Making a Timely Response

murph exercising his inner Neanderthal with the hides


Had to do something with the mint and lettuce from the garden: Tahbouli salad

By murph (& freeacre)

Scrapwood asked the question in the previous comments, "Why are their no longer people like Mario Silvio (deceased). Where are the protests and why do young people just sit on their hands and do nothing.

I have a tentative answer for you.

I have had the excuse to talk a bit with younger people lately, 20 somethings. It appears to me that many of them realize that something is terribly wrong. It also appears to me they have no idea what to do about it or they realize the futility of trying.

IMO, it appears to me that we missed our chance (if there ever was one) to do something important in the direction our society was taking back in the 60's -70's. Yup, lots of protesting, lots of ideologies floating around back in the day. However, you probably noticed that nothing came of it. I attribute that to the naïve-ness of the population at the time. I was into some of it. We really didn't understand the nature of what we were dealing with or fighting against. We actually believed that protesting in the streets would/could change anything substantial. How wrong we were and we got beaten up bad. We were also under the impression that we lived in a system where those that governed actually had our interests and well being at heart. Wrong again.

I read/listen to speeches and documents by people that have some influence and the fringe activists of every stripe. None of them will actually admit (if they realize it) what the problems actually are and as you should realize a problem can't be fixed if it is not defined correctly.

This country, socially, decided a long time ago that bigger, more, and more complex was better and that there was nothing wrong with greed. Consequently, there is never enough of anything, enough of actions or things or laws or ANYTHING. Always more and more.

While we have a very few examples of (what we call primitive) social groups where that drive for more is suppressed or not indulged in, it certainly is prevalent in all of what we call western civilization. There is much written concerning this drive for more of everything and what drives it. Take your pick of the explanations; it is readily observable no matter what its driving force is. This is the fallacy of western civilization; that there is always more available. Which is true for the short term. For the long term, we have all kinds of examples from history of what that attitude brings down on the societies of the time, collapse and chaos. (Notice that I do not use the term anarchy for this.) In the 60’ and 70’s we forgot that in the end analysis, there is no free lunch, that infinite expansion is not possible, that there are always consequences for decisions and actions, that there are absolute limits to growth dictated by the environment we live in, the physical reality of finite stuff on this globe.

Back in the day we forgot that there is always a certain percentage of the population, (usually around 1%) that are by definition psychopathic, that is, they will do absolutely anything they can get away with to further their acquisition of stuff and power over other people. They are absolutely ruthless in this pursuit. Supposedly, our system of government was put in place to limit and control those tendencies. Over time this was corrupted almost absolutely until we now have multiple crises over it. The psychopaths are truly and absolutely in power. The people put into power now have almost complete control and are expanding their control over the absolute essentials needed for personal survival. These people are not content with having every single material thing at their disposal and enjoyment. Instead, this is expanded into the desire to absolutely control everyone else on the planet also. I have to admit that I don’t understand or have any empathy concerning this drive to control people like this. Right down to the local level in communities, there are those that wish to control what people can or cannot do even when it is benign. Science is often utilized to prove that the control is necessary for the general good. In some cases, that might even be true. But, unfortunately, most of the “good for you” control has nothing to do with your or my well being. It is control for control sake and not to enhance the experience of living and making it safe. Every time I hear someone say that there ought to be a law about something I want to scream. Shit, we have laws governing right down to what we can eat or drink or smoke or even say or think now. There are never enough laws to satisfy the psychopaths. Of course, the psychopaths don’t have to live according to those laws, just everyone else.

We no longer live by the concept that your freedom stops at the end of my nose and visa versa. We no longer have the live and let live paradigm in our society. Instead, we have opted for more central control over our lives and opted for the greed is good concept. We are now looking at a future of consequences of those decisions.

If my above observations are correct, protests are an exercise of futility. Just a good way to let off emotional steam and maybe get beat up bad by the police and see just how much physical abuse one can take and still function. Protest will not change anything currently dealing with how the system operates nor change the minds of the people in power.

Which brings me to the subject of attitudes of the people in power. It seems obvious to me that there is a rather large chasm between those in power and everyone else. It also appears to me that those in the political elite (the minions for the PTB) have little if any respect for the peons below them in economic and social status. We are viewed as being useless eaters, stupid and untalented. For a good rant on this see; http://www.joebageant.com/ titled “Understanding Americas Class System”, his latest missive on this subject that I totally agree with. If Bageant is correct, what will protests or any other agitation actually accomplish? To have protests and challenges to policies and actions to have any affect on those policies and actions, those initiating them must recognize the validity of the protests, which they sure as hell do not.

One thing I do maintain is that if we want serious changes, we have to stop feeding the psychopaths and ultimately take away their power. That’s what revolutions are about. The problem is, historically, revolutions always seem to end up with another set of psychopaths in power. They may tread lightly for a while and make all kinds of promises, but in the end it is their power they are concerned with. World power is one giant Medusa. Cut off one head and another takes over. If this madness is to cease, the Medusa must be eliminated, by any means possible. That means that the controlling elite over the political elite has to be eliminated. How that would be accomplished I have no idea. Feel free to put the ideas of how to accomplish it out there. You will find that most will laugh it off. There is still that hope that one may one day become part of that elite too. I have not much hope for the elimination of the psychopaths, to be frank, at least in my lifetime. That’s for the younger generation to deal with. No wonder they are skateboarding.

(an add-on by freeacre)

I have a soft spot in my heart for the next generations. My very dear son is a GenX-er. I think these kids mostly fall into three categories, in terms of how they are choosing to deal with the struggles that they face:

1) They are techies who think that there is a technical fix to the problems ahead. These are the ones devoted to green power, better phone apps, or whatever. They are optimists (like my son - go figure) who are scarcity deniers, and who also do not read the papers, watch the news, and could care less about political parties. They are probably acutely aware, however, of the many ways the military could stifle them with the newest pain rays or other computer chip horrors if they were to openly rebel.

2) They join the military, due to economic realities, joining the ROTC in high school, or playing too many video games. These mostly working class kids are cannon fodder for our endless series of wars to prop up the stock market. Hoo Raaah! There are not enough of them being born here, which has required a permeable southern border.

3) Our “surfer” dudes, skateboarders, snowboarders, X-treem types or their tattooed and pierced wannabees who I think of as “shunners.” These kids are disenchanted with the foreseeable future, would like to get off the grid, and are trying to figure out some ways to get out of the system, since they have long since figured out that it holds nothing good for them. They have turned their backs on the corporate ladder (obviously), and are attempting to Not Feed the Beast. They do not read newspapers or watch the news, except maybe John Stewart on Comedy Central. These are the ones who call in sick to their pizza delivery jobs due to the National Snowboarding Championships being on the tube.

That’s my take on these Dear Ones born into this House of Horrors. Personally, my bet is on an asteroid to hit the re-set button.



Hot Springs Wizard preparing for Burning Man

"Bug Out" Time & What the Hell is the Government Doing with Food Regulations?

Our esteemed poet, stone mason and gardner, Rockpicker, with his exemplary cauliflowers



Rockpicker & Oldensoul's lush Montana garden



by Murph

Hmmm, ok ok. So I made a bad pun out of the title. You’ll see why coming up.

On Monday morning’s Urban Survival, by George Ure, he spends some time on bugs, or the lack of them. This has been a contention of mine for a good many years now, and I’m going to be mixing some personal observations and a few factual tidbits in with this.

First, some factual stuff. We have all heard of the honey bee problems going on for a number of years now. They are dying and not because of some truly obvious reasons. I have read that the fingers are pointing at some virulent bee-disease is at fault or environmental pollution or farming practices of spraying everything with insect killer chemicals or climate changes or, or, or. Those of us who have at least a marginal concern over this realize that is going to have some nasty consequences. Many agricultural crops (stuff for human consumption) depend on bees for pollination of the plants. Now bees are not the only pollinators but they are very near to 80% of pollination insects needed out there in agricultural land, noted for their efficiency in doing the pollination and the side benefits of honey in the hives. A huge business has developed around professional bee keepers trundling big trucks full of bee hives around to various farms and making money doing that. Many have gone under because of the fairly substantial die off of the bees. Around here in central Oregon, I am lucky to see 10 honey bees all summer. I have no idea where they have a hive. There are simply not enough flowering plants around here to keep a substantial amount of them alive. Now go over the mountains to the west and the ecology changes a bunch.

As a side note, this last weekend, Freeacre decided that we had to get away from the place for a while, drive the 70 miles to the west and go blackberry picking and save the money from buying from the commercial growers at the farmers market. After a 2 hour drive, we finally started to see some blackberry bushes along side the road, got off the major arteries to get us some “free” fruit of the vine. Now I got to admit that after going berry picking in the Midwest, (a lot of years ago now) this particular experience was a bit disappointing. The berries were very small, not in big clusters unless we wanted to figure out how to get into the middle of a patch that was 10 feet thick. (Ouch, the thorns I had forgotten about). So about an hour later and maybe 8 cups of berries picked by the two of us, we packed it in and headed home. Now I remember my mid west experience of going out by myself and picking a variety of wild berries and in an hour filling a 2 gal pail. (except huckleberries and currents of course, that like picking bee-bees and trying to fill a bucket). What the hell, is it the weather? Or our timing was bad? Lack of bees? Or what? Anyway, I found the yield was not worth the effort. LOL Made for some relatively expensive 8 cups of berries. Good flavor though.

Oh yes, where was I? The bugs.

I realize that most people are perfectly content to have fewer bugs around to annoy us. Sort of like the bears, coyotes, snakes, big cats, and all the other critters that get in our way and cause us discomfort. Try getting someone aside that hates bugs and try and convince them they are necessary. Good luck. The only good bug is a dead bug you know. At the Monday Urban Survival posting, one section that Ure talks about is peoples observation that there are less bugs about. So here is my observation on this.

When I was a kid growing up in the Midwest, mostly in small towns or fairly country living, the amount of bugs was stupendous. I had an extensive pinned butterfly and moth collection. I have not seen any of the large Lepidoptera moths for over 30 years now. Same thing with butterflies. Now I’ve moved around a lot in this country, lived most of my life in the Midwest in one location or another and now am in the Pacific North West. I think my observations have at least some validity.

Flat out, there are fewer bugs around. Even here with the wet cool spring we had, the mosquito population was way down. We have also noticed that there are a lot fewer birds too. Probably because there aren’t as much bugs for food. The last time I lived in Michigan, I lived on a small rural kettle lake. At that time I was amazed at the lack of bugs. Very few mayflies, hardly any crickets or grasshoppers, few frogs, salamanders or toads. The only thing we had in abundance then was the Gypsy moths for which there was extensive aerial spraying. Any connection do you suppose? Where we are now, there is quite a bit of mosquito spraying going on. This year we had very few bugs around, definitely not much in pollinator types, and far fewer birds. The only birds that seemed to be in normal populations were the wild doves and the coveys of quail. And we consistently put out wild bird food. Freeacre has a book of wild birds that extensively covers this area. It has post it notes all through it of species of birds we cataloged when we moved here. This year, hardly any of them are back. What the hell is going on?

Also on the home and national front lines is the news about the giant egg recall for salmonella poisoning. Folks, I sure hope you realize how much of a scam this is. It is bull shit in the extreme, among many others. It has been a whole bunch of years since it was safe to eat a raw egg you know. Salmonella is everywhere dealing with poultry, on and in the eggs, on and in the flesh of commercially grown birds. It is very common, particularly in the flash of chickens. You just have to cook everything very well and it kills all them little critters that give you the runs and where you feel like hell for a few days. Now just what is hell is the FDA getting so excited about eggs and is doing nothing about the unsanitary conditions in the marketing of chicken meat? It’s the money honey, duh. I also presume you all realize that there is a push to get rid of organic truck farms, back yard vegetable gardening, selling of home grown produce and animal products. Hell, our local Grange has a potluck every month and we were just notified that we could no longer advertise that the public was welcome to these, because of food safety problems. Our Grange cannot sell non certified kitchen bakery products made at home because they are not commercially packaged.

Now lets take a look at this. Every year there is food contamination where a lot of people are sick from eating commercially grown and packaged foods. When was the last time you heard of someone getting sick from a potluck dinner? I haven’t ever heard of one. So just who is contaminating the food supply? It sure isn’t Gertrud’s fancy casserole for the monthly potluck.

It is the same thing here with our fight with the county over the “nitrates in the drinking water” fight. We have yet to see a documented case of sickness in all of Oregon from nitrates in drinking water. In fact, nationally, it is so rare that most doctors have no idea what methemogobinemia is and have never heard of it, but a huge amount of money is revolving around that very issue.

It sure appears to me that the big ag businesses are trying their damndest to completely take over the food supply. Remember back a bit where there was proposed that every single domesticated critter in the country was to be biometrically chipped? That one didn’t fly because big ag would lose too many bucks on it. So now they are creating bull shit food crisis’s to scare the beejesus out of everyone for more regulations that don’t cure the problems. After all, if you can absolutely control the food and water supply, you can make a whole bunch more money and have a whole bunch more power over peoples lives.

When in hell are the citizens of this country going to wake up on these issues and take some damned serious action around it? Welcome to the new world order.

Masters of War

Just some pictures of the food we are eating from the backyard. Feels good to be at least somewhat successful swimming against the tide...
freeacre

As usual, the conversation has been really good, but I feel compelled to continue it with a new post so that the comments don’t go to a crazy level. Actually, I want to start with a comment p put up from the last batch, because it exemplifies one of the zillion aspects of how totally corrupt and self-serving the parasitic Overlords have become. The continuing wars in the Middle East or wherever the latest trumped up justification leads is just beyond belief. Here’s p’s comment from yesterday”

today's pop quiz allows for 3 guesses and the first two don't count. what pri contractor to the military is this...

1) They were in charge of clean water, but most of the water sources were found to have no treatment in them at all, and when tested were found to be chock full of pathogens and parasites

2) They were in charge of food, but refused to allow 24-hr. access to meals (not cost-effective), so since soldiers' mealtimes were all known, that's when mess halls and camps were attacked

3) They were in charge of laundry (getting $99/bag for it), but soldiers said their clothes came back dirtier than they went out, and they were forbidden to wash out their own clothes in the sink

4) They were in charge of soft drinks, which were given to the soldiers for free, but the camps were charged $46/6-pack to purchase them, yet the drinks were made locally in the desert, thus the transportation cost was almost nothing

5) 'Cost Plus' payment basis meant they are given a percentage of everything they spent; therefore they had no incentive to save money

6) Company orientation meetings were in the most lavish seaside hotels in Kuwait,w/unlimited access to sea and sports vehicles, and employees were paid by the hour to use them. Ordinary employees living in the company compound were provided everything, including deluxe living arrangements, 5-star meals catered in every day, and were each (including secretaries) given a top of the line ford or chevy truck fully loaded, while those higher up were given hummers and cadilac escalades.....for the desert... One former employer saw a copy of the 3-yr. lease for an employee's SUV--it was $7,000/mo. (totalling roughly $250,000 for the vehicle, over a 3-year period, that anyone in america could purchase for around $45,000 ... american taxpayers paying the difference...)

7) When the wrong equipment was delivered (frequently), it was left in its packaging, and then eventually the warehouse was set on fire and everything declared a loss and insurance collected.

8) Brand new (military, not civilian) trucks costing $75,000-$100,000 each were shipped w/out little things like oil filters, which of course quickly trashed the trucks and required purchase of new ones...In fact, regulations required that the soldiers blow up defective trucks and destroy them, so nothing was ever salvaged from these vehicles....


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chXjCtkymRQ&feature=related

its said there's a right place in U for everything that exists. i wish these fucks god speed on their journey... p
The disgusting thing is that after the malfeasance of KBR and Halliburton has been exposed on television, Youtube, and in congressional hearings, these war profiteers continue to be granted additional contracts! The troops continue to get used for every sleazy contrivance, putting their lives and health at risk, while these moral lepers haul in the Big Bucks. It goes on and on. Throughout the Republican and now the Democratic administrations, it hasn’t mattered.
The moral turpitude of the military/industrial /banking cartel just defies even my penchant for ridicule and abuse. All the while hypocritical lip-service is given as to how much this country cares for its troops. I could gag.
Now, new feelers and hints are slipped into our consciousness every day. Pakistan, Somalia, Iran, Lebanon…. Who’s next? Drones operated like video games from remote bases in the states drop bombs on wedding parties and reporters. And who is called to task? The guy who “leaked” the information. He gets sentenced to fifteen years. Anybody with more than Corn Flakes stuffed into his cranium knows that the wrong people are going to jail.
“War props up the economy,” is it said. Oh, really? Just who’s economy? Sixty-six percent of the income growth between 2001 and 2007 went to the top 1% of all Americans. For the first time in U.S. history, banks own a greater share of residential housing net worth in the United States than all individual Americans put together. The bottom 50 percent of income earners in the United States now collectively own less than 1 percent of the nation’s wealth. Wars are not adding any money to my economy. …or yours, either, unless you are a Federal worker, maybe. The average Federal worker now earns 60% more than the average worker in the private sector(stats from Survival Acres). These are the minions who facilitate the atrocities that the Rulers decree. Add in the media talking heads, the sports stars, and the Hollywood glitteroti who distract us from the daily grind.
The rest of us are in the “service economy.” Read that “we are their servants.”
I remember when we were not servants. I was reminded last night when we watched a DVD I picked up at the video section of our local grocery store. It was entitled, “The Chicago 10.” What a blast from the past. It was a surprisingly good and creative portrayal of the anti-Vietnam War era. Great footage of the thousands of protesters and leaders of the anti-war, pro-peace movement. The demonstrations in Chicago during the Democratic Convention and the subsequent trial of the 8 and their lawyers. I would say that it was right about the time that they all were convicted and sentenced to do time, that the Overlords decided to really destroy our freedom and put us on our knees.
It’s forty years later, and they’ve pretty much got it all locked up. Our only hope is that their success will be their undoing. Now that they’ve killed so many and planted the seeds of revenge into millions, poisoned the land, sea, and air, stuptified the masses, made most of us sick, depleted the oceans, wasted the water, and fucked up the climate – are they happy now?
There’s an Italian scientist who reports that he is finding that the Gulf Stream has stopped, due to the changed viscosity of the water from the oil and dispersants in the Gulf. If that’s the case, they’re going to have to fit Buckingham Palace with some serious insulation as the Ice Age returns to the British Isles. And, if the electrical grid goes down due to the increased electromagnetism of the sun, the Wizards of Wallstreet are going to be in a world of hurt when all their electronic money blinks out. Poof! I don’t think anybody’s gonna want to carry their bags anymore.
Contradictory reports on just about everything continue to drive me crazy. Happy talk on the lamestream about how the oil is disappearing from the Gulf, the economy is “recovering,” the well has been permanently capped, the stock market is strong, etc, flies in the face of the unemployment figures, the real estate being held in reserve by the banks, the corexit in the Gulf waters, the near bankruptcy of many nations (including ours), and being on the verge of WWIII.
I guess the most serious outrage, though, is the corruption of the war mongers and their minions. The damage that they are doing to our troops, our nation, the poor people we go to war against and the planet in general are just beyond words. Just keep this all in mind in the next election… third parties or “none of the above” is going to be my option. Where is Ross Perot when we need him?

MURPH’S SOAP BOX RANT FOR THE DAY, Screw the political parties.

Photo of rattle snake from Hot Springs. I figure I'm feeling a bit of Don't tread on me.







I get from 25-50 emails a week, and have been for the last year at least, from political identities asking for money to support one thing or another. Some are direct appeals from people in office, running for office and what sure appears as PAC groups. Particularly from the PAC type groups, their appeals center on putting a particular political view in front of a house of congress, a particular individual in congress or even the president. What in the fuck are they talking about? It has been obvious to me for a very long time now that in a practical sense, it matters not. It only takes one person to suggest to another, within the political system, that there is a problem that needs correcting. It does not take millions of dollars to do this. What does this donated money to a cause pay for? Why shit, that’s obvious to me anyway. It pays an army of people with 6 figure incomes each to walk around Washington to smooze with the power set up people that are already making 6 figure incomes with huge retirement benefits and health care. What these donations in actuality are used for is the distasteful act of pressuring government people to do what they want. What the hell? What are we paying these government people for anyway? These people are sitting in plush offices doing little more than thinking up more laws to fleece everyone that they can get away with while their staff does all the heavy lifting. At least they have the staff to write long winded bull shit speeches to either house of the congress that sound so fine with rhetoric to get the adrenalin pumping in the masses that finally someone understands the problems and wants something done about it. It’s all fucking bullshit. It doesn’t work. If it worked, the changes would be made already. Those blood sucking vampires in the government do what is to their best advantage to keep those fancy 6 figure incomes and bennies rolling in.

Had a conversation a few days ago with an aspiring local candidate, who I happen to actually like. Nice guy. Runs a local business, appears honest and not greedy. Running as a Republican. We got into a discussion on politics. He had recently attended some kind of state get together of Republicans and Karl Rove was there. We had heard hints that he was impressed with Rove. My BS antenna started vibrating like mad and the meter pegged. So, I asked him about it, what was Rove like to him? He said he thought the guy was smart and very engaged in politics. I must have inadvertently let an expression cross my face and he asked me what I thought of him. Whew! I took a deep breath, and reminded him I do not belong to the liberal Democratic Party group and that I did not sympathize with much of anything they are about. I then took another deep breath and said that I considered Karl Rove and Dick Cheney two of the most evil bastards that have been spawned on American society and the world, and their parents should have done the world a favor when they were born and put them in a burlap sack with some rocks and thrown them into the nearest body of water; that I put them right into the same group as Bérnaye, Strauss, Hitler, Mussolini, Machiavelli and George Bush Jr.; and that they were single handedly responsible for some of the most destructive aspects of our society, and that I had a bunch of justification for saying that. Further, that Rove instituted a propaganda campaign that was immensely successful getting the Christian fundies on the Republican side and then threw them under the bus and they didn’t even realize what was done to them. He got this astounded and maybe thoughtful look on his face and we went on to something else.

Now I ask, just what in hell is going on in the minds of the political ideologues of any stripe? Obviously it is money and power, but is that all? There are other ways of preserving power and gaining riches without destroying countries, people’s lives or even the earth. There has to be other motivations don’t there? Maybe humans are truly flawed and they have no control over their decisions. Maybe Satan truly walks among us. Either way, it’s all just so much bull shit. In the end analysis, there are consequences for actions. If the consequences are not immediate, the perpetrators tend to figure that they got away with it and are free to wreck more disasters from which they gain power and money. (Is this a complaint about a god who is supposedly running the show? You bet!). Perhaps this gives the quote I made in a previous post by Joules more credence. We truly need some great vengeance and terrible anger laid upon those who poison and destroy the brethren. We need more red pills given out, even when the choice is the blue ones, which maybe is a good metaphor for “blessed is he who in the name of charity and good will, Shepard the weak through the valley of darkness for he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost children”.

It’s all very fine and well to talk about smaller government that just provides basic services and defense and that a capitalistic free trade economic system is the best of all worlds. But show me a society that indeed engages in those ideas. Show me a system that actually advocates such and isn’t corrupt as hell. In a word, what society today, especially the industrial ones, don’t exhibit hypocrisy to the point of absurdity?

Sorry to be running Joules little monologue past you again, but I am sick unto death reading and listening to what these numbass, dangerous, psychopathic nitwits that are in power have to say about much of anything. You know that if any of them get a fit of rare consciousness, and propose something that makes sense, it won’t happen. Everything that is done today is to support, entrench and enrich the psychopathic assholes in power. Talking about it, agitating about it, passing out red pills isn’t cutting it. What I fear most is how much more damage they are going to create before they are forced to stop. Just how much more anal lube is going to be distributed and applied before people take action and stop the pain? When will we shape up and stop destroying the environment that supports us? When are the ideologues going to be told to shut the fuck up and mean it? When are we actually going to advocate and enforce a more egalitarian society? When will the sharks, the mafia operations, the greedy bastards, the liars’ hypocrites’ thieves’ opportunists and bastards get eliminated from the gene pool? Probably never of course, but we should at least have a modicum of control over their activities which we do not have at this time. The rapers and looters have been given legitimacy and are running wild. Most of society has swallowed the blue pill and god only knows what it will take to pull them up into the reality of their lives. I would like to think that I have at least a rough understanding of what is being done to us, and even then, I have doubts about some of what I think I know. Just too damned much conflicting information out there, wild speculation, and not much attention being paid to the facts. See; http://survivalacres.com/wordpress/ July 7 posting on this. He makes some good points.

On a gentler note; the garden and greenhouse are finally taking off. I have actually done some hand pollinating. We have started to eat out of the garden regularly. Pretty soon the excess will need to be preserved. Put up a new batch of rabbit jerky that is yummy. Guy finally picked up his refinished rifle stock. Rabbits and chickens going nuts over the greens I give them from the garden.

Question, which is my reality?



Photo from that mountain man get together we went to.

You Decide

Geezers on parade


Our friend's car

Freeacre

My last post asked the question “Is This It?” Matt Savinar (of Life After the Oil Crash – Breaking News) was advising gathering together with old friends and basically kissing your ass good-by in response to the disaster in the Gulf. That on-going catastrophe will have hideous consequences – no doubt about it. And, the on-going wars in the Middle East as well as the potential of war breaking out between Israel, Iran, and Lebanon is also nerve-wracking as well. We could be on the verge of WWIII as the situation escalates. Who knows what the real motivation behind all this bazaar activity is? Propping up the military/industrial war profiteers? Secure limited resources, like oil and rare earth minerals? Control of the heroin trade in Afghanistan? A new Crusade against the Muslim hordes- so that, God forbid, banks never have to give up collecting interest as is mandated by Shia law). Maybe it’s part of an Illuminati master plan to siphon even more money and power into the coffers of the mega-rich. Some End Game strategy to eliminate two thirds of the population of the earth so the elites can be more comfortable, re-institute feudalism and enjoy their castles and estates with a manageable level of peasants. We know it is not to end “terrorism.” If they were worried about terrorists, they wouldn’t be suing Arizona for enforcing the laws against unidentified people sneaking into the country by the thousands.

Yeah, well, whatever…

But, right now, despite all the dire scenarios and projections, I find myself feeling unusually happy.

Maybe it’s the heat and the blue skies. After a frigid June having to worry about all the little seedlings in the garden freezing to death, we are experiencing a nice, sunny, warm July. The plants are thriving and seem to be making up for lost time. For some reason, we haven’t seen a chem trail in two weeks and the skies are back to being the high desert deep blue that is so spectacular.

Our little town’s Frontier Days celebration the week of the 4th was fun and charming. Half the town was in the parade displaying whatever it is that they are passionate about (horses, lawnmowers, antique cars, pets, etc.) and the other half was standing along the route and applauding whomever and whatever passed by. It felt like a real sincere community event. People had parties and picnics and good times prevailed.

But, the best news is hearing from both ras and Lucretia that they have found ideal places to move. Not just good, but miraculously good, in my estimation. Lucretia and her husband desired a place to rent where they could have a garden, extra space for their stuff, and that wouldn’t cost them an arm and a leg. You can click on her blog from this front page and read all about what they have found. Truly amazing. All that they wanted and much more… and in a little town called “Troutdale.” How cool is that? Parenthetically, I was born there.

Ras sends pictures of ten lovely acres that she and her bride are purchasing close to The Farm intentional community! The area has so much to offer in terms of progressive ideas with a proven track record of successful alternatives to the dismal matrix of the predominate culture. Murph would call it “fortunate.” I call it “miraculous.” Whatever it is, it’s good. Real good.

Hearing about these new possibilities is making my heart sing. Dave is also moving to Tennessee. Palooka’s Revenge is not that far away in the place he is developing. At $2,200 per acre, it’s a possibility that many readers of the Campfire might find attractive and do-able. You just never know what is going to pop up. Like my morel mushrooms that sprang up in our backyard.

Despite the greater picture on the macro-level, victories are being experienced by those seeking to live harmoniously with the earth. I am finding that encouraging. Now seems to be a good time to make it happen. Since we have no control over the larger issues, it seems we must concentrate on our own lives and local communities. Murph and I just finished watching “The Matrix” series over again. Amazing what a great metaphor the matrix is to the false construct the overlords have designed for us. Unplug, get out, see the patterns, the codes, the programming. Unite and fight the machine.

As the Oracle points out over and over in each of the three movies of the Matrix, our lives and, indeed, our reality is continually created by our choices. Having the right to choose is the basis of freedom. Without freedom, we are not fully human, We are like the poor souls trapped in pods, immersed in the delusion of The Matrix, and whose life force is being harvested by The Machine… “ The Herd”, “Sheeple,” “Consumers.”

In the movie, great courage, loyalty, personal skills, faith, devotion, and love were vital to winning the battle for freedom and to establish the peace. But underlying all of it is choice. Red Pill or Blue? You decide.

"rasland" Now, here's a spectacular choice!

HOW TO DEAL WITH THE WORLD?

After a very cool spring and very slow growth, garden is finally showing progress

Huge morel shrooms found behind the well house recently. Can't find any more

from Murph

I know that many people that frequent this site spend some amount of time reading and collecting information and much of it is shared in the comments and doubtlessly by email to friends and acquaintances. You also know that Freeacre and I spend a rather disproportionate amount of time doing the same. The problem that I experience is the contradictions I keep running across. Here is an example.

In the June 23 post from the Archdruid;
http://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.com/

He makes an excellent case for why mass movements quickly die out, become subverted to other agendas and are thus ineffective.

Now over the years, I have found Michael Greer to be a thoughtful a fairly precise thinker. He is also very well read and examines a very large and varied amount of subject matter and does a good job of drawing it together to reach conclusions. I have much respect for the man and I will read what he has to say.

The above mentioned article makes a good case for how mass movements are directed by the masses that enlist in it, not the ideas that the founders first advocated. This, to me, seems somewhat contradictory to the huge propaganda that is thrust on us daily by the mass media, especially television. The question is, does the mass media control the masses or do the masses control the output of the mass media? A new mass movement called The Tea Party is a good example of Greer’s contentions in my view. It has virtually been taken over by the political far right and has so many internal contradictions I can’t see how anyone would jump on that band wagon.

On the other side of this, I read nearly every day somebody’s opinion concerning what needs to be done, namely, a mass movement of some kind to thwart the PTB and their plans for one world government controlled by them, complete ownership of everything and charging the citizen to use any of it and absolutely controlling the money supply too. Now right off the bat, I agree with these missives. Indeed, if the majority of citizens around the world woke up to what is being done to them and refused to cooperate any longer, the whole scheme would fall apart. In my view, this is simply not going to happen, and yet, it is what is needed to happen to reverse the direction we are going in as a society. I draw your attention to an article that appeared at;

“Fighting the new world order” http://thecrowhouse.com/ftnwo.html

He makes a good case for the urgency of this to happen. In my lifetime, there is nothing new in this article, (with one exception) it’s all been said before; If people would just wake up and understand what is transpiring and what is being done to them and refuse to cooperate, it would cease. The exception I can not deal with rationally is his contention that the world is not overpopulated. He says that all 6 billion people could be put in Australia with ¼ acre each and have room left over and on which they could grow their own food, and all the rest of the world would be empty to do with as we please. I am assuming that all of you reading this can see the absolute ridiculousness of this contention. I have come across the same contention once before and choked on my morning coffee when I read it. My reaction was “what idiot can possibly say something like that?”

So you see the intellectual bind I see here? If Greer is correct, and The Crow House is correct, we have some real problems on a solution to the problem. So I am thrown back to the dichotomy of: situations vs predicament. Situations have solutions, Predicaments have to be lived around, there are no solutions/fixes. Talk about cognitive dissonance!
On the one hand the only solution is a necessity and on the other hand the solution is impossible.

Notice the supposition; the only solution is a mass movement. We have lots of really smart people on this planet. I have read many ideas of how to change things. They generally fall into only a few categories; 1. Changing the system, 2. Changing the people running the system, and 3. The non compliance/revolution rebellion by the masses. Can anyone reading this come up with something outside of the box? As I see it, the only thing that would significantly change how things are done is #3 and it sure appears to me to have a very small probability of success, at least in some kind of idealistic form that makes a whole new way of doing business.

I hate to rain on the parade going on out there, but it sure appears to me that none of these will work at this time. Even during the early 1700’s, with a fairly large dissatisfaction with England’s rule over the colonies, only 40% of the people supported the rebellion. After the revolution, there was significant resistance to areas becoming states within the union. I suppose it is to the determination of the rebellious leaders we must give kudos for following it through and a separate country with states eventually joining in is what we ended up with instead of a handful of separate countries on this continent.

Do you remember Joules speech he gave before he capped someone in Pulp Fiction?
“The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness. For he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you?”

This little quote/speech has some appearance of authenticity but is not actually a Biblical quote. His last 2 statements are; “The truth is you’re the weak and I’m the tyranny of evil men. But I’m tryin’, Ringo. I’m tryin’ real hard to be the shepherd”.

Recognizing this is a movie script, but taking the quote as having some meaning to everyday life, who among us is “tryin; real hard to be the shepherd”? When human society has been put into a box where the only out is violence, where does the shepherd come in and what can he realistically do? If human society simply is incapable of understanding what is being done to them or just plain denies or ignores what is being done, what hope does a shepherd have? Over the years it has been rather obvious that people and their governments are pretty much disconnected, and it sure seems to me to be getting worse in that aspect. Periodically a shepherd appears, either in illusion or actuality, and the same old shit just keeps happening. It sure appears to me that humans are a pretty flawed creation, either by a god or by circumstances. There are times that I’m ashamed to be a part of it. And yet, there is the good, there is the honest, there is the person of integrity, of peacefulness. I reckon seeking out or showing a better way is where it is at. As Charles Smith calls it, the people he calls “the remnant” that show a way. The shepherds?

A tack on:

Today is Thursday morning as I write this. The news this morning seems really ominous. Lots of positive assurance of Israel attack on Iran, GOM becoming more and more a world wide catastrophe, the economic mess gets even more negative and no leadership on the horizon to deal with any of this. Sure looks to me that human kind (carbon based life forms as a friend likes to put it) have intentionally, or by arrogance, or by stupidity created a whole bunch of predicaments. The threat level appears to be increasing day by day. If this is all intentional (as some writers insist) or was unforeseen consequences, either way there is a high probability that as a society and individually, we are doomed. I often wonder if Freeacres and my preparations are for naught. But what would we have done differently? Join the herd and strive for personal immediate gratification? Join the herd and shop till we drop for something to ease the anxiety swirling around us? My intuition tells me that the answers will be forth coming before too long.

Is this "IT"?

"Post Collapse Food" apple pie, lentil, brown rice, summer squash dish, garden salad.... could be worse.

freeacre & ras

Ras has graciously put together a post for us regarding making food preparations for shortages that are affordable and do-able in a short amount of time. In fact, we may not have much time left to make preparations. Matt Savinar, in his comments today on LATOC, warns that this is, indeed, “IT”. Gather with your loved ones, turn away from your computer screen, go outside and enjoy the little time you have left. He thinks that the possibility of a huge methane explosion in the gulf may cascade into millions of lives being snuffed out by poisonous and flammable gasses that could blow at any minute. You probably have already traced the links that he provides. We have been talking amongst ourselves about this for weeks.

Additionally, there are the dire predictions of the sunspot cycle and the solar flares and coronal mass ejections that are speeding up. The cycle is anticipated to culminate in December of 2012, when the Earth and Hanab Ku (the Mayan term for the center of the galaxy and its transformative energy). At that point, an angry Sun could blow off the protective magnetosphere of the earth, and fry us. A shifting of the poles of the earth, the stop and then reversal of the rotation of the planet, and subsequent global tsunami, would destroy most living things. Or not. After all, pole shifts have happened regularly and things got rough. Ice Ages have happened. Weather changed dramatically. But, the human race survived. In fact, enough anomalous artifacts have been found that simply do not fit within our assorted histories that make it seem likely that destruction of Life As We Know It may have occurred repeatedly – maybe for millions of years.

Almost seeming tame in comparison is the possibility of the death of the dollar, the breakup of the European Union, war with Iran (less likely if oil shortages become acute soon), and hurricanes destroying property and spreading contamination that would lead to mass evacuations and the deaths of millions once again. Oh, yeah, then there is the bankruptcy of many of the states in the union and possible riots and revolution as people become more and more desperate and have less and less to lose. Let’s say a hurricane in the Gulf picks up mass quantities of oil and toxic chemicals from the sea and deposits them over thousands of homes, lakes, streams, cities, townships, and farms. How viable are those places going to be then? What about all those mortgages that are already upside down anyway? Would it surprise anyone if survivors just packed up, left their keys on the table and headed for Michigan or Ohio where the real estate is dirt cheap?

That would, of course, leave the banksters and the state and local governments holding the bag. The banks would fail, the derivatives would go up in flames, pensions and municipal bonds and just about every financial instrument you can think of would tank. Property taxes could not be collected to pay for municipal services. I mean, I am no financial wizard to be sure. But, it seems to me that alone would be enough to ascertain that we’d go from a “slow crash” scenario to a “fast crash.”

So, I don’t know. Prepare to survive or live each day as if it is your last? Good question. Lately, I find myself listening to favorite recording artists, re-watching my ten best movies, looking through my photo albums, remembering my best times, and being grateful for everything. But, maybe that’s because we’ve already been preparing for five years. I’d rather spend my last days visiting Crater Lake than trekking to Costco for additional gallons of olive oil.

On the other hand, I’d sure hate to check out like those delusional Hale Bot Comet numbskulls did in L.A. and maybe miss something amazing. Something wonderful might pop up like the three morel mushrooms that appeared in our backyard last week. So, let’s go with the preparation scenario. I’ll shut up now and let ras take over….


The Emergency Food Storage Plan That Could Save Your Ass If Things Go Really Wrong

Please note: The information in this article is for informational purposes only. I am NOT responsible for anything you do or do not do with it. Also please note that the elderly, the very young, and those with sensitive stomachs do not adjust well to a sudden, drastic change in diet. Also, this is not a substitute for a ‘store what you eat, eat what you store’ plan. This should be used in addition to that plan for a couple of reason. 1.) In a short-term situation, you should use those stores instead, and 2.) Even in a long term situation, you will want to shift your diet as gradually as possible.

Things are going wrong in a major way. All over the world, the excrement is hitting the fan. What happens if things get so bad that supply chains are interrupted and the grocery store shelves are bare? What if there’s a real famine? What will you do and will you and yours be okay? These once distant possibilities are becoming more real everyday and, if you’re like me, you’re increasingly worried. It’s grim out there, folks, and getting grimmer. The only way to insure your food security is by having enough food stored to get yourself through no matter what happens.
Food storage is an insurance policy. Let me repeat that: having food stored is insurance. Insurance against famine, insurance against natural disaster, insurance against civil unrest. You may never use your car insurance or your homeowners insurance, but you have it anyway. You should have food storage for the same reasons.
How much do you need? A few days, a month, three months, six months, a year? That is up to you, but I would say a month is the bare minimum and I would not be comfortable with less than six months. A year is not too much. Hell, these days two years is not too much. But storing this much food raises its own issues: spoilage, expense, and storage space. I am going to detail a simple, inexpensive way to cover your ass in the event the fan gets clogged from all the crap that’s flying at it. Whether you choose to use it or not is up to you; you may think it’s too extreme or use any number of other options. But at least you’ll have the information.
How much food do you need for 1 person for a year? There are several ways to calculate this. I like this one: http://lds.about.com/library/bl/faq/blcalculator.htm The Mormons have a church law that requires them to keep a year’s worth of food on hand at all times, so as you might expect, they’ve gotten pretty good at this.
Here are the totals for one person:
Grains -300 lb
Legumes -60 lb
Fats and oils -13 lb
Sugars -60 lb
Milk and dairy -75 lb
Baking Powder and Baking Soda -1 lb each
Yeast -0.5 a pound
Salt -5 lbs
Vinegar -0.5 a gallon

Notice there’s no meat here. Beans plus whole grains (not white rice) equals a complete protein so you don’t need meat.
That’s a lot of food, and a lot of money. A years worth of grains and legumes for one person from most emergency supply stores, pre-packaged, is well north of $600, plus shipping. A family of two would pay in excess of $1200 just for rice and beans. I don’t know about you, but that’s a lot of money for someone like me. How can you reduce the expense?
Do it yourself. You can get the food and package it on your own. Beans are available in any supermarket. Grains can be bought in bulk from health food stores or online. Or you can go to the nearest feed store and buy untreated feed grain. Yes, you read that right. If you store it right it isn’t going to go bad and you can give it to a farming friend when you rotate it. If you have to eat it, you really aren’t going to care. It’s the same thing they use for humans anyway. Fifty pounds of wheat, corn, or oats from a feed store is about $10. That means it would take you sixty bucks to get enough grain to last a year for one person. Not bad. (Don’t tell them you’re going to eat it. They won’t sell it to you.) You can also get fifty pound bags of white rice for $15, but will need to supplement the rice with more protein sources. Do NOT get more than half of your grains in wheat. A lot of people are sensitive to wheat and don’t know it until they try to eat a heavily wheat dependent diet. You don’t want to do this, have to depend on it, and then discover that you or your seven year old has a wheat allergy.
Legumes –most beans are a dollar a pound or less at the store. Split peas are $0.79 a pound. Get mostly dried and a few cans. Be sure to get multiple varieties. Each kind of bean tastes different. Sixty pounds = sixty bucks. Now we’re up to $120 for one person for a year. Still not bad.
Fat and salt –both of these are absolutely required for health. The problem with most modern diets is that we get too much of both of these for the amount of physical activity we get. Fats tend to go rancid within a year, so you’ll have to rotate these constantly. You can buy a years worth of whatever you normally use and work through it with your ‘store what you eat, eat what you store’ plan. The only exceptions to this are peanut butter and lard. Unopened peanut butter lasts for years, is cheap, and is also a really good source of protein. Lard is cheap and will last for years, but it’s also incredibly bad for you. Salt is going to be the cheapest part; you can buy 10 pounds of salt for two dollars. Put up as much as you possibly can –it is required for life, it’s a good food preservative, a good seasoning, and a trade good. So, $25 for both fat and salt brings us to $145 per person. Call it $150.
Sugar –sugar is a good sweetener and good preservative. Fifty pounds will set you back less than $25 bucks. Milk and dairy are up to you. A lot of people don’t use dairy. Add in the miscelleanous items and you’re up to $200 a person. For a year of food. Not bad for insurance. Fill in as you can afford with vegetables and so forth, but this will take care of your bulk caloric requirements. There are three other items not on the calculator that are absolutely necessary. The first is a good multivitamin. In good times or bad times you need a vitamin, but especially in the bad times. This will ensure that you’re getting all your nutritional requirements. The second is a store of seeds so that you can grow more food. The third –as many spices and seasonings as you can get your hands on.
Now for storage. You need something to put all of this food in. Go down to Home Depot and buy yourself a bunch of their orange buckets with the air tight gasket lids. These cost about $2.50 each, with tax. You can also buy brand new empty paint cans; the only requirement is that they have air tight lids. Don’t just pour the food inside; plastic imparts strange odors to food, so you need a liner. You can use a mylar bag, a paper bag, or anything else that will work. Now you need to remove the oxygen from the environment so that the food can’t degrade. You can buy oxygen absorbers online. They cost about $15.00 for a hundred of them. Or, you know those hand warming packets? They have the same chemicals in them. Activate a couple, throw them in each bucket, and put a lid on right away. Or, don’t fill the bucket quite all the way, put a tealight on top of the food, light it, and put the lid on. The candle will go out once it burns up the oxygen. You will have to look up ways to use this food if you should ever need it –cooking it is a little more complex than opening a can. If you want to be able to make flour, you’ll need to find a grain mill or something similar.
Rotation guidelines: Grains and legumes –once every ten years. Sugar –once every five. Yeast, baking soda, baking powder –use these and replace as needed. Fat –once a year. Salt –never.
All told you’re looking at about $300 a person for an insurance plan that could literally save your life. That to me is not a bad investment.
Where do you store this stuff? In closets, under the bed (in case of the paint cans), in corners, anywhere you can find. Just don’t put the food in the garage or an outbuilding –unprotected buildings cause food to degrade faster, and leave it more open to pests.
A note about pets: don’t forget them. You have to store food for them as well. Dogs are omnivores, and like humans, can eat a vegetarian diet if it’s planned right. But cats are carnivores and absolutely MUST have meat. So throw a few cases of canned cat food under your bed for your feline friend. She’ll also help feed herself on the moles and mice that will inevitably attack your garden or get into your house.

Well, that's "food for thought" for now. Next, maybe we'll list some handy gadgets and other non-edibles that are handy things to have.