COMMON CALIBER
I love weapons myself. A closet full of food gives you a nice security blanket, and a rifle with sufficient ammunition adds wonderfully to that. It is hard to get too worked up about very many things with those tools providing the basic necessities ( yada, yada, blah, blah, I include water purification or storage in with food, so don't have a kitten on me please ). Yet, I never have too much to say on the subject. You buy your war surplus rifle, its ammo, a couple of bayonets and if you are old and have bad eyes you add a scope. Not too much else to say on the subject. I have a Lee reloader and bullet mold and a butt load of primers. And I don't do gunsmithing. Again, not a lot of subject matter there. I prefer to talk about food. To me it is a much more important topic. Yes, you need weapons to defend your food but you also can't get many calories from an M-16 magazine. However, I am such a friggin nice guy that Baby Jesus himself has dropped a lot of hints my way that I'm his favorite. So I try to give my loyal minions what they want and occasionally yak away about something weapons related. Last week I bought a copy of Backwoods Home Magazine, since the new copy of Backwoodsman hasn't come out yet and I was Jonesing. I much prefer Man to Home but obviously I had $6 burning a hole in my pocket so I bought the damn thing. Their article on the ammo drought inspired this article.
*
I've always hated the article of faith amongst survivalist that you simply must have military and common calibers for your arsenal. This should come as no surprise to you since I find almost nothing that is militarily useful carries over to survivalists. I won't rehash those, to your obvious relief. A round simply needs to be effective. Granted, it shouldn't be so obsolete and scarce that you need to spend a lot of money having a specialty shop fabricate the cases, but to parrot what is most popular isn't necessary. I wouldn't carry 9mm. And the only good I see the .223 serving is for a medium distance sniper harassment round. It makes a great assault round, but I don't plan on being that close if I can help it. And if I'm not that close, I don't need semi-automatic. So then I don't need a .308 either. I'm just fine with a .38/.357 in revolver and any thirty caliber for rifle.
*
The recent drought in ammunition should underscore the need to be slightly different and not carry what everyone else does. It stands to reason that if every Joe Blow wants to stockpile ammunition in case Uncle Obammy bans all guns or if the economy finally does the final revolution around the toilet bowl before going down the pipe that if everyone is after 308 and 45 than you have a much better chance finding 303 and 38. Duh. But wait, you scream in righteous indignation as you caress your AR-15 against your crotch, if you capture the enemies ammunition you need to use it in your weapon ( or get more ammo for his weapon you took ). That worked great for the freedom fighters in Afghanistan in the 80's as they traded in their much better Lee-Enfields for inferior AK's. Personally I think it was more a status symbol thing for them. Look, Habeeb, I am a mighty superior warrior and I personally killed a Soviet and took his weapon ( he doesn't mention that he peacefully traded the infidel alcohol for the carbine ). I have a hard time believing you would want to trade in a long range rifle you used growing up for an unfamiliar poodle shooter. Surely Pakistan could provide them all the 303 ammo they needed. But, let's just take it at face value and call it enemy supply.
*
The problem is that the military is most likely facing a worse resupply problem than the survivalist. Our friendly prepper has oodles and gobs of ammunition plus lots of reloading supplies. The military has a fixed amount on hand and pretty much adheres to the just in time inventory nonsense everyone has bought into. I don't know if anything has changed, but I recall in my tour that every year every unit had to burn off all their ammunition because any left over that carried over into the next fiscal year meant that much was subtracted from the budget. Assuming this is still the case, most units will have very little ammo on hand ( I don't have any idea how much a combat unit has. Our unit was rear area support and I seem to recall very few rounds being allocated to each person at the end of the year-it certainly wasn't enough to stay proficient with and they were trying to fill the need with the M-16 simulator ). As a whole, if combat units are added to the average, I can't imagine every soldier being capable of carrying a rifle having that much ammunition. Even if the amount is thousands rather than hundreds, the spray and pray doctrine will eat through those numbers quickly.
*
Another consideration is using the weapon on hand. If you already own a weapon that isn't totally useless like a pot metal pimp pistol like a .25 caliber, you should stick with it regardless of caliber. A less than perfect caliber is compensation for the insane weapons prices currently. You can buy a lot of strange ammo for the price of a gun. So, you don't want to compete for limited ammunition, the military will run out of ammo before you do and can't resupply you, and you might not want to waste the money buying another gun.
END
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Monday, June 29, 2009
car enclosure
CAR ENCLOSURE
Today, and today only, I'll take a break from telling you how we are all doomed from Peak Oil. I understand being burned out on Chicken Little warnings, and I understand every author claims irrefutable proof of an impending disaster. No one wants to be taken for a fool so even a true prophet might be ignored after enough charlatans spoiled the process. Let me just say this today, then I'll shut up about it. You don't have to go and live on junk land in a trailer. You can buy marginal land for cash and live in a trailer while you build your own home without a mortgage. You are not panicking, you are not foregoing luxury forever. You are building towards independence, peace of mind and financial freedom. If things really fall part quick, you at least have some kind of shelter.
*
This weekend I read "Hubbert's Peak" by JJ Ritonya, a novel. It didn't get into too much detail on the collapse, it was more of a quest epic in the aftermath. It wasn't bad at all, entertainment wise. Not great prep wise, the only tip was on how to substitute gasoline with some auto parts store chemicals, but I was entertained and got my monies worth. Today's article was an idea from that book. I also read "A Presidential Energy Policy" by Michael Ruppert which was great and even made me tingle a little. This is basically an update on "Crossing The Rubicon". It was written last summer but he does add to the end of each chapter if needed ( the additions were February of this year ). So it is about as up to date as you are going to get. He weaves economics and peak oil together, and does a darn good job. You can ignore he Presidential Policy part, it is basically a theme for the book mainly relegated to the back of the book and can be discarded as pure wishful thinking. You can bet I will be ripping off ideas from this one left and right.
*
The idea I stole for today was that of junk cars for a fence. Nothing new here, just go back and watch The Road Warrior. The part I liked was it being used to surround the farm fields. The city of Chicago shrunk its area down to a manageable size, ripped up asphalt and made a car fence around everything for defense. Yes, the novel had problems. Like the typical never ending ammunition supply. In this case, how was the sterile soil re fertilized? But that is not the point. I liked the idea of cars protecting the crops. A medieval castle or fortification enclosed a town. Building huge walls obviously took a lot of material and labor. So you had the crops outside the walls. When an enemy attacked you fled into the fortress, perhaps leading the livestock in. The only problem of course was losing the crops. This would be a more viable strategy if you had an offensive force, of course. If you had to be defensive, say for lack of soldiers, could you feasibly enclose all your crop land?
*
First off, you need to forget about a vehicle only fence. That needs to be backed by dirt. If you just stack the cars on top of each other or tip them on their side, artillery is going to hit them and create shrapnel ( plus take down the wall quickly ). Dirt backing them absorbs the blast. This stuff is basic, and five centuries old. You might have problems creating ammunition for modern small arms once industry stops, but cannon is simple enough. Black powder works to take down a stationary target just fine. Of course, I have little in the way of details here. I'm just the idea guy, big picture stuff. I would suggest Civil War research. Because there is such a huge amount of interest in that conflict, books and article abound on it. And cover any subject you desire. There is sure to be plenty of reference material on siege and defensive works ( cough, cough, hint, guest article, hint, cough ).
*
I would imagine that a trench is dug, then the car is tipped up on its engine end. This creates a wall to pile dirt behind. The details are how to lay this out in a defensive position. Yes, there is a lot of labor involved. But at least little in the way of other material is needed. The cars can easily be pushed by a gang of workers ( we assume this isn't twenty years later after tires have rotted ). Tipping up with pulleys, perhaps. So the main work is the trench and the dirt wall behind. Surely, every community in this country has enough cars ( SUV's pay their way here ) to create a good size defensive wall. You take out the generator and battery and leaf springs and other salvage items and use the remaining frame for shoring. What else are you going to do with all the damn things without gasoline? Ethanol will be a luxury and limited to farm equipment, no one will be able to afford personal internal combustion transportation.
*
And, there is little need to surround an existing city. I would think you pick fertile land, then rebuild with city salvage. Go underground to limit your winter heat and provide ballistic protection. You might think the old school way is better, needing a lot less work. Just have a retreat structure all the farmers can go to under attack. Less walls mean less labor but also less manpower to protect. My answer is, how many times do you want to lose your crops? How much reserves do you think you'll have. Use the trash of the Industrial Age to be defensive smarter. Protect the crops. It will pay in the long run with less loss ( again, we are assuming you don't have a buffer zone protected by nomads or a offensive strategy ).
END
The above article will reflect how much I love all my loyal minions by once again providing ways to protect your beets and asparagus. Please show your love by buying my crap at www.bisonpress.com .
Today, and today only, I'll take a break from telling you how we are all doomed from Peak Oil. I understand being burned out on Chicken Little warnings, and I understand every author claims irrefutable proof of an impending disaster. No one wants to be taken for a fool so even a true prophet might be ignored after enough charlatans spoiled the process. Let me just say this today, then I'll shut up about it. You don't have to go and live on junk land in a trailer. You can buy marginal land for cash and live in a trailer while you build your own home without a mortgage. You are not panicking, you are not foregoing luxury forever. You are building towards independence, peace of mind and financial freedom. If things really fall part quick, you at least have some kind of shelter.
*
This weekend I read "Hubbert's Peak" by JJ Ritonya, a novel. It didn't get into too much detail on the collapse, it was more of a quest epic in the aftermath. It wasn't bad at all, entertainment wise. Not great prep wise, the only tip was on how to substitute gasoline with some auto parts store chemicals, but I was entertained and got my monies worth. Today's article was an idea from that book. I also read "A Presidential Energy Policy" by Michael Ruppert which was great and even made me tingle a little. This is basically an update on "Crossing The Rubicon". It was written last summer but he does add to the end of each chapter if needed ( the additions were February of this year ). So it is about as up to date as you are going to get. He weaves economics and peak oil together, and does a darn good job. You can ignore he Presidential Policy part, it is basically a theme for the book mainly relegated to the back of the book and can be discarded as pure wishful thinking. You can bet I will be ripping off ideas from this one left and right.
*
The idea I stole for today was that of junk cars for a fence. Nothing new here, just go back and watch The Road Warrior. The part I liked was it being used to surround the farm fields. The city of Chicago shrunk its area down to a manageable size, ripped up asphalt and made a car fence around everything for defense. Yes, the novel had problems. Like the typical never ending ammunition supply. In this case, how was the sterile soil re fertilized? But that is not the point. I liked the idea of cars protecting the crops. A medieval castle or fortification enclosed a town. Building huge walls obviously took a lot of material and labor. So you had the crops outside the walls. When an enemy attacked you fled into the fortress, perhaps leading the livestock in. The only problem of course was losing the crops. This would be a more viable strategy if you had an offensive force, of course. If you had to be defensive, say for lack of soldiers, could you feasibly enclose all your crop land?
*
First off, you need to forget about a vehicle only fence. That needs to be backed by dirt. If you just stack the cars on top of each other or tip them on their side, artillery is going to hit them and create shrapnel ( plus take down the wall quickly ). Dirt backing them absorbs the blast. This stuff is basic, and five centuries old. You might have problems creating ammunition for modern small arms once industry stops, but cannon is simple enough. Black powder works to take down a stationary target just fine. Of course, I have little in the way of details here. I'm just the idea guy, big picture stuff. I would suggest Civil War research. Because there is such a huge amount of interest in that conflict, books and article abound on it. And cover any subject you desire. There is sure to be plenty of reference material on siege and defensive works ( cough, cough, hint, guest article, hint, cough ).
*
I would imagine that a trench is dug, then the car is tipped up on its engine end. This creates a wall to pile dirt behind. The details are how to lay this out in a defensive position. Yes, there is a lot of labor involved. But at least little in the way of other material is needed. The cars can easily be pushed by a gang of workers ( we assume this isn't twenty years later after tires have rotted ). Tipping up with pulleys, perhaps. So the main work is the trench and the dirt wall behind. Surely, every community in this country has enough cars ( SUV's pay their way here ) to create a good size defensive wall. You take out the generator and battery and leaf springs and other salvage items and use the remaining frame for shoring. What else are you going to do with all the damn things without gasoline? Ethanol will be a luxury and limited to farm equipment, no one will be able to afford personal internal combustion transportation.
*
And, there is little need to surround an existing city. I would think you pick fertile land, then rebuild with city salvage. Go underground to limit your winter heat and provide ballistic protection. You might think the old school way is better, needing a lot less work. Just have a retreat structure all the farmers can go to under attack. Less walls mean less labor but also less manpower to protect. My answer is, how many times do you want to lose your crops? How much reserves do you think you'll have. Use the trash of the Industrial Age to be defensive smarter. Protect the crops. It will pay in the long run with less loss ( again, we are assuming you don't have a buffer zone protected by nomads or a offensive strategy ).
END
The above article will reflect how much I love all my loyal minions by once again providing ways to protect your beets and asparagus. Please show your love by buying my crap at www.bisonpress.com .
Friday, June 26, 2009
more peak drivel
MORE PEAK DRIVEL
Amidst all the gloomy economic news ( the Fed sold $300 billion in bonds in 2008, the first half of 2009 it bought $280 billion-no inflation to see here folks, move along, move along ) we have a bit of good news. Michael Jackson died. I understand that with a global population of over six billion there are a heck of a lot of freaks out there, but few would argue that he was the poster boy for them all. Good riddance. Well, I got all cocky and full of myself and threw a party in my honor when I gave you a full length article on Tuesday. So what happens? A clear day yesterday. An hour before I get off work it clouds up bad. I punch out and one minute later the heavens open up in a turd floater. No problem, still have my rain gear handy. But one mile into the ride I pick up a nice hunk of metal and get a flat. Five miles to push the bike home, one in pouring rain and the rest in sun to spike up the humidity. Then, when I finally get home and put on Paul Blart Mall Cop from Red Box into the DVD, it turns into a massive disappointment. Kevin James and Happy Madison productions, a sure hit by all indicators, and it sucks bad. It was one of those days. So, I took the bike into the shop at lunch and you get a short article today.
*
I keep telling you to visit http://americanenergycrisis.blogspot.com/ and get a real financial guru give you the scoop on Peak Oil, but you are determined to deny we are all going to die and act like you are living in Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvius is never going to erupt. They lived in luxury, too, up until the last moment when they were turned into BBQ. The latest from that site is that we are now, after three years of declining oil imports, back at 1997 levels of oil supply. So what, you snidely snicker in supreme sarcasm, we had our hero Clinton and the economy was doing great. The only small problem, the only fly in the soup, the only Huge Billboard Warning We Are All Going To Die!!! is that back then our population was only 267 million. Then, after a few years of very loose immigration policy in order to prop up the Social Security contribution numbers, we are currently seeing 305 million. It didn't take very long for all those illegal immigrants to pop a litter and produce legal citizen babies. But don't worry, pops, as long as there is electricity to run the printing presses you'll get your check. Won't buy much...
*
Let me spell it out for you so there will be no confusion. We are living on the same amount of energy with Forty Friggin More Million People!!! This is obviously a contributing factor to our economic problems. But keep living in luxury and denial. Look, I'm not saying living on junk land in a trailer is the best choice. Nor is it to every one's liking. It is simply the cheapest way I know of to create a bit of Independence and security for yourself. Even if you don't go that route, you need to do something that frees you from the threat of homelessness and wage slavery and a life of indebtedness. Because the energy numbers will continue to decline and the only way to balance the scales is a die off. All financial bets are off. All of our old insurance will fail. But not instantly. Those in power and enriched off the rest of us will have time to bleed you dry if you remain vulnerable. Such as by having a mortgage or paying rent or being dependant on a car and gas to get to work and pay that rent or house payment. Or having no food set aside for the coming shortages or famines. Or having no way to protect yourself as crime climbs to Zimbabwean levels at the same time we see their type of inflation.
*
I'm so sorry we can't look forward to a Ecotopian fantasy future with organic gardens and windmills and universal peace and harmony. Make the hard choices now or have them be made for you. I'm just here to help a brother out. I'm trying to sound the warning that the volcano is beginning to smoke. Denial is more than a river in Egypt.
END
Amidst all the gloomy economic news ( the Fed sold $300 billion in bonds in 2008, the first half of 2009 it bought $280 billion-no inflation to see here folks, move along, move along ) we have a bit of good news. Michael Jackson died. I understand that with a global population of over six billion there are a heck of a lot of freaks out there, but few would argue that he was the poster boy for them all. Good riddance. Well, I got all cocky and full of myself and threw a party in my honor when I gave you a full length article on Tuesday. So what happens? A clear day yesterday. An hour before I get off work it clouds up bad. I punch out and one minute later the heavens open up in a turd floater. No problem, still have my rain gear handy. But one mile into the ride I pick up a nice hunk of metal and get a flat. Five miles to push the bike home, one in pouring rain and the rest in sun to spike up the humidity. Then, when I finally get home and put on Paul Blart Mall Cop from Red Box into the DVD, it turns into a massive disappointment. Kevin James and Happy Madison productions, a sure hit by all indicators, and it sucks bad. It was one of those days. So, I took the bike into the shop at lunch and you get a short article today.
*
I keep telling you to visit http://americanenergycrisis.blogspot.com/ and get a real financial guru give you the scoop on Peak Oil, but you are determined to deny we are all going to die and act like you are living in Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvius is never going to erupt. They lived in luxury, too, up until the last moment when they were turned into BBQ. The latest from that site is that we are now, after three years of declining oil imports, back at 1997 levels of oil supply. So what, you snidely snicker in supreme sarcasm, we had our hero Clinton and the economy was doing great. The only small problem, the only fly in the soup, the only Huge Billboard Warning We Are All Going To Die!!! is that back then our population was only 267 million. Then, after a few years of very loose immigration policy in order to prop up the Social Security contribution numbers, we are currently seeing 305 million. It didn't take very long for all those illegal immigrants to pop a litter and produce legal citizen babies. But don't worry, pops, as long as there is electricity to run the printing presses you'll get your check. Won't buy much...
*
Let me spell it out for you so there will be no confusion. We are living on the same amount of energy with Forty Friggin More Million People!!! This is obviously a contributing factor to our economic problems. But keep living in luxury and denial. Look, I'm not saying living on junk land in a trailer is the best choice. Nor is it to every one's liking. It is simply the cheapest way I know of to create a bit of Independence and security for yourself. Even if you don't go that route, you need to do something that frees you from the threat of homelessness and wage slavery and a life of indebtedness. Because the energy numbers will continue to decline and the only way to balance the scales is a die off. All financial bets are off. All of our old insurance will fail. But not instantly. Those in power and enriched off the rest of us will have time to bleed you dry if you remain vulnerable. Such as by having a mortgage or paying rent or being dependant on a car and gas to get to work and pay that rent or house payment. Or having no food set aside for the coming shortages or famines. Or having no way to protect yourself as crime climbs to Zimbabwean levels at the same time we see their type of inflation.
*
I'm so sorry we can't look forward to a Ecotopian fantasy future with organic gardens and windmills and universal peace and harmony. Make the hard choices now or have them be made for you. I'm just here to help a brother out. I'm trying to sound the warning that the volcano is beginning to smoke. Denial is more than a river in Egypt.
END
Thursday, June 25, 2009
green shoots on the cliff
GREEN SHOOTS ON THE CLIFF
Sorry about yesterday's hoard/horde misuse. I learn the hard way as I go along these minor errors that make me look like more of an idiot than some of you already think I am. I already told you about the loyal minion lesson when I confused lose and loose. I don't remember the exact words, something about not wanting the old lady loose. That was too funny. What can I tell you, I never got higher edumication. Okay, this morning I was reading the daily article at http://www.oftwominds.com/blog.html ( which was dated the 24th ) and I was quite impressed. You know if I'm impressed ( when the whole world DOES revolve around me thank you very much so I think my writing is better than anyone else ) it is a good article. I'm actually taken with his articles on a regular basis. This should be on your daily reading list. I won't rehash the article, you should read it. My point here is that when I was done with it my first thought was that this would be ammunition for some green shoots. Even though the article clearly stated the dangers of this strategy as well as the benefits.
*
As things have been failing for some time, and as those failures get worse every few months, and as we continue to make or break Great Depression records of collapse, almost no one can deny that we are in a crap storm of giant proportions. Most people don't want to face up to the fact that we might indeed be in for a collapse, the end of western civilization. So they are compromising. They can't ignore the problem. It can't be wished away. So the de facto fall back argument is that we are in for a long slow collapse. That way they can have their collapse and their cushy standard of living based on mass consumerism and unprecedented luxuries too. I'm not saying that the slow collapsers are wrong and I am right about a quick collapse. What I am thinking is that we have already seen the long slow collapse part and we are slowly approaching the cliff edge where we will suddenly without warning fall off.
*
The above mentioned article was about our occupation of the oil region. It got me thinking that this would compel the Cassandras to think we can hang on for a long time since this is true. But my bet would be on this grace period already having been enjoyed and passed by. The benefits are not to be seen now in order to save us but have already been at work. We've occupied the strategic heartland of Arabian oil for over six years. Global Peak Oil has been going on for four years ( remember what I said about a nation would not burn food for fuel if a decrease wasn't happening? ). Now, I don't know how long the global petroleum peak production plateau will last, but I don't think we can hope for very much longer given the recent records. And remember, the downside of the bell curve is pretty steep. One good reason that the lower 48 oil figures have slowly declined over three decades is that prior to peak the Texas Railroad Commission regulated production at a low level that extended most fields lives. Saudi Arabia has done a lot to damage their fields and will fall much quicker ( if you can slog through it, "Twilight In The Desert" does an excellent job debunking the Saudis As Saviors myth ).
*
All historical examples of population crash have been agricultural economies. The examples of two hundred to three hundred years of crash duration were based on soil depletion and weather and conquest on a long drawn out time scale. All through the history of agriculture overpopulation, famine and die-offs were normal. They could rebound, recuperate, carry on. Unless one series of misfortunes after another kept hitting the same group. That took time. Petroleum Man will die in a much more compressed time period because oil field depletion happens quickly. And petroleum feeds almost all of us. Just because we occupy the lands that produce the last of the oil doesn't mean spit. For one thing, look at how easy it has been to sabotage the Iraqi production. I think the main effect was simply to deny our enemies the oil rather than get it for ourselves. So our cliff face is in the same spot and we got no where building a bridge over the chasm.
*
I'm coming up on a year here in Elko. Look, you triumphantly point out, Jim panicked way too early. I have plenty of time to drive my SUV and live in my mortgaged house and work for XYZ corporation. I can get out before it all turns to a big steaming pile of dung. Let me ask you this. How much easier is it going to be to talk the wife into moving off grid in another year? If we are worse off but still limping along, she will pull out the green shoots argument again, just as you are doing now. And by the time it is obvious to both you and her that things won't return to normal you will have lost all the assets needed to move. If we have already been through years and years of long slow collapse, how close is the cliff edge? You can move as slow as you wish towards that cliff, but once over you can't control the speed. Who cares if you are a year or three early? Almost any gardener/farmer you talk to will tell you how many multiple harvests it takes to become proficient. I had to go through a miserable winter ( remember the normal twenty two degrees inside I bitched about? ) before I insulated the trailer. Not because I didn't know it would be a good idea but because these things take time. Getting settled isn't instant ( it can be close, a topic more another day ), it takes trial and error in everything you do from energy use to sewage to transportation.
*
Y2K was the only potential disaster we were ever going to have a calender for. No one knows for sure when it will be too late. But you do need to know your history before you guess the future. Make sure we haven't been in a collapse before you figure we have plenty of time to go.
END
Have I bothered you lately to BUY MY CRAP? www.bisonpress.com
Sorry about yesterday's hoard/horde misuse. I learn the hard way as I go along these minor errors that make me look like more of an idiot than some of you already think I am. I already told you about the loyal minion lesson when I confused lose and loose. I don't remember the exact words, something about not wanting the old lady loose. That was too funny. What can I tell you, I never got higher edumication. Okay, this morning I was reading the daily article at http://www.oftwominds.com/blog.html ( which was dated the 24th ) and I was quite impressed. You know if I'm impressed ( when the whole world DOES revolve around me thank you very much so I think my writing is better than anyone else ) it is a good article. I'm actually taken with his articles on a regular basis. This should be on your daily reading list. I won't rehash the article, you should read it. My point here is that when I was done with it my first thought was that this would be ammunition for some green shoots. Even though the article clearly stated the dangers of this strategy as well as the benefits.
*
As things have been failing for some time, and as those failures get worse every few months, and as we continue to make or break Great Depression records of collapse, almost no one can deny that we are in a crap storm of giant proportions. Most people don't want to face up to the fact that we might indeed be in for a collapse, the end of western civilization. So they are compromising. They can't ignore the problem. It can't be wished away. So the de facto fall back argument is that we are in for a long slow collapse. That way they can have their collapse and their cushy standard of living based on mass consumerism and unprecedented luxuries too. I'm not saying that the slow collapsers are wrong and I am right about a quick collapse. What I am thinking is that we have already seen the long slow collapse part and we are slowly approaching the cliff edge where we will suddenly without warning fall off.
*
The above mentioned article was about our occupation of the oil region. It got me thinking that this would compel the Cassandras to think we can hang on for a long time since this is true. But my bet would be on this grace period already having been enjoyed and passed by. The benefits are not to be seen now in order to save us but have already been at work. We've occupied the strategic heartland of Arabian oil for over six years. Global Peak Oil has been going on for four years ( remember what I said about a nation would not burn food for fuel if a decrease wasn't happening? ). Now, I don't know how long the global petroleum peak production plateau will last, but I don't think we can hope for very much longer given the recent records. And remember, the downside of the bell curve is pretty steep. One good reason that the lower 48 oil figures have slowly declined over three decades is that prior to peak the Texas Railroad Commission regulated production at a low level that extended most fields lives. Saudi Arabia has done a lot to damage their fields and will fall much quicker ( if you can slog through it, "Twilight In The Desert" does an excellent job debunking the Saudis As Saviors myth ).
*
All historical examples of population crash have been agricultural economies. The examples of two hundred to three hundred years of crash duration were based on soil depletion and weather and conquest on a long drawn out time scale. All through the history of agriculture overpopulation, famine and die-offs were normal. They could rebound, recuperate, carry on. Unless one series of misfortunes after another kept hitting the same group. That took time. Petroleum Man will die in a much more compressed time period because oil field depletion happens quickly. And petroleum feeds almost all of us. Just because we occupy the lands that produce the last of the oil doesn't mean spit. For one thing, look at how easy it has been to sabotage the Iraqi production. I think the main effect was simply to deny our enemies the oil rather than get it for ourselves. So our cliff face is in the same spot and we got no where building a bridge over the chasm.
*
I'm coming up on a year here in Elko. Look, you triumphantly point out, Jim panicked way too early. I have plenty of time to drive my SUV and live in my mortgaged house and work for XYZ corporation. I can get out before it all turns to a big steaming pile of dung. Let me ask you this. How much easier is it going to be to talk the wife into moving off grid in another year? If we are worse off but still limping along, she will pull out the green shoots argument again, just as you are doing now. And by the time it is obvious to both you and her that things won't return to normal you will have lost all the assets needed to move. If we have already been through years and years of long slow collapse, how close is the cliff edge? You can move as slow as you wish towards that cliff, but once over you can't control the speed. Who cares if you are a year or three early? Almost any gardener/farmer you talk to will tell you how many multiple harvests it takes to become proficient. I had to go through a miserable winter ( remember the normal twenty two degrees inside I bitched about? ) before I insulated the trailer. Not because I didn't know it would be a good idea but because these things take time. Getting settled isn't instant ( it can be close, a topic more another day ), it takes trial and error in everything you do from energy use to sewage to transportation.
*
Y2K was the only potential disaster we were ever going to have a calender for. No one knows for sure when it will be too late. But you do need to know your history before you guess the future. Make sure we haven't been in a collapse before you figure we have plenty of time to go.
END
Have I bothered you lately to BUY MY CRAP? www.bisonpress.com
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
pre-collapse golden hoard
PRE-COLLAPSE GOLDEN HOARD
A quick note before we begin today. I got a Lehman's catalog yesterday ( www.lehmans.com ). While they have always had a lot of marginally useful items, a lot of overpriced items, they still served a useful purpose and that is where I bought two filter units and my disposable razor sharpener. I was so astounded by what I saw in there I simply must share. They were offering a grain grinder for the incredible sum of $1300. That is one thousand, three hundred dollars. I don't blame the company. If you have a customer that is stupid enough to spend that kind of money, more power to you. I won't go on and on about it. Hopefully you have indoctrinated into the mind warping Bison Way and have sufficient bewilderment yourself.
*
Leading into yet another Bison Super-Duper Colossal Wisdom Larded Dissertation, I must credit the use of Golden Hoard to Rawles ( www.survivalblog.com ). I must also, once again for the benefit of probationary loyal minions, print my California Sucks disclosure. Having been born and raised in the state, I feel justified in trash talking it. I knew it had turned into a dung heap twenty years ago and I got out at a time when U-Haul was charging three times the going rate to bail. And I didn't have bubble real estate to sell to do it. I even had to sell semi-auto's to move, so any of you still stuck there have no sympathy from me ( and you know how I feel about being P whipped into staying ). Okay, that's enough of that. I had to try since enough people already hate me. The Golden Hoard is feared in preparedness circles. The population there is thirty six million people. And that is just the legal ones. You have about thirty five million people that will become refugees. The weather in California is very nice. Even in the north with very mild winters. But the south is nearly perfect weather. The only problem with the place is that 99% of the water must be imported. This is not a place that can support too many people outside of petroleum inputs. If you live there and can somehow avoid the brutal warfare to come as way too many people fight over no water, you should emerge in your own private paradise. If you can survive until then, good luck to you.
*
At the first sign that the water pumps will run out of juice, millions of idiots will vomit out of the lower state. Plenty will stay to die, plenty will go up to the north part to fight amongst themselves and die, but plenty will be left over to pollute all surrounding areas. As if they haven't done enough over the last few generations, selling government subsidized bubble real estate to move into low cost rural areas where they jack up prices, force out locals, and try to change the rules into the California version of a free lunch- taxpayer wealth to them but not paid for by them. If you escaped the state, good for you. If you did it by selling real estate you are part of the problem in all the western states and most likely are one of ones I hate. Nothing personal.
*
Now, as bad as it is going to be after the collapse with the Golden Hoard of locusts devouring all that is in their way, I have a question for you. What makes you think they are going to wait for a nation wide collapse? California is a bell weather state that leads the nation. Real estate bubble there first. Semi-automatic gun bans there first. A lot of the culture and trends and laws that happened there first spread to the rest of the country. And as anyone with their eyes not sewn shut with green shoots can see, California is leading the nation in government collapse. The Golden Hoard is going to be ejected out of the state and make everything miserable for the rest of us, long before it is no longer illegal to shoot them. Look at how bad things got for a few towns in east Texas when a quarter million ghetto dwelling welfare bitches left their underwater city to relocate. Now multiply that many times. I can already hear you gasping in disbelief and shock at my statement. Why, Jim, you unfeeling bastard. Californians leaving will be the unemployed, not welfare recipients. You think so? I don't.
*
This time around, there will be no real estate to sell to finance the immigration. The parasitic scum will be without resources, without jobs and without skills. The entire wave will be either dependant on out of state relatives or the government tit. They won't ask nicely, please sir, may I have another? No, they were raised in a culture more attuned to morally justified entitlements than other parts of the country ( although to be fair, the rest is catching up quickly ). They will demand services and I can't believe for a second they will not turn violent if they don't get it. Yo, bitch, were be my Food Stamps? I'll bust a cap in yo dome ( am I too out of date in my ghetto vernacular? ). How did the state ever attain a large portion of its wealth ( outside of its self perpetuating housing bubble )? Federal government welfare in the form of Defence Department contracts. A lot of those folks might be engineers and such, but chances are good their won't be those kinds of jobs available to them elsewhere. And the rest of the country certainly doesn't need any more real estate agents. If your area unemployment ( officially-the real rate is of course higher ) is 10% now, what happens if immigrants arrive? You and the new arrivals both get screwed, employment wise. Remember the immigrant problem a hundred years ago when Europeans crowded into the upper east coast? That was in an era of growing prosperity, which we don't have today.
*
Like you, I hope and wish the Californians will wait until we can shoot them at will and throw their stinking carcasses into the stew pot. But as we both know, wishes and $1.75 plus tax plus tip will get you a cup of coffee at Denny's ( and the tight bastard pukes will only give you two refills before they make themselves as scarce as intact oral virgins under the desk of the Clinton White House office ). They will be coming to disrupt your local economy soon.
END
A quick note before we begin today. I got a Lehman's catalog yesterday ( www.lehmans.com ). While they have always had a lot of marginally useful items, a lot of overpriced items, they still served a useful purpose and that is where I bought two filter units and my disposable razor sharpener. I was so astounded by what I saw in there I simply must share. They were offering a grain grinder for the incredible sum of $1300. That is one thousand, three hundred dollars. I don't blame the company. If you have a customer that is stupid enough to spend that kind of money, more power to you. I won't go on and on about it. Hopefully you have indoctrinated into the mind warping Bison Way and have sufficient bewilderment yourself.
*
Leading into yet another Bison Super-Duper Colossal Wisdom Larded Dissertation, I must credit the use of Golden Hoard to Rawles ( www.survivalblog.com ). I must also, once again for the benefit of probationary loyal minions, print my California Sucks disclosure. Having been born and raised in the state, I feel justified in trash talking it. I knew it had turned into a dung heap twenty years ago and I got out at a time when U-Haul was charging three times the going rate to bail. And I didn't have bubble real estate to sell to do it. I even had to sell semi-auto's to move, so any of you still stuck there have no sympathy from me ( and you know how I feel about being P whipped into staying ). Okay, that's enough of that. I had to try since enough people already hate me. The Golden Hoard is feared in preparedness circles. The population there is thirty six million people. And that is just the legal ones. You have about thirty five million people that will become refugees. The weather in California is very nice. Even in the north with very mild winters. But the south is nearly perfect weather. The only problem with the place is that 99% of the water must be imported. This is not a place that can support too many people outside of petroleum inputs. If you live there and can somehow avoid the brutal warfare to come as way too many people fight over no water, you should emerge in your own private paradise. If you can survive until then, good luck to you.
*
At the first sign that the water pumps will run out of juice, millions of idiots will vomit out of the lower state. Plenty will stay to die, plenty will go up to the north part to fight amongst themselves and die, but plenty will be left over to pollute all surrounding areas. As if they haven't done enough over the last few generations, selling government subsidized bubble real estate to move into low cost rural areas where they jack up prices, force out locals, and try to change the rules into the California version of a free lunch- taxpayer wealth to them but not paid for by them. If you escaped the state, good for you. If you did it by selling real estate you are part of the problem in all the western states and most likely are one of ones I hate. Nothing personal.
*
Now, as bad as it is going to be after the collapse with the Golden Hoard of locusts devouring all that is in their way, I have a question for you. What makes you think they are going to wait for a nation wide collapse? California is a bell weather state that leads the nation. Real estate bubble there first. Semi-automatic gun bans there first. A lot of the culture and trends and laws that happened there first spread to the rest of the country. And as anyone with their eyes not sewn shut with green shoots can see, California is leading the nation in government collapse. The Golden Hoard is going to be ejected out of the state and make everything miserable for the rest of us, long before it is no longer illegal to shoot them. Look at how bad things got for a few towns in east Texas when a quarter million ghetto dwelling welfare bitches left their underwater city to relocate. Now multiply that many times. I can already hear you gasping in disbelief and shock at my statement. Why, Jim, you unfeeling bastard. Californians leaving will be the unemployed, not welfare recipients. You think so? I don't.
*
This time around, there will be no real estate to sell to finance the immigration. The parasitic scum will be without resources, without jobs and without skills. The entire wave will be either dependant on out of state relatives or the government tit. They won't ask nicely, please sir, may I have another? No, they were raised in a culture more attuned to morally justified entitlements than other parts of the country ( although to be fair, the rest is catching up quickly ). They will demand services and I can't believe for a second they will not turn violent if they don't get it. Yo, bitch, were be my Food Stamps? I'll bust a cap in yo dome ( am I too out of date in my ghetto vernacular? ). How did the state ever attain a large portion of its wealth ( outside of its self perpetuating housing bubble )? Federal government welfare in the form of Defence Department contracts. A lot of those folks might be engineers and such, but chances are good their won't be those kinds of jobs available to them elsewhere. And the rest of the country certainly doesn't need any more real estate agents. If your area unemployment ( officially-the real rate is of course higher ) is 10% now, what happens if immigrants arrive? You and the new arrivals both get screwed, employment wise. Remember the immigrant problem a hundred years ago when Europeans crowded into the upper east coast? That was in an era of growing prosperity, which we don't have today.
*
Like you, I hope and wish the Californians will wait until we can shoot them at will and throw their stinking carcasses into the stew pot. But as we both know, wishes and $1.75 plus tax plus tip will get you a cup of coffee at Denny's ( and the tight bastard pukes will only give you two refills before they make themselves as scarce as intact oral virgins under the desk of the Clinton White House office ). They will be coming to disrupt your local economy soon.
END
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
food cost
Normally every other week on Tuesday you get a short article when I go to cash my paycheck. This time I decided that my love for my loyal minions was so great, pure and noble that you deserved a regular length article. So I wrote it last night. Damn, I'm so good I make my own nipples hard.
FOOD COST
Unless you’ve been blind the last year or two you can’t help but have noticed the steadily increasing cost of food. We had a few scares such as wheat and corn doubling, rice unavailable at twice the price. There were the Mexican Tortilla Riots. California produce doubles and triples. More produce coming from other countries, even as oil goes up in cost. The problem is that there isn’t just one thing causing these problems. If that was the case the problem could either go away or be fixed. But we’ve hit the perfect storm. Inflation, as the federales see no other way of paying the bills ( a large part which used to bride the AARP and Pentagon but must now also include the bankers ). Drought. Exhausted soil. Peak Oil. Credit contraction. Ethanol.
*
Inflation causes the Arabs to increase the cost of oil, even as a glut of inventory is seen globally. They also raise the cost as they start seeing production declines, in hopes of disguising it. California’s drought is going on three years. Australia and China and Argentina are seeing drought. Exhausted soil is global. As is urbanization of farmland. Peak Oil is a dead horse I’ve beat beyond what is proper or desired in this blog ( don’t think I’ll stop though ). We won’t run out of oil. Future cavemen will still be using seeps for torches. But we’ve already run out of cheap and abundant oil, which 99% of our economy and empire are run on. A country that was not on the downside of energy production wouldn’t be using 30% of its corn crop for fuel. And our new friend that most likely won’t go away, credit contraction. The banks are using the last of their reserves and all of the bail out funds to pay bonuses and stay in business a few more quarters. They won’t waste those reserves on making loans. How will the quest for more oil be funded? Short answer, it won’t, because there hasn’t been a major discovery of easy oil in forty years. All the discoveries that get everyone’s nipples rock hard are expensive to extract both in dollars and in energy to run.
*
Another factor causing some food increases are steel prices. Obviously, when canned food doubled in price it was because of the metal ( as pointed out by Rawles a month or so prior to it‘s occurrence ) since the food inside hadn’t increased. Another steel related factor is oil rigs. There is a global shortage of the rigs, some speculate from Saudi Arabia using a lot more to try to extract from other fields to keep up production. And of course, farm equipment might be effected, but I’m not sure to what degree. One would think it’s negligible. I imagine bankruptcies and lack of credit play a bigger role on the equipment side. Although it would be interesting to get a better big picture on steel. It seems like it might be a future elephant in the china shop. I’m not trying to give extra weight to the shortage in steel. It is a minor factor right now. I don’t think much oil would come on line even without the rig problem. But it does underline in what direction a rescue won’t come from ( significant increase in oil ).
*
I haven’t even covered the recent Nigerian oil field attacks, the potential of the new wheat rust to invade here or other major producers, the likelihood of even more ethanol use or other factors. True, rice just took a downturn in price. Small quantity purchases are down about a third right now, a good time to stock up. But I wouldn’t count on that to last. In just a few years the overall consumer cost has doubled, and that is just at the beginning of all these problems. It behooves you to overstock on your stockpile. Get more than you imagine you need. Start with the basic grain and legume stock and only then start adding the more expensive, desirable foods. This is the equivalent of buying all the ammo primers you will ever need before the last election. And it will not even help much in future food needs. You must stock up for shortages now, because there is a strong possibility they will occur. Future daily food needs are going to come at the expense of your other budgeted items.
*
I don’t discourage gardening or farming. That is a good strategy for inflation and spot shortages ( and for more healthy eating ). I only oppose it as a talisman. It is a great help, but it won’t solve all your problems nor is it without hidden costs. That is what I preach against, thinking it is the be all and end all. You also need to factor in its dangers. Such as a magnet for theft and confiscation. Yes, your stockpile is also a danger that way, but it is also easier to hide and will insure against weather problems and crop failures. You will also need to keep shopping at the market and evolve your buying around inflation and shortages. Your stockpile should always be to avoid starvation, not used day to day ( until after a collapse ). You don’t use your ten year old, $6 a bag wheat to eat with now or the immediate future. You go buy a $15 bag and use that ( obviously factoring in rotation, it is the amount of emergency only food you keep constant ).
*
You should be looking to cut back on all other areas of your budget, because almost everything else can be trimmed or eliminated. But not food. Perhaps you can eliminate your produce bill, but the bulk of your calories will probably still come from the grocery store. Few of us can afford the amount of land needed to grow all of our food. And paying a mortgage on that land is not viable long term, with the economy such as it is. For the majority of us. There will always be exceptions. You can move to a cheaper dwelling. You can cut back on gasoline. Eliminate the car, if you are lucky. Cut back on luxuries. There are a lot of ways to trim the budget. But for most of us, that is going to be so you can spend more money on food. Historically, food was always the majority of a budget, before the Green Revolution ( oil for food ). Expect it to be once again. Not all of us can be farmers, even in an agricultural economy. And the barriers to entry are prohibitive. In today’s economy, the small scale farmer is penalized and is fighting an entrenched monopoly. Not for gardening, but for farming. Producing all your own food. You are forced to live in a fiat currency economy and must work for a paycheck rather than dinner.
*
Use this window of opportunity to insure yourself with food now. And expect prices to get far more insane than they are now. Do what you can to produce your own, but realize you are fighting a losing battle and your pain will increase. Acting now on all fronts ( stocking, growing, reducing your budget to afford the increases ) will minimize your suffering and increase your choices. It still won’t be pretty, or fun, but perhaps not as bad as it could be.
END
FOOD COST
Unless you’ve been blind the last year or two you can’t help but have noticed the steadily increasing cost of food. We had a few scares such as wheat and corn doubling, rice unavailable at twice the price. There were the Mexican Tortilla Riots. California produce doubles and triples. More produce coming from other countries, even as oil goes up in cost. The problem is that there isn’t just one thing causing these problems. If that was the case the problem could either go away or be fixed. But we’ve hit the perfect storm. Inflation, as the federales see no other way of paying the bills ( a large part which used to bride the AARP and Pentagon but must now also include the bankers ). Drought. Exhausted soil. Peak Oil. Credit contraction. Ethanol.
*
Inflation causes the Arabs to increase the cost of oil, even as a glut of inventory is seen globally. They also raise the cost as they start seeing production declines, in hopes of disguising it. California’s drought is going on three years. Australia and China and Argentina are seeing drought. Exhausted soil is global. As is urbanization of farmland. Peak Oil is a dead horse I’ve beat beyond what is proper or desired in this blog ( don’t think I’ll stop though ). We won’t run out of oil. Future cavemen will still be using seeps for torches. But we’ve already run out of cheap and abundant oil, which 99% of our economy and empire are run on. A country that was not on the downside of energy production wouldn’t be using 30% of its corn crop for fuel. And our new friend that most likely won’t go away, credit contraction. The banks are using the last of their reserves and all of the bail out funds to pay bonuses and stay in business a few more quarters. They won’t waste those reserves on making loans. How will the quest for more oil be funded? Short answer, it won’t, because there hasn’t been a major discovery of easy oil in forty years. All the discoveries that get everyone’s nipples rock hard are expensive to extract both in dollars and in energy to run.
*
Another factor causing some food increases are steel prices. Obviously, when canned food doubled in price it was because of the metal ( as pointed out by Rawles a month or so prior to it‘s occurrence ) since the food inside hadn’t increased. Another steel related factor is oil rigs. There is a global shortage of the rigs, some speculate from Saudi Arabia using a lot more to try to extract from other fields to keep up production. And of course, farm equipment might be effected, but I’m not sure to what degree. One would think it’s negligible. I imagine bankruptcies and lack of credit play a bigger role on the equipment side. Although it would be interesting to get a better big picture on steel. It seems like it might be a future elephant in the china shop. I’m not trying to give extra weight to the shortage in steel. It is a minor factor right now. I don’t think much oil would come on line even without the rig problem. But it does underline in what direction a rescue won’t come from ( significant increase in oil ).
*
I haven’t even covered the recent Nigerian oil field attacks, the potential of the new wheat rust to invade here or other major producers, the likelihood of even more ethanol use or other factors. True, rice just took a downturn in price. Small quantity purchases are down about a third right now, a good time to stock up. But I wouldn’t count on that to last. In just a few years the overall consumer cost has doubled, and that is just at the beginning of all these problems. It behooves you to overstock on your stockpile. Get more than you imagine you need. Start with the basic grain and legume stock and only then start adding the more expensive, desirable foods. This is the equivalent of buying all the ammo primers you will ever need before the last election. And it will not even help much in future food needs. You must stock up for shortages now, because there is a strong possibility they will occur. Future daily food needs are going to come at the expense of your other budgeted items.
*
I don’t discourage gardening or farming. That is a good strategy for inflation and spot shortages ( and for more healthy eating ). I only oppose it as a talisman. It is a great help, but it won’t solve all your problems nor is it without hidden costs. That is what I preach against, thinking it is the be all and end all. You also need to factor in its dangers. Such as a magnet for theft and confiscation. Yes, your stockpile is also a danger that way, but it is also easier to hide and will insure against weather problems and crop failures. You will also need to keep shopping at the market and evolve your buying around inflation and shortages. Your stockpile should always be to avoid starvation, not used day to day ( until after a collapse ). You don’t use your ten year old, $6 a bag wheat to eat with now or the immediate future. You go buy a $15 bag and use that ( obviously factoring in rotation, it is the amount of emergency only food you keep constant ).
*
You should be looking to cut back on all other areas of your budget, because almost everything else can be trimmed or eliminated. But not food. Perhaps you can eliminate your produce bill, but the bulk of your calories will probably still come from the grocery store. Few of us can afford the amount of land needed to grow all of our food. And paying a mortgage on that land is not viable long term, with the economy such as it is. For the majority of us. There will always be exceptions. You can move to a cheaper dwelling. You can cut back on gasoline. Eliminate the car, if you are lucky. Cut back on luxuries. There are a lot of ways to trim the budget. But for most of us, that is going to be so you can spend more money on food. Historically, food was always the majority of a budget, before the Green Revolution ( oil for food ). Expect it to be once again. Not all of us can be farmers, even in an agricultural economy. And the barriers to entry are prohibitive. In today’s economy, the small scale farmer is penalized and is fighting an entrenched monopoly. Not for gardening, but for farming. Producing all your own food. You are forced to live in a fiat currency economy and must work for a paycheck rather than dinner.
*
Use this window of opportunity to insure yourself with food now. And expect prices to get far more insane than they are now. Do what you can to produce your own, but realize you are fighting a losing battle and your pain will increase. Acting now on all fronts ( stocking, growing, reducing your budget to afford the increases ) will minimize your suffering and increase your choices. It still won’t be pretty, or fun, but perhaps not as bad as it could be.
END
Monday, June 22, 2009
tooth and nail review
TOOTH AND NAIL REVIEW
If you recall, my last attempt at reviewing "Tooth And Nail" was foiled by lack of electricity. I just gave you a few paragraphs. I rented it again and the review follows. You'll also see this at my film review site and eventually in my post-apocalypse film book. I'm cheating a little bit today. No Internet access this morning, which usually gives me a few good ideas to work on between then and lunch time. I'm drawing a blank right now. Nothing to write about. Sorry, but it's going to happen once in awhile. Usually I can throw something together, but not today. Plus, I'm a little discouraged with last week. I thought I brought my A game and it seems few agreed with me. I don't expect love and obsequiousness, but it would be nice if my point came across. Just ignore me today. My kids called me yesterday and we talked for hours, but I guess I get a little morose after years not seeing them. I'll pull my head out of my butt pretty quick.
*
TOOTH AND NAIL
Rated R, 2007
Michael Madsen
Most horror films are incidentally post-apocalypse films. This one is a post-apocalypse film that is incidentally a horror film. It bills itself as a horror film, but of course they have to. Mention post-apocalypse and most viewers go screaming in the opposite direction. Oh no, please don’t remind us that we are consuming our resources much faster than we are finding new ones. How depressing is that? Just a hint of it and I’ll have to go to a multiplex heated with carbon fuels and consume gobs of popcorn grown in infertile soil for a little bit of escapism entertainment. Like ax murdering. That’s a fun way to pass the time until the apocalypse. This film is on the lower end of the budget spectrum, so you certainly don’t see bullets flying or cars racing or multistory explosions. But that actually works in its favor. By staying insanely low budget you focus on story instead of effects and you get a better flavor of life after resource depletion. Only a couple of guns, almost no ammunition and the majority have returned to blade weapons. The only lighting is from fire or pump up florescent lanterns.
*
The introduction describes how nothing major brought the end. No nuclear war, no overpopulation. Simply, they ran out of oil in 2012. Within a year all reserves were gone. This isn’t that implausible, since populations in exporting nations have exploded and as more and more oil is used domestically less is sent to the industrial nations. And at the same time all super giant oil fields have been in production over forty years and are in decline globally. Serious decline, as in eight to ten percent a year. In the end, a huge population of users suddenly sees the threshold where oil use falls below what is needed to keep civilization running. It’s more likely we will not see that serious of consequences in just one year, but it is not impossible. And, as the movie points out, you need oil for coal production. Within three years two thirds of the global population is wiped out from hunger, cold and fighting. Too many people headed south the first winter and overwhelmed the resource base there.
*
The movie goes on after the intro introducing us to a band scaring off a guy hovering over a dead body, with a wounded girl near by. They take the girl home, which is a hospital. Here is our first hint that The Professor is, while revered by the others that follow his leadership, actually quite the idiot. A hospital fits in with his Rise Of The Phoenix plan, plenty of room to take in survivors and rebuild a civilization. He spends most of his time doodling designs of PV panels and such. He reminds me of Uncle Obammy, dreaming of a glorious solar future as our country goes down in flame ( I don’t actually think Obammy stands for anything other than Business As Usual-Full Speed Ahead On Petroleum, but his crap dream he sells to the gullible is what I refer to ). One dissenting vote says, hello!, Mr. Dickhead, let’s work on defense. Nonsense, puffs our Bearded and Bespectacled Liberal Professor, we are quite safe here. One wonders how the hell he made it through for the last three years. Dissenting voice, Viper, leaves the group. Which reminds me, Viper? And Dakota and Dodge, etc? Give me a break! Yes, in time the survivors descendants will look at cars and the names of them as wondrous and awe inspiring, but first generation survivors won’t rename themselves from the equipment that symbolized their destruction. About my only quibble with the movie.
*
Well, Juju is served up in a nice heaping dish, the Professor is one of the first to die in the hospital. He isn’t sleeping well, toss, turn, oh, my, everyone hates me because while I appear weak to have not stood up to Viper, in reality I’m afraid they will discover what a blooming idiot I am. He goes to the bathroom to splash water on his face and gets a meat cleaver across his throat. Cool! His carcass is drug off for tasty cannibal consumption. But the rest don’t know this. They are all confused and dazed. Oh, we are merely worthless and weak teeny bopper idiots, we need direction, tell use what to do! Let’s go look for the professor! Good idea! No, junior idiots in training, this is a bad idea. First, you went alone and weaponless. Then, you had an unguarded building. So, the cannibal dudes just waltz in and start ax murdering folks. This is where Michael Madsen makes an appearance. This ain’t your lucky day, he informs the wounded and crawling outside-dude-that-was-wounded. He uses a two sided ax to give our boy a few whacks. Right in the spine! That’s got to hurt. Michael doesn’t do too many scenes after that. One doesn’t know if their big budget for name brand actors had just been exhausted or if everyone was just sort of embarrassed that ‘ol Mike has gotten a bit bloated and fat. Been hitting the sauce, there? Not that I would say it to his face, that guy still is imposing and a bit spooky.
*
Well, it goes on for awhile, one being killed after another. The new girl tells them about this band of cannibals. She and now dead boyfriend were fleeing from them. They kill one a night to keep the meat fresh. New plan, let’s all bug out tonight. That works as well as looking for the professor. They are hunted through the hospital. I’m not going to reveal a few key plot twists, which are pretty cool. It doesn’t spoil the movie, as I enjoyed it just as much the second time. But I’m feeling nice. I will tell you the main chick and the little girl survive in the end.
*Genre Rating- damn good. One of the better ones, in fact.
*Nudity Rating-damn poor. No nudity at all.
*Overall Rating-highly recommended as a realistic look at our future. You could easily imagine a prison gang turning cannibal and being as sadistic and bad ass as these guys.
END
If you recall, my last attempt at reviewing "Tooth And Nail" was foiled by lack of electricity. I just gave you a few paragraphs. I rented it again and the review follows. You'll also see this at my film review site and eventually in my post-apocalypse film book. I'm cheating a little bit today. No Internet access this morning, which usually gives me a few good ideas to work on between then and lunch time. I'm drawing a blank right now. Nothing to write about. Sorry, but it's going to happen once in awhile. Usually I can throw something together, but not today. Plus, I'm a little discouraged with last week. I thought I brought my A game and it seems few agreed with me. I don't expect love and obsequiousness, but it would be nice if my point came across. Just ignore me today. My kids called me yesterday and we talked for hours, but I guess I get a little morose after years not seeing them. I'll pull my head out of my butt pretty quick.
*
TOOTH AND NAIL
Rated R, 2007
Michael Madsen
Most horror films are incidentally post-apocalypse films. This one is a post-apocalypse film that is incidentally a horror film. It bills itself as a horror film, but of course they have to. Mention post-apocalypse and most viewers go screaming in the opposite direction. Oh no, please don’t remind us that we are consuming our resources much faster than we are finding new ones. How depressing is that? Just a hint of it and I’ll have to go to a multiplex heated with carbon fuels and consume gobs of popcorn grown in infertile soil for a little bit of escapism entertainment. Like ax murdering. That’s a fun way to pass the time until the apocalypse. This film is on the lower end of the budget spectrum, so you certainly don’t see bullets flying or cars racing or multistory explosions. But that actually works in its favor. By staying insanely low budget you focus on story instead of effects and you get a better flavor of life after resource depletion. Only a couple of guns, almost no ammunition and the majority have returned to blade weapons. The only lighting is from fire or pump up florescent lanterns.
*
The introduction describes how nothing major brought the end. No nuclear war, no overpopulation. Simply, they ran out of oil in 2012. Within a year all reserves were gone. This isn’t that implausible, since populations in exporting nations have exploded and as more and more oil is used domestically less is sent to the industrial nations. And at the same time all super giant oil fields have been in production over forty years and are in decline globally. Serious decline, as in eight to ten percent a year. In the end, a huge population of users suddenly sees the threshold where oil use falls below what is needed to keep civilization running. It’s more likely we will not see that serious of consequences in just one year, but it is not impossible. And, as the movie points out, you need oil for coal production. Within three years two thirds of the global population is wiped out from hunger, cold and fighting. Too many people headed south the first winter and overwhelmed the resource base there.
*
The movie goes on after the intro introducing us to a band scaring off a guy hovering over a dead body, with a wounded girl near by. They take the girl home, which is a hospital. Here is our first hint that The Professor is, while revered by the others that follow his leadership, actually quite the idiot. A hospital fits in with his Rise Of The Phoenix plan, plenty of room to take in survivors and rebuild a civilization. He spends most of his time doodling designs of PV panels and such. He reminds me of Uncle Obammy, dreaming of a glorious solar future as our country goes down in flame ( I don’t actually think Obammy stands for anything other than Business As Usual-Full Speed Ahead On Petroleum, but his crap dream he sells to the gullible is what I refer to ). One dissenting vote says, hello!, Mr. Dickhead, let’s work on defense. Nonsense, puffs our Bearded and Bespectacled Liberal Professor, we are quite safe here. One wonders how the hell he made it through for the last three years. Dissenting voice, Viper, leaves the group. Which reminds me, Viper? And Dakota and Dodge, etc? Give me a break! Yes, in time the survivors descendants will look at cars and the names of them as wondrous and awe inspiring, but first generation survivors won’t rename themselves from the equipment that symbolized their destruction. About my only quibble with the movie.
*
Well, Juju is served up in a nice heaping dish, the Professor is one of the first to die in the hospital. He isn’t sleeping well, toss, turn, oh, my, everyone hates me because while I appear weak to have not stood up to Viper, in reality I’m afraid they will discover what a blooming idiot I am. He goes to the bathroom to splash water on his face and gets a meat cleaver across his throat. Cool! His carcass is drug off for tasty cannibal consumption. But the rest don’t know this. They are all confused and dazed. Oh, we are merely worthless and weak teeny bopper idiots, we need direction, tell use what to do! Let’s go look for the professor! Good idea! No, junior idiots in training, this is a bad idea. First, you went alone and weaponless. Then, you had an unguarded building. So, the cannibal dudes just waltz in and start ax murdering folks. This is where Michael Madsen makes an appearance. This ain’t your lucky day, he informs the wounded and crawling outside-dude-that-was-wounded. He uses a two sided ax to give our boy a few whacks. Right in the spine! That’s got to hurt. Michael doesn’t do too many scenes after that. One doesn’t know if their big budget for name brand actors had just been exhausted or if everyone was just sort of embarrassed that ‘ol Mike has gotten a bit bloated and fat. Been hitting the sauce, there? Not that I would say it to his face, that guy still is imposing and a bit spooky.
*
Well, it goes on for awhile, one being killed after another. The new girl tells them about this band of cannibals. She and now dead boyfriend were fleeing from them. They kill one a night to keep the meat fresh. New plan, let’s all bug out tonight. That works as well as looking for the professor. They are hunted through the hospital. I’m not going to reveal a few key plot twists, which are pretty cool. It doesn’t spoil the movie, as I enjoyed it just as much the second time. But I’m feeling nice. I will tell you the main chick and the little girl survive in the end.
*Genre Rating- damn good. One of the better ones, in fact.
*Nudity Rating-damn poor. No nudity at all.
*Overall Rating-highly recommended as a realistic look at our future. You could easily imagine a prison gang turning cannibal and being as sadistic and bad ass as these guys.
END
Friday, June 19, 2009
tribal dynamics
TRIBAL DYNAMICS
Now, I'm going to write this post and inevitably some moron who somehow managed to hold on to his loyal minion status despite being dumber than a box of rocks is going to make a comment on how I'm a redneck cracker Klucker racist. Even with the following statement: racism is merely a tribal marker to help distinguish members of a group from outsiders. Yes, I understand it might be easy for me to sit and preach, being in the white male position and never having been exposed to discrimination other than being white in Hawaii, being a white male applying to a quota system job and being male in a divorce. The most blatant forms of racism are easy to condone. We speak of ignorance, since the speaker hasn't mastered the highly educated method of hiding their true feelings. But, racism is a part of human nature. You can't change it. Tree hugging, Birkenstock wearing, Volvo driving, non-meat eating Democratic voting asshats will implore us all to just get along. They'll turn carpet muncher or enter into an inner-racial marriage ( before you throw accusations my way remember I've had two Mexican brides myself ) just to prove how enlightened they are. Just like the crude stereotypical redneck, they have no idea that playing the racist card is merely a survival trait.
*
It is really quite simple. Tribes are necessary for survival. Humans can't survive on their own. You need a group. When resources start to dwindle, you need to attack a group outside your tribe and steal their supplies. If cooperation was an inherent human trait, we would have died off ages ago. Two groups, the resources will only feed one group. One group kills off the other and has enough to live. If both groups got along and shared both would die off. So, sorry Rodney, but we actually all can't get along. I don't know why Americans think they can change this dynamic. Perhaps because for three hundred years our resource base was always larger than we needed. Until a few decades ago, when we reached those limits. Now it is all downhill. We are still arguing that we might not have reached those limits and started down the other side of the supply equation, but we should be arguing over how long we have left and what we can do to survive. We were able to survive a religious and racial melting pot because of that energy surplus. Once the shortage reaches a certain point, all tribal markers will take on new significance.
*
Race is not the only tribal marker. Religion is another. Customs can be one, language another. The only important thing is that the differences must be readily apparent and important to the tribes themselves. To us, the Rwanda genocide made little sense. Village and family members were fighting each other. The reasons were simple. Resource scarcity. The farm plots had been divided too many times. Each plot did not support a family. The tribal markers they used to resolve this basic life threatening conflict were only important to them. We just need to realize it is normal and will eventually happen here. Besides rising sea levels and soon to be uncontrolled mosquito based diseases, another reason I chose to leave the South ( were I enjoyed living, all things considered ) was the coming race wars. The South will be the poster child for renewed racial conflict once resources become scarce and we revert to tribal survival mode.
*
Okay, enough justification for killing your neighbors. You do realize you will have to kill your neighbors, right? The tribe and outsiders are two different species. Look at Indians and how many have derivatives of The People, or True Tribe or such. Everyone outside your tribe is less than human. You have to think of them that way in order to kill them and steal their food. But, as importantly during the collapse, those that share your tribal marker but refuse to join you must also be considered outsiders. They can't be true tribal members. Oh, you can forge alliances, but they must retain that outsider status for some time in the future when you must go to war for their supplies. And, when forming the tribe you need members, not just allies. Sometimes neighbors must be forcibly assimilated or eliminated ( kind of like the Borg ).
*
Once the tribe has formed, the necessary norms adopted for survival must be enforced. This is were shunning comes into play. We look at Amish shunning reluctant members as an oddity. We feel sorry for the shunned because they want to be more like us. And we laugh at the sanctions because it seems dd to us the society they are being forced to leave. But we don't understand tribes. We don't realise that in historic times casting out a member might mean death to the shunned. It was a punishment. You don't have to worry about free riders in a tribe because they are afraid of being kicked out. Why do you think people put up with weird customs we think are barbaric, such as stoning an adulterous wife? Those customs work for that tribe, and those customs are considered normal. And because not following them means giving up the lifeline of that tribe. To leave is death.
*
So, to summarize. Hate all outsiders. It doesn't have to be marked just by skin color but by religion or language or any other accepted marker. Tribal splintering is normal in an energy scarce environment. Belonging to a tribe ensures survival. Fear of banishment forces compliance and avoids the Tragedy Of The Commons. Forming tribes is easy, just kill all those that won't join.
END
Have you bought all my crap yet? www.bisonpress.com
Now, I'm going to write this post and inevitably some moron who somehow managed to hold on to his loyal minion status despite being dumber than a box of rocks is going to make a comment on how I'm a redneck cracker Klucker racist. Even with the following statement: racism is merely a tribal marker to help distinguish members of a group from outsiders. Yes, I understand it might be easy for me to sit and preach, being in the white male position and never having been exposed to discrimination other than being white in Hawaii, being a white male applying to a quota system job and being male in a divorce. The most blatant forms of racism are easy to condone. We speak of ignorance, since the speaker hasn't mastered the highly educated method of hiding their true feelings. But, racism is a part of human nature. You can't change it. Tree hugging, Birkenstock wearing, Volvo driving, non-meat eating Democratic voting asshats will implore us all to just get along. They'll turn carpet muncher or enter into an inner-racial marriage ( before you throw accusations my way remember I've had two Mexican brides myself ) just to prove how enlightened they are. Just like the crude stereotypical redneck, they have no idea that playing the racist card is merely a survival trait.
*
It is really quite simple. Tribes are necessary for survival. Humans can't survive on their own. You need a group. When resources start to dwindle, you need to attack a group outside your tribe and steal their supplies. If cooperation was an inherent human trait, we would have died off ages ago. Two groups, the resources will only feed one group. One group kills off the other and has enough to live. If both groups got along and shared both would die off. So, sorry Rodney, but we actually all can't get along. I don't know why Americans think they can change this dynamic. Perhaps because for three hundred years our resource base was always larger than we needed. Until a few decades ago, when we reached those limits. Now it is all downhill. We are still arguing that we might not have reached those limits and started down the other side of the supply equation, but we should be arguing over how long we have left and what we can do to survive. We were able to survive a religious and racial melting pot because of that energy surplus. Once the shortage reaches a certain point, all tribal markers will take on new significance.
*
Race is not the only tribal marker. Religion is another. Customs can be one, language another. The only important thing is that the differences must be readily apparent and important to the tribes themselves. To us, the Rwanda genocide made little sense. Village and family members were fighting each other. The reasons were simple. Resource scarcity. The farm plots had been divided too many times. Each plot did not support a family. The tribal markers they used to resolve this basic life threatening conflict were only important to them. We just need to realize it is normal and will eventually happen here. Besides rising sea levels and soon to be uncontrolled mosquito based diseases, another reason I chose to leave the South ( were I enjoyed living, all things considered ) was the coming race wars. The South will be the poster child for renewed racial conflict once resources become scarce and we revert to tribal survival mode.
*
Okay, enough justification for killing your neighbors. You do realize you will have to kill your neighbors, right? The tribe and outsiders are two different species. Look at Indians and how many have derivatives of The People, or True Tribe or such. Everyone outside your tribe is less than human. You have to think of them that way in order to kill them and steal their food. But, as importantly during the collapse, those that share your tribal marker but refuse to join you must also be considered outsiders. They can't be true tribal members. Oh, you can forge alliances, but they must retain that outsider status for some time in the future when you must go to war for their supplies. And, when forming the tribe you need members, not just allies. Sometimes neighbors must be forcibly assimilated or eliminated ( kind of like the Borg ).
*
Once the tribe has formed, the necessary norms adopted for survival must be enforced. This is were shunning comes into play. We look at Amish shunning reluctant members as an oddity. We feel sorry for the shunned because they want to be more like us. And we laugh at the sanctions because it seems dd to us the society they are being forced to leave. But we don't understand tribes. We don't realise that in historic times casting out a member might mean death to the shunned. It was a punishment. You don't have to worry about free riders in a tribe because they are afraid of being kicked out. Why do you think people put up with weird customs we think are barbaric, such as stoning an adulterous wife? Those customs work for that tribe, and those customs are considered normal. And because not following them means giving up the lifeline of that tribe. To leave is death.
*
So, to summarize. Hate all outsiders. It doesn't have to be marked just by skin color but by religion or language or any other accepted marker. Tribal splintering is normal in an energy scarce environment. Belonging to a tribe ensures survival. Fear of banishment forces compliance and avoids the Tragedy Of The Commons. Forming tribes is easy, just kill all those that won't join.
END
Have you bought all my crap yet? www.bisonpress.com
Thursday, June 18, 2009
military wet dreams
MILITARY WET DREAMS
You might already be tired of hearing me rant against military equipment for survivalists, but the responses to yesterday's post force me to once again touch on this topic. Yes, that's right, it is all your fault- you made me do this. Let's just jump right back into the MRE debate. I'm even more right than even I realized. MRE's don't have two thousand calories, they have closer to 1200. I was reading the list of ingredients on a civilian version and it only contains 800+ calories. I went to Google it and got the figure of 1200 average. I assume the civilian version is ripping us off, so an additional fifty percent calories is about right. No way it is two thousand. And for those concerned with more than calories, let's compare. An MRE is $6. A jar of peanut butter is $2. Calories are 1250 and 3000. Protein is 13% and 120%. Fat is 36% and 400%. Carbs are 51% and 36%. Carbs are the only area PB lacks compared to an MRE. It wins for cost, compactness, protein and fat. Military MRE's are made for a balanced diet and to combat taste fatigue. Civilian homemade MRE's should only be used for a short time, in an emergency situation such as bug-outs. Whole grains and legumes are your long term food source. For a time, the military will eat much better than civilians. Until their meals can't be resupplied. The military depends on resupply. A civilian depends on in house stockpiling.
*
The military is still fighting World War II. Communication is better, which is about it. Yes, munitions are much smarter, but that is more of a result of our running out of resources than our brilliance. Necessity rather than being smarter. So, in essence, we are not only still fighting WWII, we are fighting it more like the Germans now. Other than the computer chip, how many weapons did we invent that the Nazi's didn't? Even the computer chip might have gotten its scientific start in Germany, although I admit that might fall into pure speculation. If I had the time for more research, I think it would really be interesting to debate whether we ever actually advanced economically or intellectually or if things pretty much came to a halt in 1929 ( you could even ask if it didn't happen sooner, as the farm sector collapsed ). The Great Depression halted our forward progress and we used the war to steal more knowledge and resources. There might be something to the need for continual land expansion after our frontier was settled, as our economic model was continuing resource conquest. But be all that as it may, fundamentally our military is pretty much immobile and incapable of systematic change.
*
So why does everyone fall to their knees and genuflect towards all things military? We're not worthy! I think it should be recognized as hero worship, as a celebration of mans true nature, that of a warrior. I'm not making fun here, I'm actually of the mind that war is a necessary survival trait of the species and warriors deserve a revered place. But appreciating the warrior spirit and sacrifice should not mean that we blindly accept the equipment and tactics that are adopted. They are political acts, not practical ones. Let's please remember that I was in the Army, supposedly after a time of turmoil and discontent that was replaced by a professional force, well equipped and motivated and trained. I was motivated, but almost all my experiences in the military pointed out the reality of the other aspects to be otherwise. I didn't go in because I needed employment, I had always wanted to join the military. But it sucked. The training was marginal. They tried to cover so much that they ended up with almost no reinforcement or follow up. OK, call me an idiot. I can't read or hear something one time and remember it forever. Yet that is almost the kind of training we had.
*
I've bitched and moaned about the equipment before. The M-16 and M-60 were hideous pieces of crap. Thirty years later, the M-16 continues to be a piece of crap. It takes three shots to kill a Skinny? Were did the weight saving in ammunition go? BDU's were much less comfortable to wear than the OD fatigues. And provided no more real camouflage than if the fatigues had simply been dyed darker. Thank goodness I got out before I had to wear the beret. Oh, what a great idea- no visor to keep the sun out. The Hummer was an extremely over priced low quality hunk of crap. A shade tree mechanic could fix the old jeeps, the Hummers were monsters to work on. The 9mm to replace the .45 was a hideous decision. Forget the caliber disadvantage, the Colt was much better designed.
*
If we are still fighting WWII, but this time with the disadvantage of far less resources and industrial capacity, why do we need any new equipment other than to pay for the military-industrial complex? And if the military keeps changing- but for the worse- what makes you think they should be emulated in any way other than for their fighting spirit? Their equipment and tactics suck. Other than studying them for what they will do fighting against you, ignore everything else. Survivalists aren't resupplied. Assault weapons are meant to use a lot of resupplied ammunition. And at close, dangerous, range. If you want a better model of how to fight, look at the insurgents against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Respect our military? You bet! Emulate them? Dangerous.
END
You might already be tired of hearing me rant against military equipment for survivalists, but the responses to yesterday's post force me to once again touch on this topic. Yes, that's right, it is all your fault- you made me do this. Let's just jump right back into the MRE debate. I'm even more right than even I realized. MRE's don't have two thousand calories, they have closer to 1200. I was reading the list of ingredients on a civilian version and it only contains 800+ calories. I went to Google it and got the figure of 1200 average. I assume the civilian version is ripping us off, so an additional fifty percent calories is about right. No way it is two thousand. And for those concerned with more than calories, let's compare. An MRE is $6. A jar of peanut butter is $2. Calories are 1250 and 3000. Protein is 13% and 120%. Fat is 36% and 400%. Carbs are 51% and 36%. Carbs are the only area PB lacks compared to an MRE. It wins for cost, compactness, protein and fat. Military MRE's are made for a balanced diet and to combat taste fatigue. Civilian homemade MRE's should only be used for a short time, in an emergency situation such as bug-outs. Whole grains and legumes are your long term food source. For a time, the military will eat much better than civilians. Until their meals can't be resupplied. The military depends on resupply. A civilian depends on in house stockpiling.
*
The military is still fighting World War II. Communication is better, which is about it. Yes, munitions are much smarter, but that is more of a result of our running out of resources than our brilliance. Necessity rather than being smarter. So, in essence, we are not only still fighting WWII, we are fighting it more like the Germans now. Other than the computer chip, how many weapons did we invent that the Nazi's didn't? Even the computer chip might have gotten its scientific start in Germany, although I admit that might fall into pure speculation. If I had the time for more research, I think it would really be interesting to debate whether we ever actually advanced economically or intellectually or if things pretty much came to a halt in 1929 ( you could even ask if it didn't happen sooner, as the farm sector collapsed ). The Great Depression halted our forward progress and we used the war to steal more knowledge and resources. There might be something to the need for continual land expansion after our frontier was settled, as our economic model was continuing resource conquest. But be all that as it may, fundamentally our military is pretty much immobile and incapable of systematic change.
*
So why does everyone fall to their knees and genuflect towards all things military? We're not worthy! I think it should be recognized as hero worship, as a celebration of mans true nature, that of a warrior. I'm not making fun here, I'm actually of the mind that war is a necessary survival trait of the species and warriors deserve a revered place. But appreciating the warrior spirit and sacrifice should not mean that we blindly accept the equipment and tactics that are adopted. They are political acts, not practical ones. Let's please remember that I was in the Army, supposedly after a time of turmoil and discontent that was replaced by a professional force, well equipped and motivated and trained. I was motivated, but almost all my experiences in the military pointed out the reality of the other aspects to be otherwise. I didn't go in because I needed employment, I had always wanted to join the military. But it sucked. The training was marginal. They tried to cover so much that they ended up with almost no reinforcement or follow up. OK, call me an idiot. I can't read or hear something one time and remember it forever. Yet that is almost the kind of training we had.
*
I've bitched and moaned about the equipment before. The M-16 and M-60 were hideous pieces of crap. Thirty years later, the M-16 continues to be a piece of crap. It takes three shots to kill a Skinny? Were did the weight saving in ammunition go? BDU's were much less comfortable to wear than the OD fatigues. And provided no more real camouflage than if the fatigues had simply been dyed darker. Thank goodness I got out before I had to wear the beret. Oh, what a great idea- no visor to keep the sun out. The Hummer was an extremely over priced low quality hunk of crap. A shade tree mechanic could fix the old jeeps, the Hummers were monsters to work on. The 9mm to replace the .45 was a hideous decision. Forget the caliber disadvantage, the Colt was much better designed.
*
If we are still fighting WWII, but this time with the disadvantage of far less resources and industrial capacity, why do we need any new equipment other than to pay for the military-industrial complex? And if the military keeps changing- but for the worse- what makes you think they should be emulated in any way other than for their fighting spirit? Their equipment and tactics suck. Other than studying them for what they will do fighting against you, ignore everything else. Survivalists aren't resupplied. Assault weapons are meant to use a lot of resupplied ammunition. And at close, dangerous, range. If you want a better model of how to fight, look at the insurgents against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Respect our military? You bet! Emulate them? Dangerous.
END
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
homemade MRE
HOMEMADE MRE
I included a guest article today. When you are done here keep scrolling down. I just now noticed that Google offers blog publishers a new feature, the blog search. You'll notice it up in the upper right corner. It is pretty cool. I tried "SKS" and got at least five articles where it was mentioned. So, try whatever interests you and reread all my wisdom. This is a really nice feature since I can't remember what I wrote about, or when. At least for now, but no promises when, I'm abandoning my fiction page. Sorry, it just wasn't motivating me anymore. As a better than nothing substitute I started a film review page at www.bisonfilms.blogspot.com . To get you to actually visit it ( unlike the last one two years back ) I'm going to include one post-apocalypse review each week. You won't know which day, though, so you will have to keep going back and read reviews of regular films ( whatever I feel like getting at the library or Redbox ). Insert Doctor Evil diabolical laugh.
*
I have more food stocked up than I can shake a stick at. Where did that phrase come from? Shake a stick at. Is it me, or does that make no sense? What I don't have much of is foods that don't require cooking or water to clean with. I can already see you in the back of the class, sitting in the corner with your dunce cap on, wildly waving your hand, begging to answer and hoping to redeem yourself. I don't even need to hear what you have to say to know you suck. No, the answer is not MRE's. Oh, they taste good enough as long as you stay away from certain entrees like Wild Duck Ass On Rice With Curry Sauce ( you know I'm kidding, but don't think some PC idiot on the planning board didn't already consider some nasty crap like that so they could appease some strange ethnic sub-group by serving cheeseburger and fries guys swill they never heard of and never considered eating ). They are filling enough. And nicely compact. I've eating ten year old packs that tasted fine, they just had a very strange color to the peanut butter. Of course, I also ate C-rats from Korea while in boot camp. If it's one thing everyone can agree on with military rations, it's that they taste just as bad one day after packaging as fifty years later.
*
No, the only problem with MRE's is that they cost too damn much. No problem if you are buying a bug out bags worth. Just three days or so. But when you start a serious stockpile they add up too quick. As I keep harping on, one days MRE or one months wheat cost the same. Each MRE is six dollars or so. Even at five bucks it is too much. I own exactly two MRE's. And I didn't even pay for it. While trash picking one fine day I came across a lot of military discards. The newer Beretta holster. An Arctic coat. Duffel bags. And two MRE's. They looked just fine, didn't feel like air got in. Would I have them if I had to pay? More than likely no. But I need something besides two days, just in case. I'm sure there will be plenty of opportunities to need to eat with no cooking or cleaning come the collapse. So, what else could I stock that was cheap, compact, and full of calories? It doesn't need to be a four course meal. Or even traditional. Just compact calories.
*
I think what started me on pondering this was looking at the calories on a bottle of corn syrup ( I don't know if someone else mentioned this before- if they did it was buried in my subconscious ). One pound bottle is two thousand calories. God knows why you would want to suck on a bottle of Karo syrup all day, but you must admit it is a compact unit for rations. A bag of chocolate chips, 12 ounces, is about two thousand. A pound of raisins is 1500. As is a box of graham crackers. As is a pound of sweetened condensed milk. The best bet seems to be a small jar of peanut butter at three thousand calories. I know a loyal minion mentioned PB before, but at the time we were talking about the cheapest calories. It didn't work there, but it sure works for non-cooking calories. And a jar is still under two bucks at Wally World. Although who knows how long that will last. Those bastards are pissing me off more and more lately. I used to be able to just shop Wal-Mart. Now I have to shop them, Family Dollar and the dollar store because China-Marts prices are no longer uniformly the lowest. And I stuck up for them all these years. You know what they did now? One week I get a box of instant mashed potatoes, the two pack type, for eighty eight cents. The next week they are $1.08 for the same. Oh, I saw red. Shades of the Pringle Price Hike. Even my once faithful family from Arkansas is turning on me ( speaking of turning, I notice Creekmore now has over twice my readers. I still love him, but I think some are fair weather minions ).
*
Notice, I'm not concerned too much with variety here. Just compact, cheap, non-cook rations. It may not be a great idea to get all your calories from sugar. I don't mean for that to be your two week long diet. I'd stock a lot of PB, a little chocolate. And I'm sure some of you will have much better suggestions. Just keep it cheap and compact with no need to process or cook. Top Ramen is still cheap, but you need half a case to get the needed calories which is not compact ( yes, you can easily eat Ramen raw ).
END
Buy My Crap www.bisonpress.com
I included a guest article today. When you are done here keep scrolling down. I just now noticed that Google offers blog publishers a new feature, the blog search. You'll notice it up in the upper right corner. It is pretty cool. I tried "SKS" and got at least five articles where it was mentioned. So, try whatever interests you and reread all my wisdom. This is a really nice feature since I can't remember what I wrote about, or when. At least for now, but no promises when, I'm abandoning my fiction page. Sorry, it just wasn't motivating me anymore. As a better than nothing substitute I started a film review page at www.bisonfilms.blogspot.com . To get you to actually visit it ( unlike the last one two years back ) I'm going to include one post-apocalypse review each week. You won't know which day, though, so you will have to keep going back and read reviews of regular films ( whatever I feel like getting at the library or Redbox ). Insert Doctor Evil diabolical laugh.
*
I have more food stocked up than I can shake a stick at. Where did that phrase come from? Shake a stick at. Is it me, or does that make no sense? What I don't have much of is foods that don't require cooking or water to clean with. I can already see you in the back of the class, sitting in the corner with your dunce cap on, wildly waving your hand, begging to answer and hoping to redeem yourself. I don't even need to hear what you have to say to know you suck. No, the answer is not MRE's. Oh, they taste good enough as long as you stay away from certain entrees like Wild Duck Ass On Rice With Curry Sauce ( you know I'm kidding, but don't think some PC idiot on the planning board didn't already consider some nasty crap like that so they could appease some strange ethnic sub-group by serving cheeseburger and fries guys swill they never heard of and never considered eating ). They are filling enough. And nicely compact. I've eating ten year old packs that tasted fine, they just had a very strange color to the peanut butter. Of course, I also ate C-rats from Korea while in boot camp. If it's one thing everyone can agree on with military rations, it's that they taste just as bad one day after packaging as fifty years later.
*
No, the only problem with MRE's is that they cost too damn much. No problem if you are buying a bug out bags worth. Just three days or so. But when you start a serious stockpile they add up too quick. As I keep harping on, one days MRE or one months wheat cost the same. Each MRE is six dollars or so. Even at five bucks it is too much. I own exactly two MRE's. And I didn't even pay for it. While trash picking one fine day I came across a lot of military discards. The newer Beretta holster. An Arctic coat. Duffel bags. And two MRE's. They looked just fine, didn't feel like air got in. Would I have them if I had to pay? More than likely no. But I need something besides two days, just in case. I'm sure there will be plenty of opportunities to need to eat with no cooking or cleaning come the collapse. So, what else could I stock that was cheap, compact, and full of calories? It doesn't need to be a four course meal. Or even traditional. Just compact calories.
*
I think what started me on pondering this was looking at the calories on a bottle of corn syrup ( I don't know if someone else mentioned this before- if they did it was buried in my subconscious ). One pound bottle is two thousand calories. God knows why you would want to suck on a bottle of Karo syrup all day, but you must admit it is a compact unit for rations. A bag of chocolate chips, 12 ounces, is about two thousand. A pound of raisins is 1500. As is a box of graham crackers. As is a pound of sweetened condensed milk. The best bet seems to be a small jar of peanut butter at three thousand calories. I know a loyal minion mentioned PB before, but at the time we were talking about the cheapest calories. It didn't work there, but it sure works for non-cooking calories. And a jar is still under two bucks at Wally World. Although who knows how long that will last. Those bastards are pissing me off more and more lately. I used to be able to just shop Wal-Mart. Now I have to shop them, Family Dollar and the dollar store because China-Marts prices are no longer uniformly the lowest. And I stuck up for them all these years. You know what they did now? One week I get a box of instant mashed potatoes, the two pack type, for eighty eight cents. The next week they are $1.08 for the same. Oh, I saw red. Shades of the Pringle Price Hike. Even my once faithful family from Arkansas is turning on me ( speaking of turning, I notice Creekmore now has over twice my readers. I still love him, but I think some are fair weather minions ).
*
Notice, I'm not concerned too much with variety here. Just compact, cheap, non-cook rations. It may not be a great idea to get all your calories from sugar. I don't mean for that to be your two week long diet. I'd stock a lot of PB, a little chocolate. And I'm sure some of you will have much better suggestions. Just keep it cheap and compact with no need to process or cook. Top Ramen is still cheap, but you need half a case to get the needed calories which is not compact ( yes, you can easily eat Ramen raw ).
END
Buy My Crap www.bisonpress.com
guest article
GUEST ARTICLE
Loyal minion contribution. My regular article will be posted shortly.
Tribes ?
Anonymous
Disclaimer : This is just fantasy/speculation,so don't get offended ! The S ain't HTF yet,so it doesn't really matter. I'm just trying to find solutions and offer some thoughts to this tribe business. I really want some feedback from you,please leave some comments.
The OFFENSIVE FARMERS post and the comments on Wednesday , June 10 , 2009 really got me thinking about tribes..The solution that James proposed will let us keep our independence and everybody will have the same rights. Everybody produces their own food and we will fight together for Bisonia. Offense is the best defense. Cooperation will ensure our survival,we'll help each other out, when someone is in need we will take care of them. We will have to respect one another,I'm not sure if we are capable of that,not yet anyways.Maybe we will get a big attitude adjustment after the collapse. Maybe we will just die-off.
A tribe has absolutely nothing to do with the society we have today. If a tribe is going to work,we will have to become a family and that means trusting one another. We will have to work together because we actually like one another and because we care about our tribe. Me,Me,Me won't work. There has got to be some love involved. How else will a tribe be able to function? Will terror work? Will the "John Smith Diet" go over well with free men? I don't think so. I would have to kill John and take his food,I decide when I eat. I will not be a slave,that's not living. If you want respect you'll have to respect others. If you want freedom you're going to have to give others their freedom. It's all give and take, the way I see it.
Why would we have to be worried about getting screwed by our neighbors? If our neighbors need us to survive,just as we need them,why would they screw us over? We would never trust them again or help them out,they would lower their chances for survival. We are going to have to trust our neighbors and they are going to have trust us. No man is an island. We're going to have to start being honorable human beings again.
Why do we need to bring in hired gunmen? How will that work? Will they sit around all day and watch us work? Why can't the hired gunmen help out with the chores? How long will it be before they view us as inferiors? Everybody should be self sufficient. Each man arms and feeds himself..Hired gunmen and farmers don't mix,you now have two very different classes in your tribe.Why would the neighbors in the next town be a threat? Are we Oceania? Do we really need an Eurasia?
Do we need law enforcement? Can't we enforce the law ourselves? What laws do we need to enforce? Who will make the laws? Why do we feel the need to control members of our tribe? Three strikes and your out? Do we need a chief ? A Decider? A Lord Protecter of Bisonia? How can we make a tribe work?
I hope this made some sense. Maybe I'm full of crap. Speaking of crap, you know what to do.
Loyal minion contribution. My regular article will be posted shortly.
Tribes ?
Anonymous
Disclaimer : This is just fantasy/speculation,so don't get offended ! The S ain't HTF yet,so it doesn't really matter. I'm just trying to find solutions and offer some thoughts to this tribe business. I really want some feedback from you,please leave some comments.
The OFFENSIVE FARMERS post and the comments on Wednesday , June 10 , 2009 really got me thinking about tribes..The solution that James proposed will let us keep our independence and everybody will have the same rights. Everybody produces their own food and we will fight together for Bisonia. Offense is the best defense. Cooperation will ensure our survival,we'll help each other out, when someone is in need we will take care of them. We will have to respect one another,I'm not sure if we are capable of that,not yet anyways.Maybe we will get a big attitude adjustment after the collapse. Maybe we will just die-off.
A tribe has absolutely nothing to do with the society we have today. If a tribe is going to work,we will have to become a family and that means trusting one another. We will have to work together because we actually like one another and because we care about our tribe. Me,Me,Me won't work. There has got to be some love involved. How else will a tribe be able to function? Will terror work? Will the "John Smith Diet" go over well with free men? I don't think so. I would have to kill John and take his food,I decide when I eat. I will not be a slave,that's not living. If you want respect you'll have to respect others. If you want freedom you're going to have to give others their freedom. It's all give and take, the way I see it.
Why would we have to be worried about getting screwed by our neighbors? If our neighbors need us to survive,just as we need them,why would they screw us over? We would never trust them again or help them out,they would lower their chances for survival. We are going to have to trust our neighbors and they are going to have trust us. No man is an island. We're going to have to start being honorable human beings again.
Why do we need to bring in hired gunmen? How will that work? Will they sit around all day and watch us work? Why can't the hired gunmen help out with the chores? How long will it be before they view us as inferiors? Everybody should be self sufficient. Each man arms and feeds himself..Hired gunmen and farmers don't mix,you now have two very different classes in your tribe.Why would the neighbors in the next town be a threat? Are we Oceania? Do we really need an Eurasia?
Do we need law enforcement? Can't we enforce the law ourselves? What laws do we need to enforce? Who will make the laws? Why do we feel the need to control members of our tribe? Three strikes and your out? Do we need a chief ? A Decider? A Lord Protecter of Bisonia? How can we make a tribe work?
I hope this made some sense. Maybe I'm full of crap. Speaking of crap, you know what to do.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
corn wars
CORN WARS
Let me tell you why Uncle Obammy wants national health care reform. It's not to save money. When you inflate the money supply a trillion at a time because nobody sane is going to buy your toxic crap bonds so you have to get the Treasury to buy them with Monopoly money, you can't be too concerned with what health care is going to cost. With what they threw at AIG you could probably cure cancer, establish a moon base and perfect room temperature fusion. Okay, just kidding. We can't even get our old trains running again. But it isn't about the money. I think its about energy. Now, try to follow my convoluted logic here. You might think it's a bit off the wall but remember that you heard it here first.
*
First off, we need to blow a big raspberry at the idea of alternate energy programs. This is just Obammy blowing smoke up your butt. When your economy has three out of four engines puking smoke and your aircraft is spinning down towards the ground and there are no parachutes on board, and when your imported energy is dropping almost ten percent a year, you are not in any position to build a brand new infrastructure. You are going to use what you already have available. Forget brand new wind farms in Texas or fields of PV panels in the desert. And forget about a significant amount of new nuclear plants coming on line. We don't have the luxury of waiting ten or fifteen years for them. What is already built, what is already turning out product, is ethanol. It is a terrible idea. The return on the input energy is bad. But it is what we already have. So, what do you need to do to increase ethanol production? Take out more corn from the food chain. How do you do that?
*
Corn syrup has been used as a sweetener for quite some time. The reason is simple. Uncle Sam subsidized corn. And makes sugar too expensive since a few asshats down in Florida lobbied for sugar imports to be artificially suppressed. Bastard whores. Anyway, corn is used as a sweetener. It makes oil for frying foods. It makes a good fattener to feed cattle and other livestock. So, you need people to stop eating so much sweet and fried foods and get them to stop eating so much meat. By doing that you free up the corn for ethanol that will partially make up for the dwindling oil imports and keep the economy together for just a little longer. So you start a campaign. Demonize crap food. Oh My God! Sweets/meats/fats are killing our children. They drink soda, chew on KFC and get fat and die. Let's add a tax to soda, declare trans-fats illegal and remove price subsidies from chicken. The Swine Flu should remove bacon from the table pretty soon here. Beef is next. Another Mad Cow scare, perhaps? Who was the idiot that shot Oswald? Jack Ruby? They injected radioactive material into him for a quick cancer kill, they sure as hell can spread a few rotting brain cell around.
*
I can almost hear you now. Jim is crazy, paranoid old bastard! Look, I'm not making this stuff up because we are lacking any other threats. There are plenty of those. I'm merely trying to follow the money to try to recognize a future threat. In a decreasing availability of energy future, those in power and with the wealth will need to protect themselves. How will they most likely do that? Here you go- control the energy by denying the masses a food source. And it's not like we will be allowed to complain. It is for our own good, to protect our health. They are removing teeth rotting sugar. Artery clogging fat. And unhealthy animal protein ( I'm not saying I think meat is unhealthy- but the Birkenstock wearing tree huggers think so and you can't argue with the PC crowd or you are a fascist pig ).
*
The increased taxes will be first, and the politicians will love those since they can never get enough of our earnings. Then you can expect shortages and perhaps even bans. And when I turn out to be right, I expect a shower of cash gifts and perhaps even outright worship. In the meantime, buy my crap at www.bisonpress.com
END
Let me tell you why Uncle Obammy wants national health care reform. It's not to save money. When you inflate the money supply a trillion at a time because nobody sane is going to buy your toxic crap bonds so you have to get the Treasury to buy them with Monopoly money, you can't be too concerned with what health care is going to cost. With what they threw at AIG you could probably cure cancer, establish a moon base and perfect room temperature fusion. Okay, just kidding. We can't even get our old trains running again. But it isn't about the money. I think its about energy. Now, try to follow my convoluted logic here. You might think it's a bit off the wall but remember that you heard it here first.
*
First off, we need to blow a big raspberry at the idea of alternate energy programs. This is just Obammy blowing smoke up your butt. When your economy has three out of four engines puking smoke and your aircraft is spinning down towards the ground and there are no parachutes on board, and when your imported energy is dropping almost ten percent a year, you are not in any position to build a brand new infrastructure. You are going to use what you already have available. Forget brand new wind farms in Texas or fields of PV panels in the desert. And forget about a significant amount of new nuclear plants coming on line. We don't have the luxury of waiting ten or fifteen years for them. What is already built, what is already turning out product, is ethanol. It is a terrible idea. The return on the input energy is bad. But it is what we already have. So, what do you need to do to increase ethanol production? Take out more corn from the food chain. How do you do that?
*
Corn syrup has been used as a sweetener for quite some time. The reason is simple. Uncle Sam subsidized corn. And makes sugar too expensive since a few asshats down in Florida lobbied for sugar imports to be artificially suppressed. Bastard whores. Anyway, corn is used as a sweetener. It makes oil for frying foods. It makes a good fattener to feed cattle and other livestock. So, you need people to stop eating so much sweet and fried foods and get them to stop eating so much meat. By doing that you free up the corn for ethanol that will partially make up for the dwindling oil imports and keep the economy together for just a little longer. So you start a campaign. Demonize crap food. Oh My God! Sweets/meats/fats are killing our children. They drink soda, chew on KFC and get fat and die. Let's add a tax to soda, declare trans-fats illegal and remove price subsidies from chicken. The Swine Flu should remove bacon from the table pretty soon here. Beef is next. Another Mad Cow scare, perhaps? Who was the idiot that shot Oswald? Jack Ruby? They injected radioactive material into him for a quick cancer kill, they sure as hell can spread a few rotting brain cell around.
*
I can almost hear you now. Jim is crazy, paranoid old bastard! Look, I'm not making this stuff up because we are lacking any other threats. There are plenty of those. I'm merely trying to follow the money to try to recognize a future threat. In a decreasing availability of energy future, those in power and with the wealth will need to protect themselves. How will they most likely do that? Here you go- control the energy by denying the masses a food source. And it's not like we will be allowed to complain. It is for our own good, to protect our health. They are removing teeth rotting sugar. Artery clogging fat. And unhealthy animal protein ( I'm not saying I think meat is unhealthy- but the Birkenstock wearing tree huggers think so and you can't argue with the PC crowd or you are a fascist pig ).
*
The increased taxes will be first, and the politicians will love those since they can never get enough of our earnings. Then you can expect shortages and perhaps even bans. And when I turn out to be right, I expect a shower of cash gifts and perhaps even outright worship. In the meantime, buy my crap at www.bisonpress.com
END
Monday, June 15, 2009
how low can you go?
HOW LOW CAN YOU GO?
A loyal minion comment the other day was that you can't escape the system, you can only minimise its effects. How true. Once the system crashes, you can survive without it, barely, if you are lucky. While it is still functions you are in its grasp. The sad fact of the matter is that we extracted a continents worth of resources for our wealth, then extracted the easy resources from the rest of the globe ( that part powerful enough to resist us used the resources to defend themselves ) and now have no choice but to extract the wealth of the bulk of our own population to keep those in power comfortable. We haven't seen anything yet in the way of life threatening taxes and rents ( I'll touch briefly on one aspect of that tomorrow ). So, while post apocalypse planning is necessary and wise, don't neglect surviving the beasts milking you for all you are worth. We should be so lucky to be permanently unemployed sucking on welfare. More likely you are going to run afoul of an unknown law or regulation and end up on a labor gang. But I won't depress you with that today. Right now, planning on living on a lot less.
*
How low can you go on your budget? How little can you survive on? And, you need to plan this now rather than before you are forced to cut back. It may not be an either or proposition with employment. Already, a lot of people are going from a two income family to a single wage earner. In the future that one earner may well be working on less wages and less hours. You need to make realistic plans now to deal with it. It isn't as simple as thinking you'll jingle mail the house keys and move into an apartment. Do you have the three months rent they will want in advance ( first, last and security )? Will there be any apartments available? What if you can't even afford an apartment-then what? How do you get to work if you've repoed the car? At what point in wage reduction do you have to give up the car? If relatives take us in, how long will they put up with our crap? Will the spouse agree with the cuts I think are feasible? How much cupboard food is available? How long before I get into the stockpile food? How do I replace that?
*
I didn't even touch on inflation and your saving account. Save cash, or put it into junk land payments? If I get an RV instead of land, how long can I keep moving it with gas at $10 a gallon? I could go on, but most of those questions are what I used to ask myself. Your situation will vary. My point is that you should have all this hashed out now. It isn't a question of if it will happen but when. Even with secure employment, inflation will have the same effect of reducing your ability to meet the cost of living. When you just got a pink slip or when the boss cut your hours or when bread and gas and milk double in cost is not the time to figure out how you are going to deal with it. I'll run you through my budget. First, it is a good example how much you can cut. Second, I love talking about myself.
*
My paycheck, after Uncle Obammy and Ex-Wife tax, is $600 a month. I average about $60 a month in writing income ( half the hours for ten percent of the wages- it's a good thing I love doing this ). I end up spending most of that, but I don't need to. Okay, $175 a month is two lot payments. I can do without that if I'm unemployed since I have the paid for lot ( that is too far away to commute to work from, hence the other lots ). If my hours are cut, I can get by spending $75 for the one lot. It would just mean a lot longer commute, but not impossible. Between gasoline and insurance, my vehicles run me $100 a month. I could do without those altogether. My food runs about $100 a month. I could cut that in half if I had to by eating a lot more beans and less meat, but I wouldn't want to unless I had zero money coming in. Just commuting to work I burn a lot of calories. I have a slowing but steady output for bicycle maintenance, but that is roughly dependant on my working. Less work, less money out for the bike. My cell phone is $30 a month and I don't keep it for work but for talking to my kids. Not 100% necessary, just nice. $30 goes to tobacco, but at one cigarette a day I could stop buying them and go for years on my stockpile. Coffee I mostly get from work, but even unemployed I have enough to last for years. Paying the checking account is only so I get my writing income e-deposited.
*
That is it. I have no more bills. All my extra income goes to storage items. Yes, used paperback books are a storage item if I don't read it ( new books, relating to Bison research run me about $60-90 a month ). I have food everywhere. Thirty cans of cream of chicken soup. Fifty of generic Spam ( that spot at Wal-Mart has been empty for three weeks so I expect a price surge soon ). The passenger floorboard of the truck has about sixty pounds of pinto beans. I had to stop buying corn after I ran out of storage room. I have more knives than I know what to do with. I have no more room for lard. My point is that I spend a fair amount of cash every week on storage items. I could live with no reduction in my standard of living ( other than a longer commute to work ) on just half what I do now, about $300. I could tough it out on two hundred bucks a month. I could squeeze by on $100 a month which would include propane for the winter if absolutely necessary. I would hate every minute of it but I wouldn't be endangering my health. Under that, we had better be in a social collapse or I'd be in serious trouble.
*
I hope it never comes down to all that. I would love to see a century long slow collapse and not a quick slid into chaos. I could just slowly adapt to a bit less over time. I just don't think I'll be that lucky. We don't need to totally run out of oil for our agricultural system to collapse. In fact, we might already be in a non reversible slid with the credit contraction and not even know it. Only time will tell. It simply can't hurt anyone's budget to buy a crap load of corn and wheat for the family. Just in case insurance for $60 per person. I'd buy more than that, but its a damn fine start. But, let's not veer too far off topic. Plan now to drastically cut your budget. I'm pretty sure your income will follow that plan soon enough. I doubt you can cut 85%, but get as close as you can. It's just a plan, not a commitment. But you need a realistic fall back.
END
A loyal minion comment the other day was that you can't escape the system, you can only minimise its effects. How true. Once the system crashes, you can survive without it, barely, if you are lucky. While it is still functions you are in its grasp. The sad fact of the matter is that we extracted a continents worth of resources for our wealth, then extracted the easy resources from the rest of the globe ( that part powerful enough to resist us used the resources to defend themselves ) and now have no choice but to extract the wealth of the bulk of our own population to keep those in power comfortable. We haven't seen anything yet in the way of life threatening taxes and rents ( I'll touch briefly on one aspect of that tomorrow ). So, while post apocalypse planning is necessary and wise, don't neglect surviving the beasts milking you for all you are worth. We should be so lucky to be permanently unemployed sucking on welfare. More likely you are going to run afoul of an unknown law or regulation and end up on a labor gang. But I won't depress you with that today. Right now, planning on living on a lot less.
*
How low can you go on your budget? How little can you survive on? And, you need to plan this now rather than before you are forced to cut back. It may not be an either or proposition with employment. Already, a lot of people are going from a two income family to a single wage earner. In the future that one earner may well be working on less wages and less hours. You need to make realistic plans now to deal with it. It isn't as simple as thinking you'll jingle mail the house keys and move into an apartment. Do you have the three months rent they will want in advance ( first, last and security )? Will there be any apartments available? What if you can't even afford an apartment-then what? How do you get to work if you've repoed the car? At what point in wage reduction do you have to give up the car? If relatives take us in, how long will they put up with our crap? Will the spouse agree with the cuts I think are feasible? How much cupboard food is available? How long before I get into the stockpile food? How do I replace that?
*
I didn't even touch on inflation and your saving account. Save cash, or put it into junk land payments? If I get an RV instead of land, how long can I keep moving it with gas at $10 a gallon? I could go on, but most of those questions are what I used to ask myself. Your situation will vary. My point is that you should have all this hashed out now. It isn't a question of if it will happen but when. Even with secure employment, inflation will have the same effect of reducing your ability to meet the cost of living. When you just got a pink slip or when the boss cut your hours or when bread and gas and milk double in cost is not the time to figure out how you are going to deal with it. I'll run you through my budget. First, it is a good example how much you can cut. Second, I love talking about myself.
*
My paycheck, after Uncle Obammy and Ex-Wife tax, is $600 a month. I average about $60 a month in writing income ( half the hours for ten percent of the wages- it's a good thing I love doing this ). I end up spending most of that, but I don't need to. Okay, $175 a month is two lot payments. I can do without that if I'm unemployed since I have the paid for lot ( that is too far away to commute to work from, hence the other lots ). If my hours are cut, I can get by spending $75 for the one lot. It would just mean a lot longer commute, but not impossible. Between gasoline and insurance, my vehicles run me $100 a month. I could do without those altogether. My food runs about $100 a month. I could cut that in half if I had to by eating a lot more beans and less meat, but I wouldn't want to unless I had zero money coming in. Just commuting to work I burn a lot of calories. I have a slowing but steady output for bicycle maintenance, but that is roughly dependant on my working. Less work, less money out for the bike. My cell phone is $30 a month and I don't keep it for work but for talking to my kids. Not 100% necessary, just nice. $30 goes to tobacco, but at one cigarette a day I could stop buying them and go for years on my stockpile. Coffee I mostly get from work, but even unemployed I have enough to last for years. Paying the checking account is only so I get my writing income e-deposited.
*
That is it. I have no more bills. All my extra income goes to storage items. Yes, used paperback books are a storage item if I don't read it ( new books, relating to Bison research run me about $60-90 a month ). I have food everywhere. Thirty cans of cream of chicken soup. Fifty of generic Spam ( that spot at Wal-Mart has been empty for three weeks so I expect a price surge soon ). The passenger floorboard of the truck has about sixty pounds of pinto beans. I had to stop buying corn after I ran out of storage room. I have more knives than I know what to do with. I have no more room for lard. My point is that I spend a fair amount of cash every week on storage items. I could live with no reduction in my standard of living ( other than a longer commute to work ) on just half what I do now, about $300. I could tough it out on two hundred bucks a month. I could squeeze by on $100 a month which would include propane for the winter if absolutely necessary. I would hate every minute of it but I wouldn't be endangering my health. Under that, we had better be in a social collapse or I'd be in serious trouble.
*
I hope it never comes down to all that. I would love to see a century long slow collapse and not a quick slid into chaos. I could just slowly adapt to a bit less over time. I just don't think I'll be that lucky. We don't need to totally run out of oil for our agricultural system to collapse. In fact, we might already be in a non reversible slid with the credit contraction and not even know it. Only time will tell. It simply can't hurt anyone's budget to buy a crap load of corn and wheat for the family. Just in case insurance for $60 per person. I'd buy more than that, but its a damn fine start. But, let's not veer too far off topic. Plan now to drastically cut your budget. I'm pretty sure your income will follow that plan soon enough. I doubt you can cut 85%, but get as close as you can. It's just a plan, not a commitment. But you need a realistic fall back.
END
Saturday, June 13, 2009
guest article
GUEST ARTICLE
GUEST BOOK REPORT
When I Was A German, 1934-1945
An Englishwoman In Nazi Germanyby Christabel Bielenberg$21.55 new if you follow the buymycrap link to amazon.com, or, free at your library.This was such a great story it consumed my entire weekend. It is an autobiographical account of a British woman who married a German law student, changed citizenship, moved to Germany, and started a family. That's timing for you, and it makes for an intriguing read.
Early on, she tells the story of her neighborhood gardener, who painstakingly saved his meager earnings to buy his own house and marry. Then the Weimar inflation struck, savings were lost, unemployment hit hard, there was no money to marry, and Jewish business owners moved in. Can you imagine how the gardener might have felt about his new customers? Multiply that by many, many Germans. (Who will be moving into our repossessed McMansions and strip malls?)The author also talks about the increasing tightening, the imposition of more and more rules and laws. Five years prison, and up to the death penalty if you're found listening to a foreign broadcast. "Voluntary" contributions that must be made to support the party.
And the food? "(a)s soon as food rationing was introduced, everything that was not on the ration cards disappeared like magic from every shop counter and out of every shop window. . . ."German women, your Leader and your country trust you." Such pious slogans. . . made no impression whatsoever on the agile Hausfrau hell-bent on a fruitful scavenge."Imagine your life, with food rationing. How would that work here? Debit cards? Implanted chips? Drivers licenses? Can we assume the same level of black marketeering? How long do you think your beans and rice are going to tide you over? For eleven years? And that assumes no confiscations, no tattletales, no blackmail, and no sympathy for anyone else.Frau Dokter Bielenberg (Christabel) also tells about how difficult it is to hold views that differ from the view of the official government, the papers that must be signed vowing loyalty so that you can obtain employment, the compromises that have to be made in order to live.
Somehow, this reminds me of work, where you have to be careful to keep your radical mouth shut. She does find her "group", the people she can safely talk to and share her political opinions, and they work together to keep each other safe, and promote the idea that not all Germans support Hitler. And in another exercise, what would you do if a fugitive from the government came to your house begging for food and shelter? Knowing that if you provide that, it could cost you your life, and the lives of your family? How are you going to decide? What does Christabel choose to do? The daily struggles of Christabel and her family are remarkable, and when you pair those up with the larger background of the turmoil in Germany, it makes for an amazing story. After you read the library's copy, seriously consider buying your own. It will earn a place on your bookshelf because by the time you finish her account, you will be convinced of the necessity and value of finding your tribe, your village, of having people who are completely worthy of trust and who are genuinely concerned for your survival.
GUEST BOOK REPORT
When I Was A German, 1934-1945
An Englishwoman In Nazi Germanyby Christabel Bielenberg$21.55 new if you follow the buymycrap link to amazon.com, or, free at your library.This was such a great story it consumed my entire weekend. It is an autobiographical account of a British woman who married a German law student, changed citizenship, moved to Germany, and started a family. That's timing for you, and it makes for an intriguing read.
Early on, she tells the story of her neighborhood gardener, who painstakingly saved his meager earnings to buy his own house and marry. Then the Weimar inflation struck, savings were lost, unemployment hit hard, there was no money to marry, and Jewish business owners moved in. Can you imagine how the gardener might have felt about his new customers? Multiply that by many, many Germans. (Who will be moving into our repossessed McMansions and strip malls?)The author also talks about the increasing tightening, the imposition of more and more rules and laws. Five years prison, and up to the death penalty if you're found listening to a foreign broadcast. "Voluntary" contributions that must be made to support the party.
And the food? "(a)s soon as food rationing was introduced, everything that was not on the ration cards disappeared like magic from every shop counter and out of every shop window. . . ."German women, your Leader and your country trust you." Such pious slogans. . . made no impression whatsoever on the agile Hausfrau hell-bent on a fruitful scavenge."Imagine your life, with food rationing. How would that work here? Debit cards? Implanted chips? Drivers licenses? Can we assume the same level of black marketeering? How long do you think your beans and rice are going to tide you over? For eleven years? And that assumes no confiscations, no tattletales, no blackmail, and no sympathy for anyone else.Frau Dokter Bielenberg (Christabel) also tells about how difficult it is to hold views that differ from the view of the official government, the papers that must be signed vowing loyalty so that you can obtain employment, the compromises that have to be made in order to live.
Somehow, this reminds me of work, where you have to be careful to keep your radical mouth shut. She does find her "group", the people she can safely talk to and share her political opinions, and they work together to keep each other safe, and promote the idea that not all Germans support Hitler. And in another exercise, what would you do if a fugitive from the government came to your house begging for food and shelter? Knowing that if you provide that, it could cost you your life, and the lives of your family? How are you going to decide? What does Christabel choose to do? The daily struggles of Christabel and her family are remarkable, and when you pair those up with the larger background of the turmoil in Germany, it makes for an amazing story. After you read the library's copy, seriously consider buying your own. It will earn a place on your bookshelf because by the time you finish her account, you will be convinced of the necessity and value of finding your tribe, your village, of having people who are completely worthy of trust and who are genuinely concerned for your survival.
Friday, June 12, 2009
living the test
LIVING THE TEST
Again, sorry about yesterday. When I went to post, I got the "unable to complete task" message and had to wait a half hour until that cleared up. When I did post the article it hadn't been saved in full and only a quarter of it got posted. So since I was working by then I had to grab the easiest thing I had on hand to post. Which was the last movie review I had done. Two weeks ago I started back up my Netflix subscription and am starting back up with the planned Post Apocalypse Movie Review book. With the extra solar panel I can watch two hours of a DVD and then write for an hour without draining the battery. It is direct from the sun. Of course, I'm watching a seven inch TV so it isn't exactly class A entertainment. I thought, hey, a perfect time to do this- I should be done before winter starts. So what happens? Two weeks of storms and clouds. The last weekend I barely squeezed enough sunshine in to watch the movies. I swear Mother Nature hates me.
*
This is something a few of you have already mentioned. I'm half way to living the post collapse lifestyle. Some of you think it's because I'm off grid and have drastically cut back on my energy consumption ( such as trying to use more solar that propane heat in the winter ). To some extent that is true. But I also try to lead as miserable a life as possible to get used to what is coming. Oh, I enjoy the peace and quiet too much to go back to town living. But transportation there and back sucks. And I make sure to be poor enough to scare off all female companionship. So in general I sit around, all mopey and bitter and feel sorry for myself. Remember the series of lines in "Airplane"? I picked a hell of a time to give up... ( alcohol, drugs, etc. ). So, when I come across something to make myself feel better about my self imposed idiocy, I have to share it with you, dance around doing a victory dance and so on. The book "Shoestring Survivalism" by Andy James was recommended by a loyal minion. Of course, I have to get it just to see if it is as good as my "The Frugal Survivalist". Luckily, it doesn't come close.
*
It is a pretty darn good book, don't get me wrong. It is great for beginners and doesn't scare off anyone with naked fear or paranoia. I would highly recommend it as a loaner book or gift for fence sitters or newbies. It is a well thought out presentation and program. I just don't think it presents as cheap of an alternative as my book. So I'm still secure in my self crowned title of Master Frugal Survival Dude. It takes you step by step through planning and identifying threats, etc. The part I'm referring to in this article is when he was outlining the steps you need to take to survive service disruptions. You know, stuff like water supply, an alternate toilet, alternate cooking fuel, the whole enchilada for when FEMA pulls another New Orleans and doesn't show up for three weeks ( although they send in Blackwater in only three days to kill all gun owners ). I went through that section with a smug and superior attitude. I didn't need to work out alternatives, I was already living them.
*
So, I guess the main point here is that there are different rationals for living on junk land. One, no need to worry about bugging out. For the price of one months monster diesel truck in four wheel drive with extra fuel tanks payment, you are already at your retreat. Now you don't need a big city job because you don't have a land or truck payment. Two, if things collapse tomorrow you have a place to stay. A legal squat that they can't kick you off of. Three, a real retirement plan. Unlike the fantasyland Social Security that is merely an empty promise, paid for land means you need only one half to one quarter of the money most people need to retire on ( I'm ignoring medical needs and am talking about rent, food and fuel ). Four, you won't notice an infrastructure collapse other than a loss of TV and Internet and you don't need them then anyway. Right now, you are worried about a water supply. How to flush the crapper. What to do if the lights go out. How you are going to get to work. How you are going to keep your food from spoiling and how you are going to cook.
*
Living off grid drastically lowers your land cost. Living off grid forces you to invest in alternate energy now. And you get experience in what does and doesn't work and have time to adjust. If you stay on grid and wait for a disruption then you don't have that option. I don't have to take weekend tests of self sufficiency by turning off my power. Which is a great idea but I wonder how many actually do it and if that is really long enough. Now, I know, you know and I'm pretty sure Ross Perot knows that I just keep harping on you to live primitive. And we all know you don't listen because you don't won't to wake up one January morning with the inside temperature eight degrees, have the wife leave you as soon as the road thaws out, and talk out loud to the cats for companionship like the crazy cat lady on the Simpson's that defends herself by power throwing her felines from a sack like a ninja Shurikan. So, I'm not trying to talk you into dropping out of the rat race before it implodes. I'm just patting myself on the back, saying what a great job I've done and that I'm going to survive the cannibal stew pot just a little longer than you so all this is well worth it.
END
Guest article tomorrow.
Again, sorry about yesterday. When I went to post, I got the "unable to complete task" message and had to wait a half hour until that cleared up. When I did post the article it hadn't been saved in full and only a quarter of it got posted. So since I was working by then I had to grab the easiest thing I had on hand to post. Which was the last movie review I had done. Two weeks ago I started back up my Netflix subscription and am starting back up with the planned Post Apocalypse Movie Review book. With the extra solar panel I can watch two hours of a DVD and then write for an hour without draining the battery. It is direct from the sun. Of course, I'm watching a seven inch TV so it isn't exactly class A entertainment. I thought, hey, a perfect time to do this- I should be done before winter starts. So what happens? Two weeks of storms and clouds. The last weekend I barely squeezed enough sunshine in to watch the movies. I swear Mother Nature hates me.
*
This is something a few of you have already mentioned. I'm half way to living the post collapse lifestyle. Some of you think it's because I'm off grid and have drastically cut back on my energy consumption ( such as trying to use more solar that propane heat in the winter ). To some extent that is true. But I also try to lead as miserable a life as possible to get used to what is coming. Oh, I enjoy the peace and quiet too much to go back to town living. But transportation there and back sucks. And I make sure to be poor enough to scare off all female companionship. So in general I sit around, all mopey and bitter and feel sorry for myself. Remember the series of lines in "Airplane"? I picked a hell of a time to give up... ( alcohol, drugs, etc. ). So, when I come across something to make myself feel better about my self imposed idiocy, I have to share it with you, dance around doing a victory dance and so on. The book "Shoestring Survivalism" by Andy James was recommended by a loyal minion. Of course, I have to get it just to see if it is as good as my "The Frugal Survivalist". Luckily, it doesn't come close.
*
It is a pretty darn good book, don't get me wrong. It is great for beginners and doesn't scare off anyone with naked fear or paranoia. I would highly recommend it as a loaner book or gift for fence sitters or newbies. It is a well thought out presentation and program. I just don't think it presents as cheap of an alternative as my book. So I'm still secure in my self crowned title of Master Frugal Survival Dude. It takes you step by step through planning and identifying threats, etc. The part I'm referring to in this article is when he was outlining the steps you need to take to survive service disruptions. You know, stuff like water supply, an alternate toilet, alternate cooking fuel, the whole enchilada for when FEMA pulls another New Orleans and doesn't show up for three weeks ( although they send in Blackwater in only three days to kill all gun owners ). I went through that section with a smug and superior attitude. I didn't need to work out alternatives, I was already living them.
*
So, I guess the main point here is that there are different rationals for living on junk land. One, no need to worry about bugging out. For the price of one months monster diesel truck in four wheel drive with extra fuel tanks payment, you are already at your retreat. Now you don't need a big city job because you don't have a land or truck payment. Two, if things collapse tomorrow you have a place to stay. A legal squat that they can't kick you off of. Three, a real retirement plan. Unlike the fantasyland Social Security that is merely an empty promise, paid for land means you need only one half to one quarter of the money most people need to retire on ( I'm ignoring medical needs and am talking about rent, food and fuel ). Four, you won't notice an infrastructure collapse other than a loss of TV and Internet and you don't need them then anyway. Right now, you are worried about a water supply. How to flush the crapper. What to do if the lights go out. How you are going to get to work. How you are going to keep your food from spoiling and how you are going to cook.
*
Living off grid drastically lowers your land cost. Living off grid forces you to invest in alternate energy now. And you get experience in what does and doesn't work and have time to adjust. If you stay on grid and wait for a disruption then you don't have that option. I don't have to take weekend tests of self sufficiency by turning off my power. Which is a great idea but I wonder how many actually do it and if that is really long enough. Now, I know, you know and I'm pretty sure Ross Perot knows that I just keep harping on you to live primitive. And we all know you don't listen because you don't won't to wake up one January morning with the inside temperature eight degrees, have the wife leave you as soon as the road thaws out, and talk out loud to the cats for companionship like the crazy cat lady on the Simpson's that defends herself by power throwing her felines from a sack like a ninja Shurikan. So, I'm not trying to talk you into dropping out of the rat race before it implodes. I'm just patting myself on the back, saying what a great job I've done and that I'm going to survive the cannibal stew pot just a little longer than you so all this is well worth it.
END
Guest article tomorrow.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
movie review
MOVIE REVIEW
Google ate my regular article. Wrote it, tried to post, only a quarter of it came through. No huge loss, not one of my best. But now you only get what's below. I don't have time to write anything else. Sorry.
CHILDREN OF MEN
Rated R, 2006
Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Michael Caine
First rate movie. Top acting, plenty of action, a unique take on the story. Unfortunately, this is a dystopian movie rather than a post-apocalypse movie. The future in Britain might entail more poverty, a bit of doing without, a larger police state ( directed against foreigners ) and more pollution as more coal is used in place of oil, but it is nothing like the end of civilization. It is more like the return of the Blitz, which never ends. There is a lot of attention paid to detail. A lot of budget went into creating a realistic universe. There are actually so many small details quickly glanced that you can’t get it all in one or two viewings. When Clive goes to see a cousin ( or some such family member ) to ask for official paperwork, check out the pink flying pig from Pink Floyd. But that was an obvious bit, there are a lot more subdued moments.
Clive’s ex-wife, Julianne, contacts him that a resistance movement needs to smuggle a girl down to the coast. He’s pretty much slipped into a semi-permanent alcoholic stupor but eventually agrees. Probably still carrying a torch for her. As she knew he would. Get papers from cousin, start driving, ambush by bandit dudes, escape, ex-wife shot, hole up in farm, overhear some talk the ambush was a set up, want to kill leader, take girl and keep her at farm rather than getting her to safety off island. It seems our wonder girl is in the family way which is supposed to be impossible since a global infertility is what has caused such widespread destruction. As hope was lost, the globe went to war with itself. Except in Britain, which limps. That part of the story was a little weak to me, as North Sea oil production is fading fast and they have to import a lot of their food. Perhaps there are enough people voluntarily taking the suicide kit and getting imported that they can barely get by with what they have.
Michael Caine is wonderful as an aging hippy who hides out in his little sanctuary in the woods. Hiding his driveway, has solar panels and eats vegetarian. Trades his pot he grows for the cash he needs. The place is full of books and old music. Just the kind of retreat we all would like. As I said, a damn good film. A poor Apocalypse one.
*Genre Rating-poor. Not a collapse, just a general decline. No breakdown in order or trade, at least not island wide.
*Nudity Rating-another piss poor nudity showing. One brief shot of boobs. Only a tease.
*Overall Rating- despite the poor genre rating, this is very good movie. Recommended, if nothing else for Caine’s appearance or the glimpses into a long descent future.
Google ate my regular article. Wrote it, tried to post, only a quarter of it came through. No huge loss, not one of my best. But now you only get what's below. I don't have time to write anything else. Sorry.
CHILDREN OF MEN
Rated R, 2006
Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Michael Caine
First rate movie. Top acting, plenty of action, a unique take on the story. Unfortunately, this is a dystopian movie rather than a post-apocalypse movie. The future in Britain might entail more poverty, a bit of doing without, a larger police state ( directed against foreigners ) and more pollution as more coal is used in place of oil, but it is nothing like the end of civilization. It is more like the return of the Blitz, which never ends. There is a lot of attention paid to detail. A lot of budget went into creating a realistic universe. There are actually so many small details quickly glanced that you can’t get it all in one or two viewings. When Clive goes to see a cousin ( or some such family member ) to ask for official paperwork, check out the pink flying pig from Pink Floyd. But that was an obvious bit, there are a lot more subdued moments.
Clive’s ex-wife, Julianne, contacts him that a resistance movement needs to smuggle a girl down to the coast. He’s pretty much slipped into a semi-permanent alcoholic stupor but eventually agrees. Probably still carrying a torch for her. As she knew he would. Get papers from cousin, start driving, ambush by bandit dudes, escape, ex-wife shot, hole up in farm, overhear some talk the ambush was a set up, want to kill leader, take girl and keep her at farm rather than getting her to safety off island. It seems our wonder girl is in the family way which is supposed to be impossible since a global infertility is what has caused such widespread destruction. As hope was lost, the globe went to war with itself. Except in Britain, which limps. That part of the story was a little weak to me, as North Sea oil production is fading fast and they have to import a lot of their food. Perhaps there are enough people voluntarily taking the suicide kit and getting imported that they can barely get by with what they have.
Michael Caine is wonderful as an aging hippy who hides out in his little sanctuary in the woods. Hiding his driveway, has solar panels and eats vegetarian. Trades his pot he grows for the cash he needs. The place is full of books and old music. Just the kind of retreat we all would like. As I said, a damn good film. A poor Apocalypse one.
*Genre Rating-poor. Not a collapse, just a general decline. No breakdown in order or trade, at least not island wide.
*Nudity Rating-another piss poor nudity showing. One brief shot of boobs. Only a tease.
*Overall Rating- despite the poor genre rating, this is very good movie. Recommended, if nothing else for Caine’s appearance or the glimpses into a long descent future.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
offensive farmers
OFFENSIVE FARMERS
To begin today, I would like to send you over to http://thesurvivalistblog.blogspot.com/ . You all know Creekmore. He's been growing in readership and revenue while I am shrinking even further into my niche market. I'm at peace with this as I'm definitely not a mainstream author. So, the best of luck to him growing. I mention him because his articles are growing in length and whit and seem to be much more enjoyable. I'm not criticizing, just saying to take another look if you've been away because things are just getting better. Or, you can stay a loyal minion and continue to put up with my growing sarcasm and soul drenching fear and paranoia. Because, trust me, it's just going to get worse. My sunny optimistic days are long over. But you are all welcome along for the ride. Another note, the recent BS about banks paying back TARP is all sunshine up our butts. Dollars to donuts it was the PPP buying their stock that allowed them to pay off the loans. Buying time, no real solution.
*
Okay, you all seem to think I hate farming and wish all of you to die from waves of urban refugees as I look on at a safe distance out in the middle of no where. I don't think farming is unrealistic, I think that future farmers are unrealistic about the dangers they face. Everyone seems to have this Yeoman farmer fantasy where you will be free to grow a crop in peace. Except for native attacks, three hundred years of farming on this continent were basically hassle free. I'm not discounting the hardships endured, but compared to peasant farming in every other landmass, our farmers had a lot of freedom and could pick from fabulous land. Look at the Russians. They fled east to avoid taxation and exploitation. To be free they had to fight off nomad warriors. And the Russian government fed off of their labor, moving in behind them once the hard part was done. Then they became enslaved again. In contrast, our immigrants were given land for free and soon had a railroad following them to take the food to market.
*
Our farmers have also benefited from the large spaces we've settled. In general, the larger an area that there is to police, the easier it is avoid intrusive government. Space is a buffer. The future is going to see a contraction of space. As our Empire falls apart and disintegrates, smaller political units will take its place. City states, baronies, small territories of all kinds. As states shrink, the ability to hide is hindered. The government can find you easier. Just because you are hidden and remote now doesn't mean you will escape the taxing authorities in the future. There will be less people to exploit and they will actively seek out to the last landowner the means of parasitism. Another thing to consider is that once petroleum inputs into the soil shrink or cease altogether, crop yields will shrink. Thus, taxation becomes harder to bear. These reasons are why I tell you you will become a farming serf, not a Yeoman free holder. Survivalists are a little more realistic than the self-reliant types, in that they seriously arm themselves and expect trouble. I'd wager that all of Backwoodshome Magazine readers think the federal government will always be around to protect them so they can farm their asparagus in peace. But I also think survivalist-farmers discount the power of the state to exploit them.
*
It is one thing to fight off the attack of zombie mutant bikers. It is quite another to fight off a local government intent on taxing you. My fiction Bisonia was meant to portray the ability of a military using black powder weapons to defeat fixed defenses, but I will be the first to admit I don't think I have the skill to impart the planned lesson. A group with the resources to manufacture black powder and feed soldiers can bomb your ass into submission. All the .308 caliber weapons you have will matter little. So, what is the solution? Going on the offensive. Defense will not work. You must seek out the enemy first. Usually, being on the farm means you can only react rather than be proactive. But, because I care about my loyal minions and I know most of you belong to the broccoli brigade, and also because I like to pretend I'm really smart, I've worked out a probable solution.
*
Farming is hard labor. You need to put in a lot of time and energy. So, how can you both farm and fight? Not easily. History has shown the majority of arrangements centered around both a permanent farming and soldier class. Not a combination of the two other than as part time supplementation. You can't risk your farmers in battle because if too many of them die then who feeds everybody? If you keep your soldiers farming, who defends you? If you call up your farmers on the off season, you have to win the war before planting or harvesting. I think the best solution is for the seasonal farmer. Mainly because it avoids a parasitic military and government and allows more freedom. Your farmers become citizens rather than serfs because they are armed. But you can't have a six month army. You need a year round one. Luckily, with today's techniques of farming it is a lot easier than it used to be to be away from the fields. French intensive deep bed planting doesn't yield anymore crops necessarily from the same labor ( just more from less land ) but I think it might be the answer for less efficient labor.
*
If the need for deep soil turning and fertilization is a once a year, short time activity, then males are only needed on the farm a short time. The rest of the time females, small children and geriatrics should be able to grow all the food. This is not a perfect solution. There are stalls to muck and other hard labor requirements. And it is not a great idea to entrust females with too much high caloric labor. If a female needs to burn too much fat in work, it endangers her reproductive ability. The reason fat, plump types used to be more attractive was because not only was adequate food intake a sign of wealth, it also meant fetus growth, labor and nursing were all less dangerous. So, if adequate food supplies can be produced with minimal male effort and minimal female hard labor by using organic intensive farming, it will free up men for the military. Once free, they can aggressively expand outward to defeat any potential enemy before they can attack. And you are doing so without a parasitic government. More of a libertarian solution to defense. Each man arms and feeds himself. The military service might be mandatory, but it doesn't benefit a parasitic state. As a benefit to females, this arrangement will ensure your continued liberation rather than re-enslavement. If females produce food they are less likely to become second class citizens.
*
So, what do you think? Is it a feasible idea, or am I full of crap, again? Speaking of crap, buy mine at www.bisonpress.com
To begin today, I would like to send you over to http://thesurvivalistblog.blogspot.com/ . You all know Creekmore. He's been growing in readership and revenue while I am shrinking even further into my niche market. I'm at peace with this as I'm definitely not a mainstream author. So, the best of luck to him growing. I mention him because his articles are growing in length and whit and seem to be much more enjoyable. I'm not criticizing, just saying to take another look if you've been away because things are just getting better. Or, you can stay a loyal minion and continue to put up with my growing sarcasm and soul drenching fear and paranoia. Because, trust me, it's just going to get worse. My sunny optimistic days are long over. But you are all welcome along for the ride. Another note, the recent BS about banks paying back TARP is all sunshine up our butts. Dollars to donuts it was the PPP buying their stock that allowed them to pay off the loans. Buying time, no real solution.
*
Okay, you all seem to think I hate farming and wish all of you to die from waves of urban refugees as I look on at a safe distance out in the middle of no where. I don't think farming is unrealistic, I think that future farmers are unrealistic about the dangers they face. Everyone seems to have this Yeoman farmer fantasy where you will be free to grow a crop in peace. Except for native attacks, three hundred years of farming on this continent were basically hassle free. I'm not discounting the hardships endured, but compared to peasant farming in every other landmass, our farmers had a lot of freedom and could pick from fabulous land. Look at the Russians. They fled east to avoid taxation and exploitation. To be free they had to fight off nomad warriors. And the Russian government fed off of their labor, moving in behind them once the hard part was done. Then they became enslaved again. In contrast, our immigrants were given land for free and soon had a railroad following them to take the food to market.
*
Our farmers have also benefited from the large spaces we've settled. In general, the larger an area that there is to police, the easier it is avoid intrusive government. Space is a buffer. The future is going to see a contraction of space. As our Empire falls apart and disintegrates, smaller political units will take its place. City states, baronies, small territories of all kinds. As states shrink, the ability to hide is hindered. The government can find you easier. Just because you are hidden and remote now doesn't mean you will escape the taxing authorities in the future. There will be less people to exploit and they will actively seek out to the last landowner the means of parasitism. Another thing to consider is that once petroleum inputs into the soil shrink or cease altogether, crop yields will shrink. Thus, taxation becomes harder to bear. These reasons are why I tell you you will become a farming serf, not a Yeoman free holder. Survivalists are a little more realistic than the self-reliant types, in that they seriously arm themselves and expect trouble. I'd wager that all of Backwoodshome Magazine readers think the federal government will always be around to protect them so they can farm their asparagus in peace. But I also think survivalist-farmers discount the power of the state to exploit them.
*
It is one thing to fight off the attack of zombie mutant bikers. It is quite another to fight off a local government intent on taxing you. My fiction Bisonia was meant to portray the ability of a military using black powder weapons to defeat fixed defenses, but I will be the first to admit I don't think I have the skill to impart the planned lesson. A group with the resources to manufacture black powder and feed soldiers can bomb your ass into submission. All the .308 caliber weapons you have will matter little. So, what is the solution? Going on the offensive. Defense will not work. You must seek out the enemy first. Usually, being on the farm means you can only react rather than be proactive. But, because I care about my loyal minions and I know most of you belong to the broccoli brigade, and also because I like to pretend I'm really smart, I've worked out a probable solution.
*
Farming is hard labor. You need to put in a lot of time and energy. So, how can you both farm and fight? Not easily. History has shown the majority of arrangements centered around both a permanent farming and soldier class. Not a combination of the two other than as part time supplementation. You can't risk your farmers in battle because if too many of them die then who feeds everybody? If you keep your soldiers farming, who defends you? If you call up your farmers on the off season, you have to win the war before planting or harvesting. I think the best solution is for the seasonal farmer. Mainly because it avoids a parasitic military and government and allows more freedom. Your farmers become citizens rather than serfs because they are armed. But you can't have a six month army. You need a year round one. Luckily, with today's techniques of farming it is a lot easier than it used to be to be away from the fields. French intensive deep bed planting doesn't yield anymore crops necessarily from the same labor ( just more from less land ) but I think it might be the answer for less efficient labor.
*
If the need for deep soil turning and fertilization is a once a year, short time activity, then males are only needed on the farm a short time. The rest of the time females, small children and geriatrics should be able to grow all the food. This is not a perfect solution. There are stalls to muck and other hard labor requirements. And it is not a great idea to entrust females with too much high caloric labor. If a female needs to burn too much fat in work, it endangers her reproductive ability. The reason fat, plump types used to be more attractive was because not only was adequate food intake a sign of wealth, it also meant fetus growth, labor and nursing were all less dangerous. So, if adequate food supplies can be produced with minimal male effort and minimal female hard labor by using organic intensive farming, it will free up men for the military. Once free, they can aggressively expand outward to defeat any potential enemy before they can attack. And you are doing so without a parasitic government. More of a libertarian solution to defense. Each man arms and feeds himself. The military service might be mandatory, but it doesn't benefit a parasitic state. As a benefit to females, this arrangement will ensure your continued liberation rather than re-enslavement. If females produce food they are less likely to become second class citizens.
*
So, what do you think? Is it a feasible idea, or am I full of crap, again? Speaking of crap, buy mine at www.bisonpress.com
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
forgetting stupidity
FORGETTING STUPIDITY
Beunaise thielles quiavant des sous peur fazir oublier zeu sottise. Very happy are those who have enough silver coin to forget their stupidity. Here at Bison Enterprises we have decided to go global and introduce a bit of foreign spice to our hatred and insults. I believe the above is in old French, or at least a dialect of French. I'm reading a biography of Champlain, who I never knew about but was a very cool dude. He had the ear of the king, advocated religious tolerance and felt that the Indians were not interior but merely different. He also wanted to colonize North America for the glory of France and did good job by all accounts. The above quote is one of those folk sayings from his region of birth. I might be whistling Dixie here, but I take it to mean the rich can act stupid and get away with it. Their wealth insulates them from the consequences of doing stupid stuff.
*
How many generations has the First World acted under this assumption? I'm sure that every Empire throughout history has done the same thing. The wealthy are insulated from reality and blindly lurch about, their head so far up their butt they can't see any danger. The poor starving and discontented, why, let them eat cake. Our soil depleted, well, I must make the servant payroll this quarter so plant another crop anyway. Entire countries wealth transferred to the investment banker CEO's bonus check. Genocide to clear the way for resource extraction. As soon as the American Indians were out of the way we took over exploiting Africa and South America. Same old crap, different century. And as bad as they were, the bulk of our population wants to emulate them. Let's be rich so we can escape from reality. Part of the escape was forgetting that there is only so much wealth to go around and only so many folks could live the good life.
*
It is one thing when everyone is fighting desperately for a position on the life raft. That is understandable. Rwandan genocide wasn't religious or racial strife so much as overpopulation meeting shrinking food supplies ( but don't think it can ever happen here, oh no! ). But everyone has been fighting for a shrinking pie of riches. They all wanted to be rich. The few smart ones at the top play on this fact, as witnessed by real estate and stock market bubbles. But the masses keep putting real wealth into inflated paper assets. Oh, golly, my 401(k) just lost half its value but they said to invest for the long term so I'll just keep putting money in there even though inflation alone is going to wipe it out, never mind future market crashes. I'm not poking fun at those that can gamble with Monopoly money. Once your future and security are assured, you can play with all that mad money. But those that gamble with their retirement and the roof over their heads are playing a chumps hand around a card shark table.
*
Money is a tool. It can buy security and luxury, it isn't the same as what you buy. It is worthless in and of itself. But, the "rich" don't give a care what I say, so they can continue on in their Happy Reality. I'm sure that you, frugal worker bees that you are, know all this. What can I say? It was a go-to-the-bank-day and I didn't have a lot of time to astound you today. If nothing else you learned a French folk saying. Buy my crap www.bisonpress.com
And check out www.dirtcheapdirt.blogspot.com . Today had some really good deals.
END
Beunaise thielles quiavant des sous peur fazir oublier zeu sottise. Very happy are those who have enough silver coin to forget their stupidity. Here at Bison Enterprises we have decided to go global and introduce a bit of foreign spice to our hatred and insults. I believe the above is in old French, or at least a dialect of French. I'm reading a biography of Champlain, who I never knew about but was a very cool dude. He had the ear of the king, advocated religious tolerance and felt that the Indians were not interior but merely different. He also wanted to colonize North America for the glory of France and did good job by all accounts. The above quote is one of those folk sayings from his region of birth. I might be whistling Dixie here, but I take it to mean the rich can act stupid and get away with it. Their wealth insulates them from the consequences of doing stupid stuff.
*
How many generations has the First World acted under this assumption? I'm sure that every Empire throughout history has done the same thing. The wealthy are insulated from reality and blindly lurch about, their head so far up their butt they can't see any danger. The poor starving and discontented, why, let them eat cake. Our soil depleted, well, I must make the servant payroll this quarter so plant another crop anyway. Entire countries wealth transferred to the investment banker CEO's bonus check. Genocide to clear the way for resource extraction. As soon as the American Indians were out of the way we took over exploiting Africa and South America. Same old crap, different century. And as bad as they were, the bulk of our population wants to emulate them. Let's be rich so we can escape from reality. Part of the escape was forgetting that there is only so much wealth to go around and only so many folks could live the good life.
*
It is one thing when everyone is fighting desperately for a position on the life raft. That is understandable. Rwandan genocide wasn't religious or racial strife so much as overpopulation meeting shrinking food supplies ( but don't think it can ever happen here, oh no! ). But everyone has been fighting for a shrinking pie of riches. They all wanted to be rich. The few smart ones at the top play on this fact, as witnessed by real estate and stock market bubbles. But the masses keep putting real wealth into inflated paper assets. Oh, golly, my 401(k) just lost half its value but they said to invest for the long term so I'll just keep putting money in there even though inflation alone is going to wipe it out, never mind future market crashes. I'm not poking fun at those that can gamble with Monopoly money. Once your future and security are assured, you can play with all that mad money. But those that gamble with their retirement and the roof over their heads are playing a chumps hand around a card shark table.
*
Money is a tool. It can buy security and luxury, it isn't the same as what you buy. It is worthless in and of itself. But, the "rich" don't give a care what I say, so they can continue on in their Happy Reality. I'm sure that you, frugal worker bees that you are, know all this. What can I say? It was a go-to-the-bank-day and I didn't have a lot of time to astound you today. If nothing else you learned a French folk saying. Buy my crap www.bisonpress.com
And check out www.dirtcheapdirt.blogspot.com . Today had some really good deals.
END
Monday, June 08, 2009
8%
8%
First off, thanks for the heads up on the "corn" dilemma. I should ask stupid questions more often. That one had been bugging me. Next, watch Wal-Mart. They've been bothering me for some time. Too many rumors and little problems. They start cutting back on items. Then, they start running out of items. They keep less of everything on hand. They cut hours, not only a year or so ago with the new computerized model to match peak shopping hours but in the last few weeks after they have been taking others stores business. Last week it was reported that they are going from monthly to quarterly sales reports. This morning, I hear at another store that vendors have been getting paid immediately rather than the usual 90 day invoice. That one has me confused, since you would think it would benefit a store to wait on paying for items til after they sold it to a customer. I'm told that K-Mart did the same thing right before they started closing stores. Now, if something weird is going on with Wal-Mart, consider that they alone have been keeping the entire retail sectors numbers up and not looking a lot worse. Last, I would like to rant against "60 Minutes". Normally, I don't watch it anymore. I used to enjoy it but now that I ration my watching it didn't make the cut. Well, last night I turned on the glass tit an hour early and watched it. Sell out! Whores! I can't believe yet another icon and trusted name brand has prostituted itself and become just another corporate shrill with no integrity. I shouldn't be surprised, but I am. I really used to think highly of that show. Maybe I had just been naive. I couldn't believe the snow job of an interview with Helicopter Ben. They weren't even lobbing softball questions, more like Nerf Balls. Pure propaganda that must have a lot of ears burning at Pravda. That's right, USA! Number One! We have beat Pravda at its old game of totally fabricated news and massive whitewashing. I can't even get into details for fear of blowing a gasket.
*
Today's topic is the ongoing eight percent decline in oil imports. I don't know if I just mentioned this in passing or already did an article on it. But it is damn important and it needs to be repeated so you can apply another coat of K-Y and try to extract your cranium from your rectal orifice. Not saying you are not paying attention, just that you have not even begun to sufficiently panic yet. Before you quit right now in disgust, I promise this week to give you an article on how to successfully farm with all the dangers I've already warned you about. I know this is a favorite subject, judging by the mean reactions to my attempts at tipping over your sacred cows ( hell, I wasn't even trying to slaughter them, yet ). If you have been paying attention to www.americanenergycrisis.blogspot.com like I had been advising you know that our energy import decline is steady and has gone on too long to merely be a fluke. In 2007, our total oil imports declined by 8%. In 2008, our total oil imports declined by another 8%. In 2009, I believe the figure so far is a bit over 4%. So the entire year might see nine percent rather than another eight. Are you panicking yet? Why not?
*
Our oil imports were seventy percent of our oil use. Those went from twenty million barrels a day to eighteen over two and a half years. And, no, ethanol did not replace all of them. I grant you that we absolutely do not need to use twenty five million barrels of oil a day. The rest of the world combined only uses twice that and they actually do all the manufacturing ( close enough that our meager contribution won't change the figures much ). But it must be understood that our economy depended on wasting all that energy. Less energy, less economy. Less and less energy used every year means less and less economic activity. And the way our economy is contracting, I seriously doubt we will invest in either energy efficiency or alternate energy. Oh, the consumer will replace his light bulbs. But I don't think we have industry wide change to look forward to because of the credit contraction. The bank bailouts are getting more money than the entire "green" imitative.
*
If, every year, we see less energy coming in, our economy will continue to contract. Cheap and abundant energy is over, and that is what kept our economy growing. The last thirty to forty years of decline were directly tied to our falling energy production. The printing presses, bubble manias, banker intrigue, etc., helped things along but the ultimate cause was declining energy availability. This means that long term, unemployment will keep getting worse. Inflation will get worse. Any long term plan such as a mortgage or retirement is doomed. Taxes will rise, services will fall. This is the beginning of PODA. The last thirty years saw an increase of global oil. We were in slow decline but cushioned it with cashing in our previous accumulated wealth. Due to a global peak in production and an increase in exporter domestic need, the last two and a half years saw a real contraction in availability. Less real wealth saw our economy hurt. We will eventually reach the point of decreasing supplies that will cause serious consequences. As in, we are slowly floating towards the falls. It is bearable until suddenly we tip over. I don't know when, but at 8-9% a year it won't take that long.
END
First off, thanks for the heads up on the "corn" dilemma. I should ask stupid questions more often. That one had been bugging me. Next, watch Wal-Mart. They've been bothering me for some time. Too many rumors and little problems. They start cutting back on items. Then, they start running out of items. They keep less of everything on hand. They cut hours, not only a year or so ago with the new computerized model to match peak shopping hours but in the last few weeks after they have been taking others stores business. Last week it was reported that they are going from monthly to quarterly sales reports. This morning, I hear at another store that vendors have been getting paid immediately rather than the usual 90 day invoice. That one has me confused, since you would think it would benefit a store to wait on paying for items til after they sold it to a customer. I'm told that K-Mart did the same thing right before they started closing stores. Now, if something weird is going on with Wal-Mart, consider that they alone have been keeping the entire retail sectors numbers up and not looking a lot worse. Last, I would like to rant against "60 Minutes". Normally, I don't watch it anymore. I used to enjoy it but now that I ration my watching it didn't make the cut. Well, last night I turned on the glass tit an hour early and watched it. Sell out! Whores! I can't believe yet another icon and trusted name brand has prostituted itself and become just another corporate shrill with no integrity. I shouldn't be surprised, but I am. I really used to think highly of that show. Maybe I had just been naive. I couldn't believe the snow job of an interview with Helicopter Ben. They weren't even lobbing softball questions, more like Nerf Balls. Pure propaganda that must have a lot of ears burning at Pravda. That's right, USA! Number One! We have beat Pravda at its old game of totally fabricated news and massive whitewashing. I can't even get into details for fear of blowing a gasket.
*
Today's topic is the ongoing eight percent decline in oil imports. I don't know if I just mentioned this in passing or already did an article on it. But it is damn important and it needs to be repeated so you can apply another coat of K-Y and try to extract your cranium from your rectal orifice. Not saying you are not paying attention, just that you have not even begun to sufficiently panic yet. Before you quit right now in disgust, I promise this week to give you an article on how to successfully farm with all the dangers I've already warned you about. I know this is a favorite subject, judging by the mean reactions to my attempts at tipping over your sacred cows ( hell, I wasn't even trying to slaughter them, yet ). If you have been paying attention to www.americanenergycrisis.blogspot.com like I had been advising you know that our energy import decline is steady and has gone on too long to merely be a fluke. In 2007, our total oil imports declined by 8%. In 2008, our total oil imports declined by another 8%. In 2009, I believe the figure so far is a bit over 4%. So the entire year might see nine percent rather than another eight. Are you panicking yet? Why not?
*
Our oil imports were seventy percent of our oil use. Those went from twenty million barrels a day to eighteen over two and a half years. And, no, ethanol did not replace all of them. I grant you that we absolutely do not need to use twenty five million barrels of oil a day. The rest of the world combined only uses twice that and they actually do all the manufacturing ( close enough that our meager contribution won't change the figures much ). But it must be understood that our economy depended on wasting all that energy. Less energy, less economy. Less and less energy used every year means less and less economic activity. And the way our economy is contracting, I seriously doubt we will invest in either energy efficiency or alternate energy. Oh, the consumer will replace his light bulbs. But I don't think we have industry wide change to look forward to because of the credit contraction. The bank bailouts are getting more money than the entire "green" imitative.
*
If, every year, we see less energy coming in, our economy will continue to contract. Cheap and abundant energy is over, and that is what kept our economy growing. The last thirty to forty years of decline were directly tied to our falling energy production. The printing presses, bubble manias, banker intrigue, etc., helped things along but the ultimate cause was declining energy availability. This means that long term, unemployment will keep getting worse. Inflation will get worse. Any long term plan such as a mortgage or retirement is doomed. Taxes will rise, services will fall. This is the beginning of PODA. The last thirty years saw an increase of global oil. We were in slow decline but cushioned it with cashing in our previous accumulated wealth. Due to a global peak in production and an increase in exporter domestic need, the last two and a half years saw a real contraction in availability. Less real wealth saw our economy hurt. We will eventually reach the point of decreasing supplies that will cause serious consequences. As in, we are slowly floating towards the falls. It is bearable until suddenly we tip over. I don't know when, but at 8-9% a year it won't take that long.
END
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