From the Wilderness' Peak Oil Blog

Friday, March 13, 2009

from Jenna Orkin:

World War III: US Vs. China
China Exports Plummet a Record 25.7% in February
China Wants Assurance of its Debts in US
China Says US Naval Ship Broke Law
US Warships Head for South China Sea After Standoff

From the Be Careful What You Wish For department:
India Frets Over Obama's China Mania
Indo-Pak Trade to Decline By 60%
India Sends Elite Commandos to Guard Embassy in Pakistan
Israel's Military Supplies to India

India to Put Up Missile Shield in Two Years
US Seeks New Afghan Supply Routes, Even in Iran
US Considering Multilateral Response if North Korea Launches Rocket
North Korea Accuses US of Plotting Attack
The Dirty Bomb that Disappeared
Chile, Argentina Lawmakers Stake Antarctic Claim (from Rice Farmer)

Norwegian Stake in Russian Joint Venture Seized
Belarus Seeks to Double Russian Gas Flows, Challenging Ukraine
Russia Rushes to Save Failing Defense Firms
Resurgent Russia and its Growing Engagement with South Asia
Russia, Hungary, Plan South Stream Gas Pipeline

Economic Developments Around the Globe
A Developing World Bailout?
Poor Countries to Need Up To $700 Billion
Malaysia Unveils $16 Million Stimulus

Dead Banks in '09: 17 And Counting
Five Biggest Banks are "Dead Men Walking"
Bank Braced for Losses Over Plan to Print Money
Run on UK Sees Foreign Investors Pull $1 Trillion from City (from Rice Farmer)
Bank of England Begins Creating New Money
Gordon Brown's G-20 Summit Risks Global Financial Meltdown
Paulson May Have Made $428 Million Shorting Lloyd's
Wells Fargo Leads US On World's Safest Banks List
In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man...
Bank of America Slams Door Shut on Foreign MBAs
Bank of America Sues Former Employee Over Cuomo Investigation of Merrill Lynch Bonuses
JP Morgan To Increase India Outsourcing 25%
Not-So-Safety Deposit Boxes
Baer Says Insurance Fund Could Be Insolvent This Year
Food-Backed Local Money
Food Crunch
As Economy Flops, Alcohol Sales Soar
GM Widens Net For Overseas Aid Beyond US
They're Taking Their Brains and Going Home
Buffett: Crisis Is An Economic Pearl Harbor

Hidden Homeless: US Families Living in Motel Rooms
This Is How Depression Looked in the 1930s
Unemployment by the Numbers
Jobs Discrimination Claims Rise to Record
Australian Job Advertisements Fell By Record Amount in February
UN Report: Forestry Can Create 10 Million Jobs
Global Steel To Be Hit Hardest by Protectionism

Hundreds Arrested as Pakistan Bids to Keep Lid on Unrest
Pakistan Bans Protests in Political Crackdown
Blast Hits Near Mosque in Southern Sri Lanka
Unrest in the Prison System
An unfortunate title. One wonders, "You mean they were content before?"
Will Russians Take to the Streets?
Orissa Riots
Social Unrest and Crime Over Global Economic Meltdown
Unrest Grows Among European Farmers
Electricity Shortages, Students and Unrest
Civil Unrest in America?
Canada: Military Readies Reservists for Action on Domestic Front (from Rice Farmer) Malaysian Education Protest
Cholera Riots
Madagascar Soldiers Mutiny
Unrest on Martinique
Rock Concert Riot in Bogota

29 comments:

pstajk said...: Jenna,

You are kicking some major ass. Thank you.; 12:22 PM
Chris XVX said...: I agree, you're doing a great job-my eyes are bleeding though from all of the reading...

Stop HR 875, HR 814, SR 425, And Soon, HR 759
OR Say Goodbye to farmers markets, CSAs,
and roadside stands
The above so called "food safety" bills in Congress were written by the nation-less corporations such as; Monsanto, Cargill, Tysons, ADM, etc. These bills are all associated with the opposite of food safety. What is this all about then?

http://www.treehuggersofamerica.org/Say_Goodbye_To_Farmers.php; 3:12 PM
Staci said...: Outstanding as usual Jenna - my weekend reading is all here and ready for me - Thanks for your continued excellent work; 3:16 PM
Peter J. Nickitas said...: JENNA:

A 8 billion barrel blip in the Post-Peak world, and another possible cause-a-guerre:

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=ayLSMCD585X8&refer=home%20%20%3Cbr%3E

Peter J. of Minneapolis; 4:25 PM
RanD said...: Jenna-- Once again, we extend our gratitude to you for keeping all of us here at FTW up to razor's edge with the unfolding of the human condition's current status quo's state of crisis(es). Sincerely, RanD; 4:50 PM
Anonymous said...: NOT NECESSARILY FOR POSTING:

Jenna: Am amazed how you come up with all these incredible articles. Thank you so much for doing all of this for us. Where would we be without this information?

I have a suggestion. On other websites and blogs, they have permanent links to the really important articles and topics. I have tried to save what I consider the blockbuster articles to a separate file, but have been so busy lately I can barely keep up with the reading, much less saving. Sometimes I want to refer people to some of the articles I find on this blog, but end up unable to find them as there are so many in the archives. I know it means work, but how about links to the most major articles for late-comers, those who want to review or pass them on to others at a later date? Examples are the articles on the live bird flu virus in the vaccines in Europe, the data showing the world's food producing countries at a 50 year worst draught level, the Codex and HR875, HR814, SR425 bills, implications of the Patriot Act, cornerstone articles on world oil production, depletion, etc.; 7:51 PM
Jenna Orkin said...: thanks for these comments.

cj, i hate to be simplistic but if you google "bird flu" for instance (or whatever subject you're interested in) and www.mikeruppert.blogspot.com then go to cached files, you'll probably find what you want.

this is my way of wriggling out of the extra work at the moment tho' i appreciate the thought.; 8:09 PM
ecosutra said...: Need a quick sentence to get the point across?

"We are on the titanic and there are not enough lifeboats. The lifeboats are the seeds."

Oh for all of you who need more explanation, the greatest crisis is not peak oil, the greatest crisis besides water, is the fact that the consolidation has created a seedless hybrid GMO world.

Heard from Maude Barlow that China's desert is growing the size of Rhode Island everyday. Oh, how the under stories of tipping points are censored from the masses.

What if we can not learn from the past and see how the central banks and the WTO IMF use blood to re start economies. Are we really so useless not to see other ways to repair?

After seeing Watchmen tonight with 3 nuclear explosion scenes. I uh...
I never pray, I feel like praying...
Please G-d let the people hear about the permaculture design science landscape repair movement.

No media outlet from the internet or the TV is going to tell you what you need to know. They are all part of the same deflecting circus. Even Jennas beloved traitor Amy Goodman. From the leading left blogs to the leading media outlets oon TV, I have waited and waited for them to get on a solution. They are lost in their own deflecting imperial liberal scapegoating agendas. I use the blogs to get information but none of them mention permaculture as the main focus for change. Its either blame the victim(the poor), from the right or blame Israel on the left. I am so sick of disaster reporting.
If you think Amy Goodman is honorable. Well then you are no better than a repug who likes Cramer. Its the conditioning of your minds. You are under mind control. WHAT A CIRCUS

PS. Jenna, I was assuming you like Amy Goodman from things you have posted in the past. Dont mean to be insulting. You do find Great articles to post. Julliard huh, all my life I heard my dad went there. I dont think its true. New site is up on my Dad. www.bertberns.com
Checkout. Hoagy Lands, he was an artist who was black balled from the music business by Atlantic records. THey wanted him to sing in the Drifters and he wanted to be solo. Better than Sam Cooke and he was Black balled. You can hear him on the Jukebox. The threat of a better example. Thats what this is all about. Green energy especially.

Peace and respect Jenna...

Russell Berns; 2:59 AM
F.Kamilov said...: Pakistan's doomed corrupt Western supported robber ruling establishment is in its final days - its politicians and bureaucratic constituents are at each others throats in the most shameless of ego-fights, and the Taliban are watching on the sidelines - waiting to step in and fill the breach when it occurs. Meanwhile, the "Anglo powers" of the world, i.e. the USA and Britain, are wringing their hands in dismay, as they watch their diseased pet Pakistani terrier in its final death throes - stricken as they are by the economic crisis from within, now their 60 year old flunky state of Pakistan is writhing around, dying. Good riddance. The Anglos' doom wouldn't have been complete without it. Anyone who says otherwise simply doesn't know anything, or has ulterior motives.; 6:18 AM
rocklicker said...: Struggling Americans call tent cities home
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/03/12/2514425.htm; 10:33 AM
Anonymous said...: Jenna:

I am referring others to the site and I want them to see the critical articles. I referred the leader of a large neighborhood organization who are still doing anti-war protest marches to the site, suggesting they might want to devote more of their efforts to issues of immediate concern here at home. They may not want to take the time to review years worth of articles. They may pay more attention if the major issues are "summarized" similarly to how they are on the left side of the fromthewilderness.com home page. If I weren't wicked busy myself I would put up my own website.; 10:52 AM
gamedog said...: http://www.financialsense.com/Experts/2009/Houston.html

William Houston & Robin Griffiths
Authors

"Water: The Final Resource"

Worth listening to the interview with the Authors IMO.; 3:12 PM
Paul said...: Petrol bombers attack Northern Ireland police

Can't help thinking... why is this all kicking off now...? After such a long period of relative peace in Northern Ireland. Why now?

And just to add to my paranoia - while writing this comment the BBC changed its headline to the much less dramatic "Two arrests over NI police murder"; 4:01 PM
businessman said...: What's a critical article to one person may not be as important to another person, so it wouldn't be easy for Jenna to decide what articles are critical for everyone.; 5:01 PM
RanD said...: Jenna-- As a favor to R & D I ask that you post the below on FTW blog's most recent comments page. And, whether you choose to do so or not, we nonetheless sincerely always thank you for the labor of love you and Michael so selflessly invest in the FTW family.

Tim-- Pardon me for having not given you our e-mail address: rdfamily@centurytel.net. Send us an e-mail and we can get back with you and pick up from where we left off. We'd very much like to share with you our perspective on the human condition's socio-psychological destination. RanD; 5:05 PM
businessman said...: The amount of expertise in this Blog is truly amazing. While what's coming our way has definitely been eating away at me, I finally recognized that from crisis can come opportunity.

The 95+% of the world who are oblivious to what's coming our way will need leaders to guide them, and a lot of the people participating in here have the potential to establish themselves as these leaders. There will be a ton of people like me and others who will need access to the experts on living a sustainable lifestyle, and we'll be willing to exchange value or services to those who know how to do this.

There will be opportunity in this transition to cater to the ultra-wealthy, for while those people may lose assets, they'll still have a lot more than the average person...and they'll be scared to death and need experts who can provide them with food, water, security, and a quality of lifestyle that's better than what most people will have.

I can see housing developments where wealthy people could live amongst themselves in sustainable areas, having others grow their food for them on their property, and having people provide security for both them and their food.

1) There will be opportunities for people who can provide food and water to others when it becomes hard to get.

2) There will definitely be opportunities for security and keeping people safe.

And the people in here who are the experts at permaculture, gardening, growing food, and living a sustainable lifestyle, will have the opportunity to position themselves as the true experts who others must seek out...in exchange for money, services, and other forms of value.; 5:06 PM
LeoBro said...: I see some comments on this blog that extol Permaculture as the answer to everything. Most of us here have learned to roll our eyes at claims of salvation in a single word.

But please don't be fooled. Permaculture is not a panacea; it's an evolving set of observations of nature that can be applied to support life sustainably within natural limitations.

I've been reading everything I can about it lately, and I can't get enough. It just makes sense. The more of us who learn these skills, the better chance we have of adapting collectively. Look for talks or classes in your area. Not only will you learn from the class, you'll meet other folks with common aims and help build a local network of resilience.

And thanks, ecosutra (I think it was you), for mentioning Geoff Lawton's DVD on creating permaculture food forests. I bought it. Brilliant!; 7:34 PM
pstajk said...: If you didn't catch it on HBO, Will Ferrell's "You're Welcome America: A Final Night With George W. Bush" just sling shot the one and only W. into another galaxy.

My stomach muscles are still recuperating.; 8:00 PM
Faustus said...: FED responsible for fincancal CRASH
Most of the capital for the financal blow up came from outsides of the USA. Wanted only "short term" cond. But financial innovations made short to "long" to feed the ground and house-market. This worked fine until the "short-market" interest was below the "long" one. But suddenly the FED pushed up the interest from about 2% up to 5% anxious about inflation rate of 3-4 %. NOW short was more expensive then long and the business-model crashed! Long-therm credits could never be alimented by enought or any short money since it had to be "recycled" often. THIS was the moment of the first crashes! In the following ALL speculation-"investments" were crashed also as a result of the boom.
Next problem is now the deep rate of inflation which lets all remaining liquidity (and that should not too less) in the cashs worldwide, since there is no real cost-risk to drop them out in real investments. This will only happen, if the inflation will increase until 4% at least.
But before the FED will not acknowledge his mistakes we will not get better situation.
More information see at:
http://www.sffo.de/sffo/aufsatz.htm

May be that anybody would be able to follow these conclusions - !??; 8:30 PM
Unknown said...: Businessman:

While you have proved one of the sanest of the commenters here, I have to stop you up short on this one:

"There will be opportunity in this transition to cater to the ultra-wealthy"

This opportunity is perenial. It is the basis for manager-class options like knuckling down for an MBA, like spending 30 or 40 years serving multinational corporations that corrupt governments, kill dissidents and gratuitously pollute America, China, Peru, Mexico, and wherever else they go. Serving the rich has always been the default of people who value comfort more than freedom.

When you say that tycoons will need people to provide them with food and protection, you are talking about an artificial feudalism, in which the real farmers (who, in many cultures, are at the top of the social scale) cut a deal where they work for the leisure of the rich, fight the fights of the lord, and pass this enslaved relationship on to their children.

I don't mean to be insulting to those who have worked in the system. What seemed appropriate in the 1980s and 90s is just so obviously NOT appropriate now. To perpetuate social class stratification is bad enough, but anyone who deliberately places themselves in the lower caste, hoping for safety and comfort ... well, what can I say? Perhaps everyone finds their own level.

I truly recommend that permaculturists and ace gardeners and farmers adopt the style of shamans, not peasants. The magician of the soil who can mediate between the mysterious natural world and the physical needs of the tribe should never be the slave of the idyl. WHAT YOU CAN DO is what NEEDS to be done. Let the rich grow their own corn!; 9:19 PM
ecosutra said...: LeoBro "Permaculture is not a panacea; it's an evolving set of observations of nature that can be applied to support life sustainably within natural limitations."

No one permaculture will be the same. My dream, if I had $16,000 a piece from 300 people I would have a 5 million dollar budget.
%1.5 mill for the land at 2 grand an acre (2000 acres) south Georgia wetland chinampas. We get the first 40 volunteers from the 300 families to build the first 8 camps that will feed thousands of people.
From the list of resources, that cost less than 200 grand to build the first set up designs for 5 acres purchasing everything from clay pottery equipment to an excavator. We can reuse the equipment to recreate 5 acre demonstrations for each family in the group along the way in time. Just stacking systems and creating a huge amount of abundance.

We would have a nest egg of at least a million dollars to invest in T Bills and have interest payments. Back up. Once you are a sustainable eco village you set up a corporation sole and never pay taxes. As long as the money you make in the non profit village is distributed back into the village its all legal.
One of the designs I cant wait to attempt. Take the solar hot water panel and send hot water into a tank under ground that is very well insulated. Get a water radiator for the green house. Attach all together. Then do the same and share the energy unit with a Spa Earth Adobe bath house. Connect the greenhouse and the bath house with one unit. Cost for everything is less than 5000 a piece. That is your bath house and greenhouse in one. Its all in the budget to start living with your elements.

What I think LeoBro misses is that with a plant like Water hyacinth, you can create so much soil through composting it. A weed that is so hard to control and is a disadvantage in the modern world, is a huge advantage in permaculture. There are so many examples like this. All have been collected and continue to be collected in the Permaculture research institutes around the world. How you design your home will be so much different than mine. So there is no panacea there.

I hope I can allow access to the Geoff Lawton Design Course to you all. I finished editing it, and now I am compressing for Flash. Taking a long time. But now I know how much time is left. At least 3 weeks until I know if I am allowed to publish this design course. And then another week to publish. Maybe less. It is so amazing. You really can start developing after seeing this.

I want to be a part of an evacuation expedition migration. Its so pioneering. And only 16 grand to get sustainable. I think I can do it. Alone? Its going to cost 400,000. I dont want to do that. Its debt based. I am hoping to do it either way. Hoping for the dream. We assist each other and lead each other watching and using the Geoff Lawton design course. What a journey. I am the first ever to produce and finish a design course on film. And its from the best in the world.

So I hope you know that I cherish the FTW community. We are the front line. Might as well get creative. I have incredible artisans on my team who want to orchestrate a theatrical community center. I have all the equipment for that already. Full Jam sessions. 7500 watt PA. That is for a concert for 5000 people. ITs game on FTW. Who is ready?; 9:51 PM
PNW free thinker said...: Looks like the Obama administration is prepping us for
HR 875, HR 814, SR 425...
looks like the new boss is the same as the old boss...
except "we" elected him this time... Oh well, the PTB never really change, just their elected representative...

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Obama-Food-safety-system-a-apf-14642329.html; 11:24 PM
RanD said...: LeoBro points out that "[permaculture] just makes sense. The more of us who learn these skills, the better chance we have of adapting collectively." He also points out that "[p]ermaculture is not a panacea; it's an evolving set of observations of nature that can be applied to support life sustainably within natural limitations."

It is perhaps also useful to point out that pre-Columbian North Americans had been practicing their relatively primordial version of permaculture with commendable success, for thousands of years, prior to 1492. And this, it might be further suggested, is likely the reason why post-Columbian Europeans and their ambitious ideas, upon entrance into the Western Hemisphere, found a virtual Edenic environment, teeming with life and natural resources virtually undisturbed by unsustainable ideas and practices. It is perhaps also useful to point out that, since 1492, not merely has Earth's Western Hemisphere, but the entire Earth and virtually all humankind's very relationship to life, itself, as well, have been utterly transformed into what we see and experience taking place all around us today.

*******

Those of us who have been here at FTW for a while know well Mike Ruppert's perhaps most poignant statement concerning the concept-device we all refer to as "money". Mike's statement goes pretty much like this: "Until you change the way money works, you change nothing."

It is perhaps also not unreasonable or impertinent to point out that money, and the way it works today and all along always been working for us since the advent of its usage as a symbol of intrinsic value, has long been and remains a factor integral to what's taking place all across planet Earth and throughout the human condition. And, if we are to extract any worthy realization from assessing what we human beings and our planet are going through today, should it not include giving due attention to Michael's perhaps most prescient words concerning specifically money, itself?

*******

Although it will inescapably lead to the gnashing of teeth for many, it would be remiss of this writer to not point out that capitalism functions on the premise that numerically profiting oneself is an intrinsic good, and even is indispensible to living a life worth living. Nonetheless, it is also a fact that the idea of implementing any numericalized concept of intrinsic value throughout any form of socio-psychological system will invariably function in service to greed, rather than exclusively in service to the common good. And nothing proves this fact more absolutely than the world we've created for ourselves and are variously trying to live with or escape from today.; 9:34 AM
Robert said...: Notes from a novice urban weed forager.
I now own four books on the subject of native plant foraging. The first order of priority is to become well acquainted with the local toxic plants. Fortunately one book goes into good detail on this. My first target was the common dandelion (Taraxacum officianale). I know this plant very well and I am 100% sure I can correctly identify it. I ate foraged dandelion greens every day this week. So far so good. I quickly learned that the plants growing in the shade in damp soil tasted a lot better than the others. I am experimenting with taking the plants I have gathered (The whole thing roots and all) and storing them in a bucket of water in the shade. After a week in the water, the plants are still vigorous and the leaves are a lot sweeter and tenderer. I should note that I am eating these plants raw. You might not need to do this if you are cooking them.
For anyone interested in pursuing this I would also suggest using Google Images as an aid in learning to identify the plant you are interested in. Typing in the plants taxonomic name will yield hundreds of detailed photographs and information.
I will conclude this message by confessing that I personally have been feeling huge anxiety about our uncertain future. My new found (hobby) has had a very positive effect on my state of mind.; 11:21 AM
agape wins said...: Dear Jenna,

I completed the survivor test, & sent a code to you.

Share A Code:
Your shared ID Code has been sent. Please make sure your friend checks their spam or junk folders if they do not receive their code to their inbox.

You should also receive my results.

Claude, Agape Wins.

Here is the link, where anyone can take a free shorter test.

http://www.thesurvivorsclub.org/; 1:36 PM
Paul said...: UK almost ran out of gas

The low level of storage in the UK was raised in parliament last week. Shadow energy and climate change secretary Greg Clark said:

(from Hansard: 5th March Parliamentary Debate Gas Storage)

For the second time in only four winters, we almost ran out of gas, and almost did not have sufficient gas to meet demand. According to a written answer that the Minister gave me only this morning, only the depressed state of the economy, due to the recession, saved us from running out. Even the official regulator thinks that we do not have enough storage.; 1:55 PM
Jenna Orkin said...: Iflipti has left a new comment on your post "from Jenna Orkin: World War III: US Vs. China Chi...":

Jenna,

I don't know if this is the right place to submit stories, but here are (my first) two:

Thank you

Category: Russia:
Russian strategic bombers could use Cuban, Venezuelan airfields
Would you really put it past Putin or Chavez?

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/03/14/russia.cuba.bombers/?ic

Category: Banking/Economics
Federal Reserve puts the squeeze on the (good) small banks; 5:12 PM
ecosutra said...: ya all getting in line for the ipod?
Get in line for seeds?
Get in line for the solar panel?
We should have the foresight not to get in any line.

If there never was a time line in using the reserves of fossilized sun light as an energy resource, would these people even exists.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=195_1237091486

I aint getting in that line.

Hey what was that for
Creative Quality Control grade? CQC= 1-10 ???????? Tell me!!!; 5:45 PM
businessman said...: eyeballs...I was thinking more in terms of someone running a business where they have employees and could provide these services for tens, hundreds, or thousands of people all as part of their own business.; 10:24 PM

From the Wilderness' Peak Oil Blog

Friday, March 13, 2009

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