THERMOPYLAE ALL OVER AGAIN?

The build up in the fire pit during HSW visit in preparation to fire 3 of his clay heads. Sort of looks like a salad doesn't it? There were at least 10 different items in that fire for effect on the clay.

THERMOPYLAE ALL OVER AGAIN? from murph

If you aren’t familiar with the battle of Thermopylae, Wiki will give you some of the background. The legend is that 300 Spartans defended a pass to stop the passage of a huge amount of invaders intent on taking over Greece. It was referenced at the last part of the movie “The Last Samurai”. In actuality, there were back up armies to the 300 Spartans, but a turncoat got them all killed. In the end, the invading hoards were repelled.

I bring this up as a simile to current situations. There is a huge horde at the gates, threatening the PTB and wanting to abolish their rule. The Spartans (an extreme warlike group) composed of the PTB and their minions are defending the status quo. They are vastly outnumbered but have the machinery of war and suppression at their disposal. We have been talking for years now about who will win this confrontation. How many of the defenders were killed? To the very last man according to the story.

Our problem as citizens is to survive until the conclusion of the battles and then deal with the aftermath. The question in my mind, are there enough bodies to oppose the PTB? At this time, it appears not to be although that could change dramatically as our living situations deteriorate. There does seem to be considerable rebellion going on around the world. How much has been instigated by the PTB is open to question and just what the agendas are we, of course, are not privy to.

Freeacre and I have been exposed to huge amounts of contradictory information concerning Libya and the uprising there. According to a couple of sources, Libya was in actuality a very open populace democracy wherein the government used its oil revenue for the benefit of the population and Gaddafi had no power at all, only as an advisor. The country supposedly had the highest standard of living of any country in Africa. The contradiction is that Gaddafi was a tyrant dictator that had to be replaced. It has been fairly obvious to us that a lot of the photos and news items concerning the rebellion has been spun and doctored. Preparing us for another damned war? Is the US determined to control the whole of mid-eastern countries? Considering how much hate is directed toward the US in that area of the world, it is going to take some pretty hefty military presence to do that. Who in hell is going to finance that? China? Japan? Germany? Not likely. But we shall see.

One of the big contradictions I see is over the worlds oil supply. Circulating around is the concept that the US has oil reserves that far exceeds all the other reserves in the world put together. Well, if that is true, what are doing fighting over oil in the Arab worlds? Make sense to you? Somebody is lying to us on a grand scale.

On the home front.

It sure appears to us that heavy criticism of the US government is coming under some pretty draconian suppression. In many ways, I approve of that. Nothing like suppression to get the adrenalin boiling up and rebellion started. At the same time, a lot of people are going to take it in the ass. Not justice, not pretty and with no real justification at all outside of the top people’s lust for power. This has led us to be concerned with what is being said on the internet, principally, the criticisms of policy and behavior of the PTB and their minions. How much of a crackdown is coming at us? How many folks are going to be made example’s of what happens when you criticize?

While this blog has a, relatively speaking, small readership and comments, it has tended over the years to be quite critical of the goings on nationally and worldwide. Will any of us be made examples of? We have quite a few examples of popular sites being discontinued. What was the reason? Pressure from some power players? Threats? We don’t really know. Small blogs such as this one are primarily composed of people with few resources to fight that kind of pressure or defend against threats. But, we do know that often when an example is to be made, it is mostly directed at those folks with the least ability to fight back. The family organic farmers and food coops are a prime example of the big commercial agricultural business taking on those without the power to fight back. Observe whom the IRS goes after. Same thing is happening at the international level. The US certainly is not taking military action against a country that has the capability to mount an effective resistance. Although I have to admit that Afghanistan is doing pretty good with asymmetric warfare. We sure as hell are not pressing those countries with nuclear retaliation capabilities.

So, Freeacre and I are contemplating whether to continue this blog. We are as concerned for you the readers and those that comment as we are for ourselves. Is it time to stop and become a bit more anonymous? Have we said all that is to be said? Do we now need to turn our attention elsewhere?

We are interested in what others have to say on this subject. Let us know.

A Note from Freeacre –

Personally, I don’t want to end our association with the tribe. But, the blog site gets about two thousand hits a month from all over the country. Most of the people who read our site do not make comments. That’s been fine with me during the time when we were attempting to raise awareness of peak oil and other resources, provide alternatives to the corporate injunctions, learning to produce our own food, organizing the community, etc. But, now it seems to me as well, that we have written about preparing until we are practically blue in the face. We thought it would have all crashed and burned years earlier. Who knew they would come up with the wild assortment of mitigating factors that they have – trillions in “bail outs,” never-ending wars, creating a suffocating police state, and God knows what all? It looks as if they are going to string this crap out forever.

I’m about done with preparing. Now, I want to accomplish some things on my “bucket list” while it’s still possible. We may not even plant a garden next year. We may take a year off and travel a bit. I’d like to be more artistic. It seems that many of you have moved on as well.

The earth changes and possible asteroid, comet, or dwarf star approaches mostly either will or will not take place within the next couple of months. Frankly, I’d like to keep holding each others hand awhile longer at least. Somewhere down the line, I think we should close down the blog and the “regulars” continue our friendships through e-mail, phone calls, or visits.

The grid could go down at any time – whether through natural or man-made reasons. I guess that’s the last thing that we need to prepare for.

aho