Patrick Heizer

Blue Glade Farm's bees near dawn on a slightly foggy summer morning.

This pawpaw is now already taller than my reach.

Lost feeling in my arm an hour ago but I don't dare move.

Progeria: When Aging Isn't Aging How a cathedral in Venice changes our understanding of a rare genetic disease.

If you'd like to read more about progeria and our thesis, here is my piece, "Progeria: When Aging Isn't Aging."
open.substack.com/pub/thecount...

The accumulation of progerin underlies the loss of aortic smooth muscle cells in Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome - Cell Death & Disease Cell Death & Disease - The accumulation of progerin underlies the loss of aortic smooth muscle cells in Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome

My latest scientific paper has been published!

This part of a series of papers and adds to the thesis that progeria is not "aging" but a biophysical breakdown of the nuclear lamina.
share.google/w2seDV7OiTWw...

This piece made a very minor contribution to the world; I believe I'm the first person to bring this Bismarck quote to the internet:

"If we do not prepare for ourselves the role of the hammer, there will be nothing left but that of the anvil."

Another subtle sign of mass American affluence: you never hear about kids unable to afford basic sports equipment.

It was a major plot point in The Sandlot. Living NBA legends couldn't afford a basketball. Camus played goalkeeper so his shoes would last longer.

If AGI Is Coming, We Need a New Otto Von Bismarck The Counterpoint is a newsletter that uses both analytic and holistic thinking to examine the wider world.

Otto von Bismarck is one of the most impactful people to have shaped the modern world, yet few know anything about him.

I genuinely believe he is one of the most important figures for our age.

Why? Because of artificial intelligence.

thecounterpoint.substack.com/p/if-agi-is-...

It's a tough life being a coonhound.

I'd have to check my records to be certain, but I'm pretty sure this is a Chinese/American hybrid cultivar known as "Dunstan."

Wow. Hard to find the words.

I walked into one of the chestnut orchards to get some updated pictures, & I noticed our very first chestnut bur.

Now, I'd guess there aren't any nuts in it, but it's still one of the steps on a decades long journey.

Humbling. Surreal.

Your annual reminder that consumer fireworks should be illegal.

Superfluous waste that does nothing but pollute the environment, injure people, and disturb the peace.

Flowers on the farm, July edition:

It really is insane that the GOP is known as the party of fiscal responsibility.

Every Democrat since Carter has decreased the deficit.

Every Republican since Eisenhower has increased the deficit.

There are no words for the absurdity that is the GOP cutting the Child Tax Credit in 2022 but now proposing to give an extra tax deduction to seniors in 2025.

Just stealing from working families to give to the Boomers.

The first chestnut of the 2024 cohort to grow taller than its tree tube.

Took the girls down to Baltimore for a day at the National Aquarium and Inner Harbor.

We're all going to sleep well tonight.

This one is a graft of the "NC-1" cultivar, the only one we have of that variety.

Most of my orchard is Potomac and Allegheny, but we also have Sunflower, KSU Atwood, Susquehanna, & Shenandoah

And ones started from seed from Deep Run and Great Escape Farms

Just over three years ago, I planted our first pawpaws. They were basically twigs.

Today I noticed that one of them is taller than me.

My opinion on the NYC mayoral primary: I don't have one because I don't live there!

Just happy it'll be over soon so I can stop hearing about it.

At least here in Maryland, pawpaw seedlings will do just fine in full, 80%+ sun.

However, my impression is that they do grow better in the first two years with mostly shade.

Compare these four seedlings, two in a tomato cage, two in shade cloth, just a few feet apart.

I wish I could tell you that...

Only 11 hours?

I just woke up from an 11 year coma and I didn't miss much at all: the GOP is still trying to pass tax cuts for the rich, hamstring our government, all while bombing the Middle East and saddling future generations with trillions in debt!

Lily season:

On the bright side, maybe some of my mutuals and I will be deployed to the same Iranian mountainside. Can't wait to meet y'all in person!

Scenes from one of the chestnut orchards, freshly mowed:

If you've ever wondered why the strongest available liquor is 95% ethanol, this essay will answer that.

Our Fundamental Problem, Part 2: Moonshine, Cats, and the Azeotrope of Civilization The Counterpoint is a free newsletter that uses both analytic and holistic thinking to examine the wider world.

I return to my "Our Fundamental Problem" series w/ a follow-up meant to further define the techno-moral landscape of civilization & a potential problem that is developing: that humanity won’t end w/ a bang, but a whimper.

Let's discuss moonshine & cats. thecounterpoint.substack.com/p/our-fundam...

The EPA is "reconsidering" the ban on asbestos, a known and proven carcinogen.

Russia is one of the main producers of asbestos.

This week we started doing a chore chart with our two year old. She'll get a prize when the entire sheet is filled.

I think it's going pretty well.