I remember discussing this a year or two ago but I have to say I’m surprised at the acceleration of the problem.

California has banned the most effective Rat Poison that is used pretty much worldwide. Even the Europeans who are like the ultimate Environmental NAZIs have restricted it’s use to licensed professionals but not banned it entirely.

Chicago is #1 in Rat Population in the U.S. with LA following as a close #2.

The result is both cities are being overrun with Rats. Even in the 1700s Rat Control became commonplace and acknowledged as a necessary function to keep cities disease and vermin free.

The modern world has regressed to the extent that Rat Control is no longer a priority.

If we ever end up in a situation where we are having to rebuild with 1800s technology the moment someone says the word “environment” in a discussion about Rat Control either hang them immediately or expel them from the community as a Public Danger.

https://ktla.com/news/local-news/could-los-angeles-become-the-rattiest-city-in-the-united-states/

The Librarian

When I was growing up my Mother made a lot of our clothes. After learning how to use Mom’s sewing machine I made good money in school making and selling Barbie clothes to all the local girls. My best friend through much of my childhood was a girl up the street who gave me the idea. She told me what I should make and she always got hers free. (We only had two sexes back then and for the most part it was the girls who played with dolls.)

I remember going to the fabric store with Mom many times where she bought yards of cloth, patterns (some of which are still in the drawer of Mom’s old Necchi sewing which Dad bought for her in Germany and I inherited after she died) and visiting with all the other Mothers there for the same thing. I would buy fabric remnants for pennies for my little business.

I occasionally still go the local Joann for fabric for book covers, models and other odds and ends though I do little sewing anymore except to occasionally hem a pair of pants. I have noticed that there are a lot fewer people there and they started carrying a lot of other “craft” items. Then I saw this story this morning.

https://www.wnd.com/2025/02/joann-to-close-500-of-its-800-fabric-and-craft-stores/

I have done a little looking into it and the bottom line seems to be that these days, with imports from China and elsewhere, it no longer makes sense to sew clothes. Between fabric and patterns and sewing machines and supplies it’s significantly cheaper to buy them than to make them. Besides few people learn the skill when they are young anymore so there is a steep learning curve.

While it’s good in a sense that clothes, like so many products, are much less expensive than they were when I was young in the mid-1900s there is also an undeniable and lamentable loss of what used to be a common skill… sewing and making clothes.

It’s just one more of the skills most folks took for granted 50-100 years ago that have been lost. Convenience is great but I’m not sure that trading knowledge and skill for it is.

The Librarian

One of my pet peeves has long been the sad and sorry state of the U.S. Power Grid… it’s fragility and complete inability to survive a significant Solar Flare. Indeed Something like the Carrington Event (an X-15+ Solar Flare) would destroy the U.S. Power Grid and most if not all of its transformers which could not be replaced in a world without power.

The results would be the death of 90%+ of the U.S. population and generations of struggle to rebuild. The same would be true in all of the Industrialized world.

There was some movement a few years ago towards the Electric companies hardening the grid to at least minimize that threat. Sadly it came to nothing. Even worse over the last decade more and more Energy companies have been acquired by Global Companies like Blackrock and Vanguard. THEIR priority is on immediate and short term profits and not the long term viability of the Grid or the countries in which they exist.

I fear that as things continue the U.S. (and the world’s) power grid is going to decline even further since investment and improvement does not enhance the quarterly bottom line or enhance stock valuation. Short of forcing a divestiture or simply shutting down these Global Corporation things are not going to improve. I used to put most of the blame for the situation on Politicians. Looks like it’s out of their hands now and they are much victims as the rest of us. Though it does beg the question… How many have significant holdings of Vanguard and Blackrock Stock?

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2025/02/high_electric_bills_are_the_tip_of_the_iceberg.html

The Librarian

It’s been a busy winter here. Spent some time reorganizing and moving the Print Shop from an outbuilding to the Server Room in the House which makes it much easier to print and bind. Lot of home projects that had been put off for too long finally got handled. The older you get the longer it takes to bounce back from heavy work.

After some User requests I’ve packaged up the Library Flash Drive and the Book of the Farm into a set at a 12% discount.

Seeing some hints and indications from the new Administration in D.C. that there may, perhaps, be some progress made on hardening the U.S. Power Grid. Not holding my breathe but “The signs are positive.” as my old 8-Ball used to say.

The Librarian