Post Race!

For a lot of western Europe the colonies were used as dumping grounds. Some of it was to dispose of convicts, but there were also trends in agricultural mechanization even while still powered by horse and steam. That created a large population of rural serfs no longer needed or desired.

By the 19th Century some countries got "scientifically" precise about this. Eugenics was in vogue long before the 1930s. It is no accident that the Netherlands saw such a radical shift toward its population's stereotypical characteristics today. Partly through selection, partly through redistributing available resources including education, housing, nutrition, and sanitation. Most of that accomplished by Church and State working hand in hand to dispose of the "excess population."

Yep and those ancient practices have far reaching consequences on how the world is setup today in terms of culture, sophistication and even economics.

The Brits left behind their mercenaries after the revolution. I'm descended from the Hessian mercenaries on my mother's side.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Shaggy Hiker

I'm descended from the Hessian mercenaries on my mother's side.

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So this guy was your ancestor:-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9vPtCW9pJ8

Wouldn't want to mess with you.

Good of those soldiers to all attack in single file, and nicely spaced out. Very polite.

He was probably very charming. Steven Segal seems to have the same charm.

I am almost as smart as everyone says I think I am.

I almost understand that statement.

We got a stealth snow storm over the last two days. Nothing more than a dusting on the roads, and it was mostly sunny for two days, and yet we got about eight inches on the mountains.

Living in this desert valley is weird.

Headed home tonight.

It’s a bit rough. My grandfather is having difficulty remembering people and where he’s at. He just walked from his room to the kitchen and when he got there is oxygen was down to 72%.

It’s a hell of a reminder of why smoking kills.

Sorry to hear he isn't doing better.

It sucks to get old and encounter reminders of your mortality around so many corners. No picnic for those close to you either.

I hope his condition improves.

Is it all just reduced lung functionality? Oxygen that low is pretty severe, so it would make sense if that was sufficient to cause trouble.

He smoked all his life and has COPD. He also had colon cancer when he was in his 50’s. And he also has severe heart damage. They can’t add any stints because he wouldn’t survive the surgery but that combined with the COPD is what’s killing him.

Life will be the death of us all.

The storm that is pounding the southwest is getting all the news, but we're getting our own storm, and so far it's been a good one. Might not be quick to leave the house in the morning, considering the amount of ice, earlier. We certainly needed this.

Another storm hits tomorrow night. Hopefully, it will be even better.

It seems like y'all have gotten quite a bit of snow/ice this year.

Not nearly enough. California has been getting loads of it. Idaho has not. We started the winter pretty well, but then January and February were fairly dry. It's better than last year, when we got nothing at all for those two months, but it's not much better.

On New Years, we were at between 120% and 150% of normal. We're now at 100% in some basins, and less the further north you go.

It really matters in this state. The mountain snowpack provides water for the summer. We might get rain in May and June, as we have the last couple years, but that just runs off. The snowpack will melt slowly across the summer, providing a slower release of water in a land that doesn't have all that much of it, and generally gets no rain at all during the summer, with the exception of brief, violent, infrequent, downpours.

Should be an update here in a day or two: https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/