobody is disputing oil is useful. Oil is insanely useful. That is exactly the fucking point.

Oil takes millions of years to form. Millions. You don’t just whip that up in a factory between smoko and lunch. It is essential for medicine, agriculture, plastics, lubricants, fertilisers, cosmetics, clothing, electronics, about 98% of modern life. Nobody serious is saying “no oil ever”. What we are saying is maybe, just maybe, lighting the stuff on fire and huffing the fumes inside your air sacks like idiots isn’t the smartest use of it.

We should be stockpiling oil for this generation and future generations, not pissing it away by turning it into exhaust fumes so Dave can rev his Hilux at the lights. You want to know how dumb that is? Go stick your face behind a tailpipe and inhale for a few minutes. Let me know how that goes for your lungs, champ. That shit is carcinogenic. It is literally poison. That is why asthma rates are up, lung disease is up, and lung cancer is up. Burning petrochemicals and breathing them in turns cities into rolling chemistry experiments.

And don’t give me the “but we’ve always done it” crap. We also used to shit in holes and die of infected paper cuts. Progress happened.

Using oil without burning it, in products that last decades, medicines that save lives, fertilisers that grow food, plastics that actually make modern healthcare possible, that is smart. Wasting it by setting it on fire for transport when we have cheaper, cleaner alternatives is fucking moronic.

Electric transport and renewables are not about pretending oil doesn’t exist. They are about not being dumb enough to burn a finite, irreplaceable resource into the atmosphere like cavemen discovering fire for the first time. We don’t want to drag the planet back to the Carboniferous era where it was basically a Turkish sauna with ferns the size of buildings.

And here is the real punchline. While you’re pounding your chest defending fossil fuels, you’re donating your money straight to petrochemical giants and oil states. Congratulations. You are sending your hard-earned cash overseas so Saudi princes can buy another gold-plated toilet while you scream about freedom.

You don’t need to be Albert fucking Einstein to see this. Oil is too valuable to burn. Clean air is better than poison. And if you’re still clinging to this nonsense, it’s probably because you’re emotionally attached to the idea of setting ancient dinosaur juice on fire and calling it masculinity.

Do us all a favour. Stop confusing “oil is useful” with “burn everything forever”. One is intelligent. The other is fucking stupid.”
Source: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Dj38Q2y4D/

Heavy Thought Time

On By StevoIn anthropology, critical thinking, earth, Environment, nature, nature vs. nurture, religion, Science, space, UncategorizedLeave a comment

To create a life is rather easy, people do it all the time.

To create good people, that is possibly the most difficult thing we will ever do.

We have all heard about the nature vs nurture debate, and from where I stand as an observer of nature, I see many deep connections between all living things everywhere I look – connections that run like fungal mycelium throughout the deep-time tapestry of life.

These ancient genetic connections are incredibly apparent to me because I see them in myself. I was adopted as a newborn and spent the next several decades with wonderful, loving parents who nurtured and cared for me, giving me a comfortable home, an education, and most of all, the ability to think for myself. They let me choose my own path – they did not force on me any specific religion, politics, or any other worldviews – they let me choose for myself who I was to become. They were the nurture side of the coin that I received in this coin toss called life.

On the nature side of the coin: From a very young age, my curiosity about the natural world around me was incredibly strong. I have always had a deep empathetic nature and a deep connection to animals, nature, wildlife, and the silent teachers that exists in the forest, an endlessly flowing river, the rolling ocean waves, and the deeptime knowledge that exists in every rock, tree, mountain, water drop, and in our own DNA – these are teachers that only some of us can hear.  Due to these deep connections to the natural world I always wondered if I had inherited this intense love and focus on nature from my biological family.

Then, in 2018, I used the tools of science to find my genetic family and my suspicions were confirmed – my love of nature was indeed genetic – my father and all my family members were great lovers of nature and all things wild and wonderful. My father and I shared so many things in common – even down to things like favorite foods, TV shows, music, vehicles, wildlife, it is really astounding how many deep connections we share.

So for me specifically, the nature vs nurture argument is no longer a debate – i am a product of both of these things.

From my point of view, and from my lived experience – I believe that at birth we carry within our genetic code, a singular sequence specifically written by the experiences of our parents, grandparents, great grandparents and far far back into deeptime, to a time before we gave ourselves names, before we harnessed fire, before we were even human. This ancient code sequence is the nature side of the coin. It is a hard written instinct stamped into our DNA by the experiences of all our ancestors. This ancient code is expressed,  like it or not, by our consciousness.  But what the heck is consciousness anyway?

In an attempt to answer this age old question we need to flip the coin back over to the nurture side again and ask – what about our consciousness?  Where does it come from?  What is it that allows us to look in the mirror and say “Hello me, i recognize that i exist…i think therefore i am.” 

Where does the consciousness  originate?  Some say it is all in the mind…and maybe this is so.  However, I sometimes wonder if it comes from outside the body…another realm of existence that we have yet to identify.  Maybe we and all life on earth are part of this unique and massive energy field…this Singularity…and we are greatly limiting ourselves when we think that we are separate, apart, alone individuals.  But in reality…a reality we have not discovered yet because we are not yet ready, not evolved enough to experience that reality and understand it…maybe we are all connected deeper than we could ever imagine.  Maybe when our body exhausts itself and ceases to exist, maybe our unique consciousness – our soul – retreats back into this unknown realm, this undiscovered country, to rejoin with the rest of the whole where it then shares its lifetime of experiences with its “peers” afterwhich it is reset, and then born again as another lifeform on earth…or another planet in the vast cosmos – and the cycle continues.

I do not believe in omnipotent beings – a god or gods – and therefore i do not believe a devine creator being gives us each a unique consciousness – at soul – at birth.  I have this hypothesis that at birth, our consciousness is a blank clean slate…like a new computer waiting to have is blank but eager to learn storage drives filled up with all our unique photos, music, stories, history – the unique things we save close to our hearts and minds – the things that make us, us.

Maybe we are all born with this same basic, “blank slate” consciousness.  Maybe this blank slate consciousness is exactly the same for everyone – it is a carbon copy of whatever the first one was, whatever the first human being was.  Then, as we live and grow and are exposed to our family, friends, society, the media, religion, politics, science, culture, war, love, hate, bullies, hippies, laughter, passion, sickness, trauma, etc – maybe it is only after this exposure to all these unique outside experiences and influences, coupled with the genetic expression of our instinctual nature knowledge passed down from our unique evolutionary lineages, does our unique consciousness truly becomes ours, and only ours.  It becomes unique to each human due to the unique experiences each of us has experienced as well as the deep genetic connections we brought forward in time from our unique ancestrial DNA.

Maybe the “me” and “you” parts of our thinking brains are exactly the same until they experience life, the universe, and everything around us during our first few years of life – and then we become the unique individuals that we are – we become the you and the me that we see in the mirror.

If all this is so, then to guide an innocent young human into adulthood as a parent, teacher, or mentor, is possibly the greatest responsibility one could ever hold.

Choose wisely.

Think before you speak.

Be a good human.

Do good things.

Parasitic Prison

On By StevoIn Environment, nature, parasites, ScienceLeave a comment

In mid May of 2024 I was visiting family in central Florida and found a tick embedded on the small of my back. I pulled it off and flushed it, as i have done hundreds of times before – im a naturalist and spend alot of time outdoors. I’ve probably had over 100 ticks embedded in my skin over my 57 years of life and I have treated all of them the same – a good flushing and then go on with life.

Then, a few weeks later, I awoke with unusual symptoms that I thought was COVID-19. I made the trip to the local urgent care only to discover it was Rocky Mountian Spotted Fever and a co-infection of Ehrlichiosis. The docs put me on a month-long course of Doxycycline and another antibiotic, I cannot remember the name of. As usual, the antibiotics messed up my digestion and made me feel slightly nauseous, but between doses I ate dairy-free yogurt (I’m allergic to bovine milk) and it eased the backlash from my microbiome.

The week after the symptoms started, I experienced only one day of fever that never went above 101 and only a few hours of a frontal headache that a bag of ice calmed down a bit. The only namesake spot I developed was at the location of the bite – the spot was like a crusty scab about 1/4″ in diameter –  and it didn’t fully heal for many months… weird. The infectious disease specialist said that was indeed a symptom of RMSF…but that most people infected by this nasty parasite develop spots all over their body…so I was, in fact, lucky. 

I did not feel lucky.

For the next 9 months i had almost constant brain fog and almost no energy, and it took all my willpower to drag myself off the sofa to do anything. (I’m still finding it very hard to get off the sofa…)

In mid-December of 2024, I started feeling a bit better, but I was still lethargic, and it took me hours to get going in the AM. Sometimes I wouldn’t leave the house until after 11am…sometimes not at all.

By spring of 2025, I could feel the fog lifting and had more good days than bad.

Fast forward to mid-summer. I took a walk in the woods, and shortly after, I found another tick embedded in my leg. I was in a remote location, so I carefully removed it and kept it in the event the docs wanted to ship it off to the infectious disease lab to be studied (they didn’t), but they did give me a preventive dose of Doxycycline again, but no tick vectored disease retest.

Fast forward to today. For ~18 months, I have been living with the bizarre health impacts of RMSF and Erlichia.

It has been a roller coaster ride of truly bizarre symptoms. In the beginning, and for the first 9 months, I had daily lethargy, fatigue, muscle and joint pain as well as heavy brain fog, on and off depression, and sensitivity to light, sound, hot and cold – especially cold – and short-term memory problems.

Then, for the last 9 months or so, on most days the brain fog and chronic fatigue symptoms have lessened a bit but, the muscle and joint pain, unexpected weakness, sensitivity to light and sound and heat and cold have increased – sometimes to the point where I feel as if I cannot do simple tasks such as taking out the trash or lifting a wrench. For the last couple of months, the muscles and joints of my lower arms and not as much my legs, have felt as if they have been hit with several blows from a hammer…but there is no recent trauma or bruising – my calf muscles often cramp, and I have nerve pain/neuropathy in my feet. My elbows and lower arms ache when I move them – and it gets worse when I try to move or lift anything…a real-life example, imagine if your lower arm muscles hurt when you squeeze the toothpaste tube to brush your teeth – that is what this is like. It truly suks in every way possible…but at least I’m not on fire LOL.

I am an active person with many plans and projects going on at all times. However, since I acquired this nasty, tick-vectored infection, I have not at all been myself. I feel like I am a prisoner in my own malfunctioning meatpuppet spacesuit that we often call a body. I have had to put many plans on hold simply because I do not have the energy to do them.

Needless to say, the events of the last 18 months have really started to weigh heavily on my mind. I am truly concerned for the future of my health. Chronic fatigue and pain with an insidious creeping lethargic depression have become my normal state. Recently, my doc mentioned that my symptoms are similar to ME/CFS, but he does not want to make that complex call just yet…

The only things keeping me positive and looking to the future have been my wonderful wife, who has helped me so much during this long-term ordeal. She has always stood by my side to help me get through this, and I love her so much for her care and compassion at this low point in my journey.

Earthshine Nature Programs, the small nonprofit organization I founded and operate on the side, has also helped me, as it has given me purpose. My nature and environmental outreach programming has taken me to many local summer camps, schools, and festivals, where the smiling, happy faces of the next generation always lift my spirits and give me hope.

My wonderful 501c3 volunteers and interns and my coworkers – they have all been so supportive during this time. They have checked in on my classroom and nature center and its inhabitants and/or taken on the heavy lifting needs of my programming and gone above and beyond the call of duty. Thank you all for being so awesome!

My 501c3 friends and supporters who have helped me keep things moving forward, even when I’m moving as slow as cold molasses in winter.

My personal friends have freely given their kindness and support and have been so patient with me, and for all that, I cannot thank them enough. They are all my heroes!!! I truly do not know what I would do without them.

My doctor has worked tirelessly to get me through this. Over the years, he has gotten me through many common and not-so-common health challenges, but this one may be the biggest yet. I know that he will find a treatment for this condition, and that gives me great hope that one day, I will come out of this depressed state of physical and mental health and get back to life.

Currently, my most recent bloodwork came back mostly OK, so that is a good thin,g and the new Rx of Lyrica seems to really be helping with the pain.

Personal insights I have gained from this ongoing health misadventure:

If you are an outdoor-oriented person, as I am…or was…then please heed this warning; if you find a tick on you and it is embedded in your skin, do the following immediately:

  1. Go to your nearest urgent care facility. Have them remove the blood-sucking parasite the correct way. They may send it off to be tested so they can update the range maps, etc.
  2. If they do not prescribe a preventive dose of antibiotics such as Doxycycline, then please ask them to do so.
    DO NOT TAKE THE CHANCE.
    DO NOT PLAY RUSSIAN ROULETTE with your health.
  3. Learn about the tick/mosquito and other parasite-vectored diseases in your area and know what to do if you or a loved one is bitten* by a parasite.

4. Keep your outdoor pets treated for ticks/fleas – humans are often infected with parasites that hitchhike inside the home on their pets, then drop off and bite the human inhabitants of the home.

  1. When journeying into the wild, always take precautions to keep the nasty parasites from feeding on your meatpuppet body suit.
  2. Nature is beautiful, but it does not care about you, your family, or your friends. You are just another animal trying to survive on a unique wet rock floating in space, and nature will kill, devour, digest, crap out, and recycle you if given the chance.
    Therefore, you are responsible for taking care of yourself and your loved ones.
    Improvise, adapt, overcome, evolve, survive, and thrive.

Learn more about parasite-vectored diseases in your area:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2950248925000379

https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2025/tickborne-diseases-in-the-us

https://epi.dph.ncdhhs.gov/cd/diseases/rmsf.html

https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/ticks-and-tick-borne-diseases

https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/about/index.html

https://www.cdc.gov/rocky-mountain-spotted-fever/about/index.html

https://www.cdc.gov/ehrlichiosis/about/index.html

https://tic-nc.org/

https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/vector-borne-diseases

  • I have been bitten by many cats, dogs, a few Opossums, many non-venomous snakes, one venomous timber rattlesnake, a mad prairie dog, and a few humans – but the painless bite of a tiny tick has, BY FAR, been the most damaging and debilitating of them all.

Another Thought Experiment

On By StevoIn anthropology, climate change, critical thinking, earth, Environment, nature, religion, Science, space, UncategorizedLeave a comment

If a highly advanced, long-lived, extraterrestrial species from another galaxy landed on Earth today and told us we were all part of a long-term planetary biology/evolution “lab” experiment designed and implemented several million years ago in the attempt to discern the direction biological evolution would take under the unique environmental conditions offered by this planet and its star…

…and/or…

If Jesus (or any other religious prophet) returned and/or appeared – and he was a dark skinned, barefoot, long haired, “herb” smoking, robe wearing, bisexual, “hippie” “dude” whose pronown was “whatever man” and he was asking all of us to destroy our walls, weapons, governments, religions, superficial labels and divisions, and all coexist and live in harmony…

Recent events suggest that many people who call themselves religious would probably deny the flesh and blood evidence standing in front of them, and cry “demon,” “witch,” ” infidel,” “imposter,” – and then try to crucify and/or dissect them.


Sadly, the fearful, preconceived notions of what many believe their god and/or extraterrestrial visitors should be are far too limiting and microscopically small, to allow them to see the grandeur of the cosmos as it actually exists, and all the amazing possibilities it may hold.

We are our own most limiting factor.

Your 3rd eye is watching you

On By StevoIn anthropology, critical thinking, Environment, nature, religion, Science, space, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Some of us have the rare ability to look ourselves in the mirror and reflect on our choices, make changes, look at the past as a learning experience and never do it again, and then go on with life.


Some do not have that ability and need help from those who do.


All of us need to forcefully pry open our third eye to see the violence inherent in the system, step outside of it, and see the religiopolitical matrix for what it really is: a manufactured control machine designed to keep us down by any and all means, so the dangerous, mean, rich and powerful – and those dumb as a bag of steaming fresh scat – remain in control behind the curtains pulling the strings and collecting the wealth while the rest of us scratch, scrape, and slurp to get by in this manufactured automaton we call a society.

PSA for today

On By StevoIn Environment, ScienceLeave a comment

A few days ago I had to drive our other vehicle to tote a load. This vehicle is wonderful in all ways but one – it runs on gasoline. At one point I needed to fill up its fuel reservoir with the expensive, toxic, highly explosive, refined, fossil based liquid hydrocarbons (aka gasoline/petrol) that it frequently needs (it only gets 12 – 16mpg) in order to be useful and of any value at all. When I pulled up to the pump I thought, as I always do, about all the nasty pathogens (bacteria, viruses, sputum, and other manner of nastiness) left on the pump handle by all the other plague rat humans who had used it since it was last cleaned…if it ever was…ugh. I took a chance and stuck the likely pathogen funk covered toxic death liquid spewing nozzle into my vehicle’s fuel port, got a squirt of sanitizer, and walked a few steps away so as not to breathe the potentially cancerous VOC’s, and waited (I know, I’m a bit of a germaphobe but being extra careful – especially today – is always a good policy). I noticed nearby two men with their upper bodies buried in the engine compartment of their older model pick up truck. They were covered in grease, working diligently as they tried to reason out whatever the problem was with their vehicle’s internal combustion engine and its hundreds of moving parts, tubes, pipes, belts and bits. I did not envy them as I have been there many times myself, in many similar situations, working on old cars and because of those times I now have great mechanical skills 🙂 – back to the story.
As my vehicle’s tank filled with highly volatile life destroying ancient fossil juice I noticed a car pull up on the other side of the pumps. A man exited the vehicle and proceeded to fill his tank. I immediately observed two problems – 1. He did not shut off the engine while pumping gas and 2. He was smoking. I thought about saying something to him but from his rough outward appearance I thought otherwise (I really do not like needless, energy wasting, confrontations). Instead I decided to protect life and limb and RUNNOFT so I stopped my tank from fueling before it was finished and removed myself from the danger zone. In hindsight the right thing to do would be to have gone inside the station and informed the attendant of the dangerous situation and that I will do the next time I witness a situation such as this. Sadly, I have seen this kind of unbelievable carelessness several times before (and reported it as well) and can’t help but wonder if these individuals are either just dangerously complacent in their use of a highly flammable and toxic substance, failed to listen to their parents, driver education teacher, or whomever taught them about the skills needed to drive a vehicle, or maybe they didn’t listen in science class, maybe they didn’t take a science class, maybe they have have a death wish, or maybe they believe they are magically protected by some invisible being or force, or maybe all of the above. Whatever the case may be if they keep it up they will eventually win a Darwin award and might just take a few of us careful, thinking people with them and that is what seriously scares me.
If you drive a vehicle that requires an expensive,* toxic to all life forms, highly explosive, refined fossil based liquid hydrocarbon as its fuel source (as I still do…for now anyway), then please, please be careful when you need to stop at public access fuel distribution centers because it is CRAZY out there!
Better yet, when you are able to one day get an EV and fuel up on your own porch/garage at night while you sleep without the dangers/costs/germs and crazy associated with all of the above – then please do so – you will be glad you did.
I know, many EV’s are currently more expensive that most gas powered vehicles and the EV market is pretty slim to nonexistent when it comes to 4×4 on/off road EV utility vehicles (that has changed since I originally penned this story: now we have several great choices with the Rivian R1T and R1S, Ford F-150, Chevy Silverado EV, GMC Denali EV, Hummer EV, and Cybertruck and more on the way) and vehicles that are able to haul loads but it is getting better and more affordable every day. However, if you need an around town daily driver and do not drive more than 150 miles/day you really should check out a new or used Chevrolet Bolt EV and Bolt EUV or the Nissan Leaf. After you figure in all the costs of gas, oil changes, and tune ups (all gone when you drive an EV) – these two are the some of the best EV deals on the market.
NOTES: This story is not an attack on anyone. It is a commentary on the absurdity of the situations we often find ourselves in on a daily basis. It is also a commentary on the absurdity that is the reality of driving/energy use in our country and that how that out-dated and dangerous finite fossil fuel-based system is not the most proactive way to do things. Please also note that I do not work for Chevrolet or Nissan – the fact is that my almost 12 years of EV experience has shown me that driving EV is in almost every way a better way to drive and I am attempting to share some of my experiences with you all so you will be better informed and ready for the coming EV revolution.
My prediction is that by 2027-2028 most of you will be driving electric or planning to do so very soon. The value of daily driver gas cars such as Toyota and Honda anything – will be almost zilcho. The classics will never die (I hope) because they are pieces of automotive history that must live on on the roads and in museums. But the daily driver car of tomorrow is 100% electric powered – powered not by expensive foreign sourced, war funding, highly toxic, flammable, atmosphere, health and life killing petroleum-based fuels – but by domestically-sourced renewably produced electricity.
*these fuel products are expensive in so many ways including but not limited to: madly fluctuating end user cost at the pump, cost in pollution to the local, regional, global environment and atmosphere, cost in acquisition, refining and shipping, cost associated with war and terrorism, cost in human sickness, suffering, and death from all of the above…but due to government subsidies they are far lower in cost at the pump than they could be. If we were paying the true cost as many people do all over the world – most if not all of us would already be driving electric.