Lessons From Hurricane Helene – Part 2 – news.freeptomaineradio.com

(Continued from Part 1.)

Back to the Friday morning of the storm: The rain stopped here around 10 A.M.. According to our rain gauge, we received 5.6” overnight. As I walked our property, I found a tangle of trees had fallen with a very large white oak knocking over a decent-sized pine, and that in turn landed on one of our chicken coops. A sycamore had fallen from our side of the property line and damaged a section of our neighbor’s pasture fence, the top of a white oak had broken out and blocked one of our internal roads, a poplar was laying across our spring cistern, the road our driveway connects to was blocked by multiple trees in both directions, several hundred feet of utility lines were on the ground near our home and the creek that forms our property line was backed up by a nearby river such that the lowest elevations of our property were under five or so feet of water. We were fortunate.

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As of this writing, the only loss we incurred was a two-inch irrigation pump that spent the night underwater. I may be able to repair it. Our neighbor had a young bull (around 500 pounds) escape and no one has seen it in three weeks. Remarkably, none of the homes in our community suffered damage beyond a few torn-off shingles. There were/are so many downed trees here and in the surrounding counties. Obviously, some homes took damage; but the number of occurrences where a tree fell away from a house, vehicle or property even falling opposite to surrounding trees gave a strong testimony that the Lord was watching over His people during the storm. At my in-law’s place, twenty-six oak and hickory trees were uprooted on their two acres. The way trees fell between my father-in-law’s parked trucks, tractors, and trailers without scratching the paint cannot be described as anything other than divine intervention.

When we experience a power outage, I have a four-hour rule for bringing out the generator in hot weather but will wait for up to six hours in cooler weather. In the case of Helene, I hauled our gasoline-powered 5.6kW up to the house and connected it to the generator transfer panel around ten Friday morning. We have had this old workhorse since the summer of 2003, it has around 350 hours on it and I do my best to crank it every six months. I began running the carburetor dry to shut the engine off on the day I purchased it and since ethanol-free gasoline became available around here four years ago, Sta-Bil treated alcohol-free gas is all that I have used. The last of my 2022-dated stored fuel was burned during our time without electricity.

I installed the 60A/220VAC generator panel as the second improvement we made to our home after purchase. It is a twelve-space model produced by Siemens, but seems to no longer be in production. The panel is extremely simple with a pair of double pole 60 amp breakers mounted back to back with a lockout device that will allow both the generator and utility supplies to be shut off, but will only allow one or the other to be in the supply or on position (photo of generator panel). The remainder of the setup consists of a 6/3 copper conductor running between the generator supply breaker and a 50-amp 220-volt receptacle mounted in a weatherproof box on the exterior wall of our home. To tie in the generator, we use a 30-amp rated 10/3 copper cord between the 50A receptacle and the 220-volt output on the generator. If or when we up-size our generator, the 50-amp plug and 60-amp breaker will mean that I won’t have to resize any of the wiring to accommodate the larger gen set.

I become angry every time someone tells me they plan to connect a generator to their home by backfeeding a 220 circuit such as the dryer or range. For years I heard this method referred to as using a “suicide cord”, but during a generator safety course the instructor named it the man slaughter cord. I must agree this is a far more fitting name. The lineman son of a friend was severely injured a few years ago because someone back-fed a generator. Please don’t do this. A basic generator lockout panel is not an expensive investment and doing electrical work correctly in this situation above many others is a civic responsibility.

I had to get into the panel twice during the power outage. The first time was because I had inadvertently placed our home office on a breaker instead of the living room. Having included spare jumper conductors in the conduit during initial installation and purchasing extra breakers made adding the living room a three-minute fix. The second time I had to get into the panel was around day four and I will address the reason in a few.

Back in 2020, a friend hired me to install a generator panel similar to my own. In choosing his generator, he had found a company that took dual fuel Champion generators and added a regulator and fuel line modification that enables the unit to also run on natural gas. I was impressed enough with his generator that I purchased one. Since the Champion literature was not written for natural gas operation, I can only estimate that given the running outputs of 7,000 watts for gasoline and 6,300 W for propane that I am getting approximately 5,500 running watts due to the lower BTU density of natural gas. Although we have owned this unit for four years, I had not quite gotten through the initial five-hour break in period before needing the unit for Helene.

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Originally Posted at https://www.sgtreport.com

zerohedge
Economics , News , Politics , Science
December 7, 2024
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From Marcus Aurelius To Omar Little: A Man’s Code Is Vital

Authored by Josh Stylman via The Brownstone Institute,

With Thanksgiving weekend still fresh in our memory, my gratitude centers not on the usual holiday platitudes, but on something that has become increasingly precious in our artificial age: authentic relationships – both family and lifelong friends – that deepen rather than fracture under pressure. What binds these relationships, I’ve come to realize, isn’t shared opinions or circumstances, but a shared code – an unwavering commitment to principles that transcends the shifting sands of politics and social pressure. I’m particularly grateful for my inner circle – friends I’ve known since elementary school and family members whose bonds have only strengthened through the crucible of recent years.

Like many others who spoke out against Covid tyranny, I watched what I thought were solid relationships dissolve in real time. As the owner of a local brewery and coach of my kids’ sports teams, I had been deeply embedded in my community – a “man about town” whose friendship and counsel others actively sought. Yet suddenly, the same people who had eagerly engaged with me would scurry when they saw me coming down the street. Professional networks and neighborhood connections evaporated at the mere questioning of prevailing narratives. They reacted this way because I broke orthodoxy, choosing to stand for liberal values – the very principles they claimed to champion – by rejecting arbitrary mandates and restrictions.

In this moment of testing, the difference between those who lived by a consistent code and those who simply followed social currents became starkly clear. Yet in retrospect, this winnowing feels more like clarification than loss. As surface-level relationships fell away, my core relationships – decades-long friendships and family bonds – not only endured but deepened. These trials revealed which bonds were authentic and which were merely situational.

The friendships that remained, anchored in genuine principles rather than social convenience, proved themselves infinitely more valuable than the broader network of fair-weather friends I lost.

What strikes me most about these enduring friendships is how they’ve defied the typical narrative of relationships destroyed by political divisions. As Marcus Aurelius observed, “The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.” Despite taking opposite sides of the dialectic on political and cultural issues over the decades, we found ourselves united in opposition to the constitutional transgressions and rising tyranny of the past few years – the lockdowns, mandates, and systematic erosion of basic rights. This unity emerged not from political alignment but from a shared code: a commitment to first principles that transcends partisan divisions.

In these contemplative moments, I’ve found myself returning to Aurelius’s Meditations – a book I hadn’t opened since college until Joe Rogan and Marc Andreessen’s excellent conversation inspired me to revisit it. Aurelius understood that a personal code – a set of unwavering principles – was essential for navigating a world of chaos and uncertainty. The connection feels particularly apt – like my own friend group, Rogan’s platform exemplifies a code of authentic discourse in our age.

Critics, particularly on the political left, often talk about needing their “own Joe Rogan,” missing entirely what makes his show work: its genuine authenticity. Despite being historically left-leaning himself, Rogan’s willingness to engage in real-time thinking with guests across the ideological spectrum and across a broad variety of topics, his commitment to open inquiry and truth-seeking, has paradoxically led to his estrangement from traditional liberal circles – much like many of us who’ve found ourselves branded as apostates for maintaining consistent principles.

This commitment to a code of authentic discourse explains why organizations like Brownstone Institute – despite being routinely smeared as “far right” – have become a crucial platform for independent scholars, policy experts, and truth-seekers. I witnessed this firsthand at a recent Brownstone event, where, unlike most institutions that enforce ideological conformity, diverse thinkers engaged in genuine exploration of ideas without fear of orthodoxy enforcement. When attendees were asked if they considered themselves political liberals ten years ago, nearly 80% raised their hands.

These are individuals who, like my friends and me, still embrace core liberal values – free speech, open inquiry, rational debate – yet find themselves branded as right-wing or conspiracy theorists merely for questioning prevailing narratives.

What unites this diverse community is their shared recognition that the reality being presented to us is largely manufactured, as explored in “The Information Factory,” and their commitment to maintaining authentic discourse in an age of enforced consensus.

In The Wire, Omar Little, a complex character who lived by his own moral code while operating outside conventional society, famously declared, “A man got to have a code.” Though a stick-up man targeting drug dealers, Omar’s rigid adherence to his principles – never harming civilians, never lying, never breaking his word – made him more honorable than many supposedly “legitimate” characters. His unwavering dedication to these principles – even as a gangster operating outside society’s laws – resonates deeply with my experience.

Like Rogan’s commitment to open dialogue, like Brownstone’s dedication to free inquiry, like RFK Jr.’s determination to expose how pharmaceutical and agricultural interests have corrupted our public institutions: these exemplars of authentic truth-seeking mirror what I’ve found in my own circle. My friends and I may have different political views, but we share a code: a commitment to truth over comfort, to principle over party, to authentic discourse over social approval. This shared foundation has proven more valuable than any superficial agreement could be.

In these times of manufactured consensus and social control, the importance of this authentic foundation becomes even clearer. The 2012 Smith-Mundt Modernization Act, which made it legal to propagandize American citizens, merely formalized what many had long suspected. It represented the ultimate betrayal of the government’s code with its citizens – the explicit permission to manipulate rather than inform. As anyone not under the spell has come to realize – we’ve all been thoroughly “Smith-Mundt’ed.” This legal framework helps explain much of what we’ve witnessed in recent years, particularly during the pandemic – when those who proclaimed themselves champions of social justice supported policies that created new forms of segregation and devastated the very communities they claimed to protect.

This disconnect becomes even more apparent in the realm of charitable giving and social causes, where “virtue laundering” has become endemic. The absence of a genuine moral code is nowhere more evident than in our largest charitable institutions. While many charitable organizations do crucial work at the local level, there’s an unmistakable trend among large NGOs toward what a friend aptly calls the “philanthropath class.”

Consider the Clinton Foundation’s activities in Haiti, where millions in earthquake relief funds resulted in industrial parks that displaced farmers and housing projects that never materialized. Or examine the BLM Global Network Foundation, which purchased luxury properties while local chapters reported receiving minimal support. Even major environmental NGOs often partner with the world’s biggest polluters, creating an illusion of progress while fundamental problems persist.

This pattern reveals a deeper truth about the professional charitable class – many of these institutions have become purely extractive, profiting from and even amplifying the very issues they purport to solve. At the top, a professional philanthropic class collects fancy titles in their bios and flashes photos from charity galas while avoiding any genuine engagement with the problems they claim to address. Social media has democratized this performance, allowing everyone to participate in virtue theater – from black squares and Ukrainian flag avatars to awareness ribbons and cause-supporting emojis – creating an illusion of activism without the substance of real action or understanding. It’s a system entirely devoid of the moral code that once guided charitable work – the direct connection between benefactor and beneficiary, the genuine commitment to positive change rather than personal aggrandizement.

The power of a genuine code becomes most evident in contrast with these hollow institutions. While organizations and social networks fracture under pressure, I’m fortunate that my closest friendships and family bonds have only grown stronger. We’ve had fierce debates over the years, but our shared commitment to fundamental principles – to having a code – has allowed us to navigate even the most turbulent waters together. When the pandemic response threatened basic constitutional rights, when social pressure demanded conformity over conscience, these relationships proved their worth not despite our differences, but because of them.

As we navigate these complex times, the path forward emerges with striking clarity. From Marcus Aurelius to Omar Little, the lesson remains the same: a man gotta have a code. The crisis of authenticity in our discourse, the chasm between proclaimed and lived values, and the failure of global virtue-signaling all point to the same solution: a return to genuine relationships and local engagement. Our strongest bonds – those real relationships that have weathered recent storms – remind us that true virtue manifests in daily choices and personal costs, not in digital badges or distant donations.

This Thanksgiving, I found myself grateful not for the easy comforts of conformity but for those in my life who demonstrate real virtue – the kind that comes with personal cost and requires genuine conviction. The answer lies not in grand gestures or viral posts, but in the quiet dignity of living according to our principles, engaging with our immediate communities, and maintaining the courage to think independently. As both the emperor-philosopher and the fictional street warrior understood, what matters isn’t the grandeur of our station but the integrity of our code.

Returning one final time to Meditations, I’m reminded of Aurelius’s timeless challenge: “Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.”

Tyler Durden
Sat, 12/07/2024 – 23:20