Klamath River: Free Flowing Once Again

The Yurok Tribe
190 Klamath Blvd
Klamath CA 95548

Dear Ones:

Miracles do happen, but in the case of the Klamath River and dam removal, it depended upon the years of dedication to river restoration by the Yurok Tribe. I have to tell you that when I read all about what has been accomplished to give life back to all of the fish species, particularly the salmon, whose existence depends upon a free flowing Klamath River, it brought tears to my eyes.

Fish are special to me. My doctorate at Purdue had sturgeon as my focus for research. Before that were catfish and medaka. Fish, indeed, are incredible creatures from our Creator to be treasured and husbanded.

My wife, Marcia, is a member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians in Michigan. They have a history of deep relationship with the fish of the Great Lakes, as you may well know. Their work and dedication to preserving the lakes and streams and the fisheries associated with them has been rewarding to see as well.

When I read the mission statement of the Yurok Tribe on line, one can hope that someday all will adopt the philosophy of your Tribe. Earth and all therein are, indeed, sacred.

So, I deeply thank you for what you have accomplished. I wish you all the best for the future.

Blessings,

Kent H Blacklidge Ph.D.

Silence

“We Indians know about silence. We are not afraid of it. In fact, for us, silence is more powerful than words. Our elders were trained in the ways of silence, and they handed over this knowledge to us. Observe, listen, and then act, they would tell us. That was the manner of living.

With you, it is just the opposite. You learn by talking. You reward the children that talk the most at school. In your parties, you all try to talk at the same time. In your work, you are always having meetings in which everybody interrupts everybody and all talk five, ten or a hundred times. And you call that ‘solving a problem’.

When you are in a room and there is silence, you get nervous. You must fill the space with sounds. So you talk compulsorily, even before you know what you are going to say.

White people love to discuss. They don’t even allow the other person to finish a sentence. They always interrupt. For us Indians, this looks like bad manners or even stupidity. If you start talking, I’m not going to interrupt you. I will listen. Maybe I’ll stop listening if I don’t like what you are saying, but I won’t interrupt you.

When you finish speaking, I’ll make up my mind about what you said, but I will not tell you I don’t agree unless it is important. Otherwise, I’ll just keep quiet and I’ll go away. You have told me all I need to know. There is no more to be said. But this is not enough for the majority of white people.

People should regard their words as seeds. They should sow them, and then allow them to grow in silence. Our elders taught us that the earth is always talking to us, but we should keep silent in order to hear her.

There are many voices besides ours. Many voices…”

-Ella Deloria

[Wisdom from the Original People]

Covid Tsunami

We have been warned. Dr. Geert Vanden Bossche, a widely known Belgian virologist, tells of a Covid “Imminent Tsunami of Death” coming. His warning has been pooh-poohed by some, but we will soon see what happens.

Bossche believes there will be massive illness and deaths among highly-vaccinated populations with compromised immune systems. He predicts a huge wave will cause collapse of hospitals and cause financial, economic and social chaos.

His prediction is the hyper-acute phase of sickness will begin within a few weeks and likely extend through the 2024 election period. Bossche explains that the gigantic global scale of the medical establishment’s experimental COVID vaccine campaign will make the accelerating illnesses and deaths impossible to cover up.

Bossche’s advice: don’t get reinfected with COVID. Take anti-virals prophylactically; not wait until symptoms appear.

This whole possible scenario goes right back to the creation and use of mRNA experimental vaccines, a vaccine construct never before injected into humans. The COVID mRNA vaccine and its boosters cause the human body systems themselves to create proteins found in COVID itself; the spike protein of the capsid encasing the virus. This protein causes an immune system reaction seemingly without end. The coding in the mRNA vaccine could find its way into the primary body DNA causing disruption and unintended consequences.

Bossche warns the COVID mRNA vaccines result in compromised immune systems in the long term. He warns the next wave of disease will be catastrophic. This to be most felt in highly vaccinated countries.

Believe him or not. Your choice. Your choice to get vaccinated or get boosters. Again, we will soon see what happens. Bossche has put his reputation on the line.

Human Life

With a ruling on Friday, February 16, the Alabama Supreme Court has in effect shut down all IVF (In-vitro Fertilization) across the country. The Court concluded that frozen human embryos kept in fertility clinics are “children”. The ruling has a devastating impact on couples having to pursue IVF as a way to have a child.


In-vitro fertilization is really in concept easy to understand. A couple has not been able to have a woman become pregnant by way of the usual sexual coming together for whatever the reason may be. The only option is to seek medical help in creating a fertilized human egg which subsequently is implanted into a woman’s uterus for the growth of a child until the moment of birth.

This all happens under medical supervision and treatment. Under normal circumstances, only one egg is released each month from an ovary and pregnancy results when a man’s sperm joins this egg inside the woman’s body. Under medical treatment, a woman undergoes a series of hormone injections that results in multiple eggs being released from an ovary. These eggs are collected and fertilized in a laboratory with sperm provided by a man. The process is called “in-vitro fertilization” as opposed to “in-vivo fertilization” which is inside a woman’s body. Many eggs are typically fertilized.

The fertilized eggs, now called oocytes or embryos, can be kept viable (alive) when frozen at negative 320 degrees Fahrenheit, which is the temperature of liquid nitrogen. This extremely cold temperature halts all metabolism (biological development) of the embryo allowing embryos to be safely stored for an indefinite period of time.

When a woman has been cared for medically and the time is right, one of these eggs is carefully thawed and implanted in her uterus resulting in a pregnancy. If the woman whose eggs were collected has physiological issues (problems with her uterus), sometimes a surrogate woman is chosen to carry the pregnancy to term.

The giant issue comes with what to do with the unused fertilized eggs that are frozen. There may be several not used eggs. And across the country, there are likely tens of thousands of such eggs being held frozen in nitrogen. To now, these eggs have later been destroyed or given for biological research. With the Alabama court ruling the fertilized eggs (embryos) are children, this could create potential criminal charges for murder for the IVF clinics and even for the couples who have agreed to either dispose of unused eggs or donate them to science.

What are we talking about here. When egg meets sperm and joins, there is one egg, one cell. Within about 5-7 days later, there are something around 200-300 cells in a scientific arrangement called a blastocyst. I have included graphics to illustrate these. The underlying question is when does a fertilized egg become a person. The Alabama Supreme Court decided it is at the moment of an egg joining a sperm cell.

If this ruling stands as an absolute across the country, it could well mean the end of all abortion including that resulting from the “morning after” pill. It could mean the end of abortion even in cases where it has been medically determined such a genetic error has occurred that the fetus inside the woman has no chance of being born alive but is alive at the moment. Certainly, it ends any choice of abortion in the case of rape or incest. Maybe one abortion choice that does remain is when the woman’s life is at risk.

So, all sorts of religious and ethical issues now really have to be dealt with. The answers are not clear or easy ones.

One side on the abortion issue would applaud the Alabama court ruling. The other would condemn it and has taken the position abortion should be available to a woman to the moment of birth of a child. It seems to me neither absolute is tolerable. Where lines are drawn is not clear. It is up to our society to figure that out.

More Poison: Paraquat!

The EPA is at it again. In an agency draft, it again backs the use of this very toxic herbicide, paraquat, claiming it is safe for use across millions of acres of American cropland despite what public health advocates characterize as virtual scientific proof it causes Parkinson’s disease.


By law, the EPA is required to review pesticides every 15 years. It did and approved paraquat again in 2021. The EPA was sued by several agricultural and public health groups in 2021 charging it had ignored broad scientific consensus linking paraquat to Parkinson’s. The EPA agreed to review its approval. They did and here we are again at the same decision as before. Oh, the EPA did agree it will review more science and could change course when issuing a final report next year. In the meanwhile, the poison stays on the market.

The fight over the use of paraquat in the United States has been going on for decades. This chemical poison, a very effective weed killer, is manufactured by Syngenta. Interestingly, nearly 60 countries have banned paraquat use. This includes the UK and EU countries. Another fact…. A state-owned Chinese company bought Syngenta in 2017 but paraquat is banned for use in China.

Scientific research clearly shows paraquat interferes with dopamine production and regulation, and people with Parkinson’s have reduced dopamine levels. Paraquat is also linked to respiratory damage and kidney disease. Ingestion of a single teaspoon is considered deadly.

And finally, those most at risk seem to be the communities and farmworkers in the central California farming area. This is the area of enormous production of crops for the food market in the United States. It appears the EPA could care less about the communities and workers there as long as Syngenta makes a profit. But even worse is that residues from paraquat likely find their way onto the food we all purchase at the grocery store. I have to wonder how many cases of Parkinson’s have resulted.

In looking back at pesticide use which really began after WWII, it is crystal clear we have not made wise decisions. The first big alert was DDT. Then in Viet Nam during the war there, we covered that country with Agent Orange. That was devastating to Viet Nam and to thousands of US military personnel; even to those in the supply chain that got that chemical from the United States to Viet Nam. When will we wise up? But, again the story is that money talks the loudest!

However Delivered: POISON

Reason had a victory. This past week a US federal court in Arizona banned three weed killers (poisons; biocides) widely used by American agriculture, finding the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) broke the law in allowing them to be on the market.

Crop spraying


The ruling affects dicamba-based weed killers produced and sold by Bayer, BASF, and Syngenta. Dicamba killers have been blamed for millions of acres of crop damage and harm to endangered species and natural areas across the Midwest and South.

The court concluded the EPA had not followed law in granting approval of dicamba for use on genetically engineered crops, typically GE soy beans and corn, that were resistant to it use, but killed weeds around them. The problem is that dicamba is very volatile! This means it easily goes up into the air and drifts to areas afar causing widespread damage to crops and vegetation not resistant to the pesticide. Result: unintended consequences… death to vegetation, including crops, elsewhere and death to animals and insects (pollinators, for example) dependent on that vegetation.

All of this comes on the heels of massive law suits against Bayer/Monsanto involving the use of Roundup (glyphosate) pesticide. So far those suits have cost Bayer billions in jury verdicts and settlements. The plaintiffs allege Roundup causes non-Hodgkins lymphoma.
And Syngenta is already facing nationwide litigation over its paraquat herbicide which thousands of plaintiffs claim causes Parkinson’s disease.

Apparently enough lessons have yet to be learned following the debacle with DDT. Rachael Carson in her book “Silent Spring” brought that to headlines. Eventually DDT was banned everywhere. I am thinking the whole use of biocides (pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, etc) on crops needs to severely restricted. We are in the process of poisoning ourselves and the planet.

Of course, all one has to do is follow the money. The creators of the biocides are the same companies that genetically engineer the crops to resist their effect. This means they sell the biocide resistant seeds to create the resistant crops and then sell the poison to put on it. Pretty good racket if you can get by with it. In the meanwhile, you make people and the planet sick. Ask the bees.

Why the Osprey….. & Sturgeon

When thinking about the possibility of beginning Substack writing in addition to continuing my WordPress Blog, almost immediately the Osprey came to mind. The art I have used as the logo was by an artist I knew named Don Gabbert from Minnesota. I have kept this art of the Osprey close for over 30 years. It is precious to me.

At the bottom of the Osprey is a saying written by Don. It says, “It’s Our Earth, Too!” That saying really says it all. We are only one of God’s marvelous creatures that call Earth home. Yet, we are the creature that seems to be destroying it.

The Osprey is a raptor: a hunter. Its primary source of food is fish that it catches by diving from air into the water below; something no other raptor can do. Its sight is phenomenal to be able to see fish in water from very high perches above. Its flight is precise. Its goal clear. Ospreys symbolize new beginnings, healing, and cooperation with nature.

And fish…. Almost all of my graduate work at Purdue involved water environments and fish. My doctorate focused on the evolution of Acipencers: the Sturgeon. The sturgeon are estimated to not have changed for millions of years. They are some of the oldest fish species on Earth. I see them as the “Wise Ones”. In Native American mythology, the sturgeon is often seen as a symbol of strength, resilience, and perseverance. In Celtic mythology, the sturgeon was associated with wisdom and knowledge.

So, together, it is my hope that the spirit of both the Osprey and the Sturgeon will guide my way forward.

Peoples Osprey

Times change and new opportunities emerge. Substack is new to me, but it sure seems to be a path for me to be able to write what I want when I want. In eons past, I was able to write articles and columns for the Kokomo (IN) Tribune at will. You see, I was part of the family that owned that newspaper. I was either in top management or the CEO/Publisher of this then a 34,000 daily newspaper having about 185 employees and over 300 newspaper carriers. All employees were considered family. Together, we were designated the top newspaper in the USA for penetration (subscribers) of its market for 9 of 10 years running; and second the one odd year. On top of that, we were leaders in new technology in the industry. Times have changed since then…. and not for the good. Many communities now are news deserts without a local newspaper.

I do write a blog and have for many years: kentblacklidge.com. I will continue to post on it, but I have become rather erratic in posting. I know why. I no longer have and have not had the decision authority for decades about what goes into the Kokomo Tribune. Since my family sold the KT, this newspaper has passed through two group owners. It is now owned by a group (CNHI) that editorially is way too far left politically for me. The Managing Editor has published columns I have written from time to time, but I have given up that route. It felt constrained. In recent times, when the KT prints a column with which I disagree strongly, I typically will email the columnist directly. Again, constraint given no one else reads/knows my thoughts and writing directly has resulted in fewer blog posts. Not a good reason, but true.

On a national and state level, I write representatives directly. I intend to continue this but at the same time will post any letters to Substack and my blog. I have things to say even if no one else gives a damn about my opinions.

My interests are wide. I have indicated in Substack I would be particularly interested in politics, government, science, and the environment. These interests are not limited to local issues. They would include local, state, and national matters. And what credentials do I have to write about these areas: four degrees from Purdue University which are a BS Industrial Management, MS Conservation, MS Aquatic toxicology, and a Ph.D. in genetics. Those plus over 20 years in newspaper journalism.

In my opinion, honest and open communications between people is the glue that holds communities and countries together. The major media, print and electronic, in the USA have failed. They largely have become propaganda tools of the political left. It is up to us, individuals, to restore the integrity of news offered to the public. We must. I intend to do my part. The Peoples Osprey on Substack is open.

Kent Blacklidge Ph.D.
(kentblacklidge.com and peoplesosprey.substack.com)

Thought from Jane Goodall

“Here we are, arguably the most intelligent being that’s ever walked planet Earth, with this extraordinary brain, yet we’re destroying the only home we have” Jane Goodall

The beat goes on. We get caught up in the crisis of the day and lose sight of the big picture. All over the planet we have mass migration of people going on. Why? There was a time when people stayed close to where they were born for generations. The natural resources were there to nurture them. Now we see those resources being used up rather than conserved. What happens then. In the past when there was what was perceived as unlimited resources elsewhere, populations just moved to other more resource rich areas. That is no longer possible. Planet wide natural resources are now limited and being used up at alarming rates. We are seeing exactly what happens when a species overshoots what supports it, but in the case of humankind, it is the entire planet. I believe you can conclude what happens eventually.

The biggest issue now seems to be “climate change”. I prefer to call it what it once was: “global warming”, which is a more accurate description of what is happening. The evidence of warming is overwhelming. The questions arise over whether this is part of a natural Earth cycle or is being caused by human activity; specifically the burning of fossil fuels and the creation and release of chemicals that contribute to the capture of solar energy on the planet. My conclusion is that the argument does not matter. We have passed the point of any effective action. The planet is warming and will continue to warm for an indefinite future. Nothing human beings can do will make any difference at this point and certainly the USA alone cannot do anything effective. The hysterical move to electric vehicles is absurd and counter productive. More waste will be created. And where is the electricity going to come from? I do not see any significant moves to modernize the electric grid in the USA and to increase electric generation by some means to replace generation by coal or natural gas. Certainly, solar panels and windmills cannot possibly do the job and they both have significant downsides including environmental damages. So, we are really stuck with global warming and the continued use of fossil fuels to power modern civilization. Hang on.

Jane Goodall is right.

The Climate Pandemic [Open Letter]

7-17-2023

Senator Mike Braun
Senator Todd Young
Representative Victoria Spartz

To all:

I am in the midst of reading a book all of you must read. It is “The Climate Pandemic” by Dennis Meredith, a long time and very reputable science writer. He details where we are and how we got there as humans who populate our planet home, Earth. The content is highly referenced.  

The message of the book is devastating. The conclusion is that we, human beings, may have already passed the point of no return regarding the climate and the viability of the natural life support systems that have made living possible for our species. He notes that on Earth, species have come and gone over the millennia. Earth will survive, but the human species may not.   

I hope you or a key person on your staff will take the time to consider the message in “The Climate Change”. I believe it will change your perspective on future decisions and actions.

Thank you for your attention.

Sincerely,
Kent H Blacklidge Ph.D.