Monday, April 7, 2008

Bringing in the Sheaves


by freeacre

This is a “last call” announcement for those who may not have stocked up as much as they are able on grains. All grains.

We knew it was coming – the push for ethanol would create a shortage of corn, thereby driving up not only the cost of corn meal, but the costs of meat and poultry as well, since the animals eat corn, too. Well, here we are. The people of Mexico have been rioting in the streets due to the sharp increase in the cost of corn for tortillas. The prices of cornmeal, wheat flour, and rice in the supermarkets have risen alarmingly. And, there is no end in sight.

Regarding rice, this piece from David Ignacias, Washington Post, April 3, 2008:

“You may have missed the front-page article in the New York Times last Saturday, with the one-column headline written in clipped newspaperese: "High Rice Cost Creating Fears of Asia Unrest." But this little story could be an early warning of another big economic problem that's sneaking up on us.

The new danger is global inflation -- most worryingly in food prices, but also in prices for commodities, raw materials and products that require petroleum energy, which includes almost everything. Prices for these goods have been skyrocketing in international markets -- at the same time the Federal Reserve and other central banks have been hosing the world with new money in their efforts to avoid a financial crisis.

That's an explosive mixture. It risks a kind of inflation that would trigger panic buying, hoarding and fears of mass political protest. Actually, this is already happening in Asia, according to the Times.

The price of rice in global markets has nearly doubled in the last three months, reports the Times's Keith Bradsher. Fearing shortages, some major rice producers -- including Vietnam, India, Egypt and Cambodia -- have sharply limited their rice exports so they can be sure they can feed their own people.”

Did you get that? The main nations that have been exporting rice are going to stop doing so. They need to feed their own people first. Yikes!

Then, there is the wheat catastrophe….

Why food prices will go through the roof in coming months
By F. William Engdahl
Online Journal Guest Writer

“A deadly fungus, known as Ug99, which kills wheat, has likely spread to Pakistan from Africa, according to reports. If true, that threatens the vital Asian Bread Basket including the Punjab region.

The spread of the deadly virus, stem rust, against which an effective fungicide does not exist, comes as world grain stocks reach the lowest in four decades and government subsidized bio-ethanol production, especially in the USA, Brazil and EU are taking land out of food production at alarming rates. The deadly fungus is being used by Monsanto and the US Government to spread patented GMO seeds.

Stem rust is the worst of three rusts that afflict wheat plants. The fungus grows primarily in the stems, plugging the vascular system so carbohydrates can't get from the leaves to the grain, which shrivels. Ug99 is a race of stem rust that blocks the vascular tissues in cereal grains including wheat, oats and barley. Unlike other rusts that may reduce crop yields, Ug99-infected plants may suffer up to 100 percent loss.

The FAO warns that the explosive growth in acreage used to grow fuels and not food in the past three years is dramatically changing the outlook for food supply globally and forcing food prices sharply higher for all foods, from cereals to sugar to meat and dairy products. The use of cereals, sugar, oilseeds and vegetable oils to satisfy the needs of a rapidly increasing biofuel industry, is one of the main drivers, most especially the large volumes of maize in the US, wheat and rapeseed in the EU and sugar in Brazil for ethanol and bio-diesel production. This is already causing dramatically higher crop prices, higher feed costs and sharply higher prices for livestock products.

Ironically, the current bio-ethanol industry is being driven by US government subsidies and a scientifically false argument in the EU and USA that bio-ethanol is less harmful to the environment than petroleum fuels and can reduce C02 emissions. The arguments have been demonstrated in every respect to be false. The huge expansion of global acreage now planted to produce biofuels is creating ecological problems and demanding use of far heavier pesticide spraying while use of biofuels in autos releases even deadlier emissions than imagined. The political effect, however, has been a catastrophic shift down in world grain stocks at the same time the EU and USA have enacted policies which drastically cut traditional emergency grain reserves. In short, it is a scenario preprogrammed for catastrophe, one which has been clear to policymakers in the EU and USA for several years. That can only suggest that such a dramatic crisis in global food supply is intentional.”

So, demand is outstripping production for corn, rice, and wheat, which form the foundation for much of the food supply for humans as well as their livestock. This is no longer a prediction. This is right now. If there is a doubt in your mind, just go to your closest grocery store and check out the prices. They have practically doubled.

But, it’s going to get worse. If the ethanol and the wheat rust, and the increased demand weren’t enough, other factors are lending themselves to this dismal picture as well. Peak Oil is drastically raising the price of gasoline, which raises the production costs of growing the grains, as well as dramatically adding to the costs of transporting it to the stores.

Climate change is also having an increasing effect. Torrential rains, tornados, and drought are also taking a big toll on the production side. When is this going to lead to starvation and death? It already has. The United Nations has issued an alarming report that the prices of food for disaster relief in Africa and other desperate places is making relief efforts too expensive to feed the many who rely on their efforts.

And, if all that weren’t enough, the financial brain trust has manoeuvred the dollar into a rate of inflation that has devalued the dollar to the point where the dollar has approximately 40 percent of the purchasing power that it had when “The Decider” took office.

In terms of grain, we are toast.

So, get it now, before the third shift at Albertson’s sneaks in and raises the prices beyond what any working class person can afford.

Eventually, we just may have to do with much less bread, pasta, rice, and those animals that eat grain.

Of course, the overlords will be conspicuously consuming despite it all. Have you seen the slick stories lately about the yuppie scum going green? Yeah, taking a year or two off from Wall Street and purchasing ranches and building state-of-the-art solar and wind powered, cork-floored eco houses, etc. etc.

…. Well, aren’t they special? They’ll probably be eating buffalo from their own herds, and running their Hummers on olive oil. . . but I digress.

Back to real life: We can grow switch grass in our yards to feed our animals. Actually, chickens who eat less corn and more grasses produce eggs that are better for you anyway. And, if we switched to rabbit instead of beef as a main source of protein, we wouldn’t need to use any corn and the meat would be much leaner and lower in cholesterol than beef. Plus, rabbits can be raised locally and wouldn’t require as much gasoline to transport. You can feed them leftover greens from the garden, carrots, and things that you can grow in your backyard. They don’t produce all that nasty methane that pollutes the atmosphere, and their manure is the only one that can go directly into the garden for fertilizer without a waiting period.

Of course, we always have the option of going vegetarian. But, being a vegetarian without wheat or rice or cornmeal, leaves one eating beans and greens for the most part. Personally, my system can’t handle it.

Human beings are very adaptive to their environments, though, when necessary, fortunately. When studying the healthiest people in the world, according to Diane Schwarzbein, M.D. (my favourite nutritionist) you’ll find the Inuit’s, the French, the Tibetans, and the rural Chinese and Africans. These people have much less chronic and degenerative disease than we do. The funny thing is that they all eat a very dissimilar diet, upon first glance. The French drink wine. The Tibetans do not. They sip yak butter tea all day. The Inuit’s eat whale blubber and fish and hardly any vegetables. But, upon further examination, they do have a couple of things in common: they eat what they can pick, gather, hunt or fish. And, they have stuck to a traditional diet rich in good fats. No high carb, low fat diets for them.

So, maybe this shortage of grain will benefit us in the long run anyway. After all, it was when people began to grow grain in a big way and it was stockpiled by the pharaohs or priests to be doled out to the subservient populations that this whole hierarchical death trap began in the first place. But, the transition period is going to get rough.

I

17 comments:

mrs p said...

Got Rice?

mrs p said...

uummm...I mean got wabbits? Wow if we all did that, (ate only what we could grow, hunt, fish), we'd all be a whole lot healthier and skinnier! All those diet guru's would be out of a job. I guess I'm being a bit cheeky. I'd be a ghost living on nasturshums, lemons, guavas & mint, (that's all we have producing at the moment in our humble yard. I have a ton of seeds saved up though. Damn FA your post makes me want to go buy some major rice and some major containers to put it in. We have 50 lbs at the moment but we eat rice 2-3 times a week. The long emergency seems like it's speeding up. This could get really strange. Right about now I'm thinking we should have stayed in Washington where we had access to 10 acres near the Canadian border and well water and a small stream. The rent was only 600 a month. We blew it. mrsp

Anonymous said...

From Singapore

Rice can only keep for maximum 3 months before black worms start growing. The only solution I found that is workable is to buy the rice in small 1KG/2KG packets, put inside the -10 degrees C freezer for minimum 2-3 days, until all the back worms cells died before they can grow. After 2-3 days, take the rice out and it can keep for very long time.

Anonymous said...

I was reading a link from Truthseekers web page about near death experiences and came across this paragraph which I found amazingly prophetic as we seem to be at the very place in time this paragraph speaks of.

http://www.near-death.com/experiences/research32.html



"The United States has been given the opportunity to be the teacher for the world, but much is expected of those to whom much has been given. The United States has been given more of everything than any country in the history of the world and it has failed to be generous with the gifts. If the United States continues to exploit the rest of the world by greedily consuming the world's resources, the United States will have God's blessing withdrawn. Your country will collapse economically which will result in civil chaos. Because of the greedy nature of the people, you will have people killing people for a cup of gasoline. The world will watch in horror as your country is obliterated by strife. The rest of the world will not intervene because they have been victims of your exploitation. They will welcome the annihilation of such selfish people. The United States must change immediately and become the teachers of goodness and generosity to the rest of the world. Today the United States is the primary merchant of war and the culture of violence that you export to the world. This will come to an end because you have the seeds of your own destruction within you. Either you will destroy yourselves or God will bring it to an end if there isn't a change."


- Alberta Clipper

Anonymous said...

There are many Americans who are gentle in spirit, strong of heart, and generous by nature. But, it seems by the nature of our competitive culture, those good souls do not rise to the top. Rather the ruthless sociopaths rule from the power positions of most of our institutions, I am afraid. Their only vulnerability, as I see it, is that the whole sick structure runs on money and is dependent on our participation and complicity. Stop buying in, and it will drop like a rock. Resist their temptations,and we just might be delivered from evil.
I think we'll find out real soon.
Nice to hear from you Alberta Clipper. It's been awhile.

Anonymous said...

I think the whole recession, sub-prime, credit crunch, inflation, wheat disease, high oil prices fiascos are all part of a broader plan by the PTB for culling the heard. Much like the first great depression that was brought on by the big banks like JPMorgan.

Oil is still priced in dollars and these dollars are worth less and less each month, which costs poor countries more and more which causes their food costs to skyrocket -and for poor people, well, they'll probably riot because they have nothing to loose. These food riots are going to occur more often and in more places, but for the PTB, this is a good thing. They want people to riot -and die. They want people to die from starvation because they are the ultimate Darwinians. Survival of the fittest -or richest. In the case of Bush, Dominionism is the correct term. God made you poor or God gave you that disease so to help you would be against God's wishes.

And yes, Freeacre, it seems like the good souls of this world never seem to really get a chance to make a difference, especially in a large scale -which is where we need them the most. These thoughts and questions of good people getting screwed by bad people at an early age were the beginning of my atheism. As a kid, I asked WAY too many questions of my Methodist minister to explain some of the chaos in "God's World." Why good people die in a war of choice (the recent story of a Navy SEAL covering a explosive with his body to save his buddies) and our evil Moron-In-Cheif and Darth Cheney continuing the slaughter is just one piece of proof that there is no omnipotant "God" controlling all. We humans are just a sofisticated animals. Nothing more.

The near death experience this person had sounds a lot like "Mad Max." Maybe I'll get to the sporting goods store today and get some more ammo.

Later-

Dude

Anonymous said...

I have met many Americans through conventions and training conferences for my work and every one of them are wonderful people. My husband and I have visited many cities in the US over the years going to conventions and I've never met the type of people described in the article I posted.

You're right I think, Freeacre, that the good ones tend to keep their heads down and the scum rises to the surface.

I read a few more offshoot links from the one I posted and quite honestly it leaves me feeling that I don't know whether to 'shit or wind my watch'.

A lot of bad is coming our way and after that a lot of good. The scary part is wondering if and how I will survive the bad so that I can experience the good.

Dude - the paragraph I posted was what the 'beings of light' told Rev. Howard Storm in his NDE in 1985. Interesting reading for sure if you have the time.

- Alberta Clipper

RAS said...

Good post freeacre. I saw were Thailand is planning to put rice hoarders in prison for life -and hoarder is defined very loosely. I can't help but wonder when they'll start doing that crap here. (And if they'll start going door to door to check; if so, I'll be in trouble unless I can lug all my buckets to the woods! Me? Hoard food? Um no way officer.) Meanwhile, in my head I'd be saying KMA you fascist pig, me and mine come first!

At any rate, assuming the world doesn't end first and I can get through the editing, I'll be a published author in June. Score one for me.

Does anyone else ever feel like it's just them against the world?

Anonymous said...

50 lbs isn't that much rice. Go look at a 25 lb sack in a Smart & Final store or Costco, it's about the size of a standard bed pillow. I didn't know about "black worms"? Thank you for mentioning that. I'm going to go check it now. eeeeeww. Do they effect brown rice too? dumb question I guess. The rice is stored in air tight containers in a cool garage where there is no sunlight so I'll hope there aren't any black worms. We'll see.

As for feeling like I'm all alone against the world...yah kinda. Can't talk about collapse or any of it's fringe benefits around here. I'd be considered looney if I did. Hard to believe people don't just "feel" it in the air and their bones, let alone notice the signs everywhere, media etc.

Good golly, Being admonished for having canned goods stored and extra rice? Why is it that the PTB worldwide are always so quick to expend punitive measures when they could do so much more positive with their energy if they weren't so re-actionary and childish and anal? China for instance. Rice re-hab tomorrow. cheers, mrsp

Anonymous said...

From George Ure's site: Salmon is selling at Pike's market in Seattle for $30 per pound! I've got 3 wild salmon fillets in the freezer. Guess I'll save them for special occasions.
We've been anticipating shortages and rising gasoline, the real estate meltdown, and rising power costs for so long now. But, when it actually starts to be apparent and on TV,it feels like even more of a bummer, even if we are prepared.
Where are those darn aliens when we need them?

Anonymous said...

Hi folks,

On Topic: Freeacre, the increasing price of food and the shortages you mention are deeply worrying and are clearly driven by the increasing scarcity of natural resources together with the impending financial crash and a whole range of other human madness going on in the world (e.g. war, pollution, etc). To be honest, my wife and I are still in the very early stages of preparing for economic and political crash that it seems has already begun. In truth, I feel decidedly unprepared for the loss of so many things that we currently take for granted.

However, on the plus side, we moved house in May 2007. I have no bank loans (though my wife is still paying for her vehicle), overdrafts or credit card debts. We continue to rent and are now living in part of an old 17th Century farm house complete with old wooden beams, a lovely old fireplace and a little candle cupboard. The fireplace has not been used for a while, but we are planning (with our landlords permission) to have a wood burning stove fitted. We also now have access to a small plot of land on which we hope to begin growing vegetables. However, we have yet to get very far with this project as I am spending far too much time on the Internet and with my nose in books, reading about the subject matter (and related spiritual stuff) that we really need to be preparing for. Though I have experience in tree care and decorative horticulture, neither of us have ever attempted to grow our own produce to eat, so it will be a completely new and challenging experience for us both. The ground needs quite a bit of preparation, before we can really get started on growing stuff. I really do need to discipline myself a lot more on the practical front.

So, hopefully, with heat (we have a free supply of wood for the wood burner in the short term) and the potential to grow our own food, we are at least in the right setting for increasing self-sufficiency. We are also off the grid for water, as our little group of cottages has its own bore hole for water supply.

Also, I now live nearer my place of work (1 to 2 miles away), so I now walk to work rather than use my motorcycle. Previously I was about 15 miles from work, so had little choice other than using my motorbike. I shall probably be selling the latter soon. My wife has a vehicle, as it is necessary for her work in a District Nursing Team in Bradford. Because we live some distance down a very rough unmade road, she had to exchange her economical little Smart car for a less economical four-wheel drive vehicle (Suzuki Jimny, about as small as you can get in that category of vehicle). This did go a little against the grain for both of us. However, her economical little car would never have made it regularly along our track, without its bottom being ripped of sooner or later.

So that’s where we are at, not very far really, in our preparation for ‘God knows what?’ in the near future. So any suggestions for preparation on this and other blog or web sites can only be helpful for the likes of my wife and I. Your recent posts, Freeacre, of interesting and helpful tips can only aid us in this endeavour.

Off Topic: This part of my comment relates much more to the last post than the current one, though in a very indirect way it also relates to the current topic of up and coming food shortages, largely because everything is connected to everything else.

To make sense of what I am about to write, it is essential that you view the latest video at the Project Camelot website (http://www.projectcamelot.org/whats_new.html.), which is a three way communication between Bill Ryan, Kerry Cassidy (the founders of the Project Camelot website) and David Wilcock (from the Divine Cosmos website). To the die hard sceptics out there I ask only this; reserve your judgement until after seeing the video and also reading what I write below? Do not confuse ‘healthy scepticism’ with an inability to imagine that which may seem too incredible to be true!

Personally, I feel this is the most interesting video that Project Camelot have so far produced. I say this because we see between the three speakers some notable disagreements. Yes folks, disagreement is good, as it allows one to weigh up ideas more effectively than one is able to do when just listening to either a monologue or a more neutral interview. David Wilcock is put on the spot about some of his more, dare I say, ‘flaky’ new age beliefs. Such includes his central message that the Earth (and the entire Solar System) and all that occupy it will ‘Ascend’ from ‘3rd Density’ to ‘4th Density’ consciousness in or around 2012. Bill Ryan makes it clear, toward the end of the video, that it is this part of Wilcock’s message he has the greatest problem accepting. Wilcock is also challenged, indirectly, about his tendency to overplay the positive aspects of consciousness transition and to underplay the negative elements that will surely occur, particularly to those who are either not aware of, or not prepared for the transformation that he predicts. Like Ryan, I find myself unconvinced by Wilcock’s version of ‘Ascension’. I feel, that many folk will suffer terribly in the up and coming changes, whether they occur in 2012, at a later date and/or at a slower rate.

In some respects Wilcock’s vision of ‘Ascension’ is similar to that of the ‘Rapture’, so lovingly prophesied by contemporary Christian Fundamentalist groups. The main difference is that, for Wilcock, it is not the ‘Chosen Few’ Christians and Jews that will survive the apocalypse. In his scenario it is those (could this also just be a ‘Few’ of us?) that have achieved a certain level of awareness and compassion for others that will ascend to ‘4th Density’. The rest, it seems, will either continue in a ‘3rd Density’ version of Earth (a bit like the ‘Matrix’ really) or be reincarnated on another ‘3rd Density’ world (another ‘Matrix’ perhaps) in a different part of the Galaxy. I may be overstating what Wilcock is trying to say here, as it is clearly his hope and belief that the majority of humanity will ascend to ‘4th Density’ consciousness in the coming decade. Personally, I am not sure that as many as he hopes are ready for such a transformation. However, I do feel that Wilcock is right that by being fearful of, or angry toward the ‘PTB’, we are in truth feeding the very negative agenda that the elite or ‘Illuminati’ appear to have for the majority of humanity.

Closer to the topic of this post relating to food shortages, another uncertainty I have with all three of the speakers in the video, is their apparent belief that there is enough food and resources on the Earth for all the current population, not just to survive, but to also live relatively well upon. The implication is that if the wealth were spread more evenly, then not only could all 6.5 billion people continue to exist here on Earth, but also we would be able to maintain our current level of technology and develop new and advanced technologies. Of course, they are assuming that the use of ‘Free Energy’, which has allegedly been kept secret by the ‘Illuminati’, would then be available to all of humanity. I know many of you believe such ideas of ‘Free Energy’ are ‘Pie in the Sky’. However, whether such freely available resources are ultimately real or not, it is my suspicion that even if all 6.5 billion of us were to live equally and sustainably on this planet, it would still be too crowded and would not allow the biodiversity of the Earth to survive to the level required for a balanced ecology, rich in plant and animal life. Of course, using Wilcock’s terminology, I am looking at things from a very ‘3rd Density’ perspective here. From a ‘4th Density’ perspective, maybe things will look very different and much more optimistic, in the manner that he suggests? However, for the sake of argument, lets just stick with a ‘3rd Density’ perspective for now. From that perspective, the only acceptable and humane way out of this population problem, to my mind, would be for a larger portion of that 6.5 billion to physically relocate to elsewhere in the solar system, or even the galaxy. Of course, this could only conceivably occur if the ‘Free Energy’ and potential consequent technologies that could be derived from such, is truly feasible. Only then would this latter option be possible at all.

If we really do move into Wilcock’s ‘4th Density’, as he clearly believes will happen very soon, then everything we know and understand will change. All those who make such a transition will be well outside of any previous ‘frameworks’ or ‘boxes’ of understanding. Humanity will have truly transformed! Where that would take our species is currently truly beyond our imagination!

In the video, the pseudonym of an alleged Illuminati Whistle Blower, ‘Svali’, is referred to. The Project Camelot website has a link to a radio programme recorded in 2006 interviewing this woman plus a written summary of purported ‘Illuminati’ beliefs and practices. Also Wilcock had had personal email contact with this woman. However, she has not been heard from since 2006, the fear being that she has either been silenced or eliminated. I suggest you listen to the radio programme and the written summary before reading any further here, as again, it will help you make sense of my own thoughts on this woman.

To my mind, there are three possible options as to the veracity of the information provided by ‘Svali’. The first option is that all she says is completely true. This certainly seems to be the view of Wilcock, Ryan and Cassidy. The second option is that the ‘Illuminati’ have conditioned her to believe what she is saying is true. If the latter is the case, the conditioning that all ‘Illuminati’ members are subject to, according to ‘Svali’, from birth to adulthood, must also apply to herself. Thus, any information she divulges has to be treated with some suspicion. Perhaps she has been programmed to divulge the very information that she has, to further certain goals of the ‘Illuminati’. Indeed, much of what she says could be disinformation designed to discredit beliefs in the existence of the ‘Illuminati’, as being too outrageous to be real. The third option is that her programming is so good, that she is able to lie without conscience. This third option seems less likely to me, as she does seem genuinely horrified by her own experience and practice within the ‘Illuminati’. However, both option 2 and 3 would imply that she is still a member of the ‘Illuminati’, either at an unconscious (option 2) or conscious level (option 3).

As you can see, I am a little suspicious here. The fact that she has become a ‘Born Again Christian’ since leaving the ‘Illuminati’ reinforces this suspicion. One ‘cult’ to another ‘cult’ is my immediate response, or ‘from the frying pan into the fire’, so to speak. Indeed, it seems to me that much within Fundamentalist Christianity is supportive of the proposed ‘Illuminati’ agenda. One comment that truly bothers me is the suggestion that most of the ‘Illuminati’ are ‘sexually deviant’. It is particularly the inclusion of homosexuality as ‘sexual deviancy’ that concerns me most here. This sounds like an attitude that belongs in the dark ages to me! I know homosexual men and women, many of whom are far more empathic and caring than your average heterosexual. So to assume homosexuality is wrong or depraved, as is implied here, clearly suggests a ‘Christian Right’ agenda. Relating to this is the implication that the entire edifice of ‘Magic’ and the ‘Occult’ is evil and depraved, with no suggestion that, like any ‘tool’, such can be utilized for both good and evil purposes. Anti-gay and anti-occult inclinations are clear indications of the Christian Fundamentalist mind set. Such groups also tend to damn all other beliefs and religions (whether they be Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Gnostic, Pagan, Indigenous or Atheist). The only other religion Fundamentalist Christians seem to at least nominally acknowledge, is Judaism, particularly the Zionist version of same.

Of course, none of this means that everything ‘Svali’ says about the ‘Illuminati’ is untrue. However, it does suggest a need for great discernment and discretion when analysing such material.

Best Wishes

Truthseeker

Anonymous said...

Truthseeker,

Will interject just a couple of notes here. I don't want to get into the mysticism or psychology of anything. I want to comment on the part about world population.

You stated that all three think there is enough food and resources for everybody. You really believe that? I sure don't. There isn't enough land left to cultivate that much food, and most of the farm land has been ruined by mono culture and poisons and loss of top soil. It would be interesting to here what they have to say about the details of living in comfort for all. I have read numerous articles that assert that if we wanted to put a refrigerator in every household on earth, it would take more resources than the earth has in it. And, you didn't mention if they took on the question of what happens when people have enough food and housing to live. They reproduce like mad. In other words, world population would just keep on increasing. Nature of the beast unless there was some real serious changes in attitude on the subject.

Sure doesn't sound feasible to me, free energy or not. But that's just my opinion of course.

Anonymous said...

Hi Murph,

I entirely agree with what you are saying. No, there is not enough food and resources on the planet to feed 6.5 Billion people. In fact if you read what I wrote carefully, you will realise that that is exactly what I was suggesting, that with or without 'Free Energy' the world would be just to crowded for any kind of sustainable living and that the only way out of such a scenario would be for humanity to spread 'off world' (only possible if 'Free Energy' is a reality).

Below is the part of my comment where I state this, to save you from reading through it all again.

"However, whether such freely available resources are ultimately real or not, it is my suspicion that even if all 6.5 billion of us were to live equally and sustainably on this planet, it would still be too crowded and would not allow the biodiversity of the Earth to survive to the level required for a balanced ecology, rich in plant and animal life".

So yes, I entirely agree with what you are saying here. Your comment about our inclination to breed like Rabbits, only reinforces what I suspect to be true. Thus, I too disagree with the three speakers on this issue, as I indicated in my comment.

However, just because I question this aspect of what they spoke of, which was not the central theme of their discussion, does not mean that I then dismiss everything else that they have to say.

Hope this clarifies my position a little better.

Best Wishes

Truthseeker

Anonymous said...

Truthseeker,
Your 17th century farmhouse in the country a mile or two from work with independent water shared with other cottages, sounds pretty idyllic to me. It's the kind of setting that Americans can only dream about, for the most part. I don't know if they have them in Europe, but one of those little electric rototillers that break up the soil and can be used to stir manure into the ground is the biggest help to offset the physical work of the preparation of the soil. And, a barrel or designated compost area for all your organic leftovers is a good practice also, to enrich your soil. We put a fence around the garden to keep the critters out of it, then plant snow peas and snap peas along the fence because they grab onto it and it holds them up for easy picking. Throw some charcoal along the row because they like the ground to be alkaline. That has worked well for us. This year I will experiment with planting in square yards, not rows, like they do in the San Francisco community gardens where they get incredible yields from small spaces. Every area is so different. You are probably working with real topsoil, as opposed to us working with 35 feet of volcanic ash with years of acidic pine needles on the top of it. We can only count of 30 nights a year that it doesn't freeze. And, days that go up to 80 to 90 degrees F. We might as well be gardening on Mars. So, your sweet area of gentrified English country sounds like a fairy land to me. In fact, I'd leave a little area fallow for the fairy folk, just in case they are there. maybe inside a stone circle. It couldn't hurt...
I tried listening to that conversation on Project Camelot, but it was unintelligible to me. I'll have to wait for the transcript. But any transformation scenario triggers skepticism in me. It didn't used to. Years ago, I attended a lecture by Benjamin Crem where he stated that the next messiah, Maitraia, was immanent. I expected to see him for years. Didn't happen. And, I am surrounded by Rapture people whom I am convinced are delusional.Still looking for ET, which I retain hope for because it seems actually likely at some point. I keep thinking of those comet people who all laid down in a mansion in L.A. and killed themselves thinking that the comet was going to deliver them to a new world. Maybe it did, but we'll never know. All those dead people in their jumpsuits give me the creeps, however.
The only transformation that we can really count on is our own death, which will happen to all of us for sure. Just getting my mind and heart around that one is challenge enough for me.
In fact, thinking about the future too much takes one away from the power position of the Now, as Eckhart Tolle points out. Envisioning a metaphysical liberation does not seem to be helping to stem the tide of indentured servitude, incarceration, and corporate control that is enslaving an ever increasing portion of the world population, unfortunately. I think we need to maybe think less, and kick more butt. But, that's me.
So, whatever you and your wife can do to increase your freedom from the greater matrix is a step in the right direction. Sounds to me that you have a good start.

Anonymous said...

Truthseeker,

Thanks for the emphasis. Not trying to contradict you, I did read what you had said. Was commenting on the interviews you were commenting on.

You bring up an important point. How much contradictory conceptions will invalidate other points. When I read stuff that has ridiculous components in the theme, it automatically triggers a bullshit meter for me regardless of the other points. Then, the hard part begins, trying to discern what else is either valid or not valid. After I go through a dozen articles that have component BS in them, I am starting to filter out the rest of the message. Perhaps not a valid thing to do, but there are restrictions on time for investigation and my butt is already flat from sitting in front of the computer so much.

Am example of this. In our local fight over the septic issue with the county, they have made public all kinds of information, some speculation, some assumptions all tied into a scientific and reasoned examination of a supposed problem. Upon examination, the data used for the the end result is flawed, old, and has not been checked for validity, deliberately I might add to further a far more expansive agenda. Now, does that mean the all the original conclusions are wrong? In this case, it sure does, all of it could be logically thrown out and they would have to start over again in the whole process. It makes no sense to form conclusions from faulty input unless there is a broader agenda.

In the case of the interview you write about, agendas are much more difficult to talk about. All kinds of egos can be involved and once started down a road, backing up is very difficult and runs the risk of being shown up or accused of stupidity. I don't know man. I can't entirely discount the metaphysical side of stuff, just not open to empirical observation until after the fact where we try and establish a causation factor. The best I can do personally is take my interpreted observations of my environment and come to a conclusion. If I am smart about it, contradictory data presented to me will be included into the conclusions and try to avoid the cognitive dissonance as a result. Lots of work there and often no satisfactory conclusion can be reached.

Anonymous said...

Jeez, I'm sorry to be continuing to blab on like this, but, I keep having more thoughts...
Last night we watched "Seven Samurai," the classic '50's Japanese film about a small village of peasant farmers being intimidated by bandits. The farmers enlist the help of seven samurai, who fight for them out of a sense of honor, paid only in food. If one reads the rundown of the headlines on LATOC (lifeaftertheoilcrash) today, it is not such a stretch to see much of the starving world in the same position in the not-too-distant future. Only, we don't have any samurai.
Maybe some of those army and national guard veterans will come home and lend their skills to helping defend their communities and local food producers against marauders. Sure hope so. Come to think of it, we ought to reach out to them before they become the marauders...
Tonight we're going to watch the American re-make, "The Magnificent Seven." It won't be nearly as gritty, though. Americans just can't handle dirt and desperation. Fits in with Carolyn Bakers new piece on the emotional aspects of the collapse. It's a good read. Bet we won't be making any movies about the Bushville slums springing up all over now. The RV parks around here built for tourists are filling up with full-time residents who would be homeless if not for the RV. Scary.

Anonymous said...

been so busy of late,
excellent post freeacre as usual and good words aplenty guys,so much new info coming through its just overwhelming at times, i am grateful to all of you that attend this sacred council and contribute your observations that lend assistance to us that are in search for understanding in a world gone completely insane!
some of the words that bug gives to me seem really nuts but i put them anyway.

whewww, love is in the air, and the little frogs that have been underground for the long montana winters have come hither and are singing their little asses off in the half moon and starlit night, it was 70 degrees yesterday,!!!!!
even though this one was going through a Herxheimer Reaction, the day was marvelous to the senses .
you know guys not to much has been said about the cleansing of the body as part of the coming attractions, bug says that the vibrational level of our bodies will be changed to accommodate the new energy that will manifest upon the planet and that we must cleanse our bodies to the upmost to make them able to withstand this energy. this self-induced enhancement if not taken serious will lead to a really shitty encounter with what is to take place.
she says that most peoples bodies are nothing more then repositories for the garbage that we put into them and our personal vibrational level sucks at this point and must be fixed.
this is not without a great deal, maybe, of discomfort as the toxins are released from our sacred bodies.
she says our bodies are no different then our mother earth and that they approximate one another, and that cleaning our bodies is cleaning mother earth.
this is probably not new to most of you but everyone that attends this council should have the opportunity to know of this absolute necessity.
bug says we just will not be able to make it with a corrupted body composed of the stuff we put into it and goes hand and hand with the spiritual stuff we are learning, because that is also a cleansing necessity, to release the poison from our conditioned minds that when the great happening occurs we will be ready.
as she is licking the salt off a cracker she goes on to say that this is what the really nasty experience will be for the people that have not gone through the cleanse, most folks bodies are mud as opposed to light and this light is vital for also she says that a new body is growing inside the present body and is made of light and the skin of this one will pop like a ballon when the great event happens and we will emerge as a butterfly from a cocoon.
this disturbs me and she sees this and goes on to say, do you really know how you got here? she goes on to say then how do you know where you are going? all of these things will only become clear with the cleansing of your bodies and minds,.those that do not bring this into their reality will not understand any of which we speak and will .....
she stops and listens....

after thinking about this i have come to realize that my own mind is full of limited potential and that this limited potential is a direct result of the earthly experiences and must somehow be cleansed ,because as bug said earlier its a matter of catch and release, catch and release, let it go let it go,
this awaking is crucial, it absolutely must take place,the past has to be understood because this is the corruption that has us held us in chains for eons of time, we are prisoners she says and do not know it, but that is changing because of the new energy that is manifesting upon mother earth,the illusion of separation is the grand illusion and the most difficult to penetrate she says, but therein lies the path as the final discovery is revealed and we will come to know the sweetness of absolute death,
she sees my distress and smiles and says what i am talking about is the the death of what you would call life , which is the illusion of life and is really walking talking death, for what else would poison on purpose their sacred bodies and our own sacred mother earth, the giver of substance to us all.? if it were not in fact death?
you are light and you are one and that is the path.

aho
mf&bug

ps , get this, i read the other day about a native american that was arrested for trespassing.