Wednesday, November 26, 2008

COMMENTING ON SOME TERRIFIC COMMENTS

You guys bring some good stuff out of me. Wow. Thanks guys, we seem to be feeding each other well.

I wondered if anyone would object to the preaching. That's a line I never cross. If someone asks what I believe, I tell them. If someone asks for what I have, I give it. But -- and this is definitely a line I DID NOT originate. Spirituality "is a program of attraction, rather than promotion."

Some pretty good insights lately. RanD, you are a breath of fresh air. Keep chiming in. Actually, all of you are working very hard at this and I think we are all tasting the fruits thereof. You all have my respect and I am glad to be in your company.

We are discussing serious topics. I just don't think a lot of you understand how serious or imminent they are yet. By this time next year, few will recognize the United States of America. Sure, old Bob Gates is staying on for a year or two. Yeah, he was Iran-Contra and a lot else. He and I even exchanged emails once, way back in 1998 when I broke FTW's first major expose on Sarin gas in Laos (thanks to CNN's April Oliver). -- He tried to mislead me then. But I was raised in a military and intelligence family and this will far and away not be the FIRST time a SECDEF has straddled two administrations for a year or two in wartime. Check it out. It is a regular occurrence and established in tradition. The military needs that kind of continuity during war and this is the most unstable period in American history since the Civil War. It is inevitable that the Imperial Forces will retrench and return home en masse. We will not pull completely out of Iraq, of course. But we have known that for at least four years, haven't we? Don't expect me to get excited about it. The United States is going out of business and not even Bob Gates can prevent it.

You guys who whine about these jerks assume that the US will be operating like you knew it in five or eight years. I think we all agree that it will not. What I am saying -- that about half of you will not comprehend -- is that the life game for mankind has changed. You are like the French in September, 1939. You are perfectly prepared to fight the First World War.

The military power vacuums being created all over the world by American collapse are terrifying and I can say this: If I were President I would be in command and I would also have Gates stay for a year or two, at most. I would make sure that he followed my policies or else. I have followed Gates for decades. From the federal bench to the FBI to CIA. He's a manager and an order executor, a very good one. He is not a policy architect and has no aspirations in that arena. He was a judge. His life is following rules, written and unwritten. Under him, I would know that the Chain of Command was functioning effectively to all parts of the military. If I wanted to replace Gates I would first stabilize my administration and get as good a handle on the domestic issues and cabinet as possible. Because if there is ANYTHING that will prevent Barack Obama from ever having a chance it would be Pakistan's nukes getting loose... like next Wednesday. Or it might be India and Pakistan exchanging a few over Kashimir. It might be pirates from any of four countries shutting down the Straits of Malacca. No, maybe a massive civil uprising in Saudi Arabia when falling oil prices collide with the corruption and when it's finally acknowledged that Saudi has passed peak. Or how about those Somali pirates? What about Russia? Russia is going to push and test because that is the Russian nature. Remember Kruschev and Kennedy? I have to admit that I enjoyed Russia and I think I understand a lot of the Russian soul. When she worked for the ASA/NSA my mother worked on Russian codes which tracked their nuclear physicists. She was iinvolved n the Teheran conference of 1943. Army Security Agency advance teams travelled to Moscow before that. She told me a lot right before she died. I would like to go back and visit one day. But my hard travels have taught me that I am an American first, last and always. Even when I went to Venezuela, furious with my government, I was fighting for America and not against it. I guess the reason I did all that was because I care about her and her stupid, lazy, indolent, spoiled, belligerently-naive people who have forgotten that they were once strong, resilient, caring, fearless pioneers who went boldly into the unknown, convinced that with freedom and fair shot they could handle anything. Isn't that a spirit we need now? Right now?

The dialectic underway here is between those who believe that every step of this is a plan being executed by-the-numbers by TPTB -- and those who believe that the TPTB are losing control and vulnerable. I am absolutely in the latter camp. All the big banks are going down in rapid-fire succession. Hey dudes, those ARE the elites! That's just one HINT that the same people many of you call the TPTB are taking big hits. You guys who are so obsessed with the cabinet on the one hand, argue that it doesn't matter who's there, it all be the same result. Then you all turn around and start obsessing about who's there and what you can read from the entrails of each new appointee's name. You guys go back and look at any empire that ever collapsed: Rome, Persia, Sumeria, The Incas, The Aztecs, The Mayans, Egypt, Greece, Mesopotamia, Napoleon's France, Victoria's Britain, The Ottomans, Tha Hapsburgs in Austria, Nikolas II's Russia, the USSR... I defy any of you to historically demonstrate that the collapse of any of those empires and civilizations was some kind of a planned conspiracy carried out by the people who benefited most from the empire they were destroying. Those empires existed to support the elites!

You cannot do it. What was ubiquitous in all cases was a paradigm of infinite growth, plus resource scarcity, and coupled with a decline in moral and intellectual standards, parochialism, and the fetid, intellectual inbreeding of uninterrupted opulence, laziness, privilege and power. I must give credit to Fitts for this one, "THOSE WHO WIN IN A RIGGED GAME GET STUPID." I submit that our elites are talking stupidly, acting stupidly, making stupid decisions, and that this is apparent to the entire world. But now, what is at stake is not just one empire, or one civilization. It is the entire human race. Your asses and mine.

The American people, perhaps many of you, are going to be scrambling just to eat and stay warm by this time next year. What are WE going to do about that? Screw Robert Gates! Whether he is at DoD or not, regardless of who is SECDEF, that is the future we face. And -- for the sake of new readers who are trying to figure out what's going on and what to do to take care of themselves and their children -- I don't care about Robert Gates! Him staying for one or two years is fairly common when changing administrations. We know his moves when he's in his element. BUT THE WORLD IS NO LONGER ENTIRELY HIS ELEMENT IS IT? -- Get that!

Brarack Obama is THE PRESIDENT-ELECT. He will be Gates' CINC. He will have control, or not, in varying degrees. We mapped this out a long time ago. We mapped out Russian ships going to Venezuela and just about everything that's happening. But chaos and the law of unintended consequences is solidly in play now. It is giving us openings as the Empire's vulnerability becomes daily more apparent. Another term for "opening" is POWER VACUUM.

That being said... Man do I love you guys. Keep it up. These dialogues help clarify things quickly. But please focus on that which will probably change your lives first. It will not be Robert Gates, Hillary Clinton, or even Tim Geithner. It will be THE COLLAPSE. The collapse is a fait accompli. We must let the ever-diminishing Powers That Be show us their intent, their ability to execute it, their strengths,...and their weaknesses.

Now let's try to find knowledge and share thoughts that will help all of us with collapse. The fight for influence in Washington and NY is just beginning and I believe some serious inroads are being made. Nothing will tell me as much about the Obama administration as its actions in its first 100 days. We do not know how the President's cabinet is going to act yet. They are after all, politicians and politicians have a rep for changing with the winds. What we need to do is start blowing.

My bet is that there will be many surprises, both good and bad. Remember, that we have already had a few early Christmas presents. So shut up until they ACT. That will tell us in an instant a hundred times more than than dead-end speculation. The first 100 days of the Barack Obama administration will give us real and trustworthy, "eyeball" intelligence so that we can decide where and how to blow.

Am I getting clearer?


MCR
************************************************************************************

The above from the guy who wrote the book, literally, that defies the Bush administration's contention that 9/11 was the result of a mindboggling series of mishaps, missteps, mistakes and missed opportunities because no one had ever flown a plane into a building before.

Some of you feel betrayed. What happened to our favorite "conspiracy theorist?" Or, since Mike has accurately stated that he doesn't deal in conspiracy theories but in conspiracy facts, our favorite conspiracy chronicler? You mean the wizards behind the curtain, those 'masters of the universe,' are losing control? Now who can we hate? Where shall we direct our rage? At each other? Who else is there?

The question of how TPTB will behave during the chaos of collapse comes down to the tragedy of the commons.

In the 'parable,' which was published in 1968, a group of herders graze their separate herds on commonly held ground. Each will reap personal benefit from increasing the number of cows he puts on the commons. However the more cows that use the commons, the greater the degradation and the sooner the commons will be destroyed.

Thus the short term benefit will be to the individual farmer. But if each herder, or perhaps if even one herder opts for maximum short term gains, then over the long term, the commons will become useless and everyone will suffer, including him.

It is this Yin-Yang balance between the individual and the group, between short and long-term benefits, that is the sword of Damocles dangling over our heads right now. What TPTB choose will depend not on their seeing the light and converting to altruism but on their perception of their own best interests. And like King Midas, they may come to understand that ultimately, for their own sake as well as their children's, even they have to care about something other than personal profit.

Switching metaphors, the ship is heading towards the iceberg. Will the captain change course enough to steer it away from total destruction?

It seems to be moving too slowly for some. That's the way ships move, say others.

The problem with that metaphor is that the people on board get a say too only most of them don't know it.

And while we're on the subject of ships:

Citi's Saviour Found: Somali Pirates
On the subway yesterday I also saw the headline: Citi of Fools, an allusion to Katherine Anne Porter's classic, Ship of Fools, about an ocean liner c. 1938 bearing passengers from various walks of life and with varying understanding or lack thereof of where the larger ship of fate was leading them.


JO

39 comments:

tim said...

Mike;
There is only one belief you have that I disagree with. You believe energy is finite. Oil, gas and coal certainly are. They say a perpetual motion machine is impossible; that it violates the laws of thermodynamics. Consider that we live on a small, blue planet circiling a star with 200 billion other stars that rotate in the Milky Way. That reality is perpetual motion, or infinite energy. How to tap into that is the trick. My entire point to posting on this blog is to let you all know that technology exists that makes money and oil obsolete. Really. We must get beyond 3-dimesional Newtonian physics and understand multi-dimensional quantum phisics on a phisical level and mature on a spiritual level to get beyond this crisis. "shiny-shit" (I love that!) is irrelevant.

sunrnr said...

Jared Diamond and others have done extensive research on the collapse of cultures and societies. Most succumbed to loss of self-sufficiency and a centralization of power. Combined with climate changes, the ultimate outcome looks alarmingly where we're headed now.

In the grand scheme of things, the human species is a bit pathetic. We're mostly a parasite who's rapidly killing our host. Many in the "industrialized and civilized" cultures are unable to survive on their own. The support lines (food, fuel, transportation, clothing, etc.)have become too long and tenous.

Much of the US and the world populations are living in arid environements where life on such a scale is unsupportable without artificial assistance. Much of the US food production is also done in these areas. Both require hugh amounts of water which, like oil, is short supply and rapidly running out.

Growth seems to be the ultimate entitlement humans expect. Growth cannot be sustained. Life is cyclic. Growth must be followed by decline. Birth/death, day/night, summer/winter. There are many examples in nature of what happens to populations that grow too large or grow too fast. When the balance is tipped, those populations are reduced through starvation, disease or downright suicide as the lemmings prove.

We humans seem to think we're above all this, that we're not animals and thus are not subkect to the laws of nature. A bit arrogant aren't we?

However, there are those grounded and forward thinking individuals and small societies that do see our connection with everything around us. They really try to make a difference and to live in balance and harmony. Those are the ones that will ultimately come out of this.

The more I think about it, the more I'm inclined to wish the worst and be done with it. Let those religious folks really learn whether they're worthy of living in God's kingdom, Vallhala, their own kingdoms in heaven.

I've lead a good life. I don't know if I've contributed much, but no regrets. My pain comes from looking at my 11 year old son. What's his future? He loves learning, he loves school, he loves his sports, he loves his friends and he really looks forward to each new day. What if there isn't one? Then what?

All these people worried about Obama being the Anti-Christ, having someone way different from them in a position of authority, my God can beat up your God, right wing vs left wing, conservative vs liberal ....

I can see how God or whatever higher power you ascribe to being disappointed with mankind on the whole.

Yup, Lord get on with it. Maybe then Gaia can heal herself. The animals, forests, water and air can heal and be cleansed.

With that I guess the mantra of the day is "get over it and get on with it ...."

Bless you all!

namaste

Ruiz said...

Mike this is great. With open dialogue and constructive debate we can develop a good understanding of everything that's important. You're making some very powerful and persuasive points. Has an empire ever collapsed in order to achieve a specific goal? Of course not.

We have to keep in mind that we are talking about the collapse of the most powerful empire that ever existed ...by some distance. That it fell from its peak to where it is today in just one decade is astounding.

There is little doubt that planners within this empire have long been aware of its fate, perhaps even for decades. You fail to acknowledge that they can be losing control whilst simultaneously executing a plan. (ie, the two sides in your alleged dialectic are not mutually exclusive)

Is the loss of global power a sure sign of loss of domestic power? I'm not so sure. The power relations in all societies have been determined by the productive forces; ie, who owns the means of production, and who profits from labor power.

And as long as US military power is overwhelmingly supreme, the only thing preventing it from revealing its natural behavior patterns are the opinions of prosperous citizens. Since these citizens will decrease in number, and the published/broadcast opinions of the agenda-setting class are increasingly subject to state coercion, we had better not celebrate too much too soon!

BTW: the phrase TPTB is a frame that doesn't seem entirely balanced for the two broad sides of our debate. I'd consider referring to elites and planners instead, remembering to distinguish between economic and political where necessary.

Lawrence Peterson said...

It will come to an end "not with a bang but with a whimper". The collapse of the previous empires (Spain, Portugal, Netherlands, et al) did not necessarily come with some great cataclysmic event. If you have ever traveled in India and witnessed the collapse of that ancient civilization into poverty from resource depletion then you know what I mean. I never understood what was meant by the "whimper" until I saw that human condition. We as a nation still have great resources. The land will still produce food and somehow we'll get most of the people fed, if only minimally. I think the demise of the American Empire, for those of us living in it, will be very slow and painful - not a great short collapse into nothingness.

akoola11 said...

I have stumbled on your site yesterday from a link on msn.com. Very interesting article yesterday on act 2. However after reading your post today I have to disagree with you about this not being an orchestrated collapse or rather it being a conspiracy. I think this was planned and engineered a while back by nwo or illuminati or whatever you want to call them. The major crashes in the past 100 years or so were done by federal reserve. Supply easy credit wait for majority to be indebted and then cut the credit off and you have a collapse or depression. Once that happens you can go in and consolidate power, wealth by buying everything for pennies on the dollar. Yes this paradigm/empire is collapsing but it all leads to one world government. You have eu then once the dollar crashes they will introduce north American union with a new currency( amero ). You cant replace a system/country/currency when everything is going great. Then Asian union will follow with world bank, imf being in control of the whole world. Now all of this doesn't just happen out of the blue its all planned many years in advance. For the most part people don't understand how globalization works. These people plan things 10 20 50 years in advance so if people don't understand it that's like bringing a knife to a gun fight, you have no chance. Some people were predicting this long ago. I was not one of them I have to be honest I only started doing research on this about 6-12 months ago. The more I read about this the more it became clear that there was something more powerful behind the curtain that we don't see.

kiki said...

anyone seen this:

http://thetyee.ca/Life/2008/11/21/VelcroKids/

As a child from a small midwesternish farming/small university community, it seemed a daily 'mission' by the entire population when they ran into a child or group of children to 'educate' them concerning their thinking processes. They challenged us, delivered short commentaries (most often with a story that left us scratching our heads), suggesting 'we' may have left something important out, thereby arriving at an 'incomplete' conclusion. Then we were pointed to more thought on whatever the subject matter of that particular interlude on that days excursion of 'play'. Any one of us running into the same person questioning us two or more days hence, inevitably led to questioning what we’d come up with from the last conversation with said adult. At home, we all ‘endured’ the same thing. Someone was always coming up with games for us that required inductive reasoning as well; I don't see this in modern day society and haven’t for a long time. It appears the ability to think critically is nearly extinct for what percentage of the population, do you think? Personally, it made for a very interesting and mentally challenging childhood I thoroughly enjoyed.

So, it would seem it may be helpful to learn the best way to help people learn how to think critically, as well as how to teach skills lost during the ‘velcro years’. Any suggestions? Understanding this ‘loss’ would seem to go a long way in understanding the frustration of trying to ‘awaken’ the sleeping and why we are a distance away from the actuality of any kind of revolution, peaceful or otherwise. Teaching people ‘how to tie their shoes’ could slow things down a bit.

I think Mike is right; it’s time to switch gears for what’s coming, rather soon now. The inner life and thinking will be even more important ‘then’ imo. That is if we don’t want to be totally exhausted all the time from a lack therein.

Jenna, my grandmother used lots of parables to teach us; enjoyed them then and still enjoy them now !

NB Patton said...

A concise summary of my thoughts on that post is, Fuckin-A Mike!!
NOW i know for SURE we are and have been on the same page. And whether we got lost in details or semantics is moot. I ABSOLUTELY agree with everything you just said, better yet I understand WHY.
And I am ready like the big bad wolf.

in_the_light said...

Regarding debt, I have a question for you, Mike, or for anyone else who feels they have some insight. With money losing its value so rapidly, should I be concerned about my debts?

I've heard you say repeatedly to get rid of all your debts as quick as you can, and for a long time I have agreed with this and it has made sense to me. But at this point, I'm wondering if it makes sense anymore to worry about debt ?

Money has for a long time been nothing more than a counting game. I gave you 100, now you give me 100 plus 20, or whatever. WHat has changed in my mind is the question of whether or not people are really going to be caring that much about the counting game in the coming years. When things start slowing down and it becomes obvious to more people that civilization has "unplugged", are people really going to be concerned with my tab? Will people really look to collect? Or will they be more concerned about ditching the sinking ship and with it the tallies on who owes who and how much? To collect would mean to stay aboard the sinking ship, right? Keeping count requires an economy which requires a civilization, right? So many will be defaulting in the next few years and I wonder if the counting game will survive the collapse of the larger game at hand, civilization. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

I'm very interested to hear some feedback on this. So all who have insight, please let me hear it.

Also, Mike, you said you were taking a few days off. Nice to see a new post from you, but what happened?

Thanks
Mat

bynarylyfe said...

mike better be right that next year is the collapse, i'm getting sick of hearing everyday from people that the world is ending..

i think mike is wrong, however, about the "collapse" of the economy. It's definitely being driven by elites, being that the market is not truly "free" at all, not even close actually(just look at how the gold/oil prices are unrelated to supply and demand, along with just about every other stock/commodity whose value is simply based on how many people are believing in its value enough to put their money into it). The big money made lots more by inflating the bubbles, and now they're covering their potential losses by picking up easy government money, alot more than they made in the first place even, just when the bubble couldn't grow any larger because Americans were tapped out. Where do you think this "bailout"(buyout) money is going? Why do you think the PM prices are being artifically held so low? It's the last illuminati ATM withdraw and then they are getting the fuck out of here with a currency of worth. And it's a big ATM withdrawal, one that makes me believe that Mike's predictions will be coming true.

Anonymous said...

Hey Mike,
I was turned on to FTW by some enlightened friends of mine almost five years ago. I'm so glad they did. Thank you for the truth. I'm a farmer in West Texas, only 35 years old. This is puppy dog years for farmers. (The average age of the American farmer is 65.) Needless to say we're being effected now instead of later than the rest of "Main Street." Since we are the food chain, we feel the ripples instantly after the pebble hits water. Commodity crops were decimated by an average of 50% from September '08 to now. Cotton went from 80 cents to 40 cents. Maize went from just under $12 to $4.50! One of our neighbors cut a truckload of maize this past week that weighed just 46,000 lbs. (4,000 lbs. lighter than normal due to early frost and summer drought.) After receiving docks for poor quality, the entire truckload of grain was worth $170!! There is the modern analogy of the wheel-barrel full of cash for a loaf of bread. This in turn will ripple to consumers, as you know.
I'm making biodiesel, use only organic fertilizers, and have boycotted all Monsanto and GMO products, seed, etc. My father is 62, and he thought I was nuts a few years back, now he thanks me for the changes I've insisted upon. Next step is to talk him into us farming much fewer acres than the current 6,500 acres. Crazy, I know. I don't see how rented land will be feasible by 2010. I don't see how thousands of acres are possible either. A return to many of the old ways, is what I see in store from the farm. Self-sufficiency and independence from corporate products is my goal.
I'm still reading Crossing the Rubicon. I returned to the family farm in 2005 thanks to articles like yours in FTW. I've been making necessary preparations for what has transpired before and since then, and I feel I'm in fine shape. Still many more projects to go, but I'll get there. Thanks again for sharing your true wisdom with us. It has made a difference. I'll keep you posted in near future of real farm life. We are all dryland, no irrigation and recovering from this past year's summer drought. Hopefully Mother Nature will bring timely rains for us this next season. Sincerely, Son of a Farmer

p.s. If you get bored, I have a website at www.sonofafarmer.com which I need to update more often. It's a blog, basically.

Robert Paulsen said...

Thanks for breaking down the dialectic, MCR. I definitely put myself in the latter TPTB losing control and vulnerable camp. Losing control not only makes them more vulnerable, it makes them dangerous, like a wounded wild animal. Ultimately, the machinations of this wounded wild animal are kind of a sideshow to the real event that you accurately peg: THE COLLAPSE.

All the talk 'bout revolution that appears in the comments on this blog is just everyone trying to wrap their heads around how we're going to live our lifes in a post-collapse environment. I can say that on a personal level, my wife and I are 100% debt-free. Our stored food and water has spilled out of the pantry and is stacked around our kitchen table. We can't grow a garden outside our one bedroom apartment, but we have made friends with our neighbors, which has been mutually beneficial during recent power outages. Yet, as prepared as I feel, the wisdom of John Lennon weighs heavy on my mind: "Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans."

But beyond what is personal, I can't help asking questions about matters that are political. How will the power vacuum get plugged? Only time will tell what the specifics are, but I think we all know the general answer: RELOCALIZATION. That's why I was asking in a previous comment if anyone knew more about the sub-Treasury plan proposed by Populist Charles Macune described in Greider's Secrets of the Temple. Perhaps this framework could be useful in a post-collapse society in sustaining an ambitious project called the United States of America. But I suppose you are correct that we'll need to wait for the first 100 days of the Obama administration to pass before we have real clarity about how they are changing with the winds.

Good luck to all the windblowers!

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jackie said...

In the emerging crisis, existing local organizations with strong local roots will be the default providers of emergency and long-term aid, and psychological support. Churches, especially fundamentalist ones, already provide those services. They are positioned to be the ‘default’ glue of communities and powerful attractants for the unaffiliated.
Progressives and greens (who are mostly 'spiritual' rather than adherents of an organized religion) must have an alternative. I call for a national network of community centers that provide low-cost meeting rooms for gatherings of nontraditional religious/spiritual groups, offer classes in low-tech activities like composting and bicycle repair, provide a place for teens to hang around, etc. Because these must be subsidized with some income, a local restaurant with extra space or a new age bookstore might be the nucleus. The Berkeley Ecology Center, which is centered on a large recycling business, is another model. Landlords with unused retail space could do a tremendous service to the public by making it available as community centers.
I can’t overemphasize how important this will be.

andrew said...

Dear President-elect Obama:

You are a man of high intelligence and the most rational man elected president in decades. Hope is that you are inquiring and reading about the realities of our world.

You will soon be President of the United States but you will not be in power. Taking power must be your first task.

Find a quiet secure location and view a film called "Gabriel Over The White House". Think about the ways of President Hammond and their application to our national plight today. Odds of our survival are diminishing daily now and inside the framework of our bourgeois democracy there is no hope at all.

In the spring the arrests must begin and the criminal elements of the political ruling class (that's almost all of them) must be offered to the people in return for their trust as you navigate the collapse.

Anonymous said...

Excellent, as always, Mike. I want to just bitch for a second about how unbelievably ASLEEP people are here in upstate NY. I've read your first book, great work by the way, and many others (Heinberg, Kunstler...etc) and have been paying very close attention to our twisted world since the first Gulf War. I have spent these past years trying to educate everyone I come in contact with, kind of like my own little "Born Again" ( without the Jesus bit) movement with a more Chicken Little "The Sky REALLY IS Falling" theme. I am stunned at how people look at me like I have two heads, call me fucked up and a conspiracy wack-job or "They'll figure out a way to make it all good, they always do. We've had hard times before, blah, blah....." Even my closest friends bury their heads in the sand. WTF?? Is it because it's human nature to avoid uncomfortable things or what? My wifey and I seriously feel alone in the wilderness here. Maybe I don't participate enough on Blogs and other sites, I don't really know. What I DO know is that while you have some great people around you and a lot of "awake" people here on the Blog....are we really enough to start over? I seriously believe that these morons, TPTB , are shitting themselves that this has gotten so out of control. Far beyond what they expected, for sure. I firmly believe that society is due to fly apart and we are in for one hell of a transition period. God bless and I will try to post here periodically and update anyone who cares about whats happening here in upstate NY.

d'napoli said...

For starters, I love Mike, and admire his work. That should be made clear.

The following comments have not been written in hindsight (I run a news site, and have been making these points for over 2 years):

The election of Obama, a black person, should be viewed as an extension of a comprehensive intelligence/military operation in preparation for what will be a calamitous era for the whole world, not just the U.S. Who else is going to pacify the crowds when the SHTF? Who is going to manage the minorities during the successive crises? For they will be the first ones to revolt and rise up against the system ! Does anyone remember the L.A. Riots? The choice of a black president is a strategic move on the part of those who run our country. When it comes to who actually runs our country: How absurd it is to think/assume that fate of this great country is left to a bunch of merchants, who know nothing but how to swindle for profit. There is a far greater cohesive force calling the shots, and they are not a coalition of a bunch of bankers and merchants and academic intellectuals. I guarantee it. This force engineered both world wars, brought our European counterparts to their knees, and eventually made a union out of them. This force created the super capitalists, and when time comes will make a great example of them. It was through our version of capitalism and the creation of world reserve currency, the dollar, that we were able to consume the natural resources of this planet and enjoy all these material goods as a nation until now. Our allies have also benefited from our shrewdness. We, Americans, are notorious for using assets and then dumping them when time comes. I would like to see any oligarch “we” own, any baron , and ceo of a colossal multinational company step away from our national agenda. It just won't happen.

The veritable TBTB have waited for this moment, and have been preparing for Peak Oil for over 30-40 years. Every point along the way has been prepared for with contingency planning. All I ask is for you to look into Hank Paulson's background, and recall the time he worked for the Pentagon. That is just a clue into who the real TBTB are. The U.S. is not a headless nation, nor are the people at the top just plain scorpions. The U.S. resembles no other country, we plan for events much ahead - an we are very sophisticated at it! Things are done out of necessity. They are killing the old paradigm, none of us here are. They are! None of us here have had real power, tasted it or felt it. None of us really know what it is to run a country, what sacrifices have to be made for the greater good or the future of humanity.


As a response to Peak oil and to facilitate the shutdown of the economy (at the exact moment oil extraction has reached its maximum):

TBTB have started taking out on a global scale the companies/factories/small businesses, and the work force by deflating the economy.

Soon after they will go after those who have savings by inflating the global economy and killing all the currencies.

- The masses will not be able to revolt in the classical sense of the word, because they are accustomed to being taken care of. Even the masses will not give up the old paradigm without a fight!


This is all planned..


I love ya Mike, but that does not mean we have to agree on everything. I agree with you whole heartedly that by March the full impact of collapse will start being felt and by summer will see people on the verge of going hungry – ALL OVER THE GLOBE!

gbwilli said...

Mike,
As always I enjoy reading what you have to say. I have Rubicon, I have seen your movies, I use to read FTW, I’ve read a good chunk of your recommended reading, including Shell Game, so I am truly looking forward to your new book. I have to ask though, what about us non-Americans, specifically us Canadians? What should we expect? Our banking system is different, relatively speaking anyway. Our manufacturing is geared towards the Americans so if you cannot buy then we cannot sell. It’s the same with our natural resources. While many of my compatriots want to increase trade with China or Europe or anyone but the US, but that is wishful thinking at best. Peak oil will hit us hard. And many are unaware or unwilling to see that the tar sands are not the answer. In fact, an option on the table is to use nuclear power to generate the steam from our fresh water reserves in order to separate tar sand oil so that we can sell it to America. It’s like robbing Peter to pay Paul. It’s entirely unsustainable. Unlike your election this fall, ours had record voter apathy. We don’t have the leaders that can take us out of this paradigm. We aren’t looking for change. I’m at a loss for what to do. This is why I am happy to see you writing again. Please keep at it!

koolkarma817 said...

I, like many live in the urban jungle. It works. I have a 500 square foot apt that is very cheap. I can walk/bus to any place I need. My problem is food. Most of the area is converted Victorian homes. None of us have a backyard or even a balcony! HOW do I prepare for food shortages when I can't grow a garden?
I'm aware of short term fixes, but what do we do long term? Where do I stock up on water?

ProGo said...

Clear as crystal. Whether or not which inmates or doctors are running the asylum is a moot point when the asylum is going down.

The ceiling is falling in the palace, and NO one, not even the artchitects know how to brace themselves. And when the pillars and slabs of stone come crashing down, the biggest and baddest will get hit first, worst, and hardest. The mice and rats will find the easiest ways out.

It makes perfect sense.

To be honest Mike, I am new to this (in my mid 20's and most of my friends my age, save one, are in left field when it comes to what we talk about on here). But CTR is on order as we speak on its way to my house after the holiday.

But from the moment I saw you in American Drug War: The Last White Hope (great f'in movie btw) I was captivated by your statements and had to find out just who in the hell this Ruppert guy was. I did a google search, watched Truth and Lies, and the rest is history.

I am now addicted and I consider myself one lucky sonofabitch to have stumbled upon you. (Thanks Showtime!) I look foward to countless more e-slaps in the face.

You sir stay safe. There are still a few more souls to save.

FlannelFactory said...

Want to say something, but nothin' to say
Thanks to everyone for not going away.

Unknown said...

Dear Mike,
I must say it is nice to see you back at work once again. There has been a lack of meaningful insight in these realms since your unexpected departure back in 2006. As a former FTW subscriber and reader of Rubicon most commentary in the various media barely touches the surface of the gravity of the currrent situation. Your voice is welcome indeed.
I am completely in agreement that TPTB are entirely vulnerable. What worries me is the irrational acts that can take place as a result of this vulnerability - surely desparation will follow once the cofers of the State have been drained. Of course they will take it out on you and I, but only to the extent that we allow them to. And THIS is key. To what extent do we depend on their gracious subsistence and offerings of free money and endless consumption? I was struck with a chilling truth some years ago that debt equals obligation, submission, and ultimately slavery. Then I woke up.
In 1998 I packed my bags and headed off for southern Spain with my wife who is from the region. I had just graduated from college, had my head full of all kinds of ideas, and was a confused mess. The only thing I had clear was that I was not going to take part in the game any longer. This was all romantic and adventurous in hindsight as I had no idea that I would find myself knee deep in the epicenter of Europe's development frenzy. With a degree in architecture and a hungry belly I was ultimately led into real estate development as there was no other work if not revolving around construction and home sales. Naturely I was taken in by the momentum and found myself with a nice car, a huge mortgage, fancy dinners and vacations to exotic places...you get the idea. All around me people were getting rich by buying off plan and reselling properties two and three times before ever being built. The movers and shakers were all over the place.
Then my daughter was born in June of 2001 - an abrupt change of view took place, more than a change it was a return to my earlier thinking and logic (a much more instinctive logic). Then there was the doozy on September the eleventh. I was pumping gas when suddenly people started mumbling nonsense about bombs and buildings in Spanish (my language skills at that time were still rudementary at most). I immediately thought it must have been ETA again but when I walked into the gas station to pay and saw what was on the TV screen my jaw dropped. Then my eyebrow crooked upward in that suspicious Columbo fashion - SOMETHING was up I thought. I quickly upgraded my still new dial-up connection to the latest ADSL and begun to read. By 2003 I was still reading, you name it and I had read it. Precisely at this time I discovered FTW amidst all of the crazy illuminati, freemasonry, NWO, bilderberg nonsense. FTW turned out to be the needle in the haystack, where my singular (perhaps skeptical) reasoning and juxtaposed views (often contradictory, but always side by side) had found a home.
The story is a long one and is intertwined with the stories of everyone's lives but in these seven years I have grown in dimensions not even I had anticipated. I have returned to adhere to those humble beginnings growing up in northern Maine, that sense of survival one develops after holding on during those harsh winters. There were only a few necessities but they offered many rewards if you could hold onto them. It came down to realizing that I am an individual with a free will to survive under my own rules, that my map is mine to draw so this is what I have been doing - drawing a map.
Two years ago I had an epiphany. It came through a simple contact with soil while I was planting some flowers in pots for my wife. I had to buy seeds. The answer to all of my questions ly in seeds. I had to plant them, nurture them, and harvest their fruit. Now, I have never been much into gardening so this was a surprise to those close to me. I began using the Noah analogy to keep it humourous...as though God had sent me a sign to plant seeds, but it was far more serious than my sense of humour would allow me to express. I had to plant seeds. Today I know why.
In my neighborhood I am known as that funny paranoid American who is all day messing about with his garden, tinkering with sun dials, catching water and making compost with worm shit. Last year they used to get a kick out of my ingenuity and persistence. This year they are coming looking for advice - and some already want to participate in the garden. I don't let on to them that I am really building a metaphoric boat to save all their asses when the tides really start to rise. They wouldn't understand yet, but my seven year old daughter does.
We live on the outskirts of a popular tourist destination on the Mediterranean coast, just on the edge of the mountains. Our neighborhood is about twenty years old and is mixed in with old olive groves and a few dilapidated stone shacks from the campesinos of days past. When they built they just conveniently connected to the city water system and neglected to realize the past use of the land. While wandering about one day out on a nearby hill I stumbled upon an abandoned well next to a dry stream - it was full, and fed by underground reservoirs in the area. This was a huge discovery as we have been in drought for four years now and water is oh so precious. This was when my heart started beating faster...ideas were rushing into my head at lightning speed. I continued to look around, the stream lay at the bottom of a revine that was hidden from the public's view and there were ample flat areas raised safely above the stream in times of heavy rains, the soil was rich, moist, and easily tilled. No one, not even a goat would climb down the side of this 20ft revine, except me. I began two years ago by clearing out a trail, cutting brush and marking patches. Little by little I transformed the edge of the stream into my garden (it's public land), into my little paradise. For some time I tried to contain my secret, but my neighbors began to ask questions about where I was going. They had already seen my house and patio evolve into a botanical dreamscape, they saw me carrying seedlings into the field and were perplexed to say the least. Eventually I had to come clean and show them - only a two brave hearts would venture to the bottom as the climb can be a bit intimidating. I will never forget the look on my friend's face when he saw my garden. At this point I realized I had something to share with others, if only a vision or a whimsical dream.
I continue to collect seeds, seeds, and more seeds. As evolution would have it I am cultivating a series of medicinal plants this coming year as a new addition to the garden. At the same time I am opening a small plant nursery to sell seedlings for vegetable gardens, medicinal plants as well as a platform to launch the revolution through community gardening efforts on public and or private lands - urban guerilla growing if you will.
The revolution begins now - I call it (in my own cynical way...you'd have to know me) "Seed Against Greed"!
Forgive me for this rant but I felt I owed it to you, you have contributed to this garden in more ways than you can imagine. Thanks for your persistence.
Kindest,
BL

LeoBro said...

Bravo to MCR. Reading "Rubicon" was a turning-point in my life.

Understanding both Peak Oil and our failing national structures, I'm putting my energy into relocalization and building a resilient community. Aside from taking personal steps such as learning to grow food in my back yard, I've come to believe that the best security will be found living in a neighborhood where everyone grows their own food. Our best hope is to start putting plans in place now.

There are communities around the world where people are actively planning for energy descent. The Post Carbon Institute has created one umbrella for such groups: http://www.relocalize.net/.

I'd like to call your readers' attention to a similar project, the Transition Network (http://transitiontowns.org/TransitionNetwork/), which I'm personally involved with in my city. Founded by Permaculture teacher named Rob Hopkins, the Transition Network grew out of the development of a local energy descent action plan for Kinsale, Ireland.

Hopkins has since published The Transition Handbook, with a foreword by Richard Heinberg. The handbook does not so much provide solutions for navigating energy descent as it does provide best practices for engaging and inspiring your local community to create their own plans.

From their website:
- if we wait for the governments, it'll be too little, too late
- if we act as individuals, it'll be too little
- but if we act as communities, it might just be enough, just in time.

For those in the U.S., there is a social networking site for Transition folks:
http://transitionus.ning.com/

In these times, there's no guarantee of anything. But any positive action is better than nothing. And regardless of how things play out, being part of a strong community seems like the way to go.

Best of luck!

SherylH said...

Hi Mike, I appreciate your analyses. Thank you. I do hope you will consider two bits of constructive feedback. First, I think your message would awaken more people if it wasn't delivered with scorn. So many times I have read your excellent analyses where you criticize others for being unaware of what is unfolding. Yes, many people are clueless but branding them as fools does not serve humanity well. I should also add that I don't think it's too late for people to prepare. Second, why does everyone use the silly term, "elites"? Why not be more direct by labeling them corrupt banksters and politicians? To me, elites sounds like some type of mysterious wizard behind a curtain flipping switches.

sunrnr said...

d'napoli,

I agree with most of your post, but simply cannot connect the dots with respect to President-elect Obama being an "extension of a comprehensive intelligence/military operation".

Help me out here. How do you believe this operation was planned and carried out exactly?

namaste

NB Patton said...

Tim,
If you truly understand physics, than you understand that the idea of converting the motion of Earth (relative to any axis) into Electricity means that you will be stopping that motion exactly proportional to the amount of energy extracted. By definition it would not be infinite. Call me old fashioned but I'm not too excited about the prospect of swapping the rotational speed of Earth for electricity.
Perpetual ENERGY is an absolute because energy can never be created nor destroyed, it merely changes form. However, perpetual MOTION is and absolute impossibility when you are subtracting from (or "tapping into") said kinetic energy by turning it into electricity and heat.
The pure math of what you are purposing is converting certain orbital dynamics of our solar system to heat up our planet.

I HIGHLY suggest you familiarize yourself with the Olduvai Theory. We can't even use the miracle of stored ancient sunlight with any modicum of responsibility and you purpose we up the risk factor? If fossil fuels EXPLODED us WAY beyond the sustainable; to 6.5 Billion people than I suggest that the absolute worst thing that could ever happen to human kind is a source of infinite energy, "clean" or not! The Earth would at the very least forcibly expunge us and 99 percent of all life from existence in a geologic heartbeat.

And how would infinite energy make money irrelevant? (other than destroying human kind)

The sooner everyone understands and accepts our energy budget has a DIRECT correlation to the amount of energy we catch from the sun, the better off we will all be. The disappointing fact of the matter is humans cannot be trusted with more than that. The characteristics that makes us so successful in a scarce energy environment, are the very same ones that guarantee our destruction in an infinite one.

I Trust My Gut said...

Great Post Mike.I haven't been following this blog, but I was an old reader of FTW that recently checked to see if that site still stood, and decided to chase the link here. Wasn't sure if you were still alive after the Venezuela stuff etc.

To be honest, after years of following FTW and being a believer, I eventually shifted from believing Peak, to believing that maybe you had been schnookered by Simmons, etc, and that peak was just another bs story. So I am surprised to see that topic still prescient here.
I remain skeptical of Peak in the wake. But it does make sense. Maybe.

I would also find agreement in what I garner of your current writings to be a firm belief of yours that the elite have lost control. That could very well be the case. I am more of the belief though, that they remain very much in control, that their destructive needs drive this madness. Controlled slow burn.

I see the widely forecast, yet widely ignored by the masses, collapse we are now observing serving the centralization effort, which in turn is the Framework for their end game state; Monopolization.

"Competition is a Sin"

Aaron's story about Nicholas Rockefeller's sharing about the chipping rings of that as well. To have us all "working for the company store" being the desire, the chipping, although having biblical reference for some ( I am not inclined to believe Religious text ) is really about ultimate control. Access control eliminates so much expensive internment, etc.

I also believe that despite folks like myself that may not believe the Religious folks, certainly there are folks that believe in an evil "god" if you will, and whether it exists or not, certainly having many many believers worship the negative ideology, in fact commit horrific acts like torture, extraordinary rendition, mass bombings, etc, does feed that negative energy, increasing the power of that energy.

I believe that whether it Illuminati, or whatever, there are conclaves that worship that negative energy, and actively set policy to feed it.

So, I see the collapse we are swimming in as two fold; Racing towards the Monopolization, and feeding, or empowering, their "evil" faith.

Just some thoughts, and thank you for your years of solid investigative work. Peace and Blessings to you

Don

Anonymous said...

For those of you who want to go back to the land, check this out! - How to create a food forest DVD with Geoff Lawton- create your own garden of eden, with fruit dripping from the trees. It is easy once you understand the basics of permaculture design - grow your nitrogen and mulch on site and chop 'n drop. then replicate nature and watch it grow. This dvd is really inspiring! Previews are on the link as well.

If you live in california this is a great resource to find land available to rent/lease/share in profits with owners or to buy land.

The only question is on buying, is that will values continue to fall, if so how much ?

Mike, thanks for reminding us how serious this is. As I let go to the old system and put my focus on how/why/where to build the new one, I am full of so much energy even though I am eating less, yet I feel full and awake. I believe if we step out of that safe place and into the daring adventure of life, we become truly human and can experience life with all our senses. Life feels like a dream. I feel so alive.

Remember everyone, Every problem is an opportunity!

Rice Farmer said...

Tim -- Ask any astronomer, and you'll be told that eventually the orbits of the Earth and other near planets will deteriorate and they'll crash into the sun, likely before the sun runs out of fuel. And so it goes for the whole universe. Forget perpetual motion and start chopping wood. The "technology = energy" equation is a pipe dream.

Bynarylyfe -- Of course the market is not free, and the system is being gamed by elites. And they are ripping us off. But now the situation has spun out of control. It's Endgame Times. Picture elites in a burning building full of money (our money). It's too late to put out the fire, so what do you expect elites to do? Like the scorpion (or the tiger which can't change its stripes), they do what's natural and stuff their pockets and designer bags with money and head for the exits. And they choose someone (in this case, Team Obama) to watch over the chaos, just as Jim Carrey was chosen to be the face of the crumbling company in "Fun with Dick and Jane." (A very relevant movie!) And the company president taking off from the company roof in a helicopter? That's Team Bush and cronies. So what elites are "orchestrating" now is the final rip-off.

The increasingly emboldened pirates mentioned by MCR are another sign that the whole world system is crumbling. I predict that rather than being brought under control, pirates will become a major fixture on the seas, and in the near future could even carry out coastal raids on rich countries.

Rice Farmer said...

In the Light -- Good question about debt. In general, getting out of debt is highly advisable. Not everyone can do it, of course. But there may well be some mitigating circumstances down the road. First, as home and car repos increase, there will come a point where it is meaningless. Banks and finance companies can't take care of all those homes (which is the real reason that Citigroup tried to make itself look so generous about giving mortgagers a temporary reprieve), and they'll run out of space to put cars. Further, banks and finance companies too are going to fall like dominoes. So I predict that some people are going to luck out and become the de facto owners of their homes and cars. But be advised that debt from failing institutions could well be taken over by others, which will continue to press for payment.

One thing about cars is, there will come a point where we can't use them, anyway (no job, fuel too expensive, etc.), so people can have the last laugh by telling the financer to take it away, which is of course the last thing they want to hear.

Unknown said...

A friend and I sat on the bank of a fish pond today and discussed, (not for the first time) our friends and family endlessly telling us to chill out and don't worry so much about the collapse. They see a downturn and nothing more. They actually believe that "if" it does collapse they can just show up one day and we will kill the fatted calf and everyone will be fed. I swear to god that if I did not have a child I would let my family starve. At times I am ready to divorce over this.
Can anyone please explain to me this maginitude of this denial? We are rural. We grow NOTHING! Most of the people that are aware of whats going on are stockpiling amo. That should speak volumes as to the direction this collapse will take. SOB I am so tired.

Unknown said...

Will it come down to tragedy of the commons?

I thought you once said that we could use a little anarchy in the world. Referring to the definition meaning "no illegitimate hierarchical structure", but I guess you don't go as far as thinking in terms of "no nation-states". You seem caught in the grand chessboard metaphors of Mother Russia this, venezula that... (I do like how you re-framed America as a female persona).

There is a bigger problem than nation states, when it comes to human social groups and the commons. Dunbar's number

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbar%27s_number

In a 1985 paper titled "Psychology, Ideology, Utopia, & the Commons," psychologist Dennis Fox proposed the same concept as it is applied to anarchy, politics, and the tragedy of the commons. (google it)

peas,
Ryan

p.s. - You should have a blog about food forests

Victoria Hokulani said...

"I guess the reason I did all that was because I care about her and her stupid, lazy, indolent, spoiled, belligerently-naive people who have forgotten that they were once strong, resilient, caring, fearless pioneers who went boldly into the unknown, convinced that with freedom and fair shot they could handle anything. Isn't that a spirit we need now? Right now?"


Oh do we ever need that spirit but I don't think were going to be able to blast anyone out of their TV Guided-KruseKontrol-Hoverchair without some serious SHTF. And then it will still take a damn long time to weed out all of the entitlement whiners and debt people. Way too many are zombiefied by either too much .gov suckling or debt ballnchain. Unless they are forcibly weaned it may be best to let them continue to numb away in the semifunctioning fog of MAOI, SSRI tabs. From what I see there are a teeming masses of these folks so if they do get jerked off the pharma biscuits too fast we could have a real problem. I believe our comrade, Dmitry Orlov laid it out pretty well in his piece about "Closing the Collapse Gap." http://www.energybulletin.net/node/23259
I am so honored to be among the commentors on this blog, btw. Mike, Crossing the Rubicon was one of the most important books I ever read, showing me the map and letting me connect the dots. I am so glad you are more awake than ever and committed to your path of showing us all the way. How great and terrible to live in such interesting times, though, don't you agree. I have known these days would come for a very long time. Aloha and mahalo nui loa to this amazing group of MCR koolaid drinkers!

Anonymous said...

"The American people, perhaps many of you, are going to be scrambling just to eat and stay warm by this time next year."

Try this year! I live in a rural corner of this crazy country. Lost my job a year ago and have been working as whatever ever since. Even went back to school to train in a new field. (I already have a master's degree. So much for the "education-will-get-you-better-work" myth.) My last paycheck from my current job was $188, and this has to last me for two weeks. My partner's unemployment dries up in a month. But we'll still keep the horses fed.

She and I spent a good part of the fall chopping up firewood...we may starve, but at least we'll stay warm. And, praise God or Mohammed or whoever, the house is paid for, and we have people who love us.

In the absence of money, a few of us out here in the middle of nowhere are being forced to start operating on an exchange basis. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing. You fix my computer, I buy you a six-pack. We're looking into making homebrew, and building a greenhouse in the spring. And the tomatoes I planted indoors in May are up to the ceiling and producing like there's no tomorrow.

Small, chaotic steps...is it enough, in time?

I wonder if my ISP would accept really great tomatoes in exchange for high-speed Internet (such as it is)? Or if Citibank would accept backrubs in lieu of payment on my school loan?

I dunno...maybe it's my karma to die of starvation this time 'round. If so...well, hell, it sure was a damned interesting time to be alive; it's not every day you get to live during the collapse of a civilization!

NB Patton said...

Athene,
It may not be obvious to you now, but you are a BILLION times further ahead of the game than 99.9% of America's population. Anybody that is living in a city when the "eating fossil fuels" problem really rears its ugly head is gonna be hurting. And there is the potable water problem, probably more dire than the food problem. Especially since most Americans can go with skipping a meal,... or 30.

If you have a source of water, wood, and are growing your own food,... You got room for one more? ;)


Koolkarama817:
There likely is no long term fix for that scenario. I suggest looking around and devising some sort of plan B for when you can no longer sustain that mode of exsistance (get outta Dodge!). Until then, to give yourself some buffer, I suggest storing some of those 5 gallon water cooler bottles, some big bags of rice, and canned goods.

Anyway, with that said, I think this is going to be a long, arduous and drawn out process. For example we have ALREADY peaked in oil production and if you ask me the shit has already stuck the blades of the fan, its just going to be much more drawn out than most people think. We'd be better off if it wasn't but people REALLY like their mocha late's and McMansions. So they're gonna fight to keep it alive, from the top down.

Its all guess work really. You are best situated to can analyze your situation, just keep learning so you can make the best educated guesses possible. Good Luck.

Anonymous said...

NB, one more (or maybe two or three) is always welcome here, as long as you don't follow the
lead of so many newcomers who get here and then start whining about how we can't support their fancy diets or endless needs for distraction (I personally find it infinitely entertaining watching jays and crows fussing over whatever food scraps we've dumped on our compost pile).

And please leave your preconceived notions of "sustainability" (gag) behind. The people who
have been here for generations know how to survive in this harsh climate, and don't need to be "educated" by high-tech hippies who think they know it all.

If you show up with the willingness to work at several part-time, minimum-wage jobs, give up a lot of conveniences, and listen with respect to your neighbors (even the stinkers--you
never know when you're going to need to borrow something from them), then you'll do fine. Oh, yes, and definitely invest in a chainsaw; you'll be glad you did. I wouldn't loan it out, though...there are too many stories out there about how folks loaned out their chainsaw and got them back all torn up.

sunrnr: I read "Collapse" by Jered Diamond not too long ago. Wonderful book. I highly
recommend it to one and all. I donated my copy to the local public library.

NB Patton said...

Athene,
So just as long as the person STFU, follows orders, and likes it, its all good? Well you guys sound like LOADS of fun! ;)

Wait,... Harsh climate? I don't live in California for nuthin! I will be BELOW the snow line whether the shit hits or not.

Sounds like you got yourself a good plan. I'm stuck in suburbia right now,... Its gonna be interesting.
Godspede!

sunrnr said...

Others have found the way to the map and are trying to enlighten the masses ....

http://BackAlley.newsvine.com/_news/2008/11/27/2156516-microbiologists-are-dropping-like-flies

brave people

namaste

Anonymous said...

Athene,
So just as long as the person STFU, follows orders, and likes it, its all good? Well you guys sound like LOADS of fun! ;)

%%%%

NB, you just described the very best kind of neighbor! How on earth did you know?

%%%%

Wait,... Harsh climate? I don't live in California for nuthin! I will be BELOW the snow line whether the shit hits or not.

%%%%

And the climate here serves to keep out riffraff like you, which suits us just fine! :-p

Good luck back to you. Who the hell really knows what's going to happen, anyway? Y'all may well survive long after the buzzards have picked our bones clean. In which case, we'll just have to compare notes in the afterlife. I could just see it: "Dang, what a trip THAT was...!"

"Blessed are the cracked, for they shall let in the light."

tim said...

Rice Farmer/NB Patton:
I've chopped 2 cords of wood this fall. Matter=energy. Quantum physics will show actual alternative energy supplies, the Milky Way was just an example of a natural perpetual motion system. And I also don't believe we are mature enough for free energy, yet. NB, like Mike has always said, energy is money. If we can evolve to where we can use free energy without destroying each other and the Earth, and segregating everyone into "classes", money will no longer have a function. Anything short of this and "humanity" will end. Man flying was a pipe dream 100 years ago. Reality is multi-dimensional.