I just saw the saddest program on the PBS program, “Now.” It was about the sinkhole that thousands of college graduates find themselves in now that the economy has tanked and their loans have come due. They looked into the life of this very nice young woman and the horrid predicament that she is in. She came from a working class background. She was raised by a single mother who was a hairdresser. She bought into the American Dream story about how if you just work hard enough and get an education, life will be better and your horizons will be broader, etc. etc. So, she gets herself through school, earns a Masters degree in social work, specializing in parenting skills. In the meantime, she is raped, and is impregnated, but decides to keep the baby, and be a good mom in spite of the circumstances. So, now she’s got this darling little girl, and she’s trying her best to raise her. But, her student loans totaled $50,000 and already there’s an additional $20,000 in interest added on. And, she’s lost her job, due to the plunging economy. Barring some miracle, there is no way in hell that she will ever be out of debt. Student loans cannot be gotten out from under, even if one declares bankruptcy. The only way out is pay it off or die. Debt collectors hounded her into paying them instead of her rent. Then she got evicted. Now she and her daughter are temporarily living with a friend.
Now is when we usually think, “Oh, things will get better. Something will come along. She’ll get a job and it’ll straighten out.” But, I just ache for her. I know how it is. Nothing “comes along.” She will probably never marry. Nobody in their right mind would marry someone and take on that debt. In fact, she may find it difficult to even get a decent job due to her debt load. If she does get a job, her wages will be garnished forever. Any tax refund due to her for the rest of her life will go to debt collection. Welcome to the matrix. You are a debt slave, along with a significant percentage of your working class peers.
So much for “The Key to Success is a Good Education.” If you have to rely on loans to get that education, then it is a cruel lie that is a trap to enslave you. And, nobody lets you in on the secret. On the contrary, it is drummed into your head every day of your childhood and young adulthood that you must go to school at all costs. Whatever it takes. Go for the brass ring. Your diploma is your ticket to success. A lot of those professional jobs will not be coming back.
Now, it’s “Sorry, Sucka. Maybe you should join the military. I hear they are forgiving student loan debt if you join up and serve multiple tours…”
What’s another one? How about the talking heads all bobbing up and down in agreement to the slogan that “America has the best health care system in the world?” Hahahahaha!! Oh, and I love the line the Republicans have about Americans want to KEEP THEIR OWN DOCTORS. What friggin’ doctors? There’s forty million of us who don’t have a freaking doctor – or a dentist either! I guess my father didn’t actually die of an infection from PULLING HIS OWN TEETH because he couldn’t find a dentist that would take Medicare. Oh, I’m not even going to go down this road, because I’ve been there before and it’s just too much. You have your horror stories that are just as bad as mine.
“We are the most free people on earth.” Another howler; I notice that in that axis of evil totalitarianship, Iran, the people didn’t have to demonstrate in “free speech zones” in fenced cages about a mile from wherever a politician could see them. I noticed that their media covered the demonstrations, rather than ignore them like they do here. I know that not even Iran incarcerates nearly the percentage of their population that we do. Nobody in the world even comes close. Nobody. And, now, one can be imprisoned and held indefinitely without even being charged. Just great. “They hate us for our freedoms.” Yeah, right. I wonder how many four foot nine inch, 72 year old grandmothers get tazed in other countries for not being willing to sign a speeding ticket?
How about this one? “The Food and Drug Administration was created to protect the health of the citizenry. Yes, of course – a lot like the Bureau of Indian Affairs protected the Indians. If you believe that, you probably also believe that the “Federal” Reserve is Federal, rather than a consortium of private banks. Ha!
“We need to grow the economy. We either grow or die.” Since our whole economy is based on increasing interest (we even borrow our own dollars from the Fed),there can never be “enough.” We always need more. More money, more profit, more taxes, more houses, more resources, more people, more, more, more of everything. We are like cancer; uncontrolled growth consuming the host. No matter that we have depleted the lands, the minerals, the oil, the oceans, the seas, the rivers, the topsoil, the aquifers. We need more taxpayers, more customers, more soldiers, more servants, so we can all have more stuff and our owners can profiteer from our debt and our sickness and our service.
Well, in happy opposition to this litany of “more” I present this picture of one of our campfire brethren, Baz, from New Zealand. I don’t know for certain, but I am getting the impression that Baz is a minimalist. So refreshing in today’s world of over-consumption and never enough. See what you think.
Here is Baz’s security system:
He writes, “Mr Bumble guards the beans, strawberries and salad stuff. Not even I can get to it!
And the coup de grace is his second picture, the harvest:
He writes, “WARNING—Indian at Work .. it's winter time over here in New Zealand, so the garden ain't so flash. The tatey's are underground anyways so a pic of dirt just wouldn't suffice. I have an arrangement with the local wildlife—they eat my nuts, I eat them. You are what you eat! Don't care much for nuts anyhow. I call this synchronicity—Primitives called it, living in harmony with nature. Either way, the food comes seasoned already, with a nice nutty flavor. I harken back more toward the hunter-gatherer pre-'agricultural revolution' than post-. Possibly the native in me coming out, naturally once I've removed myself from Babylon. Not so-much an agriculturist. But OK with this 'fruit from the garden .. of earthly delights'. I'm the one on the left, incidently".
Despite the strange weather, most are reporting that their gardens are doing well and projects are advancing to prepare for the “Judgement Day” to come. Indicators from several different sources are looking at early Fall as to when things will really start to hit the fan even more seriously than they have already. If the dollar does tank, it will be more important to have useful tools, seeds, batteries, food, and items for barter than it will be to have cash. We still have a little time to circle the wagons, chop wood, carry water, and wake up from those dreams that have become a nightmare.
63 comments:
Rockpicker and all,
That video link you posted on the last post about GM foods was great. Anyone wanting ammunition for an argument, see that series of videos.
Freeacre,
Fucking 'A' excellent post, and I'm only half-way through it!
Brilliant! You are touching on so many of the same things that have been bothering me this past week.
It's the cosmic energy, I tell you!
Or, maybe mf's shrooms...
-rp
I was watching an Oathkeepers video the other day. It was a speech delivered at Lexington Green by one of the founders. In the middle of the speech, the camera broke away to a grave stone of a revolutionary war hero who had lived and died there in Lexington. The the speaker told the story of this guy. He was eighty years old that fateful day when he looked out his window and saw British regulars marching up the road. Without hesitation, he grabbed two pistols and his musket and accessories, and ran out to confront the advancing troops. He subsequently fired all his weapons, killing three redcoats, before being subdued and bayoneted 18 times.
Later, when his wife and daughter went out to collect the body, they found him, to their astonishment, still alive and attempting to reload. He lived to be 93.
None of us gets out of here alive, but we can choose the way we live, and we can choose to die with honor.
This is off-topic, but I was talking to a penguin researcher last night who spends his winters in the Antarctic, and I was trying to recall the details of an article I read some months back concerning a possible bulge in the North Atlantic due to melting Antarctic ice. Could not remember the details, and it bothered me, (the memory loss thing,)
but, hey, I just relocated the original piece on Steve Quayle.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16545-antarctic-bulge-could-floo
Palooka, could this be the global coastal event Clif High's been talking about? This guy I was talking to says the Wilkins ice shelf is hanging by a thread.
Speaking of taking advantage of one's environment, like Baz and his excellent pig, Murph and I just came back from fishing. We went up to the Newberry Caldera (can Google it, it's way cool). Off the bank, at East Lake, he caught a 20.5" four pound German Brown trout. Nice fish! Made some dill butter and broiled it. Can make trout patties tomorrow with the left-overs. Yum!
I come across it every day.. people loving Murika 'cause we're free 'n stuff -greatest country in the world. Shit. Most have never left their home town. They have no clue whatsoever of what's actually happening around them. Idol, Survivor, Jolie, Pitt, Paris, Britany is all they know. It's pathetic. And the education lie is a good lie the PTB have been peddling for a while now. It's all a lie to produce exactly what you saw on PBS. These indebted kids will enlist in the military thinking that once their done, they'll get their college loans paid off. Fat chance of that. If they make it out alive after their 3rd tour in Vietraq, the'll be a member of the walking wounded -and then they'll find out what the fine print said in the contract the signed.
Who needs a draft when you got a butt load of able bodied people who need money? The should call it the all volunteer mercenary army. This country sucks. Once the dollar crashes, maybe the overseas bases will close and the military will come back. Don't know what they'd be coming back for though.
Randy
Randy,
Be careful what you wish for. Really want all those vets from Afghanistan and Iraq trying to live in society again. I knew a bunch of Viet vets who were totally fucked up in the head man. A lot of them not nice to be around at all. Read a recent article about that I found interesting that said that so many of the soldiers have all kinds of mental and emotional problems, they could be a real problem in civilian society. Also, what would they do to stay alive? Work for Blackwater on internal security for the rich and famous? Or protecting Cheney and Bush? That's not to come down on all the vets, but there is that kind of problem coming up if we indeed do bring them all home. Such a fucking shame too. What the government has done to it's own citizens, much less to other countries.
From Belgium,
Now there is a cute little PTB trick if ever there was one, being forced to serve your country because your country won’t serve you. Nuff said!
I think I have told this story before but what the hell. The NHS (National Health Service) used to have two to three year waiting lists for things which were not immediately life threatening (hip replacement etc). Mainly because most of the NHS consultants also had private practices which came first of course. For them the NHS was just a Hoover for patients. They were ordered by the government to get the waiting list down to less than three months. The NHS solved the problem in a matter of weeks; they invented a list to get on the official waiting list. Everything changes and everything stays the same. Then there was the guy who had his NHS heart swop operation cancelled for the third time so he went as a private patient to India and had it done more or less immediately. The cost of the plane ticket was the dearest part of the whole exercise. We could go on swopping horror stories but “Life gets tedious, don’t it” as Burl Ives once said (and therein lies the danger).
Randy, all of that although I do have to agree with Murph’s comment. I saw an interview with a Vietnam vet who came home kissed his mom then went to sleep on top of his old bed. Later his mom woke him up with a cup of coffee and he came to his senses just as he was about to snap her neck. She never saw him again after that. A lot of similar cases holed up in the Baker National Forrest in Washington.
Baz, that’s some serious pig, you must have a big family or a big freezer.
It has been raining but now the sun is trying to come out so I will sit outside and listen to the rest of that GM series with the remote headphones, I don’t need to look at the guy.
Btw the cabbage family and celery etc are all doing fine except the lettuce have nearly all bitten the dust, seems strange. Oh I have a question. Can I plant winter things like sprouts in this years cabbage patch and then rotate the whole thing next year or must sprouts go into a new patch?
Yep this is what it has all come down to. As George Carlin said " It is called the American Dream because you have to be asleep to believe it".
With the exception of your thrilling Baz Report, its a sad, sad thing to realize everything you touched on could be picked out of just ONE day's paper. Multiply it by all the media rags, all the websites, all the days of the year, all the years passed under various presidents, all the decades, centuries really, that usury has run the entire operation and its pukable. Well, its far worse, but let's not go there because that's the desired outcome, but its not the way out.
I've wondered too, what will come of the influx of battle scarred souls, but they will do what is already happening, fatten the prisons, jam up the system further, make more freak headlines, enrich the alchohol industry, the gun groups, flesh out the White Supremacists, add their percentages exacerbating further the failures of their own nation. Many will dig themselves straight into the hole of the young lady in your first paragraph. Others will re-enlist because Oceania is always at war.
I gree w/ Murph: Watch what you wish for on troops coming home, a few NATO troops w/ them & we'll all be marching to another tune to the way to a detainment camp.
Hey Murph ! Brie looks like Boss.
Ya'll got it going up thar, I guess Im stickin down har in the hollers & hills. Cant do nothin fast anymore, just gotta take my time, be quiet & draw a line in the sand.
Mr. Bill,
Welcome to the camp fire. Pull up a seat and the talking stick will be around the circle.
Yes, similarities to Boss. Much longer and very silky hair though. About the same personality. Much longer body too. Mother was pure bred st. Barnard. Father is? Maybe a Lab. She has the appearance of a Neufi or Tibetan Mastiff on first look.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWU0bfo-bSY
Planted beans, peas and squash today, as well as transplanting cukes. Solstice get together with friends tonight. Rains intermittent.
Belgium,
Yup, rotation on planting areas is always a good idea. No idea why lettuce would give up so early. It should bolt before that if it is really hot out. Although, we have some permanent beds that we will not rotate in the next few years. I understand that potatoes need to be rotated every year. Strawberry beds are generally permanent. We plant our peas along the fence line every year. Onions and garlic can be multi year beds also.
If you companion plant, I think you can get away with not rotating so much though. We are still reading and experimenting to see what can be done. Big problem is returning nutrients, particularly trace minerals, to the ground. Everything you eat means that nutrient has to be brought in from somewhere else. Unless of course you want to try the humanure trip. We have so much variety of animal manure available we don't have to go that route yet.
well FA, your grasp of the overall pix and ability to put it so succiently continues to shine in the midst of what is becomming the darkest of times. to put it in simple terms we are hooked into what amounts to no more than a chain letter where, sooner or latter, there just aren't nearly enough chairs to go around when the music stops.
furthering education has become part of the tune and been turned into no more than a job. a stop along the way in career choice. work and borrow enough to pay for it AND pay one's self enough to cover cost of living.
result? another slave. albeit operating on a bit higher standard of living. or so it was in the good ole daz.
its just another cog in the same wheel. graduate and the wheel moves on to the next cog where one aspect of the flim-flam is presented as... if one can cop a job with a well healed corp you're well on your way to realizing the good ole american nightmare. errr... i mean dream.
now one thing that has just boggled me mind as the music slowly grinds to a halt is the vulnerability of these huge corps that are supposed to be so well healed with, in some cases, tens of thousands plugged into them. who'd a thunk it? and it really didn't come to fore until this past year. putting our eggs in their basket is supposed to yield security. they turn billions of dollars in cash flow. yet, throw a cob sideways into their ability to borrow massive amounts of $$ on a daily basis and next thing we see is a headline that they haven't got enough cash to make it a week! if they can't keep borrowing they're toast!! or get bailed out cuz they're 'too big to fail'.
how the hell can that happen to a company thats been in bid'ness for years turning say, 5B a month in gross rev and reporting profits of a billion a year? where the hell did those $$ go? what ought to be phenominal cash reserves built up over time? committed to paying off the dream in the form of entitlements. pensions, health care, and so on. invested in capital assets that who's value is also part of the system. what once legitimatly occupied the plus side of the ledger but now, should legitimatly be considered liabilities. instead they call them toxic assets kept on the plus side by magical accounting practice. or completly off book by the same bullshit accting. all that and operation on a day to day basis and more. like interest on debt accumulated as part of the scheme that its sound financial advice to use someone else's money rather than one's own. for how long? about a week apparently!
the music being ground out as this merry-go-round goes round is sounding more like nails on a chalk board. the smoking, screaching wheels are begging for more greese. just in time to find out that the greese turns out to be bullshit.
what is presenting as the cream at the top would have us believe the music never stops. no prob! its as if the only hope left is that it never does stop eh? but as fa and murph and boz along with many others are demonstrating there is another choice. but its a hard one that amounts to making a decision that the only way to win is to not play the game. for now its nearly impossible to completly disconnect from a drowning system. a monster designed by monsters that, by that design can only eat itself alive and, in the end has intention to take all life with it. but every aha, every new-formed intent, every decision, every action, to de-couple from its grasp puts that monster one step closer to dieing alone. choice matters... p
After three years of disappointing radishes, this year we are getting good ones! Changed seeds to giant radishes from Baker's Creek. They are great.
Now, I'm working on peppers. I have yet to grow even one crappy pepper of any sort. So, I read that they don't like rich dirt. Prefer sandy soil with potash and calcium (egg shells) added. So, in the greenhouse I prepared a tray of soil that I hope they will like, and I've started both green and red peppers to transplant to there soon. I'd like to add hot peppers and ones for pickling, too, eventually. One decent pepper would be gaining on it... Anybody got any tips on growing peppers?
Happy Soltice! This would be a good night to dance around a campfire, burn some sage, and honor our Great Mother.
"Choice matters." "The only way to win is not to play the game."
I think so, too, p.
Oh, did you see (cryptogon) where the co**su**ers at Goldman Sachs are going to receive the biggest bonuses of ALL TIME because they have made such a HUGE PROFIT THIS YEAR???? After we are going broke and paying them billions in bailout money!!! Our kids go to the poor house and debt bondage, and they levitate off with the money! AGAIN!!! What a pimp job. Where's my pitchfork...
Are you angry enough to risk being bayonetted 18 times?
Lunacy? Oh, that's like wanting to drop a two ton explosive on earth's natural satellite.
From Belgium
P wrote “…….committed to paying off the dream in the form of entitlements, pensions, health care, and so on. Invested in capital assets…….”. It’s not; it’s by and large invested in the casino economy of derivatives and therein lies the danger.
Has anyone noticed that in 1929 credit was withdrawn from financiers who had overextended themselves? This time around the financiers are a protested species and the target is the common citizenry who have overextended themselves with mortgage debt and revolving credit.
Thanks Murph!
It’s not; it’s by and large invested in the casino economy of derivatives and therein lies the danger.
absolutely! forgot about that one b. thx. cuz its massive in comparison. and the next bubble to go poooooooffff along with commercial real estate and the dollar itself.. p
So many kids of my generation (inlcuding me and my gf) are so deep in debt it's not funny. But, so many of us are also out of work that kids are defaulting on their loans left and right -before long, the loan servicers are going to be screaming for a bail-out. They'll probably get one, and there may be a crackdown on us 'dead-beat debtors', but sooner or laters it's going to occur to us that we (and our collective parents, who in a lot of cases are pissed at what's happened to their kids) can vote, and that congresspeople are elected. Hopefully, it will occur to congress sooner.
I had a good solstice. I went with my gf to the local druid ceremony. It was nice, but it didn't really resonate with my own spirtuality (I'm more Goddess oriented.) Then we went to the feast after.
The weather here has been weird as well. First we had a really cold and wet spring. One day in May saw us get over 4 inches of rain. Late last week it turned hot, with a vengenance. Like end of July hot. It was 107 yesterday when you add in the heat index.
On another note, here's some things that will prove invaluable if things do go to hell this fall, or even if things just start inflating:
Canning supplies -jars, lids, rings, canning salt, pectin, citric acid, sugar, pickling spices.
Lids can only be used once, but they last indefinitely until used. Bands can be reused. Sugar and/or pectin are necessary to make jams and jellies. Sure, you can make pectin if you have apples or crapapples, but you probably don't want to waste the fruit if you don't need to. It takes 4-6 cups of sugar per batch of jam if you're not using pectin.
Canning or pickling salt -This is NOT regular table salt. Table salt is usually iodized, and you can't use that for canning. It does funky things to the food. You need kosher salt or salt especially labeled for canning.
Citric acid lasts forever and is used to can tomatoes and similar products.
You can probably lay in a good stockpile of basic canning supplies, save for jars, for under $50. If you go to yard sales diligently you can find good deals on jars.
Screws and nails -you've no idea how valuable these are, until you run out!
Liquour, particularly vodka. In a SHTF situation, liquor is money. And vodka is THE best liquor for medicinal purposes -tincturs, antiseptic use, etc.
freeacre, yes .. I can be contrarian of nature, just ask any of my previous wives. I am not a minimalist, I am SIX FOOT, 2 INCHES! ah, great pic of the Colonel (Mr Bumble).
Belgium, nothing wrong with living in National Forests. Lived in several .. many benefits; no rent/mortgage, clean air, fresh water, fresh fish, peace and quiet. No hustling for a place in the queue. Vastly underated—Shhhh, don't tell anyone. Why do you think the vets want to live there? A; to get away from the insanity, civilians are just now waking up to. Well, I suppose they have a bit-of-a-jump on everyone else—they know the truth!
Actually not such a big pig .. had them so big, I can't even carry them! Plus the bigger they are .. the more like old boots. Gotten smarter, and if I have a choice, go for the smaller/younger ones, especially if I'm miles from home—even a small pig can weigh a ton and a half once you've traversed rivers, swamps, mountain ranges. And yes, it can be an effort squeezing it all in the Dometic propane freezer/fridge. I stay friends with the neighbors.
"It's not the one who gets the most votes, that wins [the Election]. It's the one who counts them". ~ Josef Stalin
From Belgium
Baz I never said or meant to imply there was anything wrong with it. It is an arrangement that suits everyone, the vets have the space they need and the citizenry don’t have the agro they don’t need. The point about that little story was that the vet realised that he was a danger to his own family and the war had turned him into someone who could no longer live amongst people. As you said living amongst nature has a lot going for it.
It's sad to hear stories of permanent debt servitude. One almost thinks student loans were carefully crafted just for that purpose. After all, who better to exploit than naive youngsters?
Our world is a sham. I wish I knew how we could take it back from the evil criminals who have installed themselves in power, but I can't. The only thing I can do is to hope that their own avarice will be their undoing. Other than than that, all one can do is flee to a better place. I suppose a third option is to remain blissfully ignorant, an option that 99% of the people seem to have selected.
Dave - Erstwhile Urban Wanderer
Been there, done that -spent a good many years as a merc in the ME during and after Gulf War I. Yes, there's some damage done, but it can mellow with time. And, when you're wasted on Sediki (home-made hooch which means "friendly" in Arabic) a good portion of the time, things tend to blur a little to the point where you're waking up wondering, "WTF, over. Did that actually happen yesterday? Shit.
Randy
"Our wallet is empty.
Our bank is closed. And
our credit is dried up."
-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, to a rare joint session of the California legislature
I kinda wish he'd say, "You're on your own." I think the people could probably come up with ways to cover what needs to be done and help each other if the government would just get the fuck out of the way...
I know I had my turn already, but I think I have fallen in love with Mr. Bumble.
Carry on.
Turn? Ain't no turns 'round this here fire, girl! You got somethin' t' say, you jus' grab up the talkin' stick and let it all out.
fa, Matt Savinar's piece on LATOC adds a new side twist to the story.
I just read that California's GDP is larger than that of Russia, China, Brazil or India. And it's collapsing!
Yeah, jump in there, Nina! Always good to hear from you. I like Mr. Bumble, too. Also, men in rubber boots....
Rockpicker, combine today's LATOC with Charles Hugh Smiths piece on devolution. If they turn their backs on us, perhaps it's time to turn our backs on them. Past time. More on this later. I really like the term "devolution."
Screw the industrial food sytstem! Screw Monsanto! Me and the gf made sauerkraut and pickles yesterday. She did the kraut and I did the pickles. Sweet and sour pickles. They need to ferment for six weeks and then we'll have enough pickles to last us a year. Sure, it cost a bit more than down at Mall*Wart but these are local, mostly organic (from the local farmer's market) and I made them myself!
Thus far I have canned strawberry jam, tomatoes, and pickles. Next up: peaches and blueberry jam.
Ras;
Ever heard of garlic jellies and jams, made with fruit? A friend called to say they taste pretty yummy, and he intends to try it this fall.
fa;
check out this one.
http://www.savethemales.ca/confirmedrockefeller_plan_to_g.html
holey schamolley
Awesome, ras! Good for you (and the gf). Very nice to hear about younger ones taking on canning and other viable skills. Nice to hear you have a partner to work with, too.
freeacre;
I'm reading CHS piece on devolution now. Couldn't help but share this gem.
"(That $150 billion transferred through AIG to Goldman Sachs would have funded a very large national unemployment insurance pool.)"
Yeah, while the rest of us move into storage units for the winter,
the infraelites plan to 'stick it out' administering a broken system that serves the real needs of fewer and fewer people.
How brave, and how noble.
Is that what's bothering us? that people can be so unfeeling as to let people suffer like this when there's no need for it? We have such a beautiful, bountiful country, there's no decent reason for anyone to be hurting. It makes me sick to think of what we could be, but are not.
Ras-- My grandfather Hoffmeyer made sauerkraut for us when I was a child. I hope yours turns out well. I've never tried it, and I don't think my mother did, either. It has to be better than store-bought.
I *finally* got my planter rebuilt and mostly replanted. Our weather co-operated, but has now turned hot, so I don't plan on putting the rest of the plants back until it cools off again. I didn't lose any, and the strawberries are even bearing fruit. Several of the flowers are blooming. So I guess they are all happy with their fresh dirt. I think it looks pretty good, too.
I sowed radish, chard and beets in it and they've all sprouted. I'll sow some carrots and spinach in the morning.
And I got my grape vine propped up so I can walk under it. It gets ridiculous after awhile -- in fact, I'm thinking of cutting some of the branches off already -- it's over to my house and across the back gate-- that's far enough -- about 10 ft in each direction, plus down the other side of the fence.
I, too, have noticed bare spots in stores' shelves. I have a friend who works for a grocery wholesaler. She told me several years ago, when gasoline first spiked, that our regional chain cut their deliveries by one day a week, and decreed that no truck was to leave the warehouse with less than a full load. And the shelves in the stores were not to be loaded so deep -- only three deep, instead of five or so. I'm sure such cuts have only gotten deeper now. I also have noticed a lack of choices in some things -- only one brand available instead of three, for instance.
My neighbor who was in management in our area department store that recently declared bankruptcy, just told me she's moving in with her mother. Not good.
Caroline
News from The South
The tomatoes & peaches are ripe, freezing juice & compote. Fig trees for sale at the flea mkt.
99 degree's today, 85% humidity wish I had a large enough spot to truck garden.
Ammo's dropping in price by the day, I guess no-ones got the bucks to buy any. The greedy bastards had to quit blaming the war for the ammo shortage.
Keep your Powder Dry: Ammo makers are getting alot of pressure to "shelf life" ammo & components. The makers are in opposition of this, but they will eventually be forced into it. Properly stored "old stock" will be more valuable than new in the future.
Guns: Prices are dropping, but remember the K.I.S.S. principal more moving parts mean more to break & harder to fix.
Food: Better stock up for long term shortages & high prices.Major grocery distributors are going under.
Hand tools: Just look around, nobody knows how to fix anything anymore. The computer/disposable age is main stream society. What will happen when the electric goes out? Buy a few tools a your budget allows. Or have a friend who's a tool & die maker or is a craftsman.
Cast Iron cookware: You can cook anything/ anywhere with it.
IM not telling anyone on this blog anything new. As the Murph man will attest, we have been preaching this for years, sure we all have had knuckle bumps & now were too old to "duke it out" but learn from your mistakes & dont do it again, because the times look as if you will never regain back the "old standard" financially. Have good friends, barter, stay off "radar".
Ya'll take care, cause if it goes down this time, The depression of the 30's will look like "the good old days".
Mr.Bill
freeacre;
Okay, I just finished reading Charles Hugh Smith's piece on devolution. I concur with you, everyone should jump over there and read it, as it is an articulate portrait of what most of us can expect our lives to look like here in the not too distant future. It's not easy reading, but wouldn't you prefer a little heads-up?
If we habituate to the slowly boiling pot, one can not hold blameless our scribes and poets for failing to say whose hand it is that's turning up the heat.
And when our holy voices do speak the truth, oh, that we recognize what's been done. And oh, that we appreciate the risks our messengers have run.
Sit straight. Let flushed faces
reflect the light of this stoked flame, and know this arranged devolution is no new game.
"1. Baxter isn’t following BSL3 safety guidelines or is so sloppy in following them that it can make monumental mistakes that threaten the safety of the entire human race. And if that’s the case, then why are we injecting our children with vaccines made from Baxter’s materials?
2. A rogue employee (or an evil plot from the top management) is present at Baxter, whereby live avian flu viruses were intentionally placed into the vaccine materials in the hope that such materials might be injected into humans and set off a global bird flu pandemic."
The above was lifted from an article on Baxter's flu vaccine. If you want to read the whole thing, here's the link.
http://cottontopssandbox.wordpress.com/2009/03/28/european-labs-discover-flu-vaccines-contaminated/
We need to clearly postulate and prove a unified field of evil bullshit theory, (UFEBT.)
Not a Belgian .. obviously British..
Well, I dunno .. looks a lot like there's something wrong with it! And I suppose, but I would say this, being contrarian in nature, but I've always thought it was the citizenry who were the dangerous ones! hah. I mean try strolling down the Champs-Elysees at 2am and see who mugs you! Bet ya 10 to 1, it's a desperate civilian.
“An evil exists that threatens every man, woman, and child of this great nation. We must take steps to ensure our domestic security and protect our homeland.” ~ Adolph Hitler
—“There are none so hopelessly enslaved as those who falsely believe they are free.”
Mr. Bill,
I am envious of your tomatoes and fruit. We just got our first blossoms. We are experiencing shortages of ammo here. Not certain why. Heartily agree with you re: cast iron pots and pans. We have an active Cast Iron Pot Society that does cook-offs at town functions. I want to get one of those tripods that one can hang a Dutch oven over a campfire to cook.
And, Baz, lol, "Belgium" is a person, also known as "Spirit Across the Sea" (named by Langosta, the cricket - now deceased- who speaks intermittently to Montana Freeman). It takes awhile to get to know everybody around the campfire....
Baz,
Nice pig! But you're dressing it out wrong! You got to hang it up by the hind legs, slit it's throat, and let it bleed out!
If it's a boar, the "Mountain Oysters" are the next thing to go, followed by whatever is between the loin, and the ribs!
Pam,
Great post! The scary thing is that they are tossing out these tasty treats around the Colleges and Universities where you can get all sorts of student debts paid off, and get out of boot camp with a commission if you just join the military!
They're screaming after nineteen-year-old because of his computer skills. He's not buying into it! We've already got him a Pell Grant lined up, and between us and the rest of the family, we'll get him through the local Community College for two years, and then on to whatever program that follows! It may take a village to raise a child, but it takes a tribe to educate one!
Far as the recently trained youthful cannon fodder returning from the Middle East, I'm not that worried about them. We Veterans have learned since Vietnam, that if we are to be healed, then we must heal our own! We've gotten really good at it, and if The Government that abandoned our brothers, and sisters in arms to suffer and quietly die think we're going to be on their side, then maybe they should wake up and smell the nitro!
I turn 52 Saturday. Damn, I wonder where it all went sometimes! Hazel and I have been married 9 years on the seventeenth of this month, and it seems like it was just yesterday!
Congratulations, Stoney and Hazel. May you live happily together for many more years. And good luck keeping Junior from the clutches of the military/industrial monsters.
Here's a video to kick back to.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CAX3aJCoDg&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fbluelori.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F06%2Fnew-world-order-has-arrived.html&feature=player_embedded
From Belgium,
Hi Bill,
Pull up a stump, sit in the warmth of the fire and pick up the talking stick.
It is 4am here and the birds are choking themselves to death in the gutters – used to be known as the dawn chorus. Again I have woken up with asthma and a chest full of shit. This has been going on and off since Easter and the doc keeps giving me stronger and stronger antichaotics which are fine until they run out and then it is back to the usual. I figure it is either the bovine growth hormone or the chemtrails, can’t decide which. I guess I have a choice on one of them so I could do a process of elimination problem is a cup of milk usually sends me off to sleep again.
I don’t have much to say right now except Ras I am pleased your life is settling down a bit now.
Stoney, happy birthday and anniversary when it comes around. I see you are travlling on warp time too Pleased for the boy also although I have a sneaking suspicion that the University of Life is going to prove itself more useful in the future.
Aho
SATS
OK, everybody; enough already with the "wrong" on the Baz. Obstinacy has kept me alive healthy for 50 years now*—when some fool said to go one direction, I've often gone the other—saved my life on more than one occasion. Simply sharing this—'but to afflict the comfortable! I learned a long time ago, that if you can make somebody laugh and think at the same time, they'll learn something!' ~ good creed Stoney!
Otherwise, I'll just go .. and watch T.V. hah! Ah, Stoney, got into a bit of a habit that way—arse about face. I know you don't have X-ray eyes, and can't see around corners; the mountain oysters and whatever is between the loin and ribs, were 'liberated' on the spot (way back in the bush),(relieves the weight by a 3rd), and by the time I've carried it awhile or so—it's bled (good enough, for me). Don't like to leave it hanging around too long. Get it all bagged and sorted, so I can get onto the homebrew part!
*My grandfather was the same .. he died aged 116.
Wow! Possible big scoop on rense. According to this piece, someone at American Airlines has corrected a Wikipedia entry to state that AA flights 11 and 77 did not fly on Sept. 11, 2001. Here's the link;
http://existentialistcowboy.blogspot.com/2009/06/american-airlines-exposes-bushs-big-lie.html
FA -- Like your comment on Smith's site.
And WOW! what a piece of info on 9/11 ! Why now, tho? Why did AA wait so long to make that statement?
Not that I have ever believed the official story. Even if it hadn't fallen in its own footprint (a dead giveaway), Yamasaki was too good an architect to build something that a plane could take down. I'm not saying that just because my ex worked on the materials to use for the skin of it. Fortunately, both he and Yama had passed away before it was destroyed.
I forgot to comment on rotating crop locations. I know you're supposed to, but there's only one spot in my yard where tomatoes will grow well. I've put them all over and they've languished everywhere else, even just a couple of feet from that one spot. So I just make sure the dirt is different -- and they're near the compost bin. (I think it's that as well as the sunlight.) But I think maybe changing the dirt each year accomplishes the goal of rotating. Sound logical?
The Organic Consumers Association's latest newsletter "Organic View" states that "The growth on organic food and farming is a matter of life or death." I don't believe that's overstating it, and the newsletter describes the various reasons why. The url is: http://www.organicconsumers.org/organicview.cfm
There’s much more info on their site, if you want something more to scare yourself with.
Caroline
I'm sorry you've been feeling so tough, Belgium (SATS). Back in the 70's a housemate of mine had a terrible sinus infection that lasted forever. They thought it was turning into mononucleosis, and kept giving her stronger and stronger anti-biotics to no avail. She went into a health food store and this old lady looked into her eyes and said, "You need to be taking gigantic amounts of garlic - right now!" She told her to take big garlic capsules every hour or two until the infection was gone. She took it for 2 (maybe 3, I can't remember)days, and was cured! You could probably use that garlic concentrate, too. The point is to saturate yourself with it all day and evening. Maybe it would work for you.
Regarding the news today... can you believe this load of bullocks today? Big crocodile tears for that twisted pervert. And the Farrah Faucett sad (but not unanticipated) cancer death of the day, and the Republicans calling for some sort of intervention in Iran... where were they when the American election was stolen in 2000? Oh, yeah, the governor having an affair... OH MY GOD!! STOP THE PRESSES!!! Meanwhile, all this important stuff is going on without any MSM review. All distraction.
Refresh my memory - weren't there PEOPLE on those AA planes that were supposed to have slammed into the Trade Towers? What happened to them if they were not on those planes?
Oh, and how about this new Public Relations campaign to improve the image of the banksters and bailout billionaires? Going to attempt to convince us how important they should be to all of us. Maybe if they all pooled their BONUSES and paid off some student loans or bought a shitload of foreclosed homes and donated them to the homeless that they are responsible for throwing out into the street... naw...not even then. Off with their heads.
Great, now we're going to be hearing about sighting of Elvis AND Michael Jackson.
Banksters stealing everything and Holter sits there picking his ass. Obama lying to us just as much as Bush/DICK!
And you know Neda was murdered by the CIA/Mossad.
Natural News had some doctor strongly advising NOT to be conned into taking any swine flu shot, saying it's part of the Rockafeller's eugenics project.
Geez -what to believe? What to do? WTF?
Randy
Randy;
Kerry Cassidy says Obama will announce contact with multiple ET races in November. Listen here:
http://www.americanfreedomradio.com/archive/Project-Camelot-32k-062509.mp3
Rockpicker, I can't seem to access that mp3 from Camelot by the search thingy. What is the name of the interview - who is it with? Is it under audios or interview, or what? Thanks. Just listened to most of the the Maars interview - that was bad enough.
Freeacre
Go here, http://www.americanfreedomradio.com/
then click on Show Archives and a a list of shows comes up. Project Camelot is the third or fourth down the list. Click on 2009, and a list of June's show comes up. The mention about the dollar collapsing and Obama announcing contact with ET's is fairly early on in the latest show, with David Wilcock. The Tuesday show is interesting, as well. Sauder talks about underground bases.
On this same site is a list of linked videos. The film called Tesla and the Race to Zero Point Energy, under the category 'Free Energy' is quite well done. Lots to consider in it. Also, a really good piece done by Italians called ZERO: An Investigation Into 9/11, under the 9/11 category. I recommend them both.
If you haven't already seen this, you gotta watch Max here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnmsmLsJg14
Max posts every Friday, though his show name keeps changing. I just google Max Keiser with the date. Enjoy!
You know FA, reading your bewilderment about the AA passengers, it occurs to me 911 did not freakin have to happen. We ran out of oil and money anyway and its not ever coming back. It wasn't a subprime thing, it was always oil for industry translating into representative numerals empowering one people against others.
Yes, Nina. It is all about pitting us all against each other and profiteering from all the conflicts. Democrat vs Republicans, Muslims vs Christians, working class vs ruling class, "terrorists" vs. the good guys, Shiites vs. Sunnies, now different factions in Iran... all this trumped up bullshit with lobbyists, banksters, Wall St. brokerages, military hardware outfitters, and drug enforcement minions, etc. etc. And, all the while we dumbasses are sending money to whatever side we think we are on as if it makes a goddamn bit of difference, while our rights are evaporating and our pockets are being picked.
Langston Huges asked "What happens to a dream deferred?" I can't remember the exact words, but it ended up "dried up like a raisin in the sun." I feel that way. What happens to us as a nation when we are continually lied to and betrayed, threatened, and coerced, frightened, intimidated, belittled, discounted, ignored and ridiculed? We are an abused citizenry - wounded, shell-shocked or in denial. We are ignorant, impotent, made crazy by an unending stream of lies and deception and banality.
We look for comfort in a new story or lullaby to put us back to sleep. Confusion and sadness and repressed rage are almost palpable sometimes. I am reminded of the Harlan Ellison science fiction story, "I have no mouth, but I must scream."
I don't know what it will take to heal the horror. You probably can tell that I read your blog this morning.
Here's another indication how deep the lies may go.
http://www.americanfreedomradio.com/exo_videos.html
Check out the story about David Adair.
Well speak up next time.
I suppose we had to be conditioned, perhaps tested, by 911 so when the heist was ready to go, citizens gulped and swallowed it. In other words, passed the first test. Nobody has been impeached and the media went along so well you'd think they were writing fiction for NYTimes bestsellers...
Student loans are a scam and a trap. They let the schools jack up the price so EVERYONE who isn't independently wealthy HAS to get the loan. The schools get the big bucks, but the trap is that the govt gets their finger in every part of the education process, and more control. Example: big eastern law schools wanted to stop military recruiting on campus. Govt. says "ok, no more federal money". Schools say "we can't make it without that money". Even went to the Supreme Court, said it was a freedom of speech issue (somewhat convoluted argument). Supreme Court doesn't buy it. Bottom line: you have your constitutional rights, but if you need govt. money to survive, they don't mean squat. You knuckle under. Money=Power. Taking the money=Slavery.
To the forgotten soldier, whomever s/he may be:—
You know more than you think. Remember it is the 'experts' which have got us to this point! Learn to trust your own judgment. They are only men. Imagine them naked, if it helps. You're just as capable of screwing up your own life, as they are. At least you can have the satisfaction of blaming yourself if it all goes awry. Be responsible—'Fortune favors the brave'. Every decision you make that is truly yours independent of them empowers you to greater confidence and strength—and weakens theirs. Their stronghold over your life will diminish, and become less and less.
Survival Manual, Chapter 1, paragragh 1—Trust no-one. Applied loosely, this tenet alone can save your life!
Why put your 'faith' in them at all? Whaddayou religious! Do you really 'believe' someone telling you how to live, who makes a gazillion dollars 'advising' you, doesn't have a vested interest in deceiving you?—CONFLICT!
WTF is revolving-credit anyway, really? Sounds like some kind of spinning machine designed to disorient you! Pretty clever device then. Save on interest charges and throw yourself into a top-loading washing machine for the same affect at a fraction of the cost! Take responsibility for your own life spinning out of control—and enjoy the wild ride! You'll feel cleaner for it.
All of these tips, either deployed separately or in conjunction .. can, and have, saved lives.
The times seem to warrant this reprint.
Magnetic Ribbons and the Yellowcake of Faith
When we wake puking shame
at last, and know the dream
for sham, embraced en masse...
When bells that rang victorious
hang mute, their tarnished claims
ignored in disrepute, and
bitter sons, having been all they
could be, can't wish back innocence
or the leg below the knee...
(This brash regime's trimmed reason
from its ranks, its black guard
in the street, protecting flanks.)
...then will we heed the schemers'
gloating leer? "There's no future
for dissidents here."
Row on row, with hand
in trembling hand, it's come to this.
We dreamers need to stand.
-rockpicker
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