From the Wilderness' Peak Oil Blog

Monday, March 02, 2009

CARNAGE

by Michael C. Ruppert

March 2, 2009 -- I think almost everyone who hasn't, started to come out of denial today. Today's 300 point hit might be the best day this week. AIG and Citi are both teetering and it looks like bailouts are becoming an endangered species. Besides, who could take them seriously anymore. It's now time to make things real simple.

NEW GUIDELINES FOR COMMENTS -- Effective immediately I am instructing Jenna to limit comments to those that further the discussion of survival and whatever we can assemble through this blog's incredible collective wisdom. We all need to focus. It's perfectly OK to post things about music or other things that this family has enjoyed as mood lifters and/or comic relief. I'm making the announcement this way so as to make it clear that it was my call. So don't get mad at Jenna if you don't see your comment. I trust her judgment completely and she also has a wicked sense of humor. She's taught music history at Julliard so she damn well knows how to arrange. She is the conductor and we are all composers.

As the rest of the world gets looser, we must get tighter.

SURVIVAL TIP -- For everyone who thought it was a good thing to get rid of your land line telephone and just use your cell, think again. The real serious hits are coming PDQ. Major telecoms (all of which trade on Wall Street) have been and will inevitably cut back on repairs. Suppliers will stop shipping parts, labor cut back, etc... you know the rest. Satellites will go down. Cell towers will have intermittent failures. And all those gadgets will be heading the way of the dinosaurs over the next five years. Landlines are an excellent way to have redundancy and also avoid the eavesdropping technology that is all over the place and legal. It still takes a warrant to tap a land line. When the cell towers go down, or satellites fail, if you have a land line you will become a VIP in your neighborhood. It is good to be needed... and we all need to be good.

I am fine. Very busy. And deeply involved in my current mission. I check on you guys and miss the banter. I know I don't need to tell you what's happening and that gives me warm fuzzies. I am just so proud and honored by what I see here.

REALLY BAD FUCKING NEWS -- There is one story that really stuck out today. It seems that someone at Baxter Pharmaceuticals "accidentally" mixed H5N1 bird flu with a human virus into one vaccine and sent it off to Eastern Europe where it was injected into humans. For those who have been with me a long time you know what kind of investigative journalism we did on biowarfare and how it would be used to reduce population eventually. You know how well we documented the relentless quest for gene-specific bioweapons. Well, the only thing that was saving us from H5N1 bird flu was that it was generally considered not transmittable to humans. (Of course we known that it already has been on a small scale.) But here's a pharmaceutical company that we have written about at FTW (I think also in Rubicon) that's accomplished what nature couldn't. This story has zero credibility for how the screw up occurred because even the most basic lab protocols would prevent it. Combine DNA from H5N1 with a human viral DNA, inject into a human, and then watch the perfect mutation take place... The mother of all superbugs. I don't have time to rewrite what I have already written. In fact none of us have time to slow down for those who don't get it or who slow us down. (Combat veterans know this attitude very well.) Go to Rubicon and go to FTW and search for biowarfare or Baxter.

For about seven years now I have warned that an event like this would confirm that the die-off was planned... and underway. This sounds like a starting bell. Combine what we know about events in eastern Europe and this makes very sick sense. I don't think the elites will be able to control this anymore than they can fully control the collapse; or than Warren Buffet could control getting his clock cleaned... But then again, Buffet may be screaming louder than he's actually hurt.

OFFICIALS INVESTIGATE HOW BIRD FLU VIRUSES WERE SENT TO UNSUSPECTING LABS

http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5jJ4CmDnp1pP1ZqHShBeayzTuzsEA
On every front the real carnage is just beginning. Sharpen those senses of humor. I saw three people at the bank today have the ATM machine snatch their card. One happened right in front of me and two others were on their cell phones begging... This is also what was planned and PROMIS appears to be alive and well.

Now is an excellent time to find someone you really, really care about and make some serious, passionate love. If you don't have someone then do it to yourself...

If you don't love yourself, stay away from my dog.

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

from Jenna Orkin:

Markets Dive as World Economy Reels
Merkel, EU Reject East Europe Bailout
Help for East Europe on Country Basis
European Central Bank to Pioneer Record Low Rates
Record High Jobless, Record Low Inflation
Bank of England Starting Pistol for Quantitative Easing aka Printing Money
The Longer Lloyd's Is Left, The Worse Things Will Get
AIG Reports Loss of $61.7 Billion as US Gives More Aid
Eastern Europe is dead. Long live AIG

Russia Cuts Gas to Ukraine But Not Rest of Europe
Anti-Presidential Rally in Crimea
The collapse of small, out of the way Iceland and Latvia are one thing. Ukraine, on the other hand, is the linchpin between Europe and Russia.
Lacking Fuel, Tajikistan Slides Into Darkness
Europeans Seek US Energy Drilling Know-how

Basra Oil Exports Down Due to Depleted Stocks
...and as the European Union disintegrates:
Southeast Asian Nations Talk of Economic Union
Shanghai Cooperation Council Urges Diplomacy on Iran Issue
Over Two Thirds Of Chinese Economists Favor Gold Over US Bonds
China Steel Lockdown Hits Exports
Meltdown Response: Ecuador Erects Trade Barriers
Riot and Northern Nigeria
Foreigners Answer Call to US Service

Pakistan in the Frame Over Bangladesh Uprising
The Pakistani intelligence services are suspected of being involved last week's Dhaka massacre of at least 77 Bangladesh Army officers.
Pakistan Unrest Over Court Ruling Barring Sharif
UK Government Urged to Help Ban WMDs in Sikh Homeland
Military experts have warned that Punjab will be the theatre of war and the conflict is likely to involve nuclear weapons resulting in millions of casualties.
Obama Team Lays Out New Afghan/Pakistan Approach

Buffett's Mea Culpa
Despite its record losses, Berkshire Hathaway still has about $25 billion of cash on hand and has been buying preferred shares of General Electric and Goldman Sachs,
Bad News on Jobs Forecast
Bank of America Loans Valued at $44 Billion Less Than Books Say
Bank of America To Bail Out NBA with $175 Million
JP Morgan Says Now Cutting 14,000 Employees
Why the IMF and Fort Knox Won't Put the Hurt on Gold

Why I Garden

68 comments:

Diaspora said...: In the wake of the latest AIG bailout Kunstler asks
what happens when farming collapses? The prospect for that is closer than most of us might realize. Farming and the Oil markets are the next area of distress. "What's Next" by James Kunstler

http://www.kunstler.com/; 7:29 AM
businessman said...: Here's a link to an article showing 12 videos of protests and riots from around the world regarding the economic crisis:

http://hubpages.com/hub/Worldwide-Economic-Protests-and-Riots; 8:55 AM
Anne said...: Jenna,

Re: long discourses on spirituality will not be posted....Yeah!!!! It is an important, vital subject for many of us, but has gotten too far afield here.

Thank you.; 9:54 AM
Anne said...: Sebastian, Businessman, Pandabonium, Sambahdi...you guys rock. Some very thoughtful and thought provoking comments in these last few threads.; 9:54 AM
Peter J. Nickitas said...: From Russia, with a shove:

http://www.moscowtimes.ru/article/600/42/374911.htm

http://www.moscowtimes.ru/article/1110/42/374916.htm

http://www.moscowtimes.ru/article/600/42/374887.htm

Rice Farmer, Businessman, Sebastian, Pandabonium: keep up the great posts, please! I have only a dim candle in comparison to your great lights.

I see a need to consider clearance of any legal minefields for establishment of soil restoration operations. For example, I know several level-headed suburban governments in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area that will erect no barriers to this needful activity. I also know of other suburbs that will examine every effort at self-determination like a Puritan censor in a colonoscopy clinic.

Questions include the following:

1. Is this improvement to realty, or sale of a good, viz., soil?

2. What bearing has this on interstate commerce? The threshold was extraordinarily low in the past, but new Court decisions suggest a change is afoot.

3. Does this implicate the privileges & immunities clause of the 14th Amendment, a clause that the Court eviscerated in the "Slaughterhouse Cases" of 1873 but a clause that shows signs of new life after a 1999 case called "Saenz v. Roe" and the 2nd Amendment case "D.C. v. Heller". I say that every person has the right -- read, privilege and immunity-- to subsistence and therefore to grow her or his own food, individually or collectively, subject to limited government intervention, where one's food growing interferes with another's fundamental right of subsistence. The corollary is this: if Victory Gardens interfere with Cargill's, Monsanto's, and ADM's pursuit of profit, Sec. of State Baker's answer to Prime Minister Shamir applies -- f*ck 'em.

That brings up another point -- the need to defend against encroachment by gigantic agribusiness concerns, such as Cargill, Monsanto, and ADM. We do not want to reclaim billions of cubic meters of soil just to see them contaminated with GMO seeds and hydrocarbon fertilizers and pesticides. Public relations, local level legislative lobbying, and direct action will be necessary.

So I add my two cents for now and get back to earning a living in the way I know at this time.

Peter J. of Minneapolis; 10:34 AM
Peter J. Nickitas said...: More news on silver and gold:

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&refer=&sid=arweARZI9J.Y; 10:44 AM
Dan Barker said...: I’ve been giving raised bed vegetable gardens to poor and old and sick people since ‘84. And even if the pre-catastrophic explosion angst isn’t founded in the fundamental laws of natural retraction, don’t you think it would be sensible to expand the garden giving effort? Might save a billion or so lives, give or take, yours among them. Maybe it’s time to go off screen for a while and get to work.; 11:09 AM
Peter J. Nickitas said...: More troubling news from Russia's "near abroad":

http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/03/02/europe/02ukraine.php; 11:09 AM
Dan Barker said...: I’ve been giving raised bed vegetable gardens to poor and old and sick people since ‘84. And even if the pre-catastrophic explosion angst isn’t founded in the fundamental laws of natural retraction, don’t you think it would be sensible to expand the garden giving effort? Might save a billion or so lives, give or take, yours among them. Maybe it’s time to go off screen for a while and get to work.; 11:14 AM
sambahdi said...: Thanks Anne. I tend to agree with you, a bit out of hand, but nice to know people feelings about this.

Back to the matter at hand:

If you haven't been on market-ticker lately, Carl D is on fire.

http://market-ticker.denninger.net/

Jenna,

Great reading lists. I feel like i'm getting stuck into a great 3 course meal. Bring it on!!

: ); 11:29 AM
Peter J. Nickitas said...: http://www.dailyreckoning.com/federal-firefighters-to-the-rescue/

http://www.dailyreckoning.com/a-government-of-spendaholics/

More from "The Daily Reckoning"

Peter J. of Minneapolis; 11:40 AM
sunrnr said...: Criminalization of seed banks?

This article seems alarmist without much substantiation, but it's worrying none the less.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/The-criminalization-of-see-by-Linn-Cohen-Cole-090301-82.html

Seems humans have no end to the ways to legislate themselves into extinction. Superior beings indeed!

namaste; 11:52 AM
Sebastian Ernst Ronin said...: Anne and Peter...thank you. Well, it's no great surprise what I bring to the table, so here we go.

Thomas Naylor of The Second Vermont Republic (you can Google), one of the initiators of the NAmereican secessionist dialogue, has outlined why secession is such a difficult sell. Although the marketing hurdles raised by Mr. Naylor warrant considerable reflection, it can be argued that secession, as a political philosophy and act, is a difficult sell because it is the wrong "widget" and/or "better mouse trap" that is being sold. It is even more so the case when at the preliminary stages of "missionary sales" with related brutal cold-calling. It also applies not only to the dynamics and logistics of secession, but also to its labeling and packaging. A product feature that frightens and/or alienates the "political consumer" is not about to generate any great political returns. It simply will not sell. Holding to a business analogy, the "secessionist business venture" stands to be bankrupt before it is even out of the gate.

It is put forward for consideration that secession is merely a symptom of a larger historical dynamic. In and of itself, secession is not a primary historical driver, one of the major fault lines of social and political transition. It is an element and reflection of the latter. To focus political strategy and tactics on a symptom, as opposed to focusing on the cause, is a mistake that will generate a plethora of self-defeating consequences.

That secession is not a driver in and of itself is the position taken by The Novacadia Alliance. In particular, it is argued that the primary social and political driver of our age is the collapse of industrial civilization, as is made starkly evident by the descent onto the Post-Peak Oil slope of reduced energy availability. This energy descent will transform our social, economic and political institutions inside out, the social institution of the large industrial nation-state inclusive. This message is neither alarmist nor negative. The message is deceivingly optimistic and sellable. It is: Be conscious and prepare, prepare, prepare!

By employing a re-adjusted (value-added?) premise for secession, the secessionist political initiative is transformed from a subjective grasp inside a philosophical vacuum to an historical inevitability with proximity to scientific certainty. Civilizations are born, they live, they die. Within a historical context, we deal with secession-by-default and adapt to such accordingly at local and regional levels. The fringe and marginal constituency currently supporting secession is reinforced by a beleaguered middle class searching for answers to a crumbling financial reality. Furthermore, the middle class is identified and targeted as the historically designated and legitimate social agent to carry secession to fruition. We shift from the finger painting of a limited rebellion to the canvass of a revolution in perception and crafting of political will.

Massive and cheap energy flow-through has been the direct source and collateral for the growth of the industrial nation-state, the growth of the American Empire inclusive. It stands to reason, from a thermodynamic and entropic interpretation of events, that maximum institutional and ecological disorder pushing against a closed system, i.e. the earth, will result in implosion and collapse. The large nation-state, as a redundant institution, will implode because it must implode. If a balloon is blown up to its maximum limit, it bursts, leaving behind shards of rubber. The analogy to large nation-state devolution and implosion is that simple. The actual parameters of the shards, i.e. determination and governance of negative entropy, will be open for human re-invention.

As such, an alternative "marketing strategy" for NAmerican secessionist initiatives might be along the lines of:

-The perception and acknowledgement that the immediate 100-year era of Post-Peak Oil is the actual secessionist "widget" that needs to be sold.

-The social and political benefits of secession are features inherent in the "product" of Post-Peak Oil acceptance, i.e. secession equals survival.

-Secessionist devolution and implosion on the NAmerican continent will follow along regional lines, as opposed to individual state/provincial secessions, the New England and Maritime designation of Novacadia inclusive.

We are at the beginning stages where it is necessary to anticipate the political condition as it may be several years hence and prepare accordingly. A beginning happens to be the only place where one can make a start. Crawling precedes walking.

It is put forward for consideration that by the end of the current century the two nation states of America and Canada will be displaced by several regional and autonomous eco-states. Those secessionists who maintain that 48 independent nations, plus Canadian equivalents, on the NAmerican land mass is reasonable merely hamper and subconsciously sabotage the forging of a sound and marketable political analysis. It is imperative to address the issue of secession with a 2009 analytical microscope, complimented by systems theory and thermodynamics, as opposed to one that peers myopically and longingly out onto a romantic political landscape of either 1776 or 1865.

For secessionists the fundamental issue lies with the most proper, the most reasonable, and the most balanced size of the jurisdiction to be governed, primarily as relates to population size and only secondarily as relates to physical size. The most reasonable and most balanced size, in turn, translates into reasonable rights and liberties, reasonable safety and civic integrity for its citizens, and the reasonable functioning of a free market economic system with like financial infrastructure. This principle of reduced size is the bedrock of secessionist philosophy. Reduced size will be the consequence of nation-state implosion and devolution.; 12:46 PM
A peon said...: I don't suppose ths will come as much of a shock to anyone here: CIA destroyed nearly 100 interrogation videotapes; 1:55 PM
Anonymous said...: Mike, Jenna, and fellow bloggers..

I hope that the installments from the Manifesto continue to intrigue and inspire, but most especially to spread these words and further announce the Call to the Cause we all share and all must innact!

Also, credit for all the words thus far and to come can not be fully attributed to my sole creation, but in some cases are mere elaborations and my own musings.

For, I stand on the shoulders of giants! even Mr. Ruppert himself.

since you all should have chapter 9 (i.e. about slavery and the civil war, etc.), then without further adeu, here is chapter 10:

X

Thus, the crimes continued. These “elite,” new “captains of industry,” eventually infiltrated the entire political spectrum, where not even various presidencies were spared. The most dominant families involved were the Rockefellers, Warburgs, Rothschilds, and Morgans, who began to hold the puppet strings of every rank and file in our politics, from the lone representative to the president himself.

These top elite continued to instigate, create, and exploit economic & social crisis to further draw the People into their scams and acquire & consolidate every element of wealth & power they could.

One such crisis occurred in 1907, when yet another banking fiasco had come, and as we know now, J.P. Morgan instigated the panic, which would ensure him and his allies the opportunity to buy up and consolidate the banking industry for pennies on the dollar. Through his vast influence over the press, he purposely spread a mass rumor that many prominent New York banks were insolvent, and the public absorbed this lie with relentless fervor, sparking off a massive run on the banks, where there were innumerous withdrawals rapidly consuming the reserves of thousands of banks. This forced most of the small, regional banks to call in their loans, which subsequently led to mass sell-offs of property, and an avalanche of bankruptcies ensued. Thus, with the fraudulent use of their wealth and power of influence, the banking elite initiated and guided the panic to work in their favor, which swiftly led to a congressional investigation, even though Congress was unaware of the fraud that was behind it all. This would also test the elite’s growing grip on the puppet strings of Congress.

A prominent senator at the time, Nelson Aldrich, who just so happened to be married into the Rockefeller family, created a senatorial hearing that “suggested” the prospect of a new central bank- one that would have absolute control over the currency of the United States. The commission would eventually recommend the bank as a “solution to the panic.” Thus, again, we see the elite using fabricated crisis as a tool to swindle the public and its government into adopting their sinister plans.

In 1910, a secret meeting was held on an estate, owned by none other than J.P. Morgan, on a secluded island off the Georgia coast called Jekyll Island. There, he was joined by only a handful of powerful, banking elites, who would draw up “The Federal Reserve Act.” Thus, this legislation was written by bankers, not legislators! The meeting was so secret and isolated from government or public access, that those individuals who attended disguised their names when in route to and from the meeting, so that there would be absolutely no awareness of their treacherous acts. After the bill was finished, it was swiftly handed over to their political front-man, Senator Nelson Aldrich, where it was quickly pushed through Congress for ratification.

By 1913, with heavy backing from “political sponsors” and the soon-to-be president, Woodrow Wilson, who promised to sign the bill in exchange for campaign contributions, the bill was put in front of Congress for a vote, two days before Christmas, when most congressmen were at home with their families. Those political sponsors that knew of the bill’s true nature were certainly present that day, and the bill was swiftly passed, and Wilson, true to his word, signed it into law!

Now, the bankers had a monstrous machine that could streamline their ruthless ambitions to continue to dominate and enslave the world like never before!

The Industrial Revolution and the access to the majority of supposed limitless supplies of natural resources became more and more of an intimate part of their domination, allowing for their new found control of the Dollar to aid in their eventual dominance of the economies of the world!

The public was continually put to sleep by the lie that somehow this system would maintain “financial stability for all.” In reality, the instability caused by the system itself was just beginning. For, it is indeed, instability, which is at the heart of the function of the monetary system to allow those in control of it to ensure that their wealth & power will always remain by constantly exploiting endless recessions, where they can continually consolidate their power. Therefore, they could buy up every institution that could not survive the economic panics they created.

Just as how they constructed the Panic of 1907, they would eventually initiate an even greater financial crash, culminating as the Crash of 1929, which ushered in the first Great Depression. They had once again created panic- this time by manipulating the money supply and the investment loan industry. Over 16,000 banks collapsed, which allowed for greater consolidation of banker control, where they acquired hundreds of struggling and bankrupted corporations at pennies on the dollar!

At this time, a longtime opponent of the Banking Cartel, Congressmen Louis McFadden, outraged at the Federal Reserve’s actions and those he knew controlled it (the banking elite), brought up impeachment proceedings against the Federal Reserve Board. He stated:

It was a carefully contrived occurrence. International bankers sought to
bring about a condition of despair so that they might emerge as the
rulers of us all!

After two previous assassination attempts on his life, Louis McFadden was eventually poisoned at a banquet before he could push for the impeachment.

Soon after the Crash, the banking elite moved to the next step in their diabolical plan- to eliminate the Gold Standard. This would ensure that nothing would hinder their control of the money supply again.

So, under the pretext of “helping the economic turmoil of the country,” and through the influence of President Roosevelt, the great Gold Seizure of 1933 was enacted. All citizens, under the threat of imprisonment if they refused, were ordered by the government to give up their gold bullion that they had in their possession, robbing the People of what little wealth they had left.

Thus, the currency in control by the banking elite would finally be backed by nothing! This allowed the money supply itself to be the absolute “value” of the currency, which completely solidified their hegemonic control over the economy, and subsequently, our lives!

Now the elites had the power to bring entire economies and societies to their knees! Nothing more could express the Banking Cartel’s ambition than a quote from one of its founders, Mayer Amschel Rothschild:

Give me control of a nation’s money supply, and I care not who
makes its laws!

Thus, the bankers now had their “golden scepter” that could, by its “waving,” reign in immense power & wealth for them for generations!

**hope to continue to intrigue..

GoS.; 2:10 PM
Don Hynes said...: This is brilliant:

The making of The Age of Stupid climate change film

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/video/2009/mar/02/age-of-stupid-making-of; 3:04 PM
AussieGal said...: http://vimeo.com/3261363

This is a nice 10min explaination of the credit/mortgage market.; 3:23 PM
Anonymous said...: Daily Express UK: MI5 ALERT ON BANK RIOTS; 3:23 PM
businessman said...: Thank you Anne and Peter J. Nickitas for the kind words about my posts.

sambahdi...I think your approach to spirituality is right on. It is in the tradition of some of the greatest spiritual leaders to have ever gone before us...Gandhi, Yogananda, and Muktananda.

Sebastian Ronin...The only thing I would add to your discussion on secession is the problem with the way it's been framed to us here in the U.S. throughout our history. The Southern States seceded because of economic and other oppression by the North. Lincoln stunned his Cabinet in the summer of 1862 when he told them he now wanted to make the War about Emancipation...16 months into the War.

The North had been under pressure from the world community for economically oppressing the South and refusing to allow them to secede at the same time. So Lincoln then sought to turn the tide and make the War about the North being on the side of freedom, morality, and justice...all while continuing to oppress the South at the same time.

Because of this reframing of what the Civil War was all about in our history, people oftentimes think of secession as being a bad thing...because in their minds they think secession was really only about slavery...and the slavery in the South was definitely immoral.

It would not have been a good idea for the people who control things to have our children's history books mentioning how the Federal Government was oppressing the South economically...taxing them unreasonably, forcing them to buy their manufactured goods from the North instead of buying them cheaper from overseas, and spending the tax money almost exclusively on projects in the North...We simply can't lay these seeds in our children's minds that sometimes the Federal Government can become oppressive...and that when it does so secession will be appropriate.

This framing of secession in people's minds will probably mean that it will take them longer to embrace the idea of secession today...but that idea will seem better to them the more frustrated they become.; 4:10 PM
brisa said...: Have been getting active in our community with like minded individuals. We are fortunate to live in an agricultural community where the cows in the county out number the citizens.

Check out our website http://simplylocalfood.com/; 4:39 PM
Pandabonium said...: DUBAI, March 2 (Reuters) Emerging economies eye gold reserves as dlr fears rise; 5:09 PM
MCR said...: Regarding the MI5 alert about bank riots in Britain...

I love the way the story says the Army's being called out and blaming the whole thing on radical youth gangs.

Yeah, that granmother... she's one of them. Arrest her! Get that 10 year-old girl too!... And shoot that 45 year-old man. They're all in on it!

MCR; 8:43 PM
Unknown said...: RE: Obama team lays out new Afghan-Pakistan approach

Asian war/diplomacy/war is perhaps the last gasp for American exports. What does the U.S. make besides war materials? What industries are guaranteed funding, in fat times and lean, even through catastrophic deficit spending?

Whether the idea is to bribe the Pakistani government into accepting more control by Washington (Biden's 1.5 billion dollar plan), or to "modernize" the wild Northwest (suggested by a Center for American Progress paper, which noted that the region is "chronically ungoverned" and has "NO BANKING SYSTEM" - heavens!), or to wage war in the FATA, there's big money to be made in Pakistan.

And, at the moment, it seem there is little to be made elswhere.

And then there is the unemployment problem in America...; 9:19 PM
pagun said...: Let's go Amish! How about Dreadlocks? The ropeheads have all been praying on "Babylon is all fall down" for a long time now. How about Dread Amish- You can do the back to the land thing, and just go easy on the fundamentalist christianity. This will be the summer to plan on doing A LOT of canning, drying and food preserving, and don't forget to pick up a couple dozen extra $1.89 chicks in the next few weeks, for some homegrown eggs, and etc... Its not all that hard to get real good results right now with peas and beets and onions, and maybe you could still get a few cloves of garlic in, but its getting awfully late. Radishes are done in 20 days. We were a nation of farmers (90%) as recently as 1910. "Rastaman no work for no C.I.A.!" Bob Marley; 10:58 PM
koolkarma817 said...: Isn't it a coincidence that lobby firm Patton Boggs LLC donated $250,000 to Baxter International; 11:16 PM
agape wins said...: 03,03,09.

Oh how I love this Blog, and those who partake, such depth, so much talent!
Just finished MCR's latest, we do need a little lightness, and some Spirit-- But in small bits.

Quote from "Alistair Cooke, Reporting America", title page, "I am a reporter of the facts and the feelings that go into the American life I happen to observe. I mention "the feelings" if only to stress a belief that there is no such thing as an objective reporter. But the way to be as fair as possible is to notice that no fact of human life comes to you uncoloured by what people feel it means' Letter From America no.831, 9 August 1964"
From the Introduction on p. 7 "When I was little, like all children, I just cared about how
much attention he was paying to me.", Next per. Alistair describes himself, " 'I am a Reporter. A Reporter!' The more refined title of 'journalist' never sat as well with him as the simple, descriptive term of 'reporter'. 'I don't comment, I don't judge, I report.' ".

Where do you place MCR, Jenna; think about where you are posting, what our goal is, or should be? If the shoe pinches, maybe you should post/report on a more suitable Blog.

Just another piece which makes the map more understandable!
My bet is that there are a lot more of us than anyone expects, look around, ask questions,
There are people, groups nearby that you never expected, open up, the future is ours!

"He did so only after banding together with neighboring landowners to push through zoning changes aimed at limiting development to self-contained clusters, surrounded by wilderness. Under the plan, 80 percent of the 40,000-acre Chattahoochee Hill Country region must be preserved as green space."

http://travel.nytimes.com/2009/03/01/travel/01heads.html?em

Self fulfilling prophecy, Gold, investment, selfishness; are we rats on a sinking ship?
If the end does not arrive I hope Gold floats.
Start thinking, give me some of your best thoughts, we are the best thinkers around!
I have never given you the answers, just the questions to think about.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/02/opinion/02krugman.html?th&emc=th

"And the saving glut is still out there. In fact, it’s bigger than ever, now that suddenly impoverished consumers have rediscovered the virtues of thrift and the worldwide property boom, which provided an outlet for all those excess savings, has turned into a worldwide bust.

One way to look at the international situation right now is that we’re suffering from a global paradox of thrift: around the world, desired saving exceeds the amount businesses are willing to invest. And the result is a global slump that leaves everyone worse off.
So that’s how we got into this mess. And we’re still looking for the way out."

Amae, & why the dying/dead system has to fail!

"But what most people don’t recognize is that our crisis is not political, but psychological. After our aggression — and subsequent defeat — in World War II, safety and predictability became society’s goals. Bureaucrats rose to control the details of everyday life. We became a nation with lifetime employment, a corporate system based on stable cross-holdings of shares, and a large middle-class population in which people are equal and alike."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/02/opinion/02tamamoto.html?em

NY Times slant on Japanese news.

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/japan/index.html; 11:28 PM
Anonymous said...: MCR said, "I love the way the story says the Army's being called out and blaming the whole thing on radical youth gangs.

"Yeah, that granmother... she's one of them. Arrest her! Get that 10 year-old girl too!... And shoot that 45 year-old man. They're all in on it!"

Exactly. COINTELPRO deja vu.; 1:49 AM
Anonymous said...: Carnage indeed, Mike and Jenna. From the farmfront, more twisting of the knife. Seed prices have been severely jacked up. Conventional cotton seed this year (if one can get it) is costing farmers $120-130 per 50 lb. bag. Just last year, you could find it for $30/bag. Who knows what Monsanto's GM seed will cost? I'd say at least 20% of remaining farmers will be out of business after this season. That's being conservative.
No farmer can afford that in conventional seed cost. Monsanto is succeeding in what it wanted - everyone to plant GM seed or bye bye.
A small percentage of farmers in our area are getting cut off at the bank before the planting season begin.
We're still in a huge drought in Texas along with the rest of the southern and lower midwestern states. Put that on top of China and Australia's. Everyone will be effected by this summer at the grocery store with prices sure to rocket.
Farmers always see the swing of prices first. Plant your garden this spring and harvest rainwater best you can.
www.harvestingrainwater.com
Love and Light, Son of a Farmer; 5:01 AM
Anonymous said...: @ pagun: don't forget to pick up a couple dozen extra $1.89 chicks in the next few weeks

where do you get them from?; 6:22 AM
Anonymous said...: @ MCR: It seems that someone at Baxter Pharmaceuticals "accidentally" mixed H5N1 bird flu with a human virus into onevaccine and sent it off to Eastern Europe where it was injected into humans.

could someone provide a source for the last part of the statement?; 6:27 AM
Diaspora said...: Mike’s post on Baxter Pharmaceuticals “accidental” mixing of H5N1 and human virus into a single vaccine is alarming but not surprising. Last winter I got a great little book on the subject of Bird Flu: "Pandemic" by Gary C. Ridenour, M.D, who was part of a team investigating the virus in Asia. Dr. Ridenour not only gives the history but what to do and not to do to increase your chances of survival.

"Much of the human toll in death, hysteria and anarchy will not be exacted by the infection, but by the wide scale breakdown of global supply chains and the just-in-time delivery systems for vital goods and services."

Dr. Ridenour reviews the Plague and the 1918 Avian Flu Pandemic and how they are related to the coming pandemic. Ridenour explains why the Avian Flu is so deadly. He includes disaster scenarios that give a horrifying sense of what life will be like. The last section of the book includes survival plans.

My background is emergency management and I know what the state and federal response plans (my state’s is nearly 500 pages) to a bird flu pandemic are. Everything will be shut down and those out looking for the essentials of life will be toast! Do your self a favor and do a search for your state’s pandemic plan. Here’s the link to Dr. Ridenour’s site:

http://www.pandemicdirect.com; 6:52 AM
Diaspora said...: Although these 2 posts on Dr. Ridenour’s website are dated by a couple of years, they still speak volumes: (www.pandemicdirect.com)

“IMPORTANT! IMPORTANT! The weekend of July 11th- 13th the CDC lab that holds H5N1 and the 1918 Avian Flu experienced a power failure The back-up generators did not kick in, thus leaving the labs monitoring systems and anti-contamination systems off line for over an hour! God, it was a dumb idea to let they play with these agents.”

“VERY IMPORTANT!! There is a news black-out in America. …Also, Tamiflu, the drug that some countries bought millions of doses for has had new FDA alerts added. New side-effects of Tamiflu are, "Hallucinations, suicide and death." GREAT!”

But I’m sure that won’t bother ‘Rummy”
“NEW YORK (Fortune 2005) - The prospect of a bird flu outbreak may be panicking people around the globe, but it's proving to be very good news for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other politically connected investors in Gilead Sciences, the California biotech company that owns the rights to Tamiflu, the influenza remedy that's now the most-sought after drug in the world.” http://money.cnn.com/2005/10/31/news/newsmakers/fortune_rumsfeld/

Once again it proves worthwhile to survey the past for clues to future events.; 8:44 AM
Howlin_Dog said...: Mike asked for some tips on how to survive what is coming. The best tip I know of is to get to know people that have been surviving for many years. The best place to meet those is at the local flea market.
We have a local flea market that is only open on Sunday morning. Nobody there is getting rich, but many there are surviving. This particular flea market has people selling just about everything from building supplies and tools to small live stock such as chickens, ducks, goats, and even calfs. Of course it has the people selling tee-shirts, jewlery, videos, CD's, video games, & “collectables”.
It is a great place to get tools necessary for survival, but more importantly, it is a place to meet people who know how to survive, they have been doing it. It is a place to come face to face with a local farmer to buy produce. There are people there who know how to replace a shovel handle, make things out of wood. These are exactly the kind of people who are good to know and know of, if and when the system completely falls down around our ankles.
My particular plan is to go there a few more times and buy a few more tools. Later, sometime during the summer I will load up my truck with “junk”, even if I have to buy the “junk” at the local Goodwill or Salvation Army store before I go and set up a table. The goal at this time is to not make money, but to meet people.; 8:50 AM
Unknown said...: I finally had a chance to do a search and find that our friend, sonofafarmer, has a few of his own sites that are well worth visiting including a podcast interview. He doesn’t toot his own horn so I figure being a fellow Texan I would do it : )

Blog:
http://www.sonofafarmer.com/wordpress/

Podcast interview: http://agroinnovations.com/component/option,com_mojo/Itemid,182/p,54/lang,en/

Website under construction:
Gotta love the music…
http://www.sonofafarmer.com/; 10:53 AM
Unknown said...: RE: Criminalization of seed banks?

The article does not mention the numbers of the bills, nor link to any responsible witness. It's links are to itself and to a google video. The Global Research article came out in 2005 and was mainly about bird flu. I think this is a whoopee cushion for the unwary, myself.

Does anyone know of specific bills that would ban cow manure? That just seems so farfetched. If there's any bullshit to be outlawed it should be this kind of journalism.

Those who want to worry more can join the scare about DHMO, a chemical found in many of our foods, in our rivers and streams, and in the air we breath. Har!; 11:01 AM
anton v said...: Does this finally push Pakistan over the precipice?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29474308

Definitely further isolates them, internationally.

Yesterday I had Indian food at a restaurant owned by a Pakistani man, whom I've come to know a little bit over the years. I asked him yesterday about the situation in Pakistan, and he said something quite interesting. He said that he doesn't ask about things back home, because if he did, he would be expected to help, and there's nothing he can do. Pretty much sums up the state of things...; 11:11 AM
Anonymous said...: RE: Avian flu #5

Issued in 11/08, the National Intelligence Council Global Trends Report (4th in a series of reports) discusses the upcoming need for mass extermination & specifically mentions this strain as the likely means.

http://www.dni.gov/nic/PDF_2025/2025_Global_Trends_Final_Report.pdf

My articles are regularly published in world independent media. Publication of articles mentioning Avian flu or mass extermination generally see less publication in the normal Indy media but are picked up by a wider range of re-publication sources. My 2/22 article directly asked the question of US complicity in the creation of Avian flu #5 & has the least acceptance thus far though the greatest re-publication.

Also, a good number of publications have restricted my article comments, through redirect virus. TPTB are a crafty group, to be sure.; 11:43 AM
OrwellianUK said...: Hi Mike and Jenna

On the subject of Biowarfare/Pandemics, here in the UK we had on our TV screens a rather good Drama series (season) last year (second series this year apparently), called 'Survivors', which is a remake of a 1970's cult series.

I was myself intrigued by the timing of the broadcasting of this drama, and the sinister subplot of government agent types and scientists in a bunker, working on a vaccine, and kidnapping survivors to test it on.

In this scenario, at least 90% of the population died out. Could this be a subtle message to prepare the public?

There have been others. In a recent news report the National Trust (a government controlled charity which preserves natural environment and historical heritage) donated land for 140 'allotments' - small plots of land in grids in which the owners or tenants grow vegetables, and hopes to increase this to 1000 plots.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7898583.stm

There has been an encouragement of a resurgence of such allotment plots, which reminded me of an article you posted in which the author described the Russian 'Kitchen Gardens' outside the cities.

Myself, I don't have an allotment and their is a long waiting list for one in our tiny country, but I have begun nurturing, Potatoes, Onions and Garlic in pots, plus some watercress and tomato seedlings are already making progress.

If I was to suggest investing in anything, it might be the local compost business!; 2:09 PM
ecosutra said...: agape, why dont you grow cotton and other crop seeds? Why are you buying seeds?

If I buy 50 dollars worth of cotton seed, I am growing that cotton the first year for seed production.

Are you saying you can not find a seed bearing cotton? Like organic corn is dead.

Finished the design course. Just doing last minute coloring changes.

Mike, I want to hear more about your transition? You sitting in LA with 30 million people in a desert? how does it feel to hear agape warn of having a garden?; 3:25 PM
Kim said...: If you don't belong to your local Freecycle list, now's the time to join:

http://www.freecycle.org/

Besides anything else, it's a great way to form helpful local connections. Myself, I'm thinking of requesting waste wine bottles and jars, and building up a stock of home made wines and preserves. Those are things I can use myself, they can be stored, and be used to barter for other stuff. Kimb
kimspages.org
PS - As for the bio-warfare stuff, what's the point? Once that genie's out of the bottle, it can easily claim the perpertrators too. Even it they think they're "Immune," it will (and can), quickly unravel a complex society (on which they're completely dependent). For instance, even Kerry Packer (one of Australia's richest men), needed kidney dialysis, and eventually had a kidney transplant. Just how many people were involved in making that happen? Just think of all the high level skills and equipment. Nah, the "Elites" wouldn't know what had hit them if the switch was thrown on their normal flow of complex resources and services.; 4:06 PM
Anonymous said...: Sebastion:

As far as the secessionist movement goes, are there better states to live in than others? What about New York? Have you heard anything about it? Am looking to relocate and don't want to end up in the wrong area. Unless dissatisfaction with the status quo really intensifies, don't you think it will take a lot of persuasion to get most folks, who are in denial, to warm to secession - especially with the decades of patriotic nonsense we've had drilled into us?; 7:29 PM
Grimus said...: A bit on potential Baxter (flu-fuckers) and Citi. I'm working on verification of the source, but it would hardly be a surprise. Full disclosure: a guy named Seahorse over on LATOC found this mention.

Link: http://www.smokershistory.com/Baxter.htm

Excerpt:Baxter official Bio: "Pei-yuan Chia, age 63, has served as a director of Baxter since 1996. Mr. Chia was vice-chairman of Citicorp and Citibank, N.A., its principal subsidiary, from 1994 to 1996 when he retired. From 1993 to 1996, he served as a director of Citicorp and Citibank, N.A., and assumed responsibility for their global consumer business in 1992. Between 1974 and 1992, Mr. Chia held various senior management positions in Citicorp and Citibank, N.A., and was Citibank, N.A.'s senior customer contact for corporate banking activities in Asia. Mr. Chia also serves as a director of American International Group, Inc., and Bank of China (Hong Kong), Limited."; 9:08 PM
Sebastian Ernst Ronin said...: Businessman and cj:

Re “Because of this reframing of what the Civil War was all about in our history, people oftentimes think of secession as being a bad thing...because in their minds they think secession was really only about slavery...and the slavery in the South was definitely immoral.”

Regional identities in the U.S. have never been encouraged due in large part to the Civil War. In this respect, the South holds a major advantage and head-start as its distinct identity has never been surrendered by Southerners. Coming in a close second to the South, IMO, is the identity of Cascadia. This regional identity, as is the case with a hypothetical Novacadia, is crucial because it jumps an international boundary, i.e. Oregon, Washington and British Columbia for Cascadia; the three Canadian Maritime provinces and Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont for Novacadia.

The pink lenses and blinders around Lincoln and the motives for the Civil War are slowly starting to come off, but to make a major breakthrough will require an appropriate political medium (and/or media) to do so. Within latter context, two perceptions come to the fore: 1. Lincoln himself was a racist and could’ve cared less about the plight of the slaves, but the motive made for nice “spin” (as we would call it nowadays); the Civil War was a war of industrial expansionism and centralization of the Federal State, but to hold to this perspective would require a teaching of the war that is, to all intents and purposes, non-existent.

Yes, the Civil War and so much more requires a “re-framing” as you suggest. And what or who is to do such re-framing? This, I maintain, becomes a political responsibility to be put forward and carried by relative political media, e.g. parties. In turn, upon success of latter parties, policies reflecting philosophy are put into place, educational policy being merely one, (limited financial resources being made available for urban gardening/farming being another, to list a further example) etc., etc., etc. The Greens? Forget it. They are still harping on avoiding global warming and won’t touch Peak Oil with a ten-foot pole. Why? Because to do so would gut their entire touchy-feely, hand-wringing platform positions of making a smooth transition towards a Green economy (which happens to be an entropic impossibility).

Re “This framing of secession in people's minds will probably mean that it will take them longer to embrace the idea of secession today...but that idea will seem better to them the more frustrated they become.”

This is why I suggest in the comment above that with “secession” as a stand-alone position secessionists merely shoot themselves in the foot. To repeat, what requires clear and precise framing is what we discuss here in this blog, i.e. Post-Peak Oil meltdown. Secession, urban gardening, homesteading, etc. are symptoms of the latter, they are not causes. The most effective motivator for people to start owning any of these is the degree of hurt that sits on the horizon. We share a cauldron of alternative perceptions and actions; we, the outlyers for the time being, stir the pot, build foundations; when the mass comes to the fringe to eat from the its pot, the institutional nourishment is prepared, it is ready. It will simply be a matter of careful spoon-feeding.

Re “As far as the secessionist movement goes, are there better states to live in than others? What about New York? Have you heard anything about it? Am looking to relocate and don't want to end up in the wrong area.”

If you go to one of my two blogs, http://novacadia.wordpress.com/, you will find links to pretty well every NAmerican secessionist organization. Vermont, the South and Texas currently have the strongest secessionist initiatives. If they fit your lifestyle, only you know that. Kunstler gives a pretty good regional overview (in his opinion) on how different regions will fare during the emergency. You may wish to overlay the latter on the former and see where it points you towards.

In my own experience, relocating to where, how and when will differ from individual to individual. Again, going from my own experience, rural property in the Maritimes is dirt cheap, but there’s a reason for that, there’s little employment. So do you have a home-based business that generates cash flow via the internet? Do you have enough capital to merely do an out-an-out property purchase and go straight into farming? Do you know enough about farming to squeeze in one crop only, which is all that a Maritime summer allows for. How old are you? The amount of physical labour required to make such a move, and then to make it work even marginally, is unbelievable. Etc., etc.; 11:50 PM
Sebastian Ernst Ronin said...: Secessionist Update:

Having attended the Third North American Secessionist Convention in Manchester, NH this past November, three things became very clear:

1./ Delegate coordination and support, and media coverage of the secessionist movement were drastically weak and counter-productive relative to the pending conditions of empire collapse;

2./ Events were quickly far out-stripping and out-distancing the philosophical positioning of the movement and its ability to be representative of those events;

3./ The existing organizational structure to effectively coordinate the NAmerican secessionist movement was terribly lacking and, by virtue of a haphazard organizational initiative, was sadly undemocratic.

None of these observations is meant in any way to denigrate from the work invested by individuals and secessionist organizations over the past three years to kick-start the NAmerican secessionist dialogue. At any given time, we do what we can with the resources at-hand. However, there comes a time at the early stages of the life-cycle of any organization and/or movement when it is necessary to claw one's way up to the next level. That time has arrived.

As a sub-item of the first point above, i.e. lack of delegate coordination and support, it was also apparent that the secessionist movement was not well-represented by two major demographics: Peak Oilers and disillusioned, bioregional Greens, to both of which secession is practically an automatic fit.

Two other events have come into play since the Third North American Secessionist Convention. The first is, of course, the wild-fire flourishing of the States' Rights movement in the United States. The second event is the assertive, secessionist re-positioning of both the federal Bloc Quebecois and the provincial Parti Quebecois in Canada.

Taking the above conditions into consideration and after initial dialogue with other secessionists, it has been decided to bring into play a Steering Committee to pull together the inaugural meeting of the North American Secessionist Congress in Columbus, OH on October 16-18, 2009. The status of this proposed historic event is still "tentative." However, work is underway by the Steering Committee to firstly solidify its own legitimacy and then to probe for and determine support for holding the Columbus meeting.

Please feel free to check in every now and then to either my Blogger or WordPress blogs see how things are going as we prepare to trudge towards Columbus.; 12:09 AM
gamedog said...: Great Analysis as usual gang, Market ticker has GE going bankrupt by June "That's over 52,000 contracts traded today, controlling 5.2 million shares.

They were purchased for about 30 cents, which means that the price has to be under $2.20 for them to go "in the money".

This is a bankruptcy bet on General Electric by the third week of June." while Buffet pours in $3 Billion probably knowing more bailout cash to follow...

interesting times.

Having problems finding a source for H5N1 mixed with H3N2 and "was injected into humans." every source I find just has "exposed to" which is not the same as "Injected" AFAIK.

So Baxter has dodgy links to Citi via execs, is that "THE" connection or is there more?

(Giggle) Anyone a bit too fond of Mikes dog should know about rotten eggs
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7920565.stm; 1:53 AM
Unknown said...: RE: "Global Trends" link posted by Norm Lowry

It's a 120-page document. Do you have a citation for the claim that they plan to wipe us out with bird flu?

It's kind of a yuckie document. Take a look at pp. 48-9: "Technology Breakthroughs by 2025"

They plan on human implants and biofuel from food crops and clean coal, service robots and cyborgs. I can't wait for the cartoon version. Oh, wait, they already did The Jetsons.

Wouldn't surprise me if these authors planned to off most of us so that they could live in their technobubble a little longer. Anyone seen the movie Zardoz? (Perhaps Sean Connery's best role.)

We should keep in mind that this was a Bush Era wishlist. Obama may not follow through on everything the last team had hoped for. If we're lucky, that is.

Anyway, one or more citations from that massive and very weird work would be appreciated.; 2:09 AM
sambahdi said...: Thanks Businessman. If I can live a life that's even 10% of of the masters you mentioned I'll be flying! Being it everyday is the tricky bit.

I recommend everyone take note of Denninger's last two posts.

He, like us, is predicting depression, that this is just the begining, etc,etc...

But he's also seen the potential for a snap back. A controlled one. It's at worth having a look.

Especially if you're shorting.

http://market-ticker.denninger.net/archives/845-Beware-The-Sharp-Snapback.html

Also, Looks like GE is in early signs of Bankruptcy.

http://market-ticker.denninger.net/archives/846-Here-It-Comes-GE.html

And I'd like to put this out there, my soon to be Father-in-law shifts about 1000 head of grain fed Angus-Wagu cattle a year. It's in a hugely drought affected area in Australia about 3 hours from Sydney. Since we've been talking about seeds, and food sources after a collapse, I want to ask if anyone knows any permaculture sites that deal with raising live stock.

Having that kind of stock would be a great position to trade from - if it were sustainable. Droving anyone ?; 2:09 AM
RanD said...: Hello Jenna-- Ruthie's and my feelings have motivated me to understand that it's best to decline my intention to do a 3rd and final (re)send of my comments of opinion re FTW's future, in terms of FTW's relationship to and treatment of the "spirit", and simply let the chips fall as they may.

As always, we nothing more than wish you and Michael and all the FTW family well.

Sincerely, RanD; 6:12 AM
pkscottx said...: Hi, I am new to the blog, so I appologise if I am covering old ground.
My spouse has been in the water utilities industry for nearly 20 years and is the manager of a small rural water utility. We were in the destructive path of Ike and electricity was out countywide for up to a month. Emergency generators kept the water flowing BUT there was only 3 days max worth of reserve fuel. My spouse was on the (land line) phone before the winds even stopped blowing to secure propane deliveries for the generators. Guess what, we were under mandatory evacuation and that included the personel for the propane companies including all but ONE propane delivery driver for a 3 county area. He eventually contacted a supervisor in Dallas who some how contacted the delivery driver and he kept the propane rolling in. (A truely unsung hero.)
You absolutely cannot depend on the availability of water, safe or otherwise. We have 2 shallow wells on our property and a rain catchment system, a hand and 12 volt water pump as backups to the municipal water supply. We also have the capacity to treat and filter our own water. My husband has worked for municipal utilities, river authorities, and private sector utility companies. We KNOW what can and probably will happen due to shortages and/or breakdowns of the nfrastructure.; 6:56 AM
Anonymous said...: @ JO, can you suggest a few pieces of music that are particularly calming and/or reflective? thanks!; 7:06 AM
Jenna Orkin said...: ich
thousands. a popular one is bach's 'jesu joy of man's desiring;' chopin's etude in e major. for 'calm and reflective' just avoid beethoven when he's going strong.

be forewarned, people, plz don't teem forth with suggestions on this topic; 7:19 AM
RanD said...: Jenna-- pefecto mundo.; 8:41 AM
businessman said...: Great information and analysis, Sebastian Ronin!; 8:45 AM
Pandabonium said...: Interactive map of the US showing unemployment rates by county:
The Geography of a Recession
Looking brutal for the West Coast.

Internationally - Interesting table from Credit Suisse titled "Country Vulnerability Scorecard"

Of course there are many other factors at play - some very large, like energy - but such data helps to see where some of the "next trees to fall" (to borrow a phrase) are located.; 11:30 AM
Unknown said...: Hi,
I tried to post my first comment to the blog Tuesday morning but I do not see it listed. This would have been my very first comment to the blog and I felt it was on topic. Can you please tell me why it was not posted? Please contact me at nkline at kent dot edu
Thank you,
Nick; 12:56 PM
Jenna Orkin said...: kakster i remember your name i think it might be posted in a different thread - i responded to it; 1:36 PM
Jeff said...: http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN0351345820090304
this will throw a wrench in the gears...
CB radios everyone,they are the best local communication around,dig them out of basements and sheds..; 2:14 PM
Anonymous said...: RE: eyeballs 2:09am

2025 Global Trends beginning with P70, "...The globalization of biotechnology industries is spreading expertise and
capabilities and increasing the accessibility of biological pathogens suitable for disruptive
attacks..."

P75 "Potential Emergence of a Global Pandemic"

P93 "Chapter 7: Power Sharing in a Multipolar World"

This is an insane document, written by those who would wish it believed that someone else is the "bad" guy. If you desire the whole picture, read installments 1-3, The US National Security Policy (written by Henry Kissinger, in the 70's), the Patriot & Homeland Security Acts (& related add-ons). Also, search the Congressional record for the progress of biotech weapons development (start with the 1969 Congressional hearings, for 1970 Military appropriations & see how AIDS began to be used in Military-grade mycoplasma development & Wisconsin Senator Riegle's report on bio weapons supplied to Iraq). Amazingly, certain sections have seemed to disappear from the record...go figure...; 3:26 PM
Jenna Orkin said...: agape wins has left a new comment on your post "CARNAGE by Michael C. Ruppert March 2, 2009 -- I...":

Heed the warning of; pkscottx.

ecosutra said...agape, why dont you grow cotton and other crop seeds? Why are you buying seeds?

Seems to be a mix up, I have never posted about seeds except possibly in passing, relating to being prepared.
I am a Retailer, not a Farmer
( raised as one), posted about the growing scarcity of seeds and the cause.
I exist in an area ill suited for farming, because of growing season & water problems, sorry no Cotton here!........; 7:06 PM
Unknown said...: After about five years of transitioning into a more self-sustainable lifestyle -- or the closest someone still dependent on the system as I (and most of us) are -- when and how do we go "all in?" In other words, my wife and I make money outside the home, and then spend a lot of it on the mortgage, some of that on a small orchard, garden, chickens (coming soon), water catchment system, stockpiles of essentials, etc. But just living, without the surrogate "system," is a full-time job in itself. I'm just curious how others are dealing with this conundrum of living within the system.; 7:25 PM
Pandabonium said...: New one hour interview on Guns & Butter featuring economist/historian Michael Hudson. "The Way We Were and What We Are Becoming"Very comprehensive look at global economics and what's coming economically and politically.; 8:31 PM
D! said...: MCR-

Since some here collect gold and speaking in terms of comparitive wealth, how will people of less than 6&7 figure salaries fare against the mega-million/billion/trillion(?) aires that have also bought and stored gold?

I feel that this is pertinent to "survival" because some have put a lot of money into the market.; 9:58 PM
Anonymous said...: Bostx, thanks for the props.
Ecosutra, to clarify my comments on cotton seed I mean in our area in West Texas, no seed dealers are selling conventional cotton seed (bagged) at an affordable price. The only way to have truly organic cotton seed is to plant cotton and save your seeds to be planted again. But cotton undergoes a delinting phase. Most cottonseed is not delinted as it is coated with a chemical-induced coating to prevent insect damage, which in my opinion is unnecessary.
On another note, went in to talk to my banker this week. He informed me the locally-owned bank's annual FDIC insurance payment has gone from $50,000 to $840,000! And guess who's going to help make up those costs? That's right.
My Dad and I are getting ready to scale back our land acres by about 50% by next season. Commercial agriculture is on its deathbed.
I blog at www.sonofafarmer.com if you want my take on American agriculture. Keep up the research everyone!; 3:31 AM
Diaspora said...: Toronto Sun: Baxter: Product contained live bird flu virus

The company that released contaminated flu virus material from a plant in Austria confirmed Friday that the experimental product contained live H5N1 avian flu viruses.
And an official of the World Health Organization’s European operation said the body is closely monitoring the investigation into the events that took place at Baxter International’s research facility in Orth-Donau, Austria.

“At this juncture we are confident in saying that public health and occupational risk is minimal at present,” medical officer Roberta Andraghetti said from Copenhagen, Denmark.
“But what remains unanswered are the circumstances surrounding the incident in the Baxter facility in Orth-Donau.”

http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2009/02/27/8560781.html; 5:09 AM
Unknown said...: RE: Norm Lowry’s Global Trends paper

All the talk about bird flu has me wondering: What are we supposed to do about that, besides eating right, getting enough sleep and staying out of the mall?

To avoid clogging this blog, I've posted my longer, point by point comments on Lowry’s own blog, which you can find by clicking on his name. The short form is, having read the cited portions of this document (and many other bits) I was unable to find support for the conclusion that its authors are involved in a plot to kill masses of people with flu virus or by any other means. Of course, I would not put it past neocons to do such a thing. But the document gives me no particular reason to draw that conclusion.

Fear is the neocon’s most basic export. Naomi Klein did a bang-up job of discussing its role in the domination and abuse of a population. Fear is also a serious distraction at a time when there is much important work to do. If this paper indicates any bad intent, it is the predisposition to spread fear-inducing scenarios.

To me, it seems far more likely that Rumsfeld would want to manufacture the FEAR of bird flu (and make “a killing” on sales of the vaccine) than that he would really want to manufacture the disease itself, and gamble his own life on the efficacy of Gilead’s untested vaccine. It’s untested on humans because no humans have passed it to one another. Once they did, Rummy could easily perish in spite of the vaccine, and that possibility would make him think twice about the gamble. Remember, in a pandemic it is usually the old who kick off in large numbers.

The Bush administration woke up a lot of complacent Americans. Now far more people know that the American government is capable of wiretapping, groundless arrest, indefinite detention and torture of its chosen enemies. The fact that it had been doing all these things previously should also be clear, but the immediate threat to American citizens is what brought the issues home. Fine.

Stop and look at the current DoJ employees: these are not Gestapo. In fact many of them took bold stands against the abuses of the previous administration. Homeland Security is a mixed bag, but not the threatening institution it was at mid-decade.

The prospect of TPTB deliberately depopulating the world, in pursuit of their own (wrongly) perceived interests, is real enough. But neither this document nor any recent events should encourage paranoia in this regard. Besides bird flu, there are so many unlikely but potentially catastrophic possibilities, that focusing first on one and then on another may paralyze a person. I feel that, at this point, we should worry less about what strangers might do to us, and concern ourselves instead with what we, ourselves, can do for and with each other as the present mutates into the future.

The near future will not be like the near past, but we cannot really know how it will go. The best we can do is prepare to be nimble, self-sufficient and kind to one another. And in that spirit I thank Norm Lowry for his efforts, but caution against unnecessary panic.; 8:09 AM
businessman said...: eyeballs...good analysis.

The one thing I might add is that when people are under tremendous stress they can easily make bad, knee-jerk decisions. So as the control of The Powers That Be (TPTB) becomes more threatened and it unravels, spreading the bird flu might seem like a better last-ditch idea to them.; 8:41 AM
Diaspora said...: It is a misconception that a bird flu pandemic will claim mostly elderly people. The majority of the deaths from 1918 pandemic and
H5N1 avian influenza were healthy adults between the ages of 20 and 40. The quoted material is from the National Institutes of Health webpage:
http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/feb2007/niaid-28.htm

“In their article, Drs. Morens and Fauci review several topics, including the origins of the 1918 pandemic influenza virus, the excess mortality of the pandemic, the predilection to kill the young and healthy, the lower-than-expected mortality among the elderly, and the cyclicity of influenza pandemics over the past 100 years. Such topics are relevant today as highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza viruses have spread from Asia to the Middle East, Europe and Africa.”

“One of the great unsolved mysteries surrounding the 1918 pandemic is why it tended to kill the young and healthy. Unlike yearly influenza epidemics, in which death rates are highest among infants, the elderly and those with chronic health conditions, the 1918 influenza pandemic took its greatest toll on healthy adults between the ages of 20 and 40. One possible explanation, supported by recent studies in mice with a reconstructed version of the 1918 virus, is that an over-responsive immune system may release a “cytokine storm,” or excessive amount of immune system proteins that trigger inflammation and harm the patient in the process. Of note, most deaths among humans infected with the H5N1 avian influenza virus have occurred in individuals under the age of 40. However, as the authors point out, it is not yet known whether there is a higher percentage of young people in the affected populations compared to older people, whether younger people are more susceptible to infection or whether they have more exposure to infected birds.”

How to prepare? Dr. Gary Ridenour’s book is a very good place to start.; 10:06 AM
Anonymous said...: Thanks "eyeballs"! You are correct that "paranoia" & "panic" are not helpful. Your insights are most welcome.; 12:45 PM

From the Wilderness' Peak Oil Blog

Monday, March 02, 2009

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