NEWS

Photo by: Robin and Arlene Karpan

Well there is just no accounting for the fickle weather of Mother Nature is there?

It’s Easter and we are on spring 2026 version 3.0. Meaning we have had three very pleasant warm spell and melting snow and three snow storm setbacks. But better than some areas not too far from our location, who regularly have spring 2026 version 6.0 before it finally sticks to spring. By then the people, cattle, gophers are so confused about what season they are in it’s not funny anymore. The quick temperature fluctuations alone cause confusion and disorientation in normally sane folks. However folks who live and work out on the prairie desolation are prepared for terrible weather on any given day. It’s just how we are brought up out here. And compared to some places in the world these days a bit of nasty weather is the least of anyone’s concern.

If you are in the mood for some adventure and natural disasters you might be well advised to stop by APRIL/MAY ACTION, CRIME, & THRILLER GIVEAWAY website and have a look

Of course with the current interest and emphasis on technology and particularly Artificial Intelligence you might be convinced to focus your attention in the Sci-Fi direction with the emphasis on AI. Signal Received will provide a superior selection of books for your discerning palate.

A sad reality of humanity is that we spend much effort complaining and pining for what we have not. Yet all around us spring brings forth items of beauty from the prairies like the Crocus for free. Pick a hat full of these lovelies and show up at your best girl’s door and she will forgive you for all your sins and transgressions.

Best

Martin E. Silenus

I confess I made a foolish decision recently to actually attempt to gauge where we are in Artificial Intelligence development. Ya right, what in the world was I thinking?

What I found was an unfathomable thick cloud of hype, marketing swill, techno babble, vaporware, blue sky visions, nonsense, misdirection, obfuscation and AI stickers stuck on every product including toilets. By adding an AI sticker and a .15 cent chip board which fails in 90 days you can charge an additional $700 for the toilet. All this to a device that works extremely well without any technology or AI. The marketing noise really makes me angry!

As XBOT 4000 says to 11-45-G (Metro) in Love Death & Robots “Jeez, calm down your motherboard”.

All of which is not to say that there are no honest firms (a relative term) who are sincere about their work on artificial intelligence and making impressive progress as there certainly are. However they are buried in the utter blizzard of marketing swill from every company who slaps an AI sticker on their shovels and claims a higher price for a “smart AI shovel”.

In those instances where AI is applicable and is integrated it is wonderful to have options for everyone’s benefit. But it also means that consumers must investigate very thoroughly the claims of AI with the product they are pondering. “There is a fool born every minute” bemoans how people are constantly gullible, easily deceived, and prone to making foolish choices and being swindled.

And speaking of Artificial Intelligence mine SCI-FI series of six books the first book D.A.R.I.A. One will be free on Feb 14th and 15th, 2026. Click on the pic above and download from Amazon and enjoy.

Of course if you are kinda done to death of AI and all its palaver you might enjoy the more basic richness of Pictures For Your Mind. Also free on Feb. 14th and 15th of 2026. Just click on the pic and download from Amazon. I’m sure you will enjoy a chuckle or two.

So here is the thing about the “artificial intelligence world race”, anyone that can is in a no holds barred race for AI dominance. In many ways it is another “nuclear bomb race” insomuch as he who has it first has dominance. Never mind that we are not sure of all the benefits or the shortcomings. All those details will be worked out later, but right now you MUST be the clear winner and have world dominance.

The other thing that becomes painfully clear is that “media” can never be trusted as they are bought and sold by the highest bidder with utterly zero concern for the consumer.

Best

Martin E. Silenus

I’m always so impressed by Mother Nature’s work with hoar frost on trees at this time of the year as she does such a spectacular job! Thank goodness for digital cameras and smartphones with strong photo capabilities.

However it can be vexing to say the least to attempt to get a weather forecast for your area in terminology which can be understood. Apparently “weather persons” cannot just give you the forecast. Rather they must “dramatize” the forecast by using pseudo-technical gibberish terminology. Such as “atmospheric river, polar vortex plunge, bomb cyclone, bombogenesis, derecho and heat dome!” Because the weather forecast itself is not important as much as entertaining and retaining the viewers. 

I wonder if there should be two forecasts, one for the agricultural community and one for the urbanites who are only interested in going to the lake if the weather is fine and there are not too many bugs.

Last month I offered the first book of this series as free and this month as it is Xmas I am offering the second and third books in the series free. Both books will be free on December 20th and 21st for you to download and enjoy.

And while you are browsing for books be sure to stop at the above site for a very tasty selection of Action, Crime, & Thriller books.

I think I am more comfortable using a mixture of tried and true methods to get a forecast. Like knowing what the weather is 300 miles up wind of where you are. so check your prevailing winds and see what’s upstream and headed your way. Red sky at night sailors delight, red sky at morning sailors takes warning. Red sky at sunset is fair weather on the morrow, red sky in morning is warning of storms for the day. Are the cattle upset and bawling huddled a corner of the pasture? If so it means you are close on to a solid thunderstorm. High muskrat houses in the sloughs at fall mean the winter will have a lot of snow.

It doesn’t take teams of highly paid meteorologists to “forecast the weather” the clues are all around you when you are outside. Just learn to read them, the information is there, that and common sense are all you need!

May Peace and Happiness be with you this Christmas Holiday season and through the New Year.

Best

Martin E. Silenus

The harvest for 2025 is complete by and large. Some areas have had one of their best growing seasons ever and of course some areas not so much. But there are still tasks associated with land husbandry and stewardship to complete. From high speed disking to break up the straw and land crust to working in sprayer and harvest tracks to ensure the land is smooth and a proper seed bed is prepared for spring seeding. Some folk’s ae seeding winter wheat and some are seeding a cover crop to discourage weeds. The maintenance of the land is of foremost consideration as there lies next year’s income.

As odd as this may seem other unpleasant tasks are also underway. Calculating harvest fuel costs and how much fuel has been stolen from the machinery. It is not always practical to bring all the machinery back to the security of the farm yard every evening. As a result that equipment which sits in the field is often robbed of fuel, tools, and may suffer deliberate malicious damage. Not to mention counting the multitude of farm vehicles to ensure they are all present and accounted for. A wide variety of support trucks are required for harvest and field work and a disturbing number of them are stolen from the field or sometimes right out of the farm yard.

It’s a discouraging and infuriating situation, in this rich country of plenty, that there are those who are so useless as to prey on everyday folks who are trying to make a living. Just another insurance claim the authorities say, likely never see the vehicle or tools or fuel again or find those responsible. But your insurance costs go up accordingly. Makes you ask the question if the authorities are not going to be actively investigating and arresting the criminal then why are we paying for the “authorities”?

It used to be late fall was a time when bugs and mice tried to get inside shops and homes to avoid the coming cold weather. Nowadays it seems there is a plentitude of criminals who follow the vermin by breaking into deserted farm buildings to avoid the cold. Of course they utterly destroy the premises. And if they are caught they are happy to go to a nice warm jail getting three meals a day, a warm bed, gym privilege, cable TV and cigarette allowance. Even illegal drugs if they know the right prisoners. That’s certainly not punishment, that’s four star vacation time for them.

I don’t know what to say about things like that, I really don’t. It seems I would be a horrible person if I even think to myself what should really happen to these vermin. But I can assure you the repercussions to them for their actions would be a great deterrent to others who might consider similar. If I was to spend any time pondering the topic of course.

A Sheriff by the name of Joe Arpaio down in Maricopa County, Arizona had a very interesting approach by keeping his prisoners in tents and making them work 7am to 2pm 6 days a week for their meals. No four star accommodations there, no reward for being a criminal there like there is here. It seems people now a days don’t want to punish convicts, instead reward them! I don’t know how in the world that came about, but it certainly sure isn’t right!

My first book of the Vietnam Trilogy will be free on November 15th and 16th, 2025. Not a long read but it will lead you into the other two books of the series. I reminder of those who gave their lives to protect our North American freedom and way of life. And please do not forget Remembrance Day.

When you are not following the news regarding 3I/ATLAS and the strangeness of what it is doing, you might fill in some recreational reading with some Sci-Fi books from the above link.

On a much lighter note you might read my adventures of acquiring, moving and finishing my “Man Cave”. At the very least it will provide ideas and mistakes to avoid when building your own.

Anyway the dogs are explaining to me how they need to roll in the snow and how enthusiastic they are to run about snuffing to see what they can find. So I will accommodate them and enjoy their high energy efforts while I ponder this business of 3I/ATLAS. A very curious situation at so many levels to be sure.

Best

Martin E. Silenus

Bringing in the Sheaves

Yikes, what the heck, how can it be October all ready?

It seems so many seasons were missing this year, or they were just subtly blended into the weather of the day and we did not notice it. Still it seemed there was a noted dearth of hot summer weather to help the crops along and to warm up the lake water for vacation time. Of course the other stand out issue this year has been the amount of smoke from forest fires which drifts back and forth on the prevailing winds. The smoke is unpleasant for everyone and extremely dangerous for some. Being incarcerated in your home when it is snowy, icy, blizzarding in winter is one thing but being incarcerated in your house in the summer due to thick forest fire smoke is quite something else.

However I’m pleased that a sizable number of agricultural folks have enjoyed some of the best crops they have had in forty years of farming with just some amazing yields. It certainly will be a “catch up year” for those folks as the drought has been prevalent for over seven years in some localities.

Working with Mother Nature and her precocious habits is always a headache that Tylenol and Ibuprofen cannot fix, so when she works in your favor it is very rewarding!

The world watched in horror at the tragedy and devastation of the 2004 Earthquake and Tsunami that devastated Phuket, Banda Aceh in Sumatra, Thailand, Siri Lanka and Indonesia killing 230,000 people. More recently the world again was transfixed as it watched the 2011 Japan Earthquake and Tsunami kill 20,000 men, women and children. Including the absolute destruction of everything reaching inland for 10 kilometers.

Even so no one was prepared for the under-sea fault rupture Earthquake and the Mega Tsunami which destroyed the coastal areas of Southern British Columbia, Canada and the North Western coastal area of the USA, the area called Cascadia.

Armageddon of Cascadia will be FREE on October 18th and 19th, 2025. Download, read, ponder and enjoy!

 Hasn’t every red-blooded man wanted his own Man Shed? Of course he has, his Castle away from home where the world is his and his alone, his man cave filled with his specific interests. A place where he can say what he pleases, drink his libations, smoke his preferences, listen to rock music loud, watch whatever the hell he wants on a huge assed TV, BBQ whatever and whenever, and have whoever tickles his fancy over to party! Hell yeah, oh hell yeah. The way life should be for a hard working male!

Then you need to read this book to learn how I went about acquiring the male dream MAN SHED. It’s an eye-opener and will provide you with a laundry lists of “don’t do it this way”.

Just click on the picture above.

For your monthly allotment of mayhem and carnage check out this website for some excellent reads.

Yes, this is the modern equivalent to “bringing in the sheaves”. One of more combines, one or more grain carts and several semi-tractor trailers to haul the crop to the farmyard bin storage or to grain elevator if you are lucky.

While the technique has certainly refined and evolved in the mechanics and process, there still remains a similarity in the act of harvest and the following celebration of Thanksgiving. Be appreciative of what the land has produced for you as a result of your labors and the blessings of Mother Nature.

A Stook (or Shock) of Sheaves

Yes I am back, after a month’s absence. Sometimes family and life’s challenges take priority and must be attended to first and other items take a back seat.

It is harvest time, boy is it harvest time, and I’m pleased to report for some of the farm folks the crop yields have been above average. Really remarkable given the 2025 weather and what I refer to as “seasonal offsets”. Not a fancy weather-office term, just a simple observation of seasons not occurring in the months they usually do. It’s a big thing for farmers and ranchers who operate on “windows of opportunity” for seasonal activities like seeding, crop husbandry and harvest. Many are the farms folks who seeded at a conventional time and had the seed fail to germinate due to the soil not warming up as expected and they had to re-seed, which then pushes that crop back in the harvest window.

Sadly we have had several very nasty thunderstorms come through and cause considerable damage to property, machinery, grain bins and of course destroyed the crop. In typical farmer practical logic one such affected commented “Well don’t need the grain bins anyway seeing as the crop is destroyed!”

Mother Nature is fickle and good farming weather is parceled out in a manner peculiar only according to her and fairness has nothing to do with it.

There is a lot of discussion and wonderment in the news lately about the earthquakes and storms of mini-earthquakes in Yellowstone’s super volcano. Should events see that volcano erupt we will not need to worry at all about “seasonal offset” impacting agriculture as there will not be any agriculture at all.

My book Sanctuary which discusses events leading up to the eruption and the following consequences will be Free on September 13th & 14th, 2025. Check it out if you have the nerve. Let’s hope this remains a work of fiction!!

I observe humanity too often as “ostriches with their heads in the sand”. True it is not complementary, but then fear and refusal to change or even consider new facts are not complementary either. Never more an issue than when it comes to space exploration and the potential for other life forms. Read the news on Oumuamua and 3I/Atlas opinions of a hostile alien threat. Then read some of the excellent Sci-Fi books at Signal Received to broaden your horizons.

This is a collection of short stories I penned in the spaces between larger eBook efforts. Most often these “brain flares” occur in the middle of the night, hence “Nocturnal Emissions”. Time passes and ideas come and go, soon there is a collection of the “in between short stories”. Some might be expanded on to become an ebook of their own and many remain just as they were conceived. As delightful and tasty entrée fabrications of imagination. Some have a beginning and end some don’t as they are just captured in a lightening flash. All of the stories are fiction, yet most have actual truths and or personal experiences in them at some point. I will let you sort out what you think is fact, fiction, fantasy and personal experience. Read and enjoy!

Patience is a virtue and this year’s harvest will be a test insomuch as it will be a protracted harvest. Farmers waiting anxiously for late crops to ripen, while hoping the harvest window will remain open long enough for them to get what they can.

Stay calm and stay safe!!

Martin E. Silenus

Stunted Winter Wheat & Lentil Crop Failure

Unfortunately it seems the 2025 Farming and Ranching sector is not enjoying the year that was anticipated. North American agriculture is plagued by drought in many areas and floods in others.

The wind blew roaring, howling, incessantly, a gale from the southeast night and day. Every day was the same winds 20-50mph with wind warning on some days as the gale reached up to 70 mph. The North forests burned in drought, cabins at lakes were consumed, and homes for residents of the North burned to ashes, emergency evacuation in hours. The south prairie suffered dry pasture grass fires, stubble fires and cracked earth in the drought. There was nothing but wind, dirt and smoke in the air. On the odd day it did not blow from the southeast it blew from the northwest and covered the prairies in thick acrid forest fire smoke and of course dust from the dried out land.

The old experienced farmers watched, shook their heads, muttered, sighed and changed their seeding plans in an attempt to balance the dry weather and closing seeding window. They also watched the native pasture grass stay gray and dirty and they calculated the amount of feed they would need for their current cattle herd size.

For some six weeks the wind raged and dirt sandblasted the land. For those brave souls who seeded on faith and little else the crop germinated and broke through the surface of the ground was shocked and stopped growing. It was too dry, and the winds and dirt drifting injured the plants. It was looking like the crop was gone to be nothing but a cover crop to control weeds and nothing more.

Then the rains came and with a vengeance, late snow in the mountains and light snow and rain from the purple bloated clouds spreading out across the prairie landscape. Thunderstorms were violent, with hail, and thick tendrils of heavy rain beating crops flat. Some farms were hailed out; others rained out by 4 to 6 inches of rain and drowned by floods. Yet a few miles away the storm may have provided a more applicable amount of rain and no hail. There was no accounting for who or where got what. Many had high wind or tornado damage to farms and buildings to add to their misery lists.

For the drought stricken areas the rain was too late, winter wheat did not fill the heads, so all you had was feed straw bales for cattle, or grazing. Other crops which were seeded early were all but dead recovered enough to make a “poor crop”. The crops seeded later got the biggest benefit as there is lots of moisture. Crops germinated and broke through the ground into plenty of moisture with heat and became strong and healthy.

There will be hay crops but nothing compared to other years as it is just too late. Pasture grazing will provide for the cattle through the summer but herd will need to be reduced in size due to the cost and availability of winter feed.

Odd storm patterns and repeatable areas continued to suffer from violent storms while not but a few miles away the land was blessed with rain and no wind, hail or flooding. For those in the drought area two additional threats manifested themselves. Gophers and grasshoppers ate whatever was left of the crops. The situation was clearly a “piling on” of crop disasters.

Seven year weather cycles they say are generally the norm. For some it has past seven years and is headed for ten. Some years a poor crop can be scratched out to sustain another year’s existence. But for others it’s a continuing slow death of the family farm, with low commodity prices and high input costs contributing to the problems.

The human toll is very high; it’s a terrible thing to be struggling with an impoverished farm while neighbors short miles away reap bountiful harvests and profits. Mental health suffers for families cursed so. Mother Nature doesn’t listen, requests fall on deaf ears.

D.A.R.I.A. (Defense Attack Recon Information Access) is an Artilect level sentient Artificial Intelligence entity which learns, recognizes, monitors, controls, evaluates, researches and recommends at levels even the brightest humans can only envy! Matt, Frosty, Daria, Beast and Muther are approached by a Virtual Reality Government Agent and asked if they can address and resolve the growing problem presented by the Red Market (human organ traffic). To resolve this challenge properly will be a massive undertaking requiring new facilities, additional sentient AI entities and a crack team of specialized professionals, not to mention significant upgrades to their tech/armament tool-sets.

Book Six in the D.A.R.I.A. series will be offered FREE on July 19th and 20th, 2025. Just click on the picture, download and enjoy the read!

WTF-OMG Volume II is the second eBook in a trilogy series of short articles dealing with personal and humorous views of people, society, our customs and traditions. It asks a lot of awkward questions about the state of things and why we do what we do. It even includes an adult language Dick and Puff reader. Please note the ADULT LANGUAGE WARNING. Many will relate to the Dick stories ( a person not a thing). Entertaining and light-hearted it is sure to keep the reader amused while waiting in the never ending line-ups of our current sociological lifestyle. And will contain at least one or two Martin E. Silenus rants!

With regard to our farmer and rancher friends and neighbors, there are many of them who look at this year’s crop and say “well I’ve spent all I’m going to on this crop and I’m not inclined to sit and watch it burn up. Load up the camper and lets spend the rest of the summer at the lake, more time to rest and enjoy the warm weather!”

There’s tough and then there’s Agricultural tough!!

Best

Martin E. Silenus

I suppose everyone at one time or another has looked around and wondered to themselves “what in the hell am I doing here?” Such occasions are often precipitated by a series of events which fell well outside the boundaries of our plans and accordingly our noses are out of joint. So we pout, like petulant children, mostly to ourselves as we don’t really want anyone to see we are upset as that might embarrass us. After all we are adults you know and capable of handling grown up situations.

After a bit of sulking we regain our equilibrium and realize all the things we don’t have to endure and we begin to once again feel pretty damn good about where we are and our lot in life. We don’t have a war going on, we don’t have tornados, we don’t have earthquakes, volcanoes or avalanches attempting to bury us and our small towns. That’s pretty damn good compared to what folks elsewhere have to cope with and endure the ravages of. I think I would really have a really serious fit if I were told by authorities I had two hours to pack my stuff and evacuate or be burned alive by a forest fire.

D.A.R.I.A. is a super human Artificial Intelligence Artilect entity that learns, recognizes, monitors, controls, evaluates, and recommends at levels that humans can only envy. Matt, Frosty, Daria with the Artilect intelligence of Muther and the sisters, are faced with Emergency repairs of an ailing Trade Station. At the same time Matt is offered a very lucrative assignment on a small REE (Rare Earth Element) rich planet to broker a mining agreement. What seems like a straight forward assignment goes sideways with deceit and turns into an ongoing train wreck. Pirates bring the risk of death and the mining company is not as it might seem on the surface. D.A.R.I.A. BOOK FIVE is the fifth book in this exciting series of Matt Southam and Daria the sentient AI computer system. If you loved Ex Machina, Her, or F.R.I.D.A.Y. from Iron Man, then you will be thrilled by this new Martin E. Silenus book.

You will be delighted, I hope, to learn this book is free on June 14th and 15th 2025. A very timely gift for Father’s Day. Just click on the picture to go to Amazon and get your copy. Enjoy!

The world watched in horror at the tragedy and devastation of the 2004 Earthquake and Tsunami that devastated Phuket, Banda Aceh in Sumatra, Thailand, Siri Lanka and Indonesia killing 230,000 people. More recently the world again was transfixed as it watched the 2011 Japan Earthquake and Tsunami kill 20,000 men, women and children. Along with the absolute destruction of everything reaching inland for 10 kilometers.

Even so no one was prepared for the under sea fault rupture Earthquake and the Mega Tsunami which destroyed the coastal areas of Southern British Columbia, Canada and the North Western coastal area of the USA, the area called Cascadia.

Written by Martin E. Silenus following the popular “SANCTUARY: THE CATACLYSM OF NORTH AMERICA” book, Martin once again examines our societies terrible vulnerability and risks from inevitable natural disasters.

Pickup your copy of ARMAGEDDON OF CASCADIA today to get a grasp and understanding of the horrific scope of this pending disaster.

The “blue hour”, always offline, the time of day when all is calm and peaceful. We relax and absorb the stunning view and perhaps share a libation with friends and family. A time of love and comradery and tranquility, reflecting not only on the events of the day but also on how very fortunate we really are with our place in the world and our life. Enjoy the therapy of Mother Nature.

Best

Martin E. Silenus