-- Obama's Speech on the Economy and Signals of What's Coming
-- Economic Collapse Accelerating
-- Leon Panetta as DCI Scares Me to Death
-- Is the Economic Collapse a Controlled Global Demolition?
-- Mike Ruppert Videos on Sale Again At FTW Site
By
Michael C. Ruppert
(c) Copyright 2009 Michael C. Ruppert. All Rights Reserved
Jan 9, 2009 – It's not possible yet for any world leader to tell people that the collapse of industrialized civilization is coming but it appears as though the Obama administration is preparing to say it… at least from what we can see. (It's going to become obvious soon enough.) What is not known are what secret plans are being made and what contingencies are being prepared for. There are some clues.
As our first Chief Performance Officer, Nancy Killefer is extraordinarily qualified for the job of going through the federal budget line by line and seeing which programs work and which don't,
determining which can be cut to save money. But I believe Barack Obama put her brief to her in a public-consumption version and also in a confidential one that was a bit more direct. It might have sounded something like this: "Nancy I want you to determine in what order we shut down the United States government. Tell us which switches to turn off, in what order, so that we don't shut the wrong things down too soon."
In Thursday's speech the President-elect, in my opinion, began weaning the American people, from their so-deeply ingrained sense of entitlement to wasteful excess. He called this the end of an era of "profound irresponsibility". He set the right tone initially about the gravity of the crisis but stopped short of Peak Oil and the fact that there can and will be no recovery. He chided us for living beyond our means and flatly said that there will be cutbacks in government services. He predicted double digit unemployment. (I see 20% or greater unemployment by January 2010.) He continues to talk about recovery but I'm sure he knows there won't be one. In fact he said that this could be a recovery that it might not be possible to recover from. We are being prepared.
I wouldn't be at all surprised to see a couple of days with 700+ point losses in the Dow over the next ten days to two weeks. The data is just horrendous and it is also becoming torrential around the globe as the Gaza crisis diverts attention.
So we're still waiting to see how the Obama Administration is going to conduct itself. I can pretty much bet that as many as 50-75 new Executive Orders will be announced within 72 hours of the
inauguration. That's going to require some heavy reading on my part. The actions of the administration will tell us much more than the public statements and appointments which have given me grounds for optimism.
In the meantime WHILE EVERYONE WAS WATCHNG GAZA the stories of a global implosion are mounting. -- Europe's economy is contracting at a faster rate than in the 30s. In the meantime the Russian shut-off of European gas supplies is wreaking havoc, especially in the Balkans, the Czech Republic and elsewhere, causing factories to be shut because there isn't enough energy to run them and keep people from freezing. Corporate pension funds in the U.S. are facing serious shortfalls. Unemployment Claims have crashed three state web sites. Every major industrialized nation (including the U.S.) is preparing for civil unrest. And we haven't seen Q4 earnings reports yet.
China has just announced that it is holding onto its cash and not lending as much to the U.S. It has its own bailout package to fund. It needs that cash for its own bailout and thus can no longer lend anywhere near as much to the U.S. at a time when we are borrowing or printing money at rates about a hundred times higher than in World War II. Reports have suggested that China may dump half of its $1.4 trillion dollar holdings within the next two months. A global dollar dump will follow shortly thereafter bringing all those greenbacks back home. That could be the trigger for Weimar-style inflation.
Starting back as far as late 2003 FTW was predicting these developments. One of my best essays from the period was "As the World Burns" (FTW's third economic alert) from Dec. 2004 is available at the FTW site: http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/120104_world_burns.shtml
Manufacturing has hit a 28-year low and today's jobs report is the worst since 1945 with the biggest job losses yet to come. Officially, unemployment now exceeds 7%. Fourth-quarter earnings reports are due soon and that will be one of the biggest buckets of cold water in the face we've seen in a couple of months.
As I correspond with a number of key friends and researchers around the world we have all concluded that it may be just a matter of weeks before we start seeing major disruptions in everyday life. It's hard to keep up with the torrent of ominous news.
But Mr. Obama has made one appointment which absolutely scares me to death. He has nominated Leon Panetta to become the next DCI (Director of Central Intelligence).
PANETTA AT CIA? – RUN FOR THE HILLS!
IRAN-CONTRA II… ON STEROIDS
Omigod! Has Barack lost his mind?
I have individual research files, accumulated over a decade, on maybe 300 of the government's top movers and shakers for the past 30 years. The first thing I did after hearing Panetta's name for Director of Central Intelligence was sit down and catch my breath. Then I went through my 6 Gigs of research files and searched out everything I could on him.
What I found was that (IMO) Leon Panetta is a pretty decent guy. He has taken the right stands on many important issues from the drug war, to torture, to Iraq. The biggest "offense" I could find was his direct role in the pardon of Marc Rich. (Rich is/was a heavy and very dirty intelligence/black op player.) Look, everybody at that level has skeletons and that history isn't even worth discussing now. It's what I didn't find that so worries me.
I was looking for anything that suggested Leon Panetta might have had clandestine experience or even some remote exposure to Agency operations. That's what scares me to death. George H.W. Bush was billed as an outsider when appointed as DCI in Jan., 1976. However, there's a mountain of excellent research that establishes that "Poppy" Bush had been a covert player and CIA hand his whole life. One tiny example is that he owned a company called Zapata Oil in the 50s and 60s. The code name for the Bay of Pigs Invasion in 1961 was "Operation Zapata". Paper records throughout Bush I's life link him to the CIA. CIA's headquarters is named after him fer crying out loud.
Let's think of a couple of other "outsiders" who went into CIA. James Schlesinger was an abysmal failure, short-tenured, and a major nerd. Then there was John Deutch… need I say more?
The one prior CIA director which reminds me of Panetta, however, is Admiral Stansfield Turner who was appointed by Jimmy Carter and confirmed in March 1977. And if it turns out the same way there is going to be some serious bloodshed, an evaporation of civil liberties and a ten-fold expansion of covert operations… "off the books". (It eliminates all those messy oversight problems. Saves money on hearings and things like that.)
Turner arrived at CIA as a retired Navy Admiral who had been outside the intel community. His mandate was to clean house and get rid of all those dirty-rotten scoundrels who had committed assassinations, overthrown governments and operated outside the law. The Church and Pike committees had released mountains of incriminating data from the 50s, 60s and 70s. What did Turner do? He fired all those clandestine service people right away.
What did they do?
Well they took all of their knowhow, the black budgets that were off-the-books, their ability to smuggle stupefying amounts of drugs and guns and they started a parallel or "shadow" government that Congress didn't touch until Iran-Contra was a full blown scandal and tens of thousands of Central Americans had been murdered by death squads and American surrogates. (I miss Warren Zevon.)
Names like Shackley, Clines, Wilson, Singlaub, Poindexter, Clarridge, Abrams, Armitage, Negroponte and many more came to public light. Who can forget the most visible off-the-books crook Oliver North? I interviewed Shackley. I helped get Edwin Wilson out of prison when the CIA cut him loose and denied he was working in the Agency's behalf. These are the people who ruined my career at LAPD by smuggling drugs. Poindexter, Armitage, Negroponte and Abrams all came back into official power under Bush/Cheney.
The bottom line is that you cannot put someone in as DCI who doesn't know how black ops work, tell him/her to clean house and expect to generate anything except a massive off-the-books, bloody and very dangerous parallel covert capacity that the DCI will be helpless to prevent.
In the years since 9-11 U.S. intelligence capabilities have mushroomed. The use of proprietary software with "back doors" (PROMIS) has exploded and the degree of outsourcing of intelligence functions to corporations has exploded. So what can anyone expect of the legions of Bush-Cheney-era spooks who will now be unemployed to do? The term "rogue" may be about to acquire a whole new definition.
It is unfathomable to me that Barack Obama's staff, Senator Feinstein (who I am not a great fan off) and all of congress have forgotten or are unaware of the bloody and criminal legacy of Iran-Contra. Why are they apparently setting things up for it all to happen again? We will all wait with baited breath to see if these questions come up in the confirmation hearings for Mr. Panetta and his designated boss as DNI, retired Navy Admiral Dennis Blair (also a relative outsider). If the Iran-Contra question is not answered then we might have the best signal yet that the Obama administration has ulterior or malevolent agendas. The current economic collapse, however, is happening so fast that this lingering and very important question may be moot. It took from January 1977 through roughly 1980 for the off-the-books covert capacity to establish itself in way that resulted in coups, deaths squads and the usurping of the U.S. government. In 1979 domestic U.S. cocaine consumption was around 50 metric tons per annum. By 1988 it reached 600 metric tons.
I see only three possible explanations:
1. Obama and company have no clue of Iran-Contra history.
2. They do know the history and are intending to recreate it on a fast
track. In other words, the U.S. is preparing for a no-holds-barred
fight to keep things together.
3. They do know the history and have a plan to prevent it from happening again.
THINGS COMING DOWN UNIFORMLY – A CONTROLLED DEMOLITION?
What follows is only a partially-formed impression rather than a conclusion. It is looking to me as if the downward pressure on all economies is hitting fairly uniformly around the world. For a long
time those of us who looked forward assumed that economic collapse would hit first one major power and then another in varying degrees. I left open the possibility that it might be a controlled fast crash and spread evenly to avoid international conflict and tension. That's the way it is starting to look.
That leaves open the question as to whether or not there might be an agreement to collapse the global economy uniformly so as to let each nation manage its own die off. There's logic to that but I can draw no conclusions as yet.
COMING TOPICS – Soon it will be necessary for me to look at topics which we've mentioned in passing. These include civil unrest, camps, emergency communications and preparedness as the threat of societal breakdown becomes imminent. It's time to start doing that.
LARRY FLYNT – A big High Five to HUSTLER Publisher Larry Flynt – the guy who saved the first amendment for us by beating Charles Keating (of the Keating Five) in the Supreme Court. I was HUSTLER's interview of the month twice and actually met Flynt in his office. He was the best-looking corpse I have ever met and God bless him… his sense of humor is still alive. Asking for a bailout for the porn industry made me laugh harder than I have in weeks. I'm not worried about the industry. Sexual activity always increases in hard times.
HIGH FIVE to poster AGAPE. You've been putting up some great stuff.
MIKE RUPPERT VIDEOS BACK ON SALE AT AMAZON. – I have recently signed a contract with a major fulfillment and international promotion house to resurrect my most important videos: "The Truth and Lies of 9-11" and "Denial Stops Here" are available now from the FTW web site. Within a week or two, my best speech ever (The Paradigm is the Enemy) at the Cooper Union in 2006 will be re-released under a new title: "Mike Ruppert at the Cooper Union 2006 – The Coming Economic Collapse". Its original title (which I never liked) was "Fear and Present Danger". Also, coming back is my 2000 USC lecture "Wall Street's War for Drug Money" which lays out the genesis of this economic collapse and the workings of Wall Street in spades.
You can also get them from the FTW web site.
HOLD ON TO YOUR GOLD. I have seen nothing to suggest anything other than a major breakout within three months. After looking into a recent theory proposed here I found it unsubstantiated and based upon some very large assumptions about future actions by the IMF and World Bank for which no supporting evidence was presented. That same poster also sent something which didn't go up about drawing pentagrams to determine where some new unspecified terror attack would occur. Sorry, but we work with harder and better data here. I'm holding my gold tighter than ever.
MCR
*************************************************************************************
THE EGG COMES FIRST
by
Jenna Orkin
Yikes.
Do these articles leave you breathless? Pumped up and wondering what to do with the adrenaline? Tempered by a look out the window where to all appearances, life goes on as it always has, this is just the sort of channelled energy we need to get things done.
Ah, there's the rub: "...as it always has."
When you're a kid, you wake up, have breakfast, go to school, come home, do homework, have dinner, go to bed, wake up....
So it goes day after day and you imagine it will continue forever, an infinite cycle.
But no.
When I was ten, my family moved to England. The infinite cycle broke, as far as I was concerned. (For other people, it can come when they change schools.) Uprooted and transplanted, I'd acquired the third dimension of a past.
One day about a year later I was for some reason contemplating the chicken and egg conundrum, that staple of infinite cycle thinking.
I realized that it lacked a key element. If you factored in evolution, the egg came first. What had laid the egg was not a chicken but something that preceded chickens in the evolutionary scheme of things.
What looks like an infinite cycle in the two dimensions of life while you're living it, looks different when you add the third dimension of hindsight. You see that the cycle was in fact a spiral, with a direction, an agenda.
That's on the individual, micro level.
The macro level: (The Big Picture for those of philosophical bent)
The market goes up; the market goes down. What goes down must come up again. Not because of any law of physics, God knows, but because that is what it has always done. Therefore it will continue to do it, for whatever reason, known only to itself and those nebulous Experts in these things who live in ivory towers and sound as though they know what they're talking about on CNN. Who cares why?
Again, No.
What looks like a cycle of history is also not an actual cycle. It, too, has a direction, an agenda.
And here we are, on the brink of finding out what that's going to look like.
One thing we can see: Whoever is pulling the strings (even if they're doing so in a hurricane) they use us humans with diabolical ingenuity. And we let them.
First they unleash the furies of the Islamist world, ready and willing accomplices in the destruction of the Wicked Witch of the West which is us.
Then they do the opposite, unleashing a backlash in Gaza and on Wall Street.
Hard to know whom to point the finger at more. There's no shortage of candidates.
Like Nature, we humans abhor a vacuum. We rush in to fill it with mischief. The point is not, as some commentators on the recent Madoff debacle have eagerly pointed out, that Madoff's victims were sold out "by one of their own." (So far, no one outside of the most bottom-feeding websites has spelled out what that phrase means.) The point is, deregulation allowed it to happen. Some Madoff somewhere was inevitable. What might have prevented him was a rigorous legal framework. That's why society as a whole constructs laws; to control the appetites, the runaway mayhem of individual sociopaths.
The best way to destroy your enemies, goes the old saw, is to let them destroy each other. It's a great energy saver, at least of your own energy. And they don't seem to mind. As E.M. Forster said, "There is nothing so satisfying as moral indignation."
Things are happening fast. Each change will precipitate other changes in an exponential expansion. The spiral will become a vortex.
Thank God for human curiosity, even if in this case it will be of the morbid variety.
Porn Industry Seeks Bailout
Article Mike referred to above.
Crops [including organic] Absorb Livestock Antibiotics
Quote of the day:
--JO
92 comments:
Mike, you're posts are getting better and better. Thanks again for coming out of retirement! Seriously cannot thank you enough for writing again!
Nice analysis, Mike. I agree that we're reaching a pivotal moment. The stars are coming into alignment.
I've got an answer to one of your questions:
"I see only three possible explanations:
1. Obama and company have no clue of Iran-Contra history.
2. They do know the history and are intending to recreate it on a fast
track. In other words, the U.S. is preparing for a no-holds-barred
fight to keep things together.
3. They do know the history and have a plan to prevent it from happening again."
The answer to 1 and 3 is that Obama's senior foreign policy advisor, Trilateralist and Senior Fellow at the CFR Zbigniew Brzezinski was NSA to President Jimmy Carter (the nut picker) when Stan was placed at Langley. Obama's team HAS a clue, and current events are predicated upon the successful efforts of Brzezinski and his gang (Gates et al) in the late 70's.
The answer is #2. No holds barred.
On another front, what has Brzezinski's associate Henry Kissinger been up to with his pal Putin? He's been spending a LOT of time over in Moscow, with a nice handful of other senior US policy figures. Reported in Europe, but no mention in US media.
You're 100% correct Mike that there's a coordinated play at hand. Get ready people. And I ask again, where is the USS Mount Whitney?
Re: Panetta
Some interesting discussion and links here:
http://www.rigorousintuition.ca/board/viewtopic.php?t=22237&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
I am hesitant to enter a comment, never having written on a "blog" before, and hesitant also to be sticking my head up outta the foxhole. Most of my rant here is just looking backwards. Thanks to all for providing a view to the future...
I am about the same age as MCR, so his comments often hit home (Warren Zevon, etc) in a common cultural way. Yet we come from different worlds--his a miltary upbringing (of sorts), mine based in a twisted Texas country farmer/cowboy-moved-to-town upbringing.
We both knew the last great generation, and learned from them, so...we both intuitively saw this coming 30 years ago, before Reagan convinced everyone to borrow our way outta the hole we were in.
MCR had the good sense to dig a little deeper in the well to find the water, and to share that water with us. Me? I just sat here saying "This infinite growth shit can't go on forever". I think a lot of folks must have felt this way, but every time we would bring it up, we got ridiculed.
I think our nation was better prepared for this 30 years ago, but that may be a bad perception based on my own energy 30 years ago (compared to now). Where I was brought up, in my generation, almost all young men wnt thru the "construction industry" of some sort or another. Maybe in some places that was a factory setting? But the point is we learned how to build and fix things that were needed for survival (shelter food, heat, water).
We were taught by the greatest generation, how to build (they say the best older houses were those that were built after WWII, when the old ways were still used, but new power tools made it easier to do the job right).
And we were taught survival skills. I was taught how to hunt, fish, and plant in all the methods available. How to build shelter if needed. I never knew why the old man thought that was important to teach me. I wanted to learn, sure, but it was like he was on a misssion to teach me (as his father had on the farm/ranch).
And our generation was ready in 1979 to help fix the world, only, noone wanted us to fix anything, they just wanted everyone to borrow and spend, and that would fix the economy...
And maybe we didn't have all the skills necessary to fix the world, but we still had the greatest generation as advisors.
Skip forwward 30 years, and the greatest generation is almost gone. Those of us that were willing to help fix things are running on half the energy we used to have. And the younger generation? Very few were taught the skills by my generation that would enable them to survive in a post-industrial society. Hell, there are seniors here who wanted shoes for the prom that have velcro ties (noone ever taught them how to tie their shoes). Who is gonna teach, and is there time?
Thanks for all your hard work.
dear no1hears:
we hear. and we listen for any practical knowledge you feel like sharing.
dear no1hears:
we hear. and we listen for any practical knowledge you feel like sharing.
Mike, I'm still hoping for economic collapse, the sooner , the better. It doesn't have to mean dieoff. "The economy" doesn't refer to anything useful. "The economy" is the waster of resources that gets us into war and trashes the environment. "The economy" wastes our time making us do work that doesn't need to be done.
There won't be any less food because "the economy" crashes. We will just have to find out another way to distribute it to people who won't have jobs doing things that are better undone. There won't be any less gas or oil if "the economy" crashes; there will be more.
The powers that be can't deny us these things. They don't even know how. They would have to tell their underlings (us) to do it.
There's a fairly good chance that I live in a colder environment than any of your other readers. I would freeze quite quickly without heat this time of year. Yet I am praying for economic collapse.
Thank you Mr. Ruppert,and Ms. Orkin for continuing to post your work.I'm looking forward to finally getting around to purchasing the footage of Mike's "The Paradigm is the Enemy" speech.
The proto-chicken came first.;)
dear a peon
you're right. i googled 'protochicken' to see what would happen and discovered - no surprise - that i was not the only person to have had that thought about the role of evolution.
http://amos.indiana.edu/library/scripts/protochicken.html
Mike, as the world gets crazier your posts gain more clarity
Since I first read Rubicon I'll admit I had some serious doubts about the validity of some of your claims. I guess that kind of response was fairly typical of many(?)However 'The Map' has become truth - as scary as that is.
Next came your call to 'get prepared'. Again, I was sceptical but yet again 'The Map' becomes truth. I have now been getting prepared for the last few months - from stockpiling food (My supermarket delivery guy is starting to give me funny looks now that I get a monthly delivery of 300 cans), to assessing my surroundings(I cant walk past a tree without determining its suitability for fire-wood).
I have been a 'lurker' on this blog for quite a while and although I dont feel I can contribute to some of the more salient points of whats unfolding i find myself trawling news websites for the the next link in the chain. What I used to think were individual, unrelated events I now know are part of the bigger picture.
I thank you and Jenna for opening my eyes, for opening my mind and for giving me at a least a chance of protecting my family from whats coming.
For what its worth I have been trying to spread the word here in my little part of the world (England). The initial brick walls I met with are starting to crumble and I am happy to keep chipping away until the penny drops - if it ever does.
Keep up the good work.
Some interesting info. TPTB jossle for position ??
http://www.engdahl.oilgeopolitics.net/Geopolitics___Eurasia/Putin_s_Gas/putin_s_gas.html
Mike & Jenna, This was just sent to me. I think it is timely
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXATSV8S3-M&eurl=http://www.noconfidence.com/&feature=player_embedded
koolkarma
there's a great deal of substantiation of the claim that the baltic dry index fell 93% c. november, but none of it is mainstream.
It looks like we have about 3 months to prepare. I just Googled BDI and found this. I live in Denver
http://www.thecitizen.com/~citizen0/node/34251
Just a sidelight on the situation, but the average person here in Japan believes -- with lots of help from the media -- that the world recession is caused by the subprime fiasco. A client of mine emailed me a couple of days ago and said, "I sure hope this subprime thing ends soon so the world economy will get back on track." I had to chuckle. The general public is totally clueless about what is going down.
I just want to say that this blog has done more to open my eyes and help me connect the dots than any other source of information. I want to thank Mike, Jenna and all the contributors for the priceless information presented here.
Perhas Obama knows perfectly well what he is planning and his cabinet choices have been well thought out. Some of them pretty well tell us that the "change" promised may not be the one we were expecting. As far as Obama's call to rethink our "entitlements", I find it odd that we are expected to make concessions on our Social Security, which came from decades of contributions from our paychecks, while the greatest sucker of resources, the military, has not been scrutinized for wasteful spending, obsolete programs, etc. first. If no one on earth will have food to eat, who will have resources to launch attacks on far away soils? Do we really need to be fighting wars on multiple fronts while our citizens are starving? I believe the military will have a new role and will amazingly have food, gasoline and energy while the rest of us do without.
koolkarma817:
Your last post about the BDI was the most frightening thing I have ever read. We really are cooked. Years of preparations and I still feel totally vulnerable. Makes me wish I had about 6 strong sons or a very large extended family.
CJ........Funny everyday I say that. I think it can not get worse than I read the next article. I have been well aware of this crash for years. being single, living in a major city, I have no idea how to prepare. yes, I will have food for 6 months......BUT then what? I don't have a backyard to grow anything. Water, will always be a problem in Denver..........shit! It was 65 this week in JANUARY!
Are there any suggestions where to purchase gold? One place up north in Canada sells it. Wish gold coins were sold at local mall. US mints are available from treasury (silver).
Thanks.
Mike and Jo: Kudos to you...again.
Re "That leaves open the question as to whether or not there might be an agreement to collapse the global economy uniformly so as to let each nation manage its own die off."
IMO, that would imply that there is an organizational medium and/or media that has orchestrated such collapse, e.g. Bilderberg, G20, CFR, etc. Notwithstanding that these organizations (with their relative agendas exist), I believe their function now to be one of "management" as opposed to "initiating."
The crisis is global in scope. We witness the collapse of industrial civilization, of which the U.S. is but one national player, albeit the major player. What slowly comes into focus is a major historical contradiction. It is a point I raise in the paper, "Post-Peak Oil and NAmerican Regional Secession:"
"Again, to highlight the current historical contradiction, an alleged one-world government is diametrically opposed to hundreds of small, autonomous nations, although both global constructs require and envision the dissolution of the large industrial nation state in order to succeed. This contradiction cannot be stated emphatically enough. The pending crisis entails a showdown of worldviews with the large industrial nation state caught in the middle and cast in the role of historical albatross for both competing tendencies."
Relative to this global crisis, the Obama administration (or any other administration, for that matter) is powerless to deal with the "table of consequences" that has been laid out. The administration can only react, it cannot respond, no matter how thick the spin that a proactive stance is being taken. The crisis catches all, elite and non-elite, rich and poor, color of skin is irrelevant. A technocratic "cull" stands opposed to an ecological "purge." One way or another, the system will correct itself. Gaia will breath again.
In the mean time, we find ourselves circa late 16th century attempting to explain heliocentric cosmology to pre-Copernican peasants. It is not possible to do, as it is impossible to explain colors to the blind. There is no return in it.
Unless I'm mistaken, the best (and likely, only) motivator to get people to own and practise an altered perception is a good whack of pain. That world of hurt is just around the corner. The Condition will be the best teacher and motivator to initiate relative action. When it arrives, many of us will pine for the days of being comfortable revolutionaries with the luxurious option of waxing philosophical.
Dems signal CIA interrogators not held responsible
The person who commented that Mike and Jenna's posts here just keep getting better and better--I second that! I have been wanting to post this link to some reading that is highly relevant and erudite, and this seems like a good time. The book is entitled, "The Ascent of Humanity: Civilization and the Human Sense of Self", by Charles Eisenstein. The book is available as a physical book, and is also available *free* online--all 595 pages of it! It explores the spiritual roots (NOT as in 'religion') of our current converging crises, where they originated (much longer ago than we might have supposed), why they are 'peaking' now, why they are inevitable, and what they are leading toward. This is an amazing book--I would actually class it with Mike's 'Crossing the Rubicon', but from a spiritual perspective that provides a map of what is happening, and how we might respond to it both collectively and as individuals. It has exhaustive notes and documentation. Mr. Eisenstein is a highly gifted philosopher/writer/former Penn State professor/yogi/mystic. He spent 10 years writing the book, but it explains current events so well that it seems that it was written yesterday. He shares Mike's view that until you change the way money works, you change nothing, and a whole chapter of the book is devoted to that, and includes extensive explanations of why our current money system does not work, and provides examples of different ways that money could work: such systems as Demurrage, which was usind very successfully in the town of Worgl, Austria, in 1932-3, until it was shut donw by a threatened central bank. (It had generated intense economic activity in the town, and the unemployment rate plummeted, even as the rest of the country slipped into a deepening depression). Also the better known LETS dollars (local exchange trading system) is thoroughly explored. The title of the book, The Ascent of Humanity is partly an ironic play on the title of Jacob Bronowski's book "The Ascent of Man". Why is it available free online (www.ascentofhumanity.com)? Although he spent 10 years writing the book, mr. Eisenstein feels that the ideas and concepts of the book need to be widely available to as many as possible now, even though he and his publisher would love some recompense for their effots. So if you do read the book online, it would be nice, if you are able, to provide whatever donation you can. This book gave me profound insight into the spiritual underpinnings of our current dilemma. It is not at all 'New-Agey' or airy-fairy. I wish the index was better. But that's my only caveat! It gave me solace and hope, while at the same time reinforcing the depths of our plight (the first two-thirds of the book are difficult, depressing reading). But so, so worth it.
Also, I neglected to mention that Charles Eisenstien is fully Peak Oil aware.
Mike, nice to rediscover your analysis again. As a former daily reader of FTW for years, I am glad that there is a place that I can go for information that is written from a bird's eye view that connects the widely dispersed dots cohesively.
With regard to the BDI, I wrote an article on Nov 30th at
http://meltdown101.livejournal.com/18059.html
With regard to Obama and the CIA director appointee, my take is that the deep power within the U.S. had chosen this man a long time ago and his role is to be the good looking and smiling face that the citizenry will see as the planned implosion gathers momentum. His actions thus far and the continuity of the PNAC have only confirmed that he is a team player and will continue to be.
When I read the news today that he is now going to create not 3 but 4 million new jobs, I thought to myself..you gotta hand it to this guy, he can lie through his teeth as good as the best of them. How any rational person can buy in to his print-your-way-out-of-a-depression "plan" is beyond me. Economics has been turned in to Voodoonomics and I am sure even Paulson and Bernancke are trying not to laugh every time they open their mouth.
On Peak Oil, I read your brilliantly researched "Crossing the Rubicon" and the work of Mr Heinberg, "The Party is over". I also read counter arguments from various sources, including Greg Pallast on the Alex Jones show in which the consensus was that Peak Oil was an industry manipulated dog and pony show to create an artificial scarcity to bolster the profits for Big Oil. The data available at ASPO from Colin Campbell, a fellow Irishman, only served to reinforce my commonsense conclusion that Oil is peaking and the current Economic collapse, which has been engineered, amounts to demand destruction that forms part of the "controlled demolition".
All the pieces do seem to be slotting together over the past years with regard to the control of the population. The "War on Terror" and it's associated totalitarian legislation; the "War on the Internet" which represents a grave risk to the availability of independent information. The U.K and Australia are already in full swing and Obama's Broadband project is nothing more that the installation of an information control system.
I can't stop thinking back to when Richard Haass and Joe Biden were alluding to a cataclysmic event concurrent with Obama's inauguration presenting the new President with an obligation to take "some difficult decisions". As we get closer to the 20th, I have noticed that Obama has been slowly increasing the gravity of his statements with regard to the seriousness of what will unfold. He IS definitely trying to warn the people of impending disaster but the gloves will only come off after the last glass of champagne at his inaugural ball has been drunk.
I'd like to echo Dave Crossland's "Thanks again for coming out of retirement" !
Robert:
Mike, I'm still hoping for economic collapse, the sooner , the better. It doesn't have to mean dieoff. "The economy" doesn't refer to anything useful. "The economy" is the waster of resources that gets us into war and trashes the environment. "The economy" wastes our time making us do work that doesn't need to be done.
It's always nice to see the type of people that read MCR's stuff.....paints a great picture of the type of people in his camp. Thanks Robert.
One more thing, I was wondering how you possibly posted your comment on a blog on the internet with no computer or electricity. After all, those things are part of our economy, which you have deemed useless. Please clarify to clear up any hypocrisy this may have caused. Thanks.
Here is an article about the Baltic Dry Index from UK's Independent:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/shipping-holed-beneath-the-waterline-995066.html
Here are BDI charts:
http://www.investmenttools.com/futures/bdi_baltic_dry_index.htm
Questions on my mind:
1. Does US grow the majority of its food staples?
2. Does US produce most of its coal supply?
3. Is there a drastic difference between BDI Jan 2001 vs. Jan. 2009?
Seems to me answers are yes, yes and not much.
What say ye?
With the economy collapsing, what are all the unemployed lawyers going to do?
Some will take jobs outside law, some will work in the complicated real estate sector, but I think someone will quickly discover that the best way to keep up his/her standard of living is to sue the only deep pockets left - governments - for not complying with now unenforceable laws, such as maintenance of government property. I see the remaining wealth of governments being drained away just when the public needs it most. Legislatures wouldn't be able to write in exceptions to the laws fast enough, even if the public were willing to accept the dilution of laws they've come to rely on...
Please tell me I'm wrong.
"U.S. Seeks Ship to Move Unusually Large Amount of Weapons to Israel"
Again, lot's of prostets in Europe today, especially in the UK, Germany and The Netherlands. Protestors in London threw shoes at the Israeli embassy.....
"The outcry is muted, but the food crisis is getting worse
The financial debacle has drowned out coverage of food shortages. Where are the billion-dollar bailouts for the hungry?"
"The great, immoral shame of hunger .. and biofuel".
V(incent)
Is there any hope in all this? If so, what might it be?
namaste
jackie
some form of sovereign immunity will trump any just lawsuit. i speak as one of the original plaintiffs in a lawsuit (which we lost at the appeals level) against the epa for their lies following 9/11.
I watched a story the other week on tv about how some convicts upon release would commit another crime to get back into prison where they had free residence and free food. How will this evolve as the economy gets worse and where will the line be drawn between feeding the rest of the population and convicts. Will we adopt less strick death penalties to control the prison population? How can we allow honest people to starve to death while feeding those in prisons.
I am also concerned with the spike in army recruits that will come. What kind of trouble will we get into with so many willing to be in the army.
In the midst of all this, I had two substantial credit card accounts/lines of credit with Citibank that I hadn't been utilizing. In the back of my mind I was always thinking, "It's always nice to have a backup credit card...and you never know when you might need some additional credit."
Citibank just informed me that they're closing both of those accounts.
Hey all,
Has anybody read this article regarding Iceland recently. It's good.
Stunned Icelanders Struggle After Economy’s Fall
I found it through this Youtube clip.
After the Economic Collapse, Survival Gear
What do you guys think about the video clip?
FTW Admin, is this guy way over the top, half-right, or completely off the mark? 1-10, how accurate is this "Christian Patriot" (10 most accurate)?
However, some of the video's suggestions are pretty valuable.
Mike, Jenna - interested to know your thoughts.
Pete
(p.s. Is it possible to use HTML target commands to bring up another window here?) I'm no computer wiz :)
Panneta is bad for the CIA after the CIA has been so inept for the American people...weaponizing the Jihadist in Afganistan, missing the fall of the USSR, being wrong about WMD in Iraq (its a slam dunk!).
To koolkarma:
Could you move to a more suburban neighborhood near a body of water where you could grow at least some of your own food? Get a water filtration system (we've got a Berkey filter, but there are others) and use the river/stream/lake water if you had to. Put in a woodstove and get some wood.
We are semi-rural but right across from the local welfare hotel. How will these people react to the collapse? Will my house be the first place they go looking for food and other necessities? I've commuted an hour each way to work for years, so I only know a few of my neighbors. Our house was built, so help me, on top of a former dump the soil is so terrible, but I have imported soil and do a lot of growing in large plastic buckets given to me by the local candy factory. I obsess over what else needs to be prepared for to the detriment of my work. I desperately want a well. Too bad we all live so far apart or we could all make a good community of like-minded folks.
To Sandman:
Try Ebay for gold, but watch how much things go for for a while before bidding. Avoid the "Buy it Now" sales as those guys really highball their prices. Looks like the going rate for an ounce of gold is about $1000 right now, but it goes up and down like everywhere else. Silver is still a pretty good deal. I read an article that it is actually more scarce than gold and that its price could really take off with the right conditions. Poor man's gold it is.
To Bostx:
I agree with you that we do produce most of our own food but would probably lose the out-of-season fruits and vegetables and items that have to be shipped a long way. I read that last year's grain harvest was poor, which could impact upon availability of of bread products and packaged foods. A rice grower in Texas told me last year the world's grain reserves are exhausted when we used to have thousands of tons of surplus each year. This is what scares me. The calorie foods are the ones we are becoming short on. I drive past miles and miles of unused farmland everyday. We could certainly do a better job of taking care of our own if we just went back to farming, but I don't think enhancing the food supply is part of the big plan right now, shameful as that might be.
When I was in college in the late 60's, there was a lot of focus on population control and the environment, but when the right took over power in this country, all that public discussion vanished. It makes me so sad to think that all we are about to experience could have been avoided if we had acted on those trends 30-40 years ago when the world's population was less than half of what it is today and the environment less damaged.
OK, the baltic dry index news is scary, but what are the levels of dry goods on hand? No shipping means no orders, but no orders might mean distributors or retailers are sitting on slow moving inventory. I don't doubt that it is a bad omen, but I'm not clear on exactly what the impact will be.
Did anyone catch the CNN segment featuring excerpts from the movie IOUSA? I'm still digesting what I saw, but it was surprisingly frank about amny issues.
Dear Mike,
I've been following you since FTW opened and I can only tell you that it is very clear that you've emerged reborn from the ordeal you suffered from over the past 2 years... there is fire and clarity in your new posts. That is good, the world will need that.
I'm working on an new project at Stanford that is examining the question of human compassion in neuroscience, psychology, sociology and neuro-economics. With his holiness the Dalai Lama as one of our largest funders, we are looking at all aspects of this question. more and more I find that this is not a simple philosophical exercise: the question of becoming more compassionate as humans is the ultimate question our collective fate will be decided upon. We can get through any crisis if our social fabric insures that *we* will all get through this together. In as much as this is a policy, it is first and foremost a mindset, and one with tangible effects for individuals.
I also believe it is something you are missing... If this is not to be the calling card for our final destruction, it must necessarily mark the birth pangs for our development into something greater.
I need to figure out how we play into this and how we can help. I'd love a moment of your time if you could call and I'm happy to provide credentials if you are interested.
Best,
Joel
01,10,09.
Posters are increasingly using expressions of/for Love, kindness, sharing, Namaste, &
Community!
MCR has repeatedly said that although there has to be a reduction in population, it is not our, or his place to choose who is to be removed, I think that has been, or is being decided for us; he never wanted thatresponsibility, nor do I.
We, each one of us should be planning to save as many, not as few as we can, we have more in common than we have differences!
RanD thought I should lighten up, slow down, & take a Nap; maybe we all need a little "lightness", here is a little of my light side, Namaste, "you all"!
http://www.cathappy.com/TanjaAskani.htm
http://landofpuregold.wordpress.com/2008/06/12/beware-of-identity-theft/
Thanks to the commenters who pointed towards the BDI. This is the kind of hard data/indicator that is so essential for making the shift from theory to practice. Connect the dots that are out there and before you know it you've got yourself a road "map."
On second thought, doesn't the collapse of the BDI tie in directly, in a very concrete manner, to last week's thread on useless eaters?
Mike & Jenna,
Thanks for your generosity and this wonderful blog, including the commenters!
As much as we've been preparing for the crash, now I'm beginning to worry that it may be too late to complete our plan. Do you think there will be enough time left (considering implication of BDI) for us to build our survival house?
We're out of debt, and in cash. I don't believe in gold, because you can't eat it, and if you grow your own food, you don't need it, and soon enough you'll have the option of selling food for gold. Plus, the environmental and human cost of gold is insupportable.
As I stated in my first/only prior comment, we've been growing our food on our paid-off farm for a decade. But we realized that our present location was not good, primarily because there's not enough healthy forest for long-term energy needs. (We heat and cook with wood.) We, just this week, got the invitation to build a house, sharing a large property in a secluded location, with 100 acres of mature hardwoods, and several acres of fertile fields for our growing, with like-minded family members. They've lived there a decade, and invited us to join them. They've never bothered to grow more than tomatoes, but now recognize the need to plan for what's coming. Their old farmhouse is too tiny for all of us, so we had hoped there was still time (and commerce) to build a house. We'd like to build a super-insulated, passive solar, etc. house.
But now we're wondering if there won't be time enough to get the house built because we may not be able to purchase materials that aren't local, or our cash may become worthless first. Just cutting our own lumber and giving it time to cure will initially set back construction by up to a year.
............
The more I read about the Obama transition, the more it seems that the real government has not changed at all, because it is run behind the front men upon whom we focus. Why else would Obama place the same people back at DoD who were responsible for the $3.2 trillion missing funds? And Geithner, who is no change at all. As Mike says: the real 'change you can believe in' is the one we've been planning for. But as for the personnel running the show? No change.
That said, I don't think the psychopaths who caused this have a plan, other than police state labor camps and death. That's who they are.
pstajk said
FTW Admin, is this guy way over the top, half-right, or completely off the mark?
ans: he's old hat
MCR, JO, KoolKarma, and Meltdown101:
The BDI story that KoolKarma highlighted broke the ice of awareness for my wife and my longest lifelong friend.
I have followed "Money and Markets," "The Daily Reckoning," and "Whiskey & Gunpowder" since 2007, in addition to FTW and the FTW Peak Oil Blog. I started following GATA last year.
Has anyone an opinion on the reliability of their data on business and economics? I find GATA consistent with FTW; many FTW stories on gold price manipulation cited GATA.
What data have anyone found on velocity of money in the past year?
Here's one link that I share and request help to understand.
http://market-ticker.denninger.net/archives/618-Congress-What-Bernanke-and-Hank-Arent-Telling-You.html
ttp://market-ticker.denninger.net/archives/703-Uh-Oh.....-Monetary-Flat-Spin.html
I believe that W. John Williams' "Shadow Stats" has made the blog in the past. For newcomers, here is a link:
http://www.shadowstats.com/
Here is Mr. Williams' study on hyperinflation:
http://www.shadowstats.com/article/292
Thank you, Mike, Jenna, Kool-K.
Peter J. of Minneapolis
Jenna, I wrote a long post, plus a one-line followup. The one-line followup got printed, but not the long post! It's discouraging, and is keeping me from posting here! I must have spent a half hour on that post! What can be done??? Can you please see if you can find it before I spend another half hour redoing it?
From Here to Where We're Going - #1; January 11, 2009
The following is a response focused specifically on sunrnr's interrogatory "Is there any hope in all this? If so, what might it be?"
With consideration for and gratitude extended to every participant in this blog, this incoming uncommon information to us all does so in service to the Universal Common Good. Our human species is at this moment going through a paramount phase of its evolutionary process; and during which phase the making of equivalently paramount decisions will fall EXCLUSIVELY to those who can and will FULLY UNDERSTAND the criteria from which such decisions are to be made. That criteria's articulation begins here as follows:
The human species as it exists on planet Earth today has been brought/evolved into existence to perform a fully Universal-Existential objective. Let those who are destined to do so understand that that objective is directly, intimately, and systemically interconnected with/throughout this currently manifesting Universe's state of existence in terms of what this Universe is, does, and achieves. Granted, the scope of information being given here is entering a field of subject matter significantly beyond virtually all preceding FTW blogsite discourse. But this does not mean that human beings are incapable of productively assimilating such information, but rather that we, as a species, are just now reaching the moment of intellectual development upon the course of this current Universe's Evolutionary Process whereby we are being made ready to begin generally understanding -- as a consciously self-unifying species -- how and why we -- along with everything else -- came into existence in the first place.
*******
This will continue in RanD's next post.
Joel -- Please send your contact information to Jenna. It will not be posted by be sent directly to me.
MCR
"The bottom line is that you cannot put someone in as DCI who doesn't know how black ops work, tell him/her to clean house and expect to generate anything except a massive off-the-books, bloody and very dangerous parallel covert capacity that the DCI will be helpless to prevent."
This is the most intriguing paragraph you wrote, Mike. But why do you believe it? Because this is how it was in the past?
Any DCI who pulls the long knives, knows who is getting stabbed, yes? How hard would it be for DCI, with all of his resources, to then keep close tabs on them? The problem would seem to be mustering the institutional will to do so, but if you know that going in, and really are motivated to clean shit up, you can use public disclosures as a weapon when needed to keep everyone in line. This might necessitate DCI wearing a bullet-proof vest, of course, but hey, you're already 70 years old. Do your country a real service before you die.
Anyway, I am not banking on a 70's style housecleaning under Panetta.
FTW admin,
Yeah that guy's a nut. Thanks, that helps a lot. I remember someone here recently saying, "Live without fear."
I will from now on.
It's just hard to when I read stuff about PROMIS etc. Haha.
Thanks, Pete
gaelic girl
it just went up; had been sent directly to 'mail waiting to be read' rather than to me
readers should hold onto their comments via copy and paste or 'sent mail' in case of snafu
GaelicGirl is onto Charles Eisenstein, and I recommend his perspective as a complement to the more rigorous analysis Mike provides. He knows the facts, but he prefers to manipulate them to explore meaning and direction of ideas. If you're okay in a high level of abstraction, his book is a great tour of a sea of ideas.
For a strong but very digestible dose of Eisenstein, I suggest his article "Money and the Crisis of Civilization". Besides critiquing the way money works now, he provides a tasty sampler of alternative strategies and mindsets.
http://www.realitysandwich.com/money_and_crisis_civilization
Jenna:
In your response to pstajk when you said "he's old hat," regarding the video discussing the dire conditions we may be facing...Are you basically saying "Yes, it's accurate but it's nothing that we haven't been told before?"
To CJ, thanks for ebay comment.
CJ thanks for comment about ebay, regards.
From Here to Where We're Going - #1; January 11, 2009
The following is a response focused specifically on sunrnr's interrogatory "Is there any hope in all this? If so, what might it be?"
With consideration for and gratitude extended to every participant in this blog, this incoming uncommon information to us all does so in service to the Universal Common Good. Our human species is at this moment going through a paramount phase of its evolutionary process; and during which phase the making of equivalently paramount decisions will fall EXCLUSIVELY to those who can and will FULLY UNDERSTAND the criteria from which such decisions are to be made. That criteria's articulation begins here as follows:
The human species as it exists on planet Earth today has been brought/evolved into existence to perform a fully Universal-Existential manifold objective. Let those who are destined to do so understand that that objective is directly, intimately, and systemically interconnected with/throughout this currently manifesting Universe's state of existence in terms of what this Universe is, does, and achieves. Granted, the scope of information being given here is entering a field of subject matter significantly beyond virtually all preceding FTW blogsite discourse. But this does not mean that human beings are incapable of productively assimilating such information, but rather that we, as a species, are just now reaching the moment of intellectual development upon the course of this current Universe's Evolutionary Process whereby we are being made ready to begin generally understanding -- as a consciously self-unifying species -- how and why we -- along with everything else -- came into existence in the first place.
*******
This articulation will continue in RanD's next post.
Flexing muscles with the threat of many deaths:
Russia declares gas monitoring deal void
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090111/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_ukraine_russia_gas
Thanks, Jenna! And I will follow your advice.
To Write Club: That is exactly what happened in the past. What happens when an outsuder DCI asks someone to pull SCI material? An outside DCI wouldn't even know what code words to ask about. He/she must rely on the people who are custodians and who know how to get it.
So with much, if not most, of intelligence processing, collection and storage now outsourced into corporate hands (the Bush/Cheney base) who's going to be spying on whom?
And if some remaining in the Agency are loyal to the ones who just left? You see it's all about keeping who and what you are a secret. Betrayal is the lingua franca.
An outside DCI is a babe to a slaughter.
MCR
Hello Mike,
I was an FTW subscriber from 2004 through the end, and have read Crossing the Rubicon three times. I have a couple of questions for you if you have any interest, but no harm done if you're not able or willing to answer them.
1) What do you see as the real reason(s) for the US/Mexico border wall? I live in South Texas and this has been a huge issue here, but I see nothing about it in the mainstream news or the alternative sites.
2) Would you like some jazz CDs that I recorded? I know you're a music fan and I'd be happy to send you my three discs if you desire.
Thanks for all your hard work.
All the thanks in the world to Mike Ruppert. Having spent years investigating the "conspiratorial" world and having realized most of those voices consist of middle to older aged men shut into trailers somewhere, bitter about the world that left them behind or debunkers on someone's payroll, it is apparent the only voice based on fact and information and thought is MCR. So thank you.
Anyway....We try and interpret how this will all play out. We have the US in the 20's and we have Russia in the 90's but these are inadequate precursors. What I find interesting is the metaphysical perspective that sees this time as the great awakening, the dawning of a new age, the mayan calender crowd. Although the mayan calendar has been proven to be wrong, the consciousness transformation it attends to is in the air, in the zeitgeist. And indeed the human developmental research, both culturally and individually, shows we are in the dawning a of new stage of consciousness. Just as the 60's and the anti-war and environmental and equal rights movement was the dawning of a new stage of consciousness and the industrial revolution and the enlightenment were new stages so too is this day and age. (And it is a sick irony that this thus far highest stage of human development is coupled with peak oil) Keep in mind that new age means wider and deeper levels of perspective, of care and of complexity. I do not know how this will factor into the issues of the day, but I do know that we have never, as a species, been more capable of care and intelligence and complexity. Certainly there are malevolent forces working to tool us at every corner but never before has there been this high a level of consciousness available to counter those forces.
MCR and other readers might be interested to know about what is called the Integral Level that is emerging. Google Integral or Integral Theory and explore the ideas and thinkers that come up. Our problems are vast and great but so too are the solutions, and those solutions are found in the minds of ourselves and in the emerging beliefs and ways of being we see everyday. More perspective, deeper understanding, vaster connections and wider care. I am totally freaked out about our impending survival but equally excited about the potential for humanity at this time.
Thank you for the space to ramble...all the best.
U-6 unemployment has hit 13.5%:
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t12.htm
Economy my lose another 1.25 million construction jobs alone in 2009:
http://dispatch.com/live/content/business/stories/2009/01/10/construction.ART_ART_01-10-09_C8_QBCGB93.html?sid=101
To elaborate re: BDI, it has fallen for many reasons: credit markets seizing, China cutting metals imports due to falling steel prices, overcapacity in shipping business, and ship values falling relative to asset loan amounts (sound familiar). Lately credit spreads have narrowed which is good news which will solve the problem of limit on letters of credit, which grease the shipping trade. USA is the world's breadbasket...here is some info on grains:
http://www.fas.usda.gov/grain/circular/2008/12-08/grainfull12-08.pdf
Corn to ethanol expansion has put a damper on wheat production as well as bad weather. I think the Obama admin. will fix the problem of current focus on ethanol (a bad solution to our energy problem).
bostx has left a new comment on your post ""THIS DAY OF RECKONING" -- Obama's Speech on the ...":
New hip hop song, "I want My Bailout Money"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnT21hmlT4o
Dear Michael and Jenna,
I see now that for whatever reason(s) my last two attempted posts to you (the same one) have not been published. Please let me know if this is a consequence of your decision(s) to not publish that post or if it is a "snafu".
Thankyou, David
In relation to the BDI, I can tell you as a farmer that 70% of our food is produced outside of the United States. That's right. Scary shit in relation to the latest numbers. Pretty soon, those fruits and veggies from South or Central America won't be making the trucks on regular schedules. Grocery stores keep about 24-48 hours worth of food stocked on the average day.
Even further, many foods we eat are already genetically-modified. To find out more, check out www.seedsofdeception.com for a list of foods to avoid.
ATTENTION TO RICE FARMER, any word on GM crops in your neck of the woods? I know India has had issues with them.
I really wish we had a lager forum we could use. So many of us have such valuable info and such incredible ideas.
I would love to see Mike have a bigger site that included a forum for such ideas.
Is there any chance of this happening?
(One more time on this piece I've two times previously tried getting through to FTW. Perhaps as they say, "third time's a charm.")
From Here to Where We're Going - #1; January 11, 2009
The following is a response focused specifically on sunrnr's interrogatory "Is there any hope in all this? If so, what might it be?"
With consideration for and gratitude extended to every participant in this blog, this incoming uncommon information to us all does so in service to the Universal Common Good. Our human species is at this moment going through a paramount phase of its evolutionary process; and during which phase the making of equivalently paramount decisions will fall EXCLUSIVELY to those who can and will FULLY UNDERSTAND the criteria from which such decisions are to be made. That criteria's articulation begins here as follows:
The human species as it exists on planet Earth today has been brought/evolved into existence to perform a fully Universal-Existential manifold objective. Let those who are destined to do so understand that that objective is directly, intimately, and systemically interconnected with/throughout this currently manifesting Universe's state of existence in terms of what this Universe is, does, and achieves. Granted, the scope of information being given here is entering a field of subject matter significantly beyond virtually all preceding FTW blogsite discourse. But this does not mean that human beings are incapable of productively assimilating such information, but rather that we, as a species, are just now reaching the moment of intellectual development upon the course of this current Universe's Evolutionary Process whereby we are being made ready to begin generally understanding -- as a consciously self-unifying species -- how and why we -- along with everything else -- came into existence in the first place.
*******
This articulation will continue in RanD's next post.
winter
yes, after the book comes out
Joel - I'm very interested in the efforts that you're engaging in at Stanford. Any chance that you can elaborate?
There's an old example that we use in team building that explains how one workhorse can pull 2,000 lbs, and in tandem, two workhorses piull 6,000 lbs. The key to success is more than having the right harness mechanism - there's an as-yet immeasurably synergy that takes place when two or more are united in spirit to achieve a common goal.
For example, perhaps the most powerful "harness mechanism" that can achieving philosophical congruity in modern times is sitting on the virtual end of our keyboards. I'm harnessing it right. Mike harnesses it with regular posts and updates. The question is "how can we utilize the harness in the most effective manner to achive sysnergy?" Which brings us directly towards your study.
What I'm most interested in is what the specific study goals are. How is human compassion defined, and how is it measured? Do you have specific objectives within the four fields mentioned in your post, or a common objective for all? Do you have an established timeframe? And ultimately, who is most interested in utilizing your findings, and how?
I was recently invited (selected?) to enroll in a 2 year media study that partnered a major university, a private data-mining/staistical analysis organization, and government and NGO bodies. The invitation came via an unexpected package in my mail box. The stated goal was to determine how internet media influences participants in politics, sociology, and consumer opinion. Participants are paid and are provided with computers (if needed) for the duration of the program. About 1,000 were invited to take part.
I declined to participate for several reasons, but I'm very curious about the root of these and similar studies (who commissioned them and why). Any detail that you can provide regarding your particular research would be very much appreciated.
sonofafarmer, please post a link to the data supporting your comment that 70% of our food is imported. Thank you.
UNDERSTANDING THE BALTIC DRY INDEX DATA --YOU CAN RELAX JUST A LITTLE
The BDI data was scary but not as scary as we discussed. A big problem for capitalism now is inventory. Corporations are choking on unsold inevntory and that explains I think almost all of the decline. Food is aparently still moving because food is passing through and in most cases not building up in inventory.
There are signs that domestic food producers are having inventories build on falling commodity prices but that appears to be mostly a domestic issue for now. Yes, food is being thrown out.
People have to eat every day. I don't think the current BDI drop signals an instantaneous drop in food supplies so I am not rushing out to stock up yet.
The food crisis won't get "real" for 4-8 months -- maybe (if we're lucky) a year.
MCR
Good writeup, MCR, but I think you stand corrected on something significant:
It is not industrial civilisation in general that is collapsing, but it is industrial civilisation as you know it: the excessive industrial civilisation of debauched western capitalism, headed by the Anglo-American bloc is collapsing. And so will the allied colossus of China, which made the mistake of adopting this disastrous route to hell.
Russia and its society were thankfully saved from this as a result of their conditioning by seven decades of Communist rule. I am sure you will agree, having been there and mentioned it in your epic book, that the bandit coterie the US tried to impose over Russia during the past fifteen years has also failed to take hold in the intended manner.
Kamilov, re "It is not industrial civilisation in general that is collapsing, but it is industrial civilisation as you know it."
I disagree strongly. IMO, Russia, along with NAmerica, the EU, and China, is an industrial nation. The type of political structure is secondary to industrialism. In old fashioned language, the ownership of the means of production is not the problem. The problem is, and has been, the means of production.
Russia, along with the other LARGE industrial nations, will implode. European countries are right-sized once they shake off the Bilderberg umbrella (some may argue about who and how the EU was created). China will be an extremely nasty scene.
Industrial civilization is the meta-condition. Industrial nation states are elements of that condition/dynamic.
"India and Pakistan are engaged in an expensive winner-takes-all race to build hydroelectric dams across a river in Kashmir known in India as the Kishenganga. The winner secures rights to the river. The consequences, beyond disastrous water loss for millions of farmers, could tip the foreign policy balance between the countries." - Haroon Mirani, Asia Times
Race to the death over Kashmir waters
gaelicgirl
Thank you for the link to "The Ascent of Humanity" I'm reading it when I have time and you are correct,
it is worth it.
Thanks again,
Bonnie
I saw two things of possible note this weekend. One, the largest gun retailer in my area was almost completely out of pistols and the ammo shelf was mostly bare. Plenty of long guns, but almost no pistols. One clerk mentioend "I've never seen inventory so low". They were sold out of more than 70% of stock. Even the display rack demos were gone. I was there buying arrows for my sons new interest in archery, but couldn't help but notice all the empty hooks on the gun display.
The other was Costco was low on bulk foods, but this was probably a seasonal issue. I continue to stock up on long term storable foods while prices are low and my dollar still has buying power.
I've seen no or little price appreciation in beans, rice, or flour.
From Here to Where We're Going - #2; January 12, 2009
RanD, Shorebreak, F.kamilov, and Sebastian Ronin have just been given, via their most recent posts and in conjunction with the efforts of FTW admn(aka Michael C. Ruppert & Jenna Orkin), the material they need to begin more effectively serving the interests of their common ultimate objective -- which objective we are here given to formally recognize as being the "Universal Common Good".
And so it is likewise for ALL of us here at FTW who are devoted to fulfilling such an ideological objective as the Universal Common Good -- that we must begin much more carefully, patiently, empathically, and considerately/intelligently/consciously giving our attention to each other's words as posted on this Ultimately Significant FTW blog.
Sincerely.
Sorry for the vague stats I threw out there in regards to food imports. Bostx, I have to research through my old Acres USA magazines to find the exact article. The quickest search I could find on short notice was from March, 2007...
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2007-03-18-food-safety-usat_N.htm
It states 80% of seafood, 45% of fruits and veggies were imported, and those numbers had risen 50% from the previous year.
I'll keep searching for the article I had read and Acres USA is a very reliable organic farming source that sifts through all the bullshit.
American farming is not quite the powerhouse it used to be. I had to say it. Too many farmers have gone under, and not enough young guys stayed on the farm (Average U.S. farmer is 65 - go to usda.gov for that one.) There are some chilling numbers in agriculture. I'm telling you guys, there isn't enough food crops made in this country to keep us fed. Even if there were, 60-80% of it is cancer on a stick because it is from genetically-modified seed. Monsanto and the Rockefeller Foundation are making sure of that...and sweet ol' Bill Gates.
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_2715.cfm
I'm telling you, they'll starve everybody to death. Monsanto and our U.S. government have patents on over 11,000 different species of plants, trees, etc!
I hate to be the one to tell you guys, as if the whole peak oil thing wasn't enough to deal with. That's nothing compared to what is happening to our food and seed supply. I have a website at www.sonofafarmer.com where you can find out more on Monsanto and GMOs if you want to get really pissed off.
Sebastian Ronin:
To you, "what is happening" seems to be the end of industrial civilization. But I don't think there IS just one thing that is happening. Regional autonomy and local economies seem to be in order all over the globe, but "the state" as it is known to us (and for F.Kamilov it probably means something different than it does to an American or a Norwegian) is only one way to facilitate inter-regional cooperation. Past imperial capitals have barely known what existed at the farthest reaches of their "empires", and sometimes two "empires" assumed they "owned" the same hinterlands. Yet some (perhaps chaotic) network between farflung regions was productively maintained.
The Chinese emperor often paid tribute, disguised as "gifts", and sometimes gave "gifts" as a form of trade, expecting something in return. The Silk Road has a history of competing and cooperating semi-states doing business and making war at the same time, just as piracy and trade (or the Crusades and trade) have often coexisted.
Chinese history shows alternating periods of imperial hegemony from a metropol, and regional disintegration. The latter do not last long in cultural terms, because the people value their cooperation even in the midst of dynastic confusion. Though you're probably right about nasty times in China (check out the last 150 years!), that entity will not cease to exist, culturally or commercially, and may reunite politically, though not as an "industrial state".
Remember, the US is the only empire that was put together soley during the Industrial Age. Warlords used to do that dominating and networking thing on horseback. Like it or not, some form of state is almost inevitable (for those who cannot deliberately and skillfully avoid it).
Right now, the role of a Putin (or maybe an Obama) could be to creatively dismantle the useless and counterproductive elements of "state", while preserving rail lines, postal service, relatively safe trade routes and some protection from external enemies. Given that level of stability, the evolution of regional and local systems can flourish, whereas without it we're looking at Europe, 900 AD.
What remains of civilization will not look like today's state, anywhere, but that does not mean that we will all collapse into the stone age at a uniform rate, in the same way, or that we will drop that far at all. (Although even the destruction of the biosphere itself seems to be a possiblity...)
The Russian state is looking a lot better for orderly descent, I think, than the gung-ho capitalist centers of the first world. A state that dominates vast resources, that is determined to provide basic services through cohesion and collective adjustment, will facilitate descent out of the Industrial Age better than a state that is characterized by an oligarchy of profit-motivated self-interest. The McCain camp threatened us with socialism if Obama were elected. If only...
The religion of industrial production -- common to communism and capitalism -- is of course doomed. HOW we convert to having (much lighter) industry as a mere component of Life, instead of its purpose, will make all the difference. It would help to have vast energy resources and a population that (for whatever reason) can cooperate.
Here in the West, we have to create that social cohesion and common purpose in spite of -- rather than due to -- historical momentum. It will be needed sooner than it is likely to develop, I'm afraid. See what we can do, eh?
About the BDI:
I just watched the video on Youtube about the BDI. The presenter shows us how low it has dropped relative to what it was a month or so ago, but does not draw any attention to the other low periods on the chart since 2001. There seems to have been a spike in shipping activity that was much greater than in the 5 previous years. To present a more optimistic view of the data, perhaps the current drop reflects the fact markets may be saturated with extra goods delivered over the previous year and that a period of decreased demand has resulted. Rather, one should explain the sudden huge increase in shipping that happened before the drop we see today. The upward spike in additional shipping activity doesn't fit the pattern seen over the preceeding 7 years. One can interpret data any number of ways. Perhaps we will see huge shortages and perhaps we won't.
If I correctly understand what Mr. Kamilov and Mr. Ronin are saying, then I would have to side with the latter on this point. No matter who owns/controls the means of production in industrial civilization, that system is dependent on high energy flows and a resource base that is reasonably cheap and plentiful. Plus piles of money to move it all around. We are at the point where that system is becoming impossible to sustain.
I would imagine that most of you are probably experiencing something similar, but gas has gone up about 18 cents a gallon in my neighborhood over the past two weeks.
cj
have fwdd your interesting email to mcr
Hello All,
Thanks Mike for getting back into it! I have been reading this post for a long time as a spectator. I have been drawn to even the comments on this blog before reading news on other sites. I followed FTW as a dues paying member for a long time. I read Rubicon shortly after it came out and used to show "Denial Stops here" as well as "The end of Suburbia" in my high school classrooms. (For some reason the videos could not hold their attention anywhere near as well as a video game.) I feel I have been connecting dots for a long time. I know info like the BDI dip can be interpreted in different ways to gauge the timely severity of its meaning but at this time I don't feel I need 1001 dots connected along the map intead of 1000. Mikes map has proven sound and since I have been tapped into Mike's roadmap, the profound absurdity of countless events need be validated no more. After 10 years of passioned research I have stopped because I don't need any more verification of the same conditions we face. I am now more interested in the timing and how the crash will manifest itself.
I really wish there was a large blogg where people could share more feelings and practical plans for preparation. I have paid a price by being perceived as a "chicken Little." In my experience even the people I am close to including my family just don't want to hear about scary stuff. Even if conditions are present to make it only "possible" I just can't go there anymore.
I have bought a fairly large long term food supply and I am now starting to hasten my other needs. I am a wilderness instructor so I have some practical skills.
I honestly love this blogg! I know I have added no new practical insight and this entry may not even make it in. I could relate to the blogger who said the potential severity of this situation effected his ability/focus at work. I was just as interested in how he felt as in what he knows.
Back in my merchant marine days I will always remember talking to another ship off the coast of Florida bringing in a shipload of oranges from Brazil...
I'll leave you with a couple quotes from Thoreau. If you have some time check his quotes out - he nails it.
"As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler; solitude will not be solitude, poverty will not be poverty, nor weakness weakness."
"Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty. The obedient must be slaves."
Jenna/Mike -Thanks for all you do.
(I just felt I had to chime in. Will understand if this post is not in line with the intent of your blog or does not add to the incredible substance you have been providing.)
David, re "sir--since you (your bold type) 'DO KNOW' that there is an actual, existing plan for dieoff (in my world, a 'plan' for dieoff would be called extermination) and that it is already, currently being implemented, would you mind taking a few minutes from your, I'm sure, very busy days and providing a some detail about this currently operational plan to kill off multiple billions of people."
Should Mike not have the time to respond, you could start your investigation here: http://www.amerikanexpose.com/UNSystem/Global_Depopulation.htm. You could further your investigation towards the Doomsday Seed Vault (courtesy of Gates, Rockefeller, etc.) here: http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=7529
I highly recommend Michel Chossudovsky's Global Research site here: http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=7529. I believe Mike will vouch for Prof. Chossudovsky's work.
eyeballs, re "Like it or not, some form of state is almost inevitable (for those who cannot deliberately and skillfully avoid it)."
I do not deny that. I simply put forward the notion that the large industrial state will implode to smaller states. Call them "eco-states" if you will. Possible models to resort to are the bioregional designation or Joel Jarreau's Nine Nations of North America.
Re "Here in the West, we have to create that social cohesion and common purpose in spite of -- rather than due to -- historical momentum. It will be needed sooner than it is likely to develop, I'm afraid. See what we can do, eh?"
The dictates of entropy would seem to work against the creation of "social cohesion." Maximum disorder is on the horizon. During the transition period, i.e. the current century, some regions will "get it" and some won't. Those that do will likely stand as models for those that originally don't.
I agree that the need is sooner rather than later. However, the condition/crisis needs to ripen before the corresponding political response can, not only be created, but in turn be entertained and accepted by the public. If you are asking me directly "What needs to be done?" my answer remains the same as in all other of my posts: investigate and support the NAmerican secessionist movement.
Someone way back in this thread commented that the BDI was nearly the same in 2001. Interestingly, back in 2001 many were warning that we were on the verge of economic collapse. I can’t find the website to Mike’s first alert on the FTW, but I did find a synopsis of it under FTW’s accomplishments. This is what it says:
“Sept 9, 2001 – FTW issues to its subscribers the first of the only two economic bulletins in FTW's history thus far. It warns of an imminent collapse of US markets. The 9/11 attacks two days later prompt a massive US Treasury intervention which prevents the collapse. As a result of the attacks George W. Bush is able to tap into the Social Security trust Fund.”
To see the BID chart covering 2001 through the present, without having to revisit the BDI video, go here: http://www.investmenttools.com/futures/bdi_baltic_dry_index.htm
If someone had sent me this website before seeing the video it wouldn’t have had much impact, since I had no idea of what the BDI was – never heard of it before. I’m grateful to the man who made the video, regardless of whether he turns out to be 100% right, partially right, or completely wrong in his interpretation. The main thing is that he explained the BID and shared his belief about what it means. It got my attention.
In many ways my experience is parallel to what Quinnz describes in his/her first paragraph. I’ve been preparing for what’s coming in one way or another for more than half my life (I’m 60 now) and at times I think maybe it (whatever it is – famine, nuclear war, environmental collapse, economic collapse, disease, civil unrest . . .) is never going to arrive. So I adjust to the “threat level” of the moment and go about living my life as normally as I can. Then I see a little video on the BDI and snap out of my relaxed mode and go back to work on my priority list and go out and dig around in my garden. I guess I’ve found that I need to be startled with the latest news from time to time because I just can’t (no one can) stay in a state of hyper-alert all the time.
I have a huge circle of family and close friends. Unfortunately, most of them don’t want to hear about any of this, so my partner and I and a very small circle of close people talk, share information & tools, and plan. Having gone through a small trial run with Y2K we know that some of the ones who are ignoring it all now will show up on our doorstep like they did on New Years Eve 1999 – (just in case we were right). We love them, so we’re preparing for as many as we can, even if they aren’t doing it for themselves. Besides, there’s safety in numbers and we know who we can trust. We’ve got lots of shovels and seeds.
Jenna, thanks so much for the Achmed the dead terriost link. I watched it three times, laughing out loud even tho I'm at work.
I admit my laughter sometimes sound hysterical these days, but the endorphins still kick in...
I think I agree most with Eyeballs, in response to my post, as being the most balanced and informed reply.
I don't think we can degenerate back into a "stone age". Even so most of those who don't agree with me seem vague as to what the state of human society will be in the absence of petroleum; perhaps they seem to envisage a future world strewn with local and peacefully coexistent "free tribes" dependent on an artisan/cottage industrial capacity with the internet thrown in. I would remind the readers at this juncture that instead of alluding to the total finishing or absence of petroleum, we should remember that it will never really finish, only the quantity available for the present rate of consumption will diminish. Here again, I refer to the demoniac material output and feverish mass consumerism of Western civilisation (and now China) as compared to others. In countries such as Russia, what remains of the petroleum could well become a state monopoly as emergency times descend: for use at sole government discretion, mainly to fuel basic industrial and military requirements. The people there will consent to it, as they are not used to the runaway political and even traditional cultural "freedoms" that Western man takes for granted. Moreover, even in the present world, petroleum isn't used anywhere in the rest of the world as it is in the USA, followed by western Europe and Japan and of course, recently China with its burgeoning growth. And of course, coal hasn't gone anywhere. Once things start getting really bad, considerations such as the Kyoto Protocols will fly out of the window irrespective of any global warming issues, mark my words. And that won't be to fuel the present type of capitalist consumerism, but for things such as military purposes in an increasingly jostling world community.
Lastly, we have no dearth of "experts" like "Professor" Richard Duncan who would have us believe that in about 150 years hence after petroleum "runs out", we will be walking around again with fur pelts around our loins, and spears in hand. I wonder what kind of a professor he is to say that; probably the entertainment kind of "professors" one would find with the old traveling circuses like Barnum & Bailey's or Ringling Bros. Has the fellow forgotten that the glories of mankind's epochal civilisations like ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, China, Persia and India and even the Incas, Mayans and Aztecs were all without petroleum? Not to talk of the more recent Leonardo Da Vinci, Galileo, Shakespeare, Mozart and Tchaikovsky to name but a sprinkling... Honestly, I would laugh, if this were not a crying matter.
Perhaps this is one of the ways they are making the 'die-off' occur:
http://www.greenpeace.org/india/news/no-need-for-condoms-ge-corn
It is a link talking about studies on GM corn and how it may be linked to infertility.
To jhw: Thanks for that link. Haven't visited Jeff Wells' site in a while, but maybe I should more often. On that thread, I discovered:
1. Leon Panetta served as chief of operations of the intelligence section at Ford Ord, California. He was instrumental in creating CSU Monterey by converting Fort Ord into the university. While Fort Ord was supposedly closed in 1994, the facility is run and used by the FBI for urban training. The FBI subleases the area to local law enforcement agencies and military units such as the Navy Seals.
2. Leon Panetta spearheaded the internal effort to find a new CIA chief that led to the selection of John Deutsch in 1995.
3. Leon Panetta is a member of the Trilateral Commission and the Bretton Woods Committee.
4. Michael Ledeen approved of the selection of Panetta with this strange comment: "And he's going to watch Obama's back at a place that's full of stilettos and a track record for attempted presidential assassination second to none. But Italians know all about political assassination; you may remember Julius Caesar. Or Aldo Moro."
5. Leon Panetta is not Norman Mineta.
Not that I don't agree with most of what is being said about what is wrong with the United States. But let's say it does come true, then all of this is gone, the blogs, the internet, the very social fabric of the world is gone. That would be a hell of a way to end your life.
Also, I read all of these blogs on Peak Oil, which I follow daily and rarely do I see the person offering a solution to the problem. I admit I haven't ready everything that Mike has posted but where are the solutions or are we just resigned to eating foods out of cans, hunting animals and fighting our neighbors.
If we promote the Namerican secessionists movement you play into the hands of these Sarah Palin nut jobs. Be careful of them. www.reclaim7mountains.com/
If these people reclaim anything its the stone age for all of us with nuclear fallout.
Do not give up on the constitution. The rights of man were meant to empower village. We are not living up to our principles.
I am up in the mountains at the leading permaculture Quail Springs. They are going to be running this fall a 45 day seminar with Paul Stamets and a bunch more incredible instructors on carbon trading. 6000 dollars for the whole course. You should sign up when the information comes available.
barnold1 - While discussions of this topic can get grim at times, many of the people who comment here are engaged in various solutions in their lives. Mike has always allied himself with people who are active in relocalizing, changing the transport paradigm, changing our relationship with money, and so on, while his main function is to alert people to the issues and connect the dots on a broad range of topics and current events to help people navigate the changes peak oil is bringing.
For some balance in your view of this website, take a look at the links that Jenna has on this blog. Wow. They are all about solutions.
It is important, however, to understand that not every situation in life has easy, pleasant, quick solutions, and preparing to deal with that fact is also of value.
If you have ideas/solutions to contribute, please share them. Everyone here is searching for that.
Best.
Panda - thanks I will check out the information
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