Protests in Los Angeles against President Donald Trump's immigration enforcement policies have turned violent -- but it's unclear whether the violence comes from outside provocateurs or from skirmishes between protesters themselves. The demonstrations and riots against Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids and deportations in Los Angeles and elsewhere began last...

Sometimes the most beautiful artwork isn’t in a museum or hanging on a wall. In fact, the prettiest sights often occur right in front of us in nature. If we take the time to look up at the sky, there are some incredible sites. Kristin Jensen Huset, who posts on Instagram as @travelwith_kristin, captured an insanely beautiful shot of cloud iridescence over Norway. Kristen and Norway Travelers shared the shot, and it positively looks like a painting. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Norway Norge Travel | Hotels | Food | Tips (@norwaytravelers) Cloud Iridescence Is Rare And Gorgeous As the post explains in the caption, “Cloud iridescence is a rare and mesmerizing optical phenomenon where clouds display a spectrum of colors, similar to a rainbow. This occurs when sunlight or moonlight interacts with water droplets or ice crystals of nearly uniform size, causing diffraction and interference of light.” Kristin’s photo resembles a Lisa Frank folder from the 1980s. The colors are mesmerizing and beautiful, and we’re sure every kid would love to have a folder with this print in their backpack. But it’s not just kids who love it, adults also love it. Many went to Kristin’s Instagram page to share their amazement. Those in Norway see this type of thing all the time. A person wrote, “Wdym rare? We see it every day.” Another follower clapped back, “When you see something SPECTACULAR and the locals be like, Meh, we see it every day.” This person agreed that cloud iridescence is rare, but they’ve been lucky enough to see them several times. “Polar stratospheric clouds are incredibly rare, forming only when the stratosphere is bitterly cold (below -78°C) and conditions align perfectly with moisture and air currents. But I saw many times here,” their comment reads. Another had a more scientific explanation, “Looks like a cloud full of hydrocarbons.” We agree with the caption, “Tag a friend who needs to see this magical view!” It’s truly stunning. This story’s featured image is By Fevziie via Shutterstock. The post Better Than The Northern Lights? Check Out The Brilliant Beauty Of Cloud Iridescence appeared first on InspireMore.

Exciting things are happening in Indonesia. The newly elected President, Prabowo Subianto is working to make good on a campaign promise to feed nearly 90 million children and pregnant women. The nation has suffered from malnutrition, especially for children under the age of five. Image from Wikimedia Commons. The proposed cost of the program through 2029 is $28 billion. While opponents argue that the price is unsustainable, Subianto is confident it will succeed. The program is part of a longer-term goal and will provide 83 million students with free school lunches, including milk. The program will be instituted in over 400,000 schools. The goal is to develop Indonesia’s human resources by 2045 to achieve a “Golden Indonesia” generation. During his inauguration speech, Subianto said, “Too many of our brothers and sisters are below the poverty line, too many of our children go to school without breakfast and do not have clothes for school.” The new president says his team has run all the numbers, and the program is sustainable. Image from Wikimedia Commons. The program will have a first-year budget of $4.3 billion, covering 19.5 million children and pregnant women in 2025. Government spending for the program must remain under three percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Head of the new Nation Nutrition Agency, Dadan Hindayana, said the money would buy rice, chicken, beef, fish, vegetables, fruit, and milk. The agency will be working with almost 2,000 cooperatives who will supply the necessary products to provide meals. The Importance Of The Free Lunch Program To Indonesia The first meal delivery was to a primary school in the satellite city of Depok, near Jakarta. The 740 students at the school had nutritious meals of chicken, rice, vegetables, and other foods. The program aims to provide one meal daily to each student in early childhood education through senior high school grades. Meals will be provided at no cost to the students and foster better learning ability. In 2023, the United Nations Children’s Fund reported that an estimated one in 12 children under 5 suffer from malnourishment. Lack of nutrition leads to long-term development of children. The lunch program will give students a boost and help them succeed. Indonesia enjoys a robust tourist industry but sometimes struggles to “take care of her own.” The implementation of this meal program will help citizens succeed. You can find the source of this story’s featured image here. The post Indonesia Introduces Brand-New Meal Program To Combat Childhood Malnutrition appeared first on InspireMore.

As a longtime Led Zeppelin fan, seeing the lack of post-Led Zeppelin releases has been frustrating. There’s a simple explanation for that—the band did not often film its performances, and most of the tracks they recorded were released on their albums. There are few outtakes, rare cuts, or unreleased gems. Jimmy Page has pretty much released anything in the vaults on the remastered editions that came out in 2013. A couple of live albums have been released, like Live at the BBC and How the West Was Won, both of which were phenomenal, as well as Celebration Day. There was The post ‘Becoming Led Zeppelin’ Film Review appeared first on ClassicRockHistory.com.

By the Author of Dear Diary: It’s Me, Jessica Dear Diary, It’s me, Jessica. City HAM Guy ushered us into the utility section of the apartment building, closing the big, metal loading door behind us and securing it with a metal crossbar and a length of re-bar rod into a hole in the floor. We took off our wet weather gear and shook off as much of the water as we could.  The dogs shook themselves and seemed happy to be out of the rain. We climbed up several flights of stairs to the top floor. As we entered the corner apartment, he explained he had taken it after most people had left.  It was bigger than his place.  It was not easy hauling all his radio equipment and batteries up the stairs, but it was only two flights.  He led us through what was the living room, down the hall to where the bedrooms were.  He knocked on the door and said, “It’s me. They’re here.”  He then turned and said to us, “To keep the heat in, we put a blanket at the door floor and have three hanging around the door.” The door opened, and a short woman stood there with a small nervous smile.  She was wearing a big sweatshirt, sweat pants, pink fuzzy bunny slippers.  It was hard to tell her age.  She could have been in her late twenties or her late thirties.  I could barely tell she had a ‘bump’ in the sweatshirt.  Her light brown hair was pulled back into a short ponytail.   “Hi.  I’m Colleen.”  “Hello,” Savannah said with a big smile and confident voice, holding out her hand.  “My name is Savannah, and I will be taking care of you and your baby.”  Savannah told me later Daniel instructed her to be confident in front of patients at all times, even if she did not feel it herself.  Made the patients feel they were in good hands. “May I come in?” Savannah asked.   Colleen stepped aside to let us in, but Savannah asked if we would remain outside while she examined Colleen.   Both Jack and City HAM Guy suddenly got nervous and readily agreed.  Us ladies gave the men a look and exchanged smiles at their discomfort.  Rae and I followed the men, who were quickly retreating to the living room as Colleen closed the door behind her and Savannah. We removed our packs and took a seat on the couch.  City HAM Guy sat down on a reclining chair across from us.  Jack told the dogs to sit. “How was the trip?” “Nothing significant to report.  It was pretty easy.  Did not see a single person or signs of life.”  (Editors note,  “Nothing significant to report,” or NSTR, is a common US military term.  Our NATO allies in Afghanistan even asked, “What does ‘Niss-terr’ mean?”) City HAM Guy nodded gravely and stared out the window across the room. “At first, no one gave the power outage a second thought.  We all just assumed it would come back on sometime later that day.  Then the next day.  Then the next.  By then, food in refrigerators and freezers was going bad.  People were even running out of food.  There were fights.  But what made it really bad was no running water.  The toilets began to back up.  People from the lower floors came up and threatened those of us on the upper floors.  Told us not to use the toilet.  Some began using buckets but then would throw the contents out their windows.  There is a park four blocks from here with a large pond.  People would go there to get water.  Not just for flushing but to drink.  Most people did not have a way to filter the water.  They began to get sick.  The very young and the very old began to die.” He then looked back at us with a look I could only call sorrow. “That is when the die-off truly began.” Savannah came into the living room, all smiles.  Despite her smile, City HAM Guy stood up anxiously.   “Colleen and the baby appear well,” Savannah spoke directly to him.  “I would of liked to see Colleen gained a bit more weight. She is on the thin side, but who isn’t these days?  Still, she’s in good health.” “I have been able to trade for more food for information to keep her fed as well as I could,” City HAM Guy explained quickly. “You did good . . . Dad,” Savannah gave him a warm smile.  City HAM Guy actually blushed and looked away in embarrassment.   “Baby,” Savannah continued, “Is very active, stepping on mom’s bladder and performing what Colleen calls Olympic gold medal level gymnastics.” “Oh! Yes! The baby is very active, especially at night,” City HAM Guy said with a degree of pride.   “Yes, and Colleen is not getting a lot of sleep.  But that is normal at this stage of pregnancy.  She is experiencing back pain and the baby has dropped.  Birth could come in the next day or two.  Maybe three.  We’ll have to watch for her for contractions or losing her mucus plug.” Both men suddenly looked around the room nervously at anywhere but us ladies.   Savannah rolled her eyes and gave Rae and me a look. “Men,” she sighed. Entry two City HAM Guy said they had their own market, although from what he heard from our HAM Guy on the radio net, it was not nearly as big or varied as Four Corners.  The gang that Jack traded for antibiotics for Joanna had been forced out of their territory by another gang.  They came here, gathered others in the area, and formed their own militia to protect the area from the other gang.  He said there were still the occasional firefights, but nothing too bad.  They also kept the peace in their market.  City HAM Guy had formed a pretty good relationship with the militia as he used his radios as a hub to pass information from the much smaller, less powerful hand-held radios their militia used, which could not transmit the distance or reduced coverage from the city buildings.  They were like hills or the woodlands for us back home or at Four Corners.  Rae asked how much food he and Colleen had.  After City HAM Guy answered, Rae looked at Jack and he nodded.  He stood up, went to his pack where he pulled out loaves of lard bread, jerky, and the smoked ham and gave them to City HAM Guy.  With wide eyes he simply said, “Thank you.” “We are going to need to go to your market for additional provisions.  I brought something to trade with.  We will need you to come with us to make things easier as you are known.  Savannah, Rae, and the dogs will stay here.  Jessica and I will come with you.” “Okay,” City HAM Guy nodded.   Entry three The rain had stopped, but the sky was still overcast.   City HAM Guy led the way to the city’s ‘business district.’  Jack and I flanked him to each side, our rifles at an easy carry, but we could still bring them to bear, eyes scanning.  As we entered the market, a few people said “Hi” to City HAM Guy but looked at us with leery eyes.  I smiled at them.  Jack didn’t.  There were no stalls like in Four Corners.  People set up on the hoods of abandoned cars.  Some had fires going in big barrels.  Others just set up a fire on the road.  It was strange being surrounded by all the buildings, gray as the sky.  As in Four Corners, news traveled fast by word of mouth and half a dozen men suddenly confronted us with rifles. “Hey!  It’s okay!  They are friends of mine!” City HAM Guy said. Jack held both his hands up, letting his rifle hang down by the sling, and told me to do the same. “We are here just to trade,” Jack said.   One of them gave Jack a puzzled look. “You look familiar,” he said in a very deep, grave voice. “Me and my team were here over a year ago to trade with you fuel for antibiotics.” “Right,” he nodded.  “You are from the country.”  He turned to the other men, “All’s good.  He is one of the good ones.” They relaxed.   He gave me an up-and-down, “Be willing to bet she is a good guy too.  But . . . she should not be messed with,” he said with a grin. “You got that right.  Trained her myself,” Jack responded with a likewise grin. I gave him a smile and took up my rifle back into an easy carry.   “Easy there, killer,” he said, holding up his hands in mock surrender and a smile.  “The name is Jamal.  Leader of our militia.”  He held out his hand to Jack and then me.  After we shook hands, he set three other armed men to patrol but kept the other two with us.   “What are you doing here?” Jack nodded to City HAM Guy and explained the situation.   “He told me.  Things have not been good,” Jamal shook his head.  “Most who do get pregnant have miscarriages.  Some carry to term, and it ends in stillbirths.  We have had a few make it.  Others died within a month or two.”  He sighed.  “It is a horrible situation.  The mothers need proper nutrition.  Calories for their babies to even make it to birth.  And then they need more after birth to nurse their own babies.  We just don’t have the supplies to keep them healthy.  Barely even us.”  Jamal kicked some loose rocks aside in frustration.   Jack nodded, but I could tell by the look in his eyes that he was already thinking of something.   “What are you looking to trade for,” Jamal asked, changing the subject. “We need some things to make the trip back.  Mostly dried food, bread if you have it.” “What do you have to trade?” Jack smiled, handed me his rifle, and took his pack off.  He pulled out a large bottle, pulled out the cork and handed the bottle to Jamal.  Jamal took the bottle questioningly.  He took a sniff, looked even more questioningly, and then took a sip. “What is that,” he coughed, handing the bottle back. “Corn distilled vodka.  That is the mild stuff.  I make some moonshine I call ‘industrial strength cleaner.’  You can drink it or clean a bicycle chain with it.” Jamal chuckled and motioned for us to follow him through the market.  He said he would take us to one of the better places to trade for.  Meat in the market could be anything from rats to rabbits.  Pigeon to chicken.  Dog or cat.  They were able to grow vegetables, mostly root vegetables, some greens, very little fruit.  Scurvy was a problem.   As we made our way through the market, we were getting a lot of looks.  If this was anything like Four Corners, everyone knew everyone else.  Strangers were something new.  I was glad Jamal and his two men were with us.  Most of the looks were just curious, but a few looked hostile.  People were wearing coats to ward off the chill, but many of their clothes looked very dirty.  So did the people.  Some I would even call shabby.  Jamal explained clean water was used for drinking and cooking.  Bathing was a distant second.  He only took a sponge bath once a week.  He knew of others who would go for a full month.  They did what they could to keep children clean the best they could.   Diary, I must admit I suddenly felt a little guilty for taking a sponge bath every day.  And a little grateful as I looked around. We came up on a short man with a long white beard, orange blaze winter hat, heavy dirty white coat, equally dirty jeans, work boots, and some odd gloves without fingers.  He was tending a small fire on the pavement next to a city bus with a sheet metal length next to it.  On the metal were pieces of meat being smoked and dried.  He straightened up as we approached. He nodded to Jamal, his men and City HAM Guy.  “Who are your friends, Jamal?” “Jack and Jessica.  This is Floyd.  They’re here to help deliver a baby,” Jamal nodded in City HAM Guy’s direction.  “Looking to trade for some of your dried rabbit.  Something,” Jamal smiled, “You just might be interested in.” Floyd looked questioningly as Jack handed me his rifle again. Jack took the bottle out of his pack and handed it to Floyd.  Floyd pulled out the cork and took a smell.  Suddenly, there was a twinkle in his eye, and he took a sip.  Like Jamal he coughed but then was smiling and gave a laugh. “I haven’t had a drink like that in over a year!  I did trade for some watered-down homemade ale a few months ago, but nothing good like this!  Okay!  What do you want for the bottle?” Jack’s bottle of corn vodka got us enough smoked and dried rabbit to get us home.   Jack gave another bottle of the corn vodka to Jamal as we made our way back through the market for city HAM guys place. “What’s this for?” “The escort and making sure we were not trading for rat.” “It is not as bad as you would think.  A well-seasoned rat burger is not bad,” he shrugged.   “I was just thinking,” Jack said as he appeared to be in deep thought, “You have access to things here we don’t have.  Certain parts, metals, and other supplies.  I might be able to arrange to meet you at the halfway point on the road to trade parts for food.  Goat, lamb, venison, vegetables, maybe fruit.  I would have to ask around, but someone might be willing to trade for a live milking goat or sheep.” Jamal stopped and looked at Jack, “That…that would be great.  We could really use it.” “I am not making any promises, but I will do what I can.  I will have our HAM Guy contact yours when I get back and have something solid.  Then we can arrange a meet-up.” Diary, it was like watching Jack play cards.  I knew he knew some farmers that had herds of milking goats or sheep now.  If they had something to trade for a milking cow, the Miller’s had a lot more than a few.  With the breeding program they put into place, there would be more come this spring.  Jack was holding his cards close.  I wondered if Jamal knew.  And if he did, what cards did Jamal hold?   To be continued… The post Dear Diary, It’s Me, Jessica: Chapter 4 (Book 2) appeared first on The Organic Prepper.

Days after shocking the world with his upset victory in the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump espoused his hope of negotiating the “ultimate deal” between Israel and the Palestinian Arabs to resolve the “war that never ends.” As Trump told The Wall Street Journal at the time: “As a deal maker, I’d like to do … the deal that can’t be made. And do it for humanity’s sake.” Over eight years later, back in the White House following a Democratic interregnum and with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his side, Trump confirmed his interest in forging the “ultimate deal.” Crucially, however, Trump’s basic parameters of such a deal will not, to put it mildly, be those long favored by the bipartisan foreign policy establishment. Before getting into his latest proposal, let’s flash back to Trump’s first term. From 2017 to 2021, Trump governed as the most pro-Israel American president, by far, since the modern State of Israel was established in 1948. In January 2020, after already taking such measures as withdrawing the U.S. from former President Barack Obama’s Iran nuclear deal, moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, and recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, Trump—again standing at the White House with Netanyahu—unveiled his “Peace to Prosperity” plan to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Although imperfect, it was by far the most pro-Israel plan for resolving the conflict an American president had ever proposed. Because the Peace to Prosperity plan legitimized Israel applying its sovereignty over disputed areas of the Jordan Valley and Judea and Samaria (the “West Bank”), many of the Palestinians’ traditional Arab backers were piqued. In June 2020, the United Arab Emirates’ ambassador to the U.S., Yousef Al Otaiba, took the unprecedented step of publishing a Hebrew-language op-ed warning Israel not to go forward with asserting any additional sovereignty. Yet only two months later, in August 2020, the UAE became the first Arab country in two and a half decades to establish peace with Israel. Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan soon followed, joining the UAE in the Abraham Accords circle of peace. In one fell swoop, Trump and Netanyahu did more to achieve Israeli-Arab rapprochement than all previous American presidents and Israeli prime ministers combined. They debunked the failed consensus—the ruinous shibboleth pushed for decades by Washington’s professional “peace process” cartel that only further Israeli territorial concessions could yield peace. The “peace process-ers” pushed their “inside-out” approach: Create a new Palestinian state, then the Arab states will normalize ties with Israel. Trump and Netanyahu inverted the playbook, going for a novel “outside-in” approach. It worked like a charm. As both leaders recognized, the Hamas-overrun Gaza Strip has already been, ever since Israel’s 2005 unilateral withdrawal, a miniature “two-state solution” in action. And it has been an abject disaster. That brings us up to the present. Prior to this week, Trump had alluded to the idea that he wanted Egypt and Jordan—the latter of which quite literally was established as the “Palestinian” state under the terms of the European powers’ post-World War I settlement and the British Mandate for Palestine—to absorb the Arab population of Gaza. He has since doubled down. The idea of such a population transfer is unpopular in the Arab world, to put it mildly. But Trump has overcome such resistance before. Three consecutive presidents—Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Obama—failed to fulfill the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995, which mandated moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, by issuing “national security” waivers every six months. All were scared of the reaction in the proverbial “Arab street.” Trump didn’t care and did it anyway. The reaction, it turns out, was fairly muted. Suffice it to say Jordanian King Abdullah II’s trip to the White House on Tuesday will be interesting. But it turns out population transfer to Jordan and Egypt is only the first half of what Trump has in mind. He shocked everyone around him—including, it seems, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles—when he casually but assertively stated that the United States intends to “take over” Gaza after Israel’s war against Hamas. The U.S. will “own” Gaza, Trump said, and make it a “Riviera of the Middle East.” If we are taking Trump literally and not just seriously, to alter Salena Zito’s popular 2016 quip, it seems part two of the plan (U.S. ownership of Gaza) is contingent on part one (population transfer of the Arabs there). Or perhaps we should not take Trump literally. Perhaps this is, much like the Peace to Prosperity plan in 2020, a negotiating chip in a bigger plan—the much-desired entrance of Saudi Arabia into the Abraham Accords alliance, maybe. And there is certainly some early second-term data in favor of the “negotiating chip” theory: Trump’s recent deferral of 25% tariffs on both Canada and Mexico in response to those two countries’ leaders agreeing to send troops to their respective borders with the U.S., for instance. It’s difficult to know exactly what Trump is thinking here. There are real reasons for skepticism—but there are also real reasons for hope. He’s done this before. Let’s be patient and watch the shibboleth-buster in action. He may very well surprise us yet again. COPYRIGHT 2025 CREATORS.COM We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal. The post Trump’s Gaza Gambit and the Art of the Ultimate Deal appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Since President Trump’s reelection, we’ve seen the most momentous first two weeks of any presidential tenure. But even by Trump’s standards, this week’s meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu can’t be considered anything but historic. In his first term, their discussions produced the lauded Abraham Accords. This time, Trump came out and said what no American leader has had the courage to say since the Hamas terrorist attack of Oct. 7, 2023: The United States is willing to step up and play a leadership role in the Middle East to prevent such an attack from happening again. But the only way to ensure that history doesn’t repeat itself is by breaking the paradigm of failure that has been repeated for half a century and creating a new mold. Trump’s meeting with Netanyahu suggests that he intends to do just that. For those 50 years, America and others have failed due to the insistence that the Palestinians are something they’re not: a nation-state. Without the durable institutions of a state in place, such efforts prove futile at best, a fact evidenced in the long-term inability to achieve the so-called two-state solution despite the insistence over generations that it must be so. Now Trump is taking a new tack. He recognizes that the situation in Gaza is untenable. In his joint news conference with Netanyahu last night, he announced his intention to initiate a U.S. takeover of the Gaza Strip, temporarily relocate Palestinians, and develop the war-torn region into the “Riviera of the Middle East.” In doing so, Trump provided what the international community (and many Americans on the political left) have been clamoring for since the beginning of the war: a plan for the “day after” the war in Gaza. Instead of hysterically rejecting this plan out of hand, the very people who demanded it should either propose one of their own or engage with it. This proposal reflects Trump’s determination not to repeat the mistakes of his predecessors. Currently, Gaza lacks the institutions to make a two-state solution viable. Pretending that they exist will only lead to failure—which is unacceptable in an area critical to Israel’s security that has already cost American taxpayers many billions of dollars. Trump’s position illustrates his understanding of this, as well as his ability to recognize a valuable piece of real estate when he sees one, especially one falling so far below its potential. Critics are already arguing Trump’s plan simply parrots talking points out of a right-wing Israeli playbook, and that it marks an “alarming escalation in the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.” But this isn’t at all what the president proposed. Rather, his goal is to rebuild Gaza as a place that’s no longer a launching pad for terror attacks—something that will make it a better and safer place for Palestinians to live if they choose to make this their future rather than remain mired by Hamas in perpetual victimhood. Tellingly, these critics are some of the same people who prophesied a virtual apocalypse when Trump announced the U.S. Embassy’s move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in 2017. With a similar certainty to what they are claiming now, they proclaimed that the move would inflame the Arab street, and Israel’s neighbors would be compelled to attack the Jewish state whether they wanted to or not. Obviously, their claims didn’t hold true then, and there’s no reason to assume they will now. Nor, in that case, did Trump’s decision prove to be mere talking points from the Israeli far right. Rather, the clarity the move brought to the region about the U.S. position secured peace in Jerusalem, on the way to the broader peace of the Abraham Accords. Today, Trump extends that pattern further by offering Palestinians what he has always offered: peace through prosperity. It’s theirs to take. Originally published by Fox News The post President Trump Offers Palestinians a Chance for Peace and Prosperity appeared first on The Daily Signal.

By the Author of Dear Diary: It’s Me, Jessica Dear Diary, It’s me, Jessica. City HAM Guy ushered us into the utility section of the apartment building, closing the big, metal loading door behind us and securing it with a metal crossbar and a length of re-bar rod into a hole in the floor. We took off our wet weather gear and shook off as much of the water as we could.  The dogs shook themselves and seemed happy to be out of the rain. We climbed up several flights of stairs to the top floor. As we entered the corner apartment, he explained he had taken it after most people had left.  It was bigger than his place.  It was not easy hauling all his radio equipment and batteries up the stairs, but it was only two flights.  He led us through what was the living room, down the hall to where the bedrooms were.  He knocked on the door and said, “It’s me. They’re here.”  He then turned and said to us, “To keep the heat in, we put a blanket at the door floor and have three hanging around the door.” The door opened, and a short woman stood there with a small nervous smile.  She was wearing a big sweatshirt, sweat pants, pink fuzzy bunny slippers.  It was hard to tell her age.  She could have been in her late twenties or her late thirties.  I could barely tell she had a ‘bump’ in the sweatshirt.  Her light brown hair was pulled back into a short ponytail.   “Hi.  I’m Colleen.”  “Hello,” Savannah said with a big smile and confident voice, holding out her hand.  “My name is Savannah, and I will be taking care of you and your baby.”  Savannah told me later Daniel instructed her to be confident in front of patients at all times, even if she did not feel it herself.  Made the patients feel they were in good hands. “May I come in?” Savannah asked.   Colleen stepped aside to let us in, but Savannah asked if we would remain outside while she examined Colleen.   Both Jack and City HAM Guy suddenly got nervous and readily agreed.  Us ladies gave the men a look and exchanged smiles at their discomfort.  Rae and I followed the men, who were quickly retreating to the living room as Colleen closed the door behind her and Savannah. We removed our packs and took a seat on the couch.  City HAM Guy sat down on a reclining chair across from us.  Jack told the dogs to sit. “How was the trip?” “Nothing significant to report.  It was pretty easy.  Did not see a single person or signs of life.”  (Editors note,  “Nothing significant to report,” or NSTR, is a common US military term.  Our NATO allies in Afghanistan even asked, “What does ‘Niss-terr’ mean?”) City HAM Guy nodded gravely and stared out the window across the room. “At first, no one gave the power outage a second thought.  We all just assumed it would come back on sometime later that day.  Then the next day.  Then the next.  By then, food in refrigerators and freezers was going bad.  People were even running out of food.  There were fights.  But what made it really bad was no running water.  The toilets began to back up.  People from the lower floors came up and threatened those of us on the upper floors.  Told us not to use the toilet.  Some began using buckets but then would throw the contents out their windows.  There is a park four blocks from here with a large pond.  People would go there to get water.  Not just for flushing but to drink.  Most people did not have a way to filter the water.  They began to get sick.  The very young and the very old began to die.” He then looked back at us with a look I could only call sorrow. “That is when the die-off truly began.” Savannah came into the living room, all smiles.  Despite her smile, City HAM Guy stood up anxiously.   “Colleen and the baby appear well,” Savannah spoke directly to him.  “I would of liked to see Colleen gained a bit more weight. She is on the thin side, but who isn’t these days?  Still, she’s in good health.” “I have been able to trade for more food for information to keep her fed as well as I could,” City HAM Guy explained quickly. “You did good . . . Dad,” Savannah gave him a warm smile.  City HAM Guy actually blushed and looked away in embarrassment.   “Baby,” Savannah continued, “Is very active, stepping on mom’s bladder and performing what Colleen calls Olympic gold medal level gymnastics.” “Oh! Yes! The baby is very active, especially at night,” City HAM Guy said with a degree of pride.   “Yes, and Colleen is not getting a lot of sleep.  But that is normal at this stage of pregnancy.  She is experiencing back pain and the baby has dropped.  Birth could come in the next day or two.  Maybe three.  We’ll have to watch for her for contractions or losing her mucus plug.” Both men suddenly looked around the room nervously at anywhere but us ladies.   Savannah rolled her eyes and gave Rae and me a look. “Men,” she sighed. Entry two City HAM Guy said they had their own market, although from what he heard from our HAM Guy on the radio net, it was not nearly as big or varied as Four Corners.  The gang that Jack traded for antibiotics for Joanna had been forced out of their territory by another gang.  They came here, gathered others in the area, and formed their own militia to protect the area from the other gang.  He said there were still the occasional firefights, but nothing too bad.  They also kept the peace in their market.  City HAM Guy had formed a pretty good relationship with the militia as he used his radios as a hub to pass information from the much smaller, less powerful hand-held radios their militia used, which could not transmit the distance or reduced coverage from the city buildings.  They were like hills or the woodlands for us back home or at Four Corners.  Rae asked how much food he and Colleen had.  After City HAM Guy answered, Rae looked at Jack and he nodded.  He stood up, went to his pack where he pulled out loaves of lard bread, jerky, and the smoked ham and gave them to City HAM Guy.  With wide eyes he simply said, “Thank you.” “We are going to need to go to your market for additional provisions.  I brought something to trade with.  We will need you to come with us to make things easier as you are known.  Savannah, Rae, and the dogs will stay here.  Jessica and I will come with you.” “Okay,” City HAM Guy nodded.   Entry three The rain had stopped, but the sky was still overcast.   City HAM Guy led the way to the city’s ‘business district.’  Jack and I flanked him to each side, our rifles at an easy carry, but we could still bring them to bear, eyes scanning.  As we entered the market, a few people said “Hi” to City HAM Guy but looked at us with leery eyes.  I smiled at them.  Jack didn’t.  There were no stalls like in Four Corners.  People set up on the hoods of abandoned cars.  Some had fires going in big barrels.  Others just set up a fire on the road.  It was strange being surrounded by all the buildings, gray as the sky.  As in Four Corners, news traveled fast by word of mouth and half a dozen men suddenly confronted us with rifles. “Hey!  It’s okay!  They are friends of mine!” City HAM Guy said. Jack held both his hands up, letting his rifle hang down by the sling, and told me to do the same. “We are here just to trade,” Jack said.   One of them gave Jack a puzzled look. “You look familiar,” he said in a very deep, grave voice. “Me and my team were here over a year ago to trade with you fuel for antibiotics.” “Right,” he nodded.  “You are from the country.”  He turned to the other men, “All’s good.  He is one of the good ones.” They relaxed.   He gave me an up-and-down, “Be willing to bet she is a good guy too.  But . . . she should not be messed with,” he said with a grin. “You got that right.  Trained her myself,” Jack responded with a likewise grin. I gave him a smile and took up my rifle back into an easy carry.   “Easy there, killer,” he said, holding up his hands in mock surrender and a smile.  “The name is Jamal.  Leader of our militia.”  He held out his hand to Jack and then me.  After we shook hands, he set three other armed men to patrol but kept the other two with us.   “What are you doing here?” Jack nodded to City HAM Guy and explained the situation.   “He told me.  Things have not been good,” Jamal shook his head.  “Most who do get pregnant have miscarriages.  Some carry to term, and it ends in stillbirths.  We have had a few make it.  Others died within a month or two.”  He sighed.  “It is a horrible situation.  The mothers need proper nutrition.  Calories for their babies to even make it to birth.  And then they need more after birth to nurse their own babies.  We just don’t have the supplies to keep them healthy.  Barely even us.”  Jamal kicked some loose rocks aside in frustration.   Jack nodded, but I could tell by the look in his eyes that he was already thinking of something.   “What are you looking to trade for,” Jamal asked, changing the subject. “We need some things to make the trip back.  Mostly dried food, bread if you have it.” “What do you have to trade?” Jack smiled, handed me his rifle, and took his pack off.  He pulled out a large bottle, pulled out the cork and handed the bottle to Jamal.  Jamal took the bottle questioningly.  He took a sniff, looked even more questioningly, and then took a sip. “What is that,” he coughed, handing the bottle back. “Corn distilled vodka.  That is the mild stuff.  I make some moonshine I call ‘industrial strength cleaner.’  You can drink it or clean a bicycle chain with it.” Jamal chuckled and motioned for us to follow him through the market.  He said he would take us to one of the better places to trade for.  Meat in the market could be anything from rats to rabbits.  Pigeon to chicken.  Dog or cat.  They were able to grow vegetables, mostly root vegetables, some greens, very little fruit.  Scurvy was a problem.   As we made our way through the market, we were getting a lot of looks.  If this was anything like Four Corners, everyone knew everyone else.  Strangers were something new.  I was glad Jamal and his two men were with us.  Most of the looks were just curious, but a few looked hostile.  People were wearing coats to ward off the chill, but many of their clothes looked very dirty.  So did the people.  Some I would even call shabby.  Jamal explained clean water was used for drinking and cooking.  Bathing was a distant second.  He only took a sponge bath once a week.  He knew of others who would go for a full month.  They did what they could to keep children clean the best they could.   Diary, I must admit I suddenly felt a little guilty for taking a sponge bath every day.  And a little grateful as I looked around. We came up on a short man with a long white beard, orange blaze winter hat, heavy dirty white coat, equally dirty jeans, work boots, and some odd gloves without fingers.  He was tending a small fire on the pavement next to a city bus with a sheet metal length next to it.  On the metal were pieces of meat being smoked and dried.  He straightened up as we approached. He nodded to Jamal, his men and City HAM Guy.  “Who are your friends, Jamal?” “Jack and Jessica.  This is Floyd.  They’re here to help deliver a baby,” Jamal nodded in City HAM Guy’s direction.  “Looking to trade for some of your dried rabbit.  Something,” Jamal smiled, “You just might be interested in.” Floyd looked questioningly as Jack handed me his rifle again. Jack took the bottle out of his pack and handed it to Floyd.  Floyd pulled out the cork and took a smell.  Suddenly, there was a twinkle in his eye, and he took a sip.  Like Jamal he coughed but then was smiling and gave a laugh. “I haven’t had a drink like that in over a year!  I did trade for some watered-down homemade ale a few months ago, but nothing good like this!  Okay!  What do you want for the bottle?” Jack’s bottle of corn vodka got us enough smoked and dried rabbit to get us home.   Jack gave another bottle of the corn vodka to Jamal as we made our way back through the market for city HAM guys place. “What’s this for?” “The escort and making sure we were not trading for rat.” “It is not as bad as you would think.  A well-seasoned rat burger is not bad,” he shrugged.   “I was just thinking,” Jack said as he appeared to be in deep thought, “You have access to things here we don’t have.  Certain parts, metals, and other supplies.  I might be able to arrange to meet you at the halfway point on the road to trade parts for food.  Goat, lamb, venison, vegetables, maybe fruit.  I would have to ask around, but someone might be willing to trade for a live milking goat or sheep.” Jamal stopped and looked at Jack, “That…that would be great.  We could really use it.” “I am not making any promises, but I will do what I can.  I will have our HAM Guy contact yours when I get back and have something solid.  Then we can arrange a meet-up.” Diary, it was like watching Jack play cards.  I knew he knew some farmers that had herds of milking goats or sheep now.  If they had something to trade for a milking cow, the Miller’s had a lot more than a few.  With the breeding program they put into place, there would be more come this spring.  Jack was holding his cards close.  I wondered if Jamal knew.  And if he did, what cards did Jamal hold?   To be continued… The post Dear Diary, It’s Me, Jessica: Chapter 4 (Book 2) appeared first on The Organic Prepper.