GOVERNMENT ADVERTISING
Someone mentioned that after the government took over the car companies there would be little black boxes installed so we would be tracked. Not paranoid at all, considering all the other ways Big Bitch is monitoring our movements. Magnetic strips in currency ( easily defeated by carrying several hundred one dollar bills around with you and paying for everything that way ), compulsory sales of private firearms through licenced dealers, new drivers licences, federal control over raising livestock and I'm sure quite a few others. A day or two after that was mentioned, I saw on www.cryptogon.com an article on attempted car monitoring in Europe. Not that they care, most of them take public transportation so car ownership is more expensive and less widespread. And soon, we won't care either as gas gets over $5 a gallon and only Yuppie scum will be driving while the rest of us collect Food Stamps and stay at home. And since the Yuppie Scum Swine are already sucking at the government teet they could care less when all colors but red are eliminated from the flag and the FBI steps up its 3 am ninja raids on political dissidents and Alaska is turned into a penal colony and we start calling our leader Comrade Exalted Leader Obammy and FDR's birthday will be an occasion for military parades. And as long as the state run liquor stores sell vodka pretty cheap all will be well.
*
Well, cheap vodka AND free entertainment. Our masters understand all about bread and circuses. Food Stamps provide the frozen pizzas and Ho Ho's and television provides the free entertainment. And with the new switch to digital, we can be entertained with fifty percent more options. On any one night we can pick from American Idol, Survivor, America's Next Bolemic Superstar or any other reality TV. And as much as studios love reality TV because instead of paying real writers serious wages for shows that are one step above moronic they can stick a dull pencil up a monkey's ass and have him squat over a few pages of blank paper and churn out a reality show, all for the cost of a banana, still our handlers must realize they can't stupefy the entire population for too long on these cost saving types of shows. Most of those of us who were forced through high school graduation so the military or retail sector could have new and ever cheaper cannon fodder did pick up a thing or two after sitting around through four years of droning time punching state appointed baby sitters reciting propaganda are slightly more demanding in our free entertainment. Only pop culture laden animation will hold our interests long enough so we don't get up to force any blood up into our cranium through increased circulation.
*
So here is my thought. As government controls more and more companies, it will start holding the purse strings on more and more advertising. The television industry will never be allowed to flounder as Detroit is. Free entertainment has been used to push the consumerist society that generated the elites wealth and kept us all in debt forever, shacked by a pair of golden handcuffs to the work bench or cubicle. It was in the best interests of corporations to spend freely on advertising. Now, as the capitalistic system flounders over the new no growth/expensive oil/no credit system they are unable to advertise to consumers who pay their debt to the banks and have no money left over to consume trinkets. So government, through new control over more and more companies, will pick up on buying the advertising to keep Hollywood running. Government excels at force and control, they realize they need to keep the entertainment sector private to keep it productive and efficient. But they can keep the creative juices flowing just as easily through high pay incentives while at the same time funneling money towards those shows that tow the fascist line, that glorify police brutality and state control and politically correct attitudes. We are already seeing that to a large degree. Expect it to continue and expand as more money is from the government ( by the by, I'm using Hollywood for the whole entertainment industry, be in New York or California produced ).
END
Buy My Crap www.bisonpress.com
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
toba supervolcano
TOBA SUPERVOLCANO
Today we'll take a break from running around in circles, screaming like little school girls, waiting for the last factory to shut down and the price of milk to hit a million dollars a gallon. Let's talk about supervolcanos. Not necessarily Yellowstone since everyone talks about how Yellowstone is going to blow one day and we will all die. Old hat, been there and done that, yawn. If you were unfortunate enough to have wasted $10 and postage on the book Supervolcano by Savino and Jones the following will be familiar to you. Everyone else, I'll hit all the highlights here and you can save your money. It isn't that it was a total waste of money, the theory was intriguing. But you had to read a hundred and fifty pages of crap pertaining to volcano's before they got to the good stuff. And the writing was hard to slog through. If you know nothing about volcano's, it wasn't too bad. But if you didn't want to know about plate tectonics and various other science fun facts it gets a little much. I had just read two other books on volcano's and I'd already had a bit much about Hawaiian legends and what not. I was in no mood for another book to contain mostly filler.
*
Seventy five thousand years ago the supervolcano ( they spared no detail telling you how a volcano was classified as super, volume of atmospheric particles, blah, blah ) Toba blew in Sumatra Indonesia. An interesting theory that has come out out this event is the Toba Catastrophe Theory. It was believed to cause a bottleneck in human evolution. After the volcano, there was six years of volcanic winter. As you might imagine, six years of little sunlight doesn't grow a lot of vegetation. And then there followed a mini ice age of around a thousand years. In effect, all human species except Neanderthal and homio sapiens were wiped out, being in areas close to the eruption. Neanderthal was better equipped for the cold and HS was in eastern Africa which was little effected.
*
The reason it was believed humans could have been reduced to as few as five thousand population was the very narrow DNA range. Despite different appearances, all humans are virtually identical. The chimps have a wider spread of DNA. So, we are all related to those few survivors from Africa after Toba. Toba supervolcano almost wiped out man. It is believed that to survive, HS was forced through an evolutionary jump in tool use and cultural organization. Before the volcano there was hundreds of thousands of years with little improvement beyond wood tipped spears and hurled rocks. Afterwards the pace of technological advancement accelerated dramatically. Figure out how to attach a sharp stone to a spear and communicate this to your peers, or die.
*
This would also explain how Neanderthals were wiped out about thirty thousand years ago. They had survived the cold and food scarcity, but suddenly ( relatively speaking ) there was a better organized and better equipped enemy forcing them out of their territory. It was on par with machine gun equipped colonialists fighting muscle weapon armed natives. Even if the two did not fight directly, stone tipped spears would kill the areas game much better than fire hardened wood tips. To say nothing of the better communication and organization. Now, this is all very well and good. An interesting theory. It could be disproved later. The important point is the global disaster that reduced the human population. The numbers were arrived at by the possible DNA combinations and it is guessed the females of child bearing age were as low as a thousand to as high as three thousand. So it is guessed that there were around five thousand survivors. It is unknown how many there were before the eruption, but surely the populations had already spread to most of the tropical/sub-tropical areas of the region. Into Asia at least.
*
Supervolcanos are a dim threat. They are like nuclear war. Wait long enough and one is bound to happen. It could be tomorrow or it could be after your great grandchildren are old and feeble. The authors are of the opinion that the Long Valley California area is more likely to erupt than Yellowstone since the seismic activity of San Andreas would be a trigger. And that fault is overdue for a big blow out. It goes, the area around Mono Lake has a super eruption. I should be alright where I am, those of you stuck in California ( I'm being nice and won't poke fun or scream shrilly at you to get out ) will have a super earthquake which will damage all roads leading out, broken water transport systems, millions fighting over the last cups of water, then you'll get buried under a few yards of ash. And the ash is great stuff. If you breath enough in it turns to cement in your lungs. If it gets in your eyes you could go blind or have some vision damage. Little jagged water absorbing bastards ( beware the dry ash on your roof absorbing rain and crashing down on you ).
*
Something fun to think about. How about a one/two punch? Super Depression, then supervolcano.
END
Today we'll take a break from running around in circles, screaming like little school girls, waiting for the last factory to shut down and the price of milk to hit a million dollars a gallon. Let's talk about supervolcanos. Not necessarily Yellowstone since everyone talks about how Yellowstone is going to blow one day and we will all die. Old hat, been there and done that, yawn. If you were unfortunate enough to have wasted $10 and postage on the book Supervolcano by Savino and Jones the following will be familiar to you. Everyone else, I'll hit all the highlights here and you can save your money. It isn't that it was a total waste of money, the theory was intriguing. But you had to read a hundred and fifty pages of crap pertaining to volcano's before they got to the good stuff. And the writing was hard to slog through. If you know nothing about volcano's, it wasn't too bad. But if you didn't want to know about plate tectonics and various other science fun facts it gets a little much. I had just read two other books on volcano's and I'd already had a bit much about Hawaiian legends and what not. I was in no mood for another book to contain mostly filler.
*
Seventy five thousand years ago the supervolcano ( they spared no detail telling you how a volcano was classified as super, volume of atmospheric particles, blah, blah ) Toba blew in Sumatra Indonesia. An interesting theory that has come out out this event is the Toba Catastrophe Theory. It was believed to cause a bottleneck in human evolution. After the volcano, there was six years of volcanic winter. As you might imagine, six years of little sunlight doesn't grow a lot of vegetation. And then there followed a mini ice age of around a thousand years. In effect, all human species except Neanderthal and homio sapiens were wiped out, being in areas close to the eruption. Neanderthal was better equipped for the cold and HS was in eastern Africa which was little effected.
*
The reason it was believed humans could have been reduced to as few as five thousand population was the very narrow DNA range. Despite different appearances, all humans are virtually identical. The chimps have a wider spread of DNA. So, we are all related to those few survivors from Africa after Toba. Toba supervolcano almost wiped out man. It is believed that to survive, HS was forced through an evolutionary jump in tool use and cultural organization. Before the volcano there was hundreds of thousands of years with little improvement beyond wood tipped spears and hurled rocks. Afterwards the pace of technological advancement accelerated dramatically. Figure out how to attach a sharp stone to a spear and communicate this to your peers, or die.
*
This would also explain how Neanderthals were wiped out about thirty thousand years ago. They had survived the cold and food scarcity, but suddenly ( relatively speaking ) there was a better organized and better equipped enemy forcing them out of their territory. It was on par with machine gun equipped colonialists fighting muscle weapon armed natives. Even if the two did not fight directly, stone tipped spears would kill the areas game much better than fire hardened wood tips. To say nothing of the better communication and organization. Now, this is all very well and good. An interesting theory. It could be disproved later. The important point is the global disaster that reduced the human population. The numbers were arrived at by the possible DNA combinations and it is guessed the females of child bearing age were as low as a thousand to as high as three thousand. So it is guessed that there were around five thousand survivors. It is unknown how many there were before the eruption, but surely the populations had already spread to most of the tropical/sub-tropical areas of the region. Into Asia at least.
*
Supervolcanos are a dim threat. They are like nuclear war. Wait long enough and one is bound to happen. It could be tomorrow or it could be after your great grandchildren are old and feeble. The authors are of the opinion that the Long Valley California area is more likely to erupt than Yellowstone since the seismic activity of San Andreas would be a trigger. And that fault is overdue for a big blow out. It goes, the area around Mono Lake has a super eruption. I should be alright where I am, those of you stuck in California ( I'm being nice and won't poke fun or scream shrilly at you to get out ) will have a super earthquake which will damage all roads leading out, broken water transport systems, millions fighting over the last cups of water, then you'll get buried under a few yards of ash. And the ash is great stuff. If you breath enough in it turns to cement in your lungs. If it gets in your eyes you could go blind or have some vision damage. Little jagged water absorbing bastards ( beware the dry ash on your roof absorbing rain and crashing down on you ).
*
Something fun to think about. How about a one/two punch? Super Depression, then supervolcano.
END
Saturday, March 28, 2009
movie review
MOVIE REVIEW
DOOMSDAY
Rated UR 2008
Malcolm McDowell and Bob Hoskins
This movie was a lot of fun. Think of a mix of 28 Days Later, Mad Max, Escape From New York and perhaps even Aliens thrown in for good measure. The acting, story, effects, pacing and everything that makes an entertaining film were great. You might argue the genre, being an isolated collapse, but that would be the only minor point of contention.
*
Present day Britain sees a killer plague, starting in Glasgow. The action starts right away with people being forced into quarantine rioting against the army troops. Troops firing into the crowd when one of them is all bloody and obviously a plague victim pisses everyone off when collateral damage from adjacent people being hit in the automatic fire sets everyone off. One mother and her daughter nearby crouching behind a car. One of the bullets hit’s the girl in the eye, she’s all messed up. By this time, once mom gets a bandage on the daughter, the troops have fallen back and big steel doors are closed and welded shut ( the walls had been set up as part of the quarantine). Mom runs to the last chopper lifting off with troops and begs them to take the daughter. One troop jumps off to allow her weight to be taken and off they go. Here comes the roaring crowd all pissed so you just know those two are toast.
*
Forward thirty years. Daughter is now a saucy fem soldier. She’s with DDS, Department of Domestic Security. Her and her unit are infiltrating a ship in London with a crime boss/drug dealer dude to bust him as he makes a deal. They go all ninja inside, come across some fool soaking in a tub, she sees them and grabs a shotgun and kills one. This is regrettably the only nude scene of the movie, naked women in tub firing. Fem cop kills her, but the shots alert drug dude, battle, blah blah. Ship is secured, and of course what do they find there but, wait for it, plague victims in one of the holds ( full of slaves drug dude was going to sell ). Now the guys in charge have to worry about another plague. Okay, back up a little bit. After the Glasgow outbreak, the entire Scottish country was sealed off. They built a wall the same spot the Romans did and quarantined the whole area. Wall, sea patrols, no flights over. In effect, the whole country sealed off.
*
Fem cop is chosen by her boss ( played by Bob ) to be the one to lead a team into Scotland to Glasgow to try to find a cure. A doctor left behind there at a hospital had been in touch with England for a time after the wall was sealed. He had soldiers and they had holed up as he attempted research. No word from him for some time, but it was a place to start. Combat team is assembled, they go in in two big armored cars ( kind of like Aliens, combat team sent in for search ). They are sweeping the hospital, looking for papers ( they have a medical dude with them in the team ) or whatever and they are attacked by Mad Max looking dudes, colored Mohawks and spiked clubs and what not. One of females poses as a victim, goes Trojan Horse into one of the armored carriers. Molotov cocktails go flying outside, inside wave attacks at the squad, everyone’s running around spraying the place with fully automatic fire, great fun is had by all. The few surviving troops make it back to the one surviving vehicles, they go tearing ass away. Crossbow sniper shoots through the front windshield ( it had a hole from a previous blunt object ) and kills the driver, the thing flips over and the last four bale. A sergeant, the doctor, fem cop and one trooper are left. The first two escape, the trooper is overwhelmed and fem cop is knocked out and captured. Wakes up, evil Mohawk ruler questions her, where are you from, hit, punch, wail, I’m from beyond the wall. He’s pretty happy in a psychotic evil leader dude way, now they can escape the quarantine zone. Fem cop is to kept alive to show them how to get back over the wall ( mines and automatic machine guns and what not protect it ).
*
The one trooper left is set on fire and everyone tries to eat some of him, it’s a big cannibal party. Fem cop escapes ( naturally, she’s super ninja fem warrior ), takes the prisoner next door with her after she claims she’ll lead her to the long lost doctor. Fem cop hooks back up with sergeant and young combat team doctor, narrow escape from Mohawk leader dude who is totally pissed off because fem cop killed his main squeeze who looks pretty rad in face tattoos and none too shabby in a leather S&M looking outfit so she was obviously his favorite who never got kicked out of bed for eating crackers. They escape on a handy steam locomotive after other fem prisoner meets up with archery dude who had been waiting for her. Off they go to the country, looking for old doctor. And they are captured by knight dudes on horses. Ninja fem cop could have taken them, but she knew they would lead her to old doctor dude so she let them win that round. Old doctor dude is now a king, set up in an old castle, commanding his new medieval kingdom of naturally plague immune knight dudes. Satellites had been monitoring the cities, he had gone undetected in the countryside.
*
Off with their heads, commands the king, fem cop goes single combat on an armored knight dude with spear and mace. It’s close but in the end she kicks his butt. They escape, go into an old military base under a mountain, find some cool looking British sports car in storage, take tearing off in that. And who do they run into but the Mohawk guys from the city, all Road Warrior like with crappy welded together vehicles. The car chase, jumping off one vehicle to another, crashes, crushed bodies, bare knuckle fighting in a speeding car, great fun is had by all. Evil Mohawk leader is killed after much effort. Off they go down the road to meet up with a government chopper that will extract them. Hand over the one girl, she’s immune, her blood sample will show you the cure. Evil new British leader is along for the ride, fem cop tapes him admitting they waited for the cure until after more of the population died off, gives tape to cop boss to expose him, stays behind in Scotland and at the ending scene goes back to the crazy Mohawk dudes and throws down the evils leaders head and assumes the new crown of crazy Mohawk dudes queen. Cool.
*
Genre Rating- good to excellent. Even though the plague is localized to Scotland, the rest of the world quarantines Britain itself so you get a sense of isolation, stagnation, decay and other collapse type events. It feels like a doomer film.
Nudity Rating-poor to fair. Much more skin than the one fight scene was needed.
Overall Rating-excellent. Well done, with great fun. None stop action, all the over the top stuff worked well, perhaps because the tone was not serious. You get a feeling that the ideas gleamed from others was homage, not a rip off. The whole thing worked very well together and was very enjoyable.
END
A better argument for peak oil and the economy than I gave:
http://www.energybulletin.net/node/48442
DOOMSDAY
Rated UR 2008
Malcolm McDowell and Bob Hoskins
This movie was a lot of fun. Think of a mix of 28 Days Later, Mad Max, Escape From New York and perhaps even Aliens thrown in for good measure. The acting, story, effects, pacing and everything that makes an entertaining film were great. You might argue the genre, being an isolated collapse, but that would be the only minor point of contention.
*
Present day Britain sees a killer plague, starting in Glasgow. The action starts right away with people being forced into quarantine rioting against the army troops. Troops firing into the crowd when one of them is all bloody and obviously a plague victim pisses everyone off when collateral damage from adjacent people being hit in the automatic fire sets everyone off. One mother and her daughter nearby crouching behind a car. One of the bullets hit’s the girl in the eye, she’s all messed up. By this time, once mom gets a bandage on the daughter, the troops have fallen back and big steel doors are closed and welded shut ( the walls had been set up as part of the quarantine). Mom runs to the last chopper lifting off with troops and begs them to take the daughter. One troop jumps off to allow her weight to be taken and off they go. Here comes the roaring crowd all pissed so you just know those two are toast.
*
Forward thirty years. Daughter is now a saucy fem soldier. She’s with DDS, Department of Domestic Security. Her and her unit are infiltrating a ship in London with a crime boss/drug dealer dude to bust him as he makes a deal. They go all ninja inside, come across some fool soaking in a tub, she sees them and grabs a shotgun and kills one. This is regrettably the only nude scene of the movie, naked women in tub firing. Fem cop kills her, but the shots alert drug dude, battle, blah blah. Ship is secured, and of course what do they find there but, wait for it, plague victims in one of the holds ( full of slaves drug dude was going to sell ). Now the guys in charge have to worry about another plague. Okay, back up a little bit. After the Glasgow outbreak, the entire Scottish country was sealed off. They built a wall the same spot the Romans did and quarantined the whole area. Wall, sea patrols, no flights over. In effect, the whole country sealed off.
*
Fem cop is chosen by her boss ( played by Bob ) to be the one to lead a team into Scotland to Glasgow to try to find a cure. A doctor left behind there at a hospital had been in touch with England for a time after the wall was sealed. He had soldiers and they had holed up as he attempted research. No word from him for some time, but it was a place to start. Combat team is assembled, they go in in two big armored cars ( kind of like Aliens, combat team sent in for search ). They are sweeping the hospital, looking for papers ( they have a medical dude with them in the team ) or whatever and they are attacked by Mad Max looking dudes, colored Mohawks and spiked clubs and what not. One of females poses as a victim, goes Trojan Horse into one of the armored carriers. Molotov cocktails go flying outside, inside wave attacks at the squad, everyone’s running around spraying the place with fully automatic fire, great fun is had by all. The few surviving troops make it back to the one surviving vehicles, they go tearing ass away. Crossbow sniper shoots through the front windshield ( it had a hole from a previous blunt object ) and kills the driver, the thing flips over and the last four bale. A sergeant, the doctor, fem cop and one trooper are left. The first two escape, the trooper is overwhelmed and fem cop is knocked out and captured. Wakes up, evil Mohawk ruler questions her, where are you from, hit, punch, wail, I’m from beyond the wall. He’s pretty happy in a psychotic evil leader dude way, now they can escape the quarantine zone. Fem cop is to kept alive to show them how to get back over the wall ( mines and automatic machine guns and what not protect it ).
*
The one trooper left is set on fire and everyone tries to eat some of him, it’s a big cannibal party. Fem cop escapes ( naturally, she’s super ninja fem warrior ), takes the prisoner next door with her after she claims she’ll lead her to the long lost doctor. Fem cop hooks back up with sergeant and young combat team doctor, narrow escape from Mohawk leader dude who is totally pissed off because fem cop killed his main squeeze who looks pretty rad in face tattoos and none too shabby in a leather S&M looking outfit so she was obviously his favorite who never got kicked out of bed for eating crackers. They escape on a handy steam locomotive after other fem prisoner meets up with archery dude who had been waiting for her. Off they go to the country, looking for old doctor. And they are captured by knight dudes on horses. Ninja fem cop could have taken them, but she knew they would lead her to old doctor dude so she let them win that round. Old doctor dude is now a king, set up in an old castle, commanding his new medieval kingdom of naturally plague immune knight dudes. Satellites had been monitoring the cities, he had gone undetected in the countryside.
*
Off with their heads, commands the king, fem cop goes single combat on an armored knight dude with spear and mace. It’s close but in the end she kicks his butt. They escape, go into an old military base under a mountain, find some cool looking British sports car in storage, take tearing off in that. And who do they run into but the Mohawk guys from the city, all Road Warrior like with crappy welded together vehicles. The car chase, jumping off one vehicle to another, crashes, crushed bodies, bare knuckle fighting in a speeding car, great fun is had by all. Evil Mohawk leader is killed after much effort. Off they go down the road to meet up with a government chopper that will extract them. Hand over the one girl, she’s immune, her blood sample will show you the cure. Evil new British leader is along for the ride, fem cop tapes him admitting they waited for the cure until after more of the population died off, gives tape to cop boss to expose him, stays behind in Scotland and at the ending scene goes back to the crazy Mohawk dudes and throws down the evils leaders head and assumes the new crown of crazy Mohawk dudes queen. Cool.
*
Genre Rating- good to excellent. Even though the plague is localized to Scotland, the rest of the world quarantines Britain itself so you get a sense of isolation, stagnation, decay and other collapse type events. It feels like a doomer film.
Nudity Rating-poor to fair. Much more skin than the one fight scene was needed.
Overall Rating-excellent. Well done, with great fun. None stop action, all the over the top stuff worked well, perhaps because the tone was not serious. You get a feeling that the ideas gleamed from others was homage, not a rip off. The whole thing worked very well together and was very enjoyable.
END
A better argument for peak oil and the economy than I gave:
http://www.energybulletin.net/node/48442
Friday, March 27, 2009
navel gazing
NAVEL GAZING
Well, I think we've just about panicked over every possible thing. Inflation/deflation ( a case for both well made by professionals leaves us slack jawed and drooling in confusion ), solar flares, running out of oil, drought, blah blah. And some days I actually have to pay attention to work and can't let my two brain cells rub against each other and get all randy and give birth to a actual article idea, so once again I'm just pulling something smelly and most likely less than pleasant out of my butt and yes, trolls, I had to get my head out of the way first there does that make you happy? Always trying to please the trolls and I get no love for it. And, by the by, Humongous- I'm really liking your quips lately ( eject, eject! ). I just thought I'd throw that out there so the trolls smell fresh blood and go after you, like tieing my shoe laces as the bear is charging us.
*
So, not having much of anything to say, and seeing as how I've exhausted my guest writers from my incessant demands that they write several weekends in a row and now they ignore me after I wouldn't sign them up for a profit sharing plan or even make good on their Bison Empire Publishing Conglomerate 401 ( k) losses, today you get half an article telling you I have nothing to say and the other half talking about wishful thinking. I titled it navel gazing because it makes me look busy while nothing is accomplished. We all know the world is going to end. I know it, you know it and Ross Perot, bless his cute little ears, knows it. We all act like it matters how, but in the end we're all pushing a squeaky wheeled shopping cart through the cold ash with three rounds left in the revolver and waiting for the cannibals to kill us with a sharpened piece of re- bar ( a reference to The Road, by the way- if you haven't read it, it has got to be the most depressing post-apocalypse piece of literature out there ). I'm wondering, though, just how much of this is wish fulfillment.
*
Not an original thought here. But it is a good question. How much of our dread is realistic expectations, rational study, educated guesses and how much is simply the longing to go back to a simpler time after everyone we hate is dead? I'm rooting for the financial collapse so wife #2 has no more jobs available to her. I'm not content that FedEx cuts back a little, I want the entire commercial fleet of this country to be grounded through lack of oil or finances and never fly again. I want her on a street corner selling her ass cheap. Nothing else will pacify me. Is that wrong? So, am I letting wish fulfillment color my research of an impending collapse? I would like to think I'm still acting rationally, but as Ruff wrote thirty years ago, when you are a hammer everything looks like a nail ( I'm sure he didn't orgininate it but that was the first exposure through best seller books to it I'd come across ). When you hope others suffer to atone for their sins against you, can you read too much into each blip on the radar. I mean, I was really angry when Y2K turned out to be blatant government propaganda to extend the Internet Bubble so their butt buddies in the financial industry could keep raking in trillions ( that's my current theory on Y2K, subject to change without notice ), so does that tell me I was ( perish the thought ) part of the excitable crowd or just seeing only nails?
*
Don't get me wrong, I am in no way saying we could live a happy life forever after in our SUV's and McMansions. I truly believe we are seeing Peak Oil and that we are all going to die. And I am prepping like crazy, even after a brief spell when I'd convinced myself I was well provisioned ( I apologize for my brief decent into optimism ). Every week I buy two months worth of emergency rations ( bag of corn, lard, pintos for $20 ). Every week I check to see if Wally-World has started to carry rimfire again ( I've about given up hope ). My point is simply that you should every once in awhile step back and try to poke holes in your cherished beliefs. It might save you from embarrassing yourself one day.
END
Tomorrow is a movie review post. Buy all my crap at www.bisonpress.com
Well, I think we've just about panicked over every possible thing. Inflation/deflation ( a case for both well made by professionals leaves us slack jawed and drooling in confusion ), solar flares, running out of oil, drought, blah blah. And some days I actually have to pay attention to work and can't let my two brain cells rub against each other and get all randy and give birth to a actual article idea, so once again I'm just pulling something smelly and most likely less than pleasant out of my butt and yes, trolls, I had to get my head out of the way first there does that make you happy? Always trying to please the trolls and I get no love for it. And, by the by, Humongous- I'm really liking your quips lately ( eject, eject! ). I just thought I'd throw that out there so the trolls smell fresh blood and go after you, like tieing my shoe laces as the bear is charging us.
*
So, not having much of anything to say, and seeing as how I've exhausted my guest writers from my incessant demands that they write several weekends in a row and now they ignore me after I wouldn't sign them up for a profit sharing plan or even make good on their Bison Empire Publishing Conglomerate 401 ( k) losses, today you get half an article telling you I have nothing to say and the other half talking about wishful thinking. I titled it navel gazing because it makes me look busy while nothing is accomplished. We all know the world is going to end. I know it, you know it and Ross Perot, bless his cute little ears, knows it. We all act like it matters how, but in the end we're all pushing a squeaky wheeled shopping cart through the cold ash with three rounds left in the revolver and waiting for the cannibals to kill us with a sharpened piece of re- bar ( a reference to The Road, by the way- if you haven't read it, it has got to be the most depressing post-apocalypse piece of literature out there ). I'm wondering, though, just how much of this is wish fulfillment.
*
Not an original thought here. But it is a good question. How much of our dread is realistic expectations, rational study, educated guesses and how much is simply the longing to go back to a simpler time after everyone we hate is dead? I'm rooting for the financial collapse so wife #2 has no more jobs available to her. I'm not content that FedEx cuts back a little, I want the entire commercial fleet of this country to be grounded through lack of oil or finances and never fly again. I want her on a street corner selling her ass cheap. Nothing else will pacify me. Is that wrong? So, am I letting wish fulfillment color my research of an impending collapse? I would like to think I'm still acting rationally, but as Ruff wrote thirty years ago, when you are a hammer everything looks like a nail ( I'm sure he didn't orgininate it but that was the first exposure through best seller books to it I'd come across ). When you hope others suffer to atone for their sins against you, can you read too much into each blip on the radar. I mean, I was really angry when Y2K turned out to be blatant government propaganda to extend the Internet Bubble so their butt buddies in the financial industry could keep raking in trillions ( that's my current theory on Y2K, subject to change without notice ), so does that tell me I was ( perish the thought ) part of the excitable crowd or just seeing only nails?
*
Don't get me wrong, I am in no way saying we could live a happy life forever after in our SUV's and McMansions. I truly believe we are seeing Peak Oil and that we are all going to die. And I am prepping like crazy, even after a brief spell when I'd convinced myself I was well provisioned ( I apologize for my brief decent into optimism ). Every week I buy two months worth of emergency rations ( bag of corn, lard, pintos for $20 ). Every week I check to see if Wally-World has started to carry rimfire again ( I've about given up hope ). My point is simply that you should every once in awhile step back and try to poke holes in your cherished beliefs. It might save you from embarrassing yourself one day.
END
Tomorrow is a movie review post. Buy all my crap at www.bisonpress.com
Thursday, March 26, 2009
inflation tooth and nail
INFLATION TOOTH AND NAIL
Okay, don't panic just yet. I'm not really going to blather on and on about inflation today. Just a brief mention. And of course even though I merely pass on information from people that are paid professionals at this sort of thing the trolls will rear back in great agitation, their profuse back hair sticking straight up, bellow out in fearsome indignation, foul breath washing over the masses, convinced I don't know what I'm talking about. I don't know what gets their dander up more, my refusal to worship at the alter of semi-auto's ( I personally think the HK-91 and the 1911A1 auto are the best available personal weapons out there, my constantly repeated and ignored point is that ammo is a dwindling resource and they cost too much ) or the fact that I dare suggest we can't bring the middle class lifestyle into and beyond the collapse. If I had more computer time, it might be amusing to study which kinds of articles set them off on their berserker rage. Then I could write more of them. But, getting back to the title of the article. Tooth And Nail is a movie I just watched. So, a brief bit on inflation, a little on the movie, you tie together the two subjects to get an attention grabbing headline.
*
For the last three months, countries out there have been net sellers of Treasury bonds. A few of the smarter folks might be thinking that the US is toast, there is no hope of continual loans saving our butts, and therefor it is a good idea to sell off their existing debt before it isn't worth the paper it's printed on ( or, not worth the computer storage space which is really bad since that's much cheaper than paper ). Then, as if to shake their hands and congratulate them on their intelligent bet, our Helicopter Ben decides we're going to buy our own debt since no one else wants the slop. One trillion in inflation, BAM. Oooh, there it is! Some folks estimate inflation will surge fifteen fold. I don't want to believe that myself. But not wanting it to happen doesn't stop the problem, now does it? I won't even tie in the coming surge of inflation with ammunition price. See, I'm a nice guy and don't rile up the trolls. However, think about the cost of oil. If you enjoyed $4 a gallon gas almost a year ago, back before a lot of the bail outs and printing press sessions, wait for this round of oil price inflation.
*
Okay, I've been threatening you with a forthcoming book on apocalypse movies reviews. You have been spared. My 12v battery I've been charging by vehicle and using for my computer and TV/DVD player has started to show too serious of a drain. It went two months using about fifteen amps a week, but once I took it up to twenty it was game over. I might even have been running a very slight deficit every week. The point is that I just don't drive enough to keep it charged enough. I'm going to hook it up to the new solar panel this weekend and just use it for the computer. If I'm lucky, a few hours a week TV. But no more movies. And I spent a long time compiling a list of movies. Well, just another trial and tribulation. I mention this because today's movie review and the one coming up this Saturday are going to be it for awhile, if not for good.
*
Tooth And Nail, Rated R, 2007. I recognized Michael Madsen but nobody else. The rest of the actors were teeny boppers. You might know them but I don't. And Madsen was getting a bit long on the tooth, all fat and bloated. He still cuts an imposing figure, I wouldn't call him fat to his face. He's one of the cannibal dudes. The movie does the narration thing in the beginning, and it holds promise. 2012 the oil runs out. A year later the reserves are gone and two years after that 2/3 of the global population is dead. Most of the smart folks figured they would head south for warmth and food. Too many had the same idea and they all killed each other off. A group of survivors is holed up in a hospital, lead by The Professor ( one assumes it was meant without irony, perhaps the writer/director is too young to remember Gilligan's Island ). They are eating off Red Cross emergency rations and putzing with the existing water purifiers. No mention is made of gardening, as the prof is too busy drafting solar panel plans ( we might not eat, but by gum we will have our electricity ). So, with this bare tease on post collapse life, the movie turns into its originally advertised horror theme.
*
From there it is not a terrible film, but it does follow the time tested genre path. Young pretty things all together. Unseen horror stalks them. One by one they die. In the end one grows some stones and fights back. I will say that even with that, it was original enough and enjoyable enough. It was a poor to fair post apocalypse movie and a slightly better than average horror movie so it won't waste your time or money. Just don't expect it to be one of your top ten.
END
Trolls say, don't buy my crap at www.bisonpress.com
Okay, don't panic just yet. I'm not really going to blather on and on about inflation today. Just a brief mention. And of course even though I merely pass on information from people that are paid professionals at this sort of thing the trolls will rear back in great agitation, their profuse back hair sticking straight up, bellow out in fearsome indignation, foul breath washing over the masses, convinced I don't know what I'm talking about. I don't know what gets their dander up more, my refusal to worship at the alter of semi-auto's ( I personally think the HK-91 and the 1911A1 auto are the best available personal weapons out there, my constantly repeated and ignored point is that ammo is a dwindling resource and they cost too much ) or the fact that I dare suggest we can't bring the middle class lifestyle into and beyond the collapse. If I had more computer time, it might be amusing to study which kinds of articles set them off on their berserker rage. Then I could write more of them. But, getting back to the title of the article. Tooth And Nail is a movie I just watched. So, a brief bit on inflation, a little on the movie, you tie together the two subjects to get an attention grabbing headline.
*
For the last three months, countries out there have been net sellers of Treasury bonds. A few of the smarter folks might be thinking that the US is toast, there is no hope of continual loans saving our butts, and therefor it is a good idea to sell off their existing debt before it isn't worth the paper it's printed on ( or, not worth the computer storage space which is really bad since that's much cheaper than paper ). Then, as if to shake their hands and congratulate them on their intelligent bet, our Helicopter Ben decides we're going to buy our own debt since no one else wants the slop. One trillion in inflation, BAM. Oooh, there it is! Some folks estimate inflation will surge fifteen fold. I don't want to believe that myself. But not wanting it to happen doesn't stop the problem, now does it? I won't even tie in the coming surge of inflation with ammunition price. See, I'm a nice guy and don't rile up the trolls. However, think about the cost of oil. If you enjoyed $4 a gallon gas almost a year ago, back before a lot of the bail outs and printing press sessions, wait for this round of oil price inflation.
*
Okay, I've been threatening you with a forthcoming book on apocalypse movies reviews. You have been spared. My 12v battery I've been charging by vehicle and using for my computer and TV/DVD player has started to show too serious of a drain. It went two months using about fifteen amps a week, but once I took it up to twenty it was game over. I might even have been running a very slight deficit every week. The point is that I just don't drive enough to keep it charged enough. I'm going to hook it up to the new solar panel this weekend and just use it for the computer. If I'm lucky, a few hours a week TV. But no more movies. And I spent a long time compiling a list of movies. Well, just another trial and tribulation. I mention this because today's movie review and the one coming up this Saturday are going to be it for awhile, if not for good.
*
Tooth And Nail, Rated R, 2007. I recognized Michael Madsen but nobody else. The rest of the actors were teeny boppers. You might know them but I don't. And Madsen was getting a bit long on the tooth, all fat and bloated. He still cuts an imposing figure, I wouldn't call him fat to his face. He's one of the cannibal dudes. The movie does the narration thing in the beginning, and it holds promise. 2012 the oil runs out. A year later the reserves are gone and two years after that 2/3 of the global population is dead. Most of the smart folks figured they would head south for warmth and food. Too many had the same idea and they all killed each other off. A group of survivors is holed up in a hospital, lead by The Professor ( one assumes it was meant without irony, perhaps the writer/director is too young to remember Gilligan's Island ). They are eating off Red Cross emergency rations and putzing with the existing water purifiers. No mention is made of gardening, as the prof is too busy drafting solar panel plans ( we might not eat, but by gum we will have our electricity ). So, with this bare tease on post collapse life, the movie turns into its originally advertised horror theme.
*
From there it is not a terrible film, but it does follow the time tested genre path. Young pretty things all together. Unseen horror stalks them. One by one they die. In the end one grows some stones and fights back. I will say that even with that, it was original enough and enjoyable enough. It was a poor to fair post apocalypse movie and a slightly better than average horror movie so it won't waste your time or money. Just don't expect it to be one of your top ten.
END
Trolls say, don't buy my crap at www.bisonpress.com
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
most likely yet another crossbow article
MOST LIKELY YET ANOTHER CROSSBOW ARTICLE
I'm sure this is another crossbow article. With almost 800 articles, how could I have not written about this before? Luckily for me, your attention has been drawn away by your daily need to go to work and help bail out the bankers and spendthrift states that promised the voters three dollars of spending for every dollar of taxes ( and those are the states in less trouble because of laws mandating balanced budgets ) so you are barely paying any notice to my troubled printing empire. However, loyal minion comments on slingshots and archery got me to thinking about crossbows again, so that is what you get today.
*
Today, CEO's get all hot and bothered when someone somewhere is making a living wage. They immediately hire a consultant ( a former employee they didn't want to pay health care to ) to tell them to hire out the services to India. The service will suck, not because of a substandard work ethic over there because let's face it if they don't do a superb job they have to go starve in Bombay with lepers and Black Plague and turds floating down the river so they really are motivated, but because of the language barrier. When people get pissed and call customer service they want something that can relate on a cultural level and not just possess perfect text book English. Which is why I never bought a Dell computer, so stick that in your forth quarter earning statement, jerk off. Back when kings were absolute rulers and not just some figurehead that got bossed around by some punk ass shopkeepers offspring that happened to get elected, they must have been getting all hot and bothered in a similar fashion. Geez, those archers sure do a good job and all, couldn't kick Frog butt otherwise, but they sure are expensive. It takes years and years for them to get proficient and then they must constantly practice. Poor royal dude, it must have really cut into the official budget. How many hunts had to be canceled as a result? So it must have been a real relief when someone came along with the crossbow.
*
Granted, the crossbow wasn't as easy to teach as today's spray and pray plastic carbines, but in relative terms it must have seemed like it. You could take a bunch of peasants and stick a few crossbows in their hands and that was pretty much that. Much easier, far less training. Of course the range was much shorter, but life was cheap and if you didn't die in battle you died of some pox or another anyway. In our near future, I can't imagine ever devolving past the point of black powder weapons. Even if they have to be without cases or primers. We won't enter a future of medieval weapons exclusively. Yet, I can still see a place for crossbows. They are not perfect, they are no match for chemically propelled projectiles, but you might find yourself in a "better than nothing" situation. For one, we can't 100% rule out a total gun ban, nor can we rule out the population meekly going along as they have in all other instances where the Constitution was ignored ( which is about every day ). The difference between us is I admit being a pussy. I'll run away before I'll fight. Some of you, on the other hand, act all macho and puff out your chest and roar how you'll fight them to the death if they...( fill in the blank ). Once I see it, I'll apologize over your grave. By admitting this, I'll acknowledge the need for alternate weapons for a worse case scenario. If guns are outlawed, outlaws can still make a crossbow.
*
What about if you are unemployed and your house gets robbed? You can't get another gun. But you could make a crossbow. What if guns weren't outlawed but ammunition became unavailable? Yes, I know you are all fabulously wealthy and can stock up on thousands of rounds at a dollar apiece, but what about a late comer to preps? What about family members you didn't arm? What if you already live in a state with draconian laws? What if you are in a concentration/reeducation camp and can't build anything else? By no means am I advocated a crossbow instead of a firearm, I'm just brainstorming ideas of why you might be forced to choose that way anyway. A few fun filled weekend projects with the family and you have the skill if it is ever needed. Of course, I would say put aside a few pieces of pipe and some shotgun shells if you really things are going to get that bad. Just proceed with caution as they will use those components as an excuse to Gitmo your ass for having bomb building materials.
*
You can always buy a $80 crossbow from Amazon. Go through my links at www.bisonpress.com ( just clink on any of my product links and then during the same visit find a crossbow-I get credit even if the item wasn't listed by me this way. A huge thank you for everyone that donates in this way ). With bolts and a spare cord it's about $100. I would recommend trying to build one however. The skill would be more valuable than the possession. Plus, who knows how good of quality the cheap China built ones are. And stay away from fancy modern crap like fiberglass and compound bows. You want to reproduce under primitive conditions. Below are build-it-yourself links.
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Do-It-Yourself/1984-09-01/The-Classic-Crossbow-You-Can-Build-Your-Own.aspx
http://dudeworld.com.au/HOWTO.CROSSBOW.HTML
END
I'm sure this is another crossbow article. With almost 800 articles, how could I have not written about this before? Luckily for me, your attention has been drawn away by your daily need to go to work and help bail out the bankers and spendthrift states that promised the voters three dollars of spending for every dollar of taxes ( and those are the states in less trouble because of laws mandating balanced budgets ) so you are barely paying any notice to my troubled printing empire. However, loyal minion comments on slingshots and archery got me to thinking about crossbows again, so that is what you get today.
*
Today, CEO's get all hot and bothered when someone somewhere is making a living wage. They immediately hire a consultant ( a former employee they didn't want to pay health care to ) to tell them to hire out the services to India. The service will suck, not because of a substandard work ethic over there because let's face it if they don't do a superb job they have to go starve in Bombay with lepers and Black Plague and turds floating down the river so they really are motivated, but because of the language barrier. When people get pissed and call customer service they want something that can relate on a cultural level and not just possess perfect text book English. Which is why I never bought a Dell computer, so stick that in your forth quarter earning statement, jerk off. Back when kings were absolute rulers and not just some figurehead that got bossed around by some punk ass shopkeepers offspring that happened to get elected, they must have been getting all hot and bothered in a similar fashion. Geez, those archers sure do a good job and all, couldn't kick Frog butt otherwise, but they sure are expensive. It takes years and years for them to get proficient and then they must constantly practice. Poor royal dude, it must have really cut into the official budget. How many hunts had to be canceled as a result? So it must have been a real relief when someone came along with the crossbow.
*
Granted, the crossbow wasn't as easy to teach as today's spray and pray plastic carbines, but in relative terms it must have seemed like it. You could take a bunch of peasants and stick a few crossbows in their hands and that was pretty much that. Much easier, far less training. Of course the range was much shorter, but life was cheap and if you didn't die in battle you died of some pox or another anyway. In our near future, I can't imagine ever devolving past the point of black powder weapons. Even if they have to be without cases or primers. We won't enter a future of medieval weapons exclusively. Yet, I can still see a place for crossbows. They are not perfect, they are no match for chemically propelled projectiles, but you might find yourself in a "better than nothing" situation. For one, we can't 100% rule out a total gun ban, nor can we rule out the population meekly going along as they have in all other instances where the Constitution was ignored ( which is about every day ). The difference between us is I admit being a pussy. I'll run away before I'll fight. Some of you, on the other hand, act all macho and puff out your chest and roar how you'll fight them to the death if they...( fill in the blank ). Once I see it, I'll apologize over your grave. By admitting this, I'll acknowledge the need for alternate weapons for a worse case scenario. If guns are outlawed, outlaws can still make a crossbow.
*
What about if you are unemployed and your house gets robbed? You can't get another gun. But you could make a crossbow. What if guns weren't outlawed but ammunition became unavailable? Yes, I know you are all fabulously wealthy and can stock up on thousands of rounds at a dollar apiece, but what about a late comer to preps? What about family members you didn't arm? What if you already live in a state with draconian laws? What if you are in a concentration/reeducation camp and can't build anything else? By no means am I advocated a crossbow instead of a firearm, I'm just brainstorming ideas of why you might be forced to choose that way anyway. A few fun filled weekend projects with the family and you have the skill if it is ever needed. Of course, I would say put aside a few pieces of pipe and some shotgun shells if you really things are going to get that bad. Just proceed with caution as they will use those components as an excuse to Gitmo your ass for having bomb building materials.
*
You can always buy a $80 crossbow from Amazon. Go through my links at www.bisonpress.com ( just clink on any of my product links and then during the same visit find a crossbow-I get credit even if the item wasn't listed by me this way. A huge thank you for everyone that donates in this way ). With bolts and a spare cord it's about $100. I would recommend trying to build one however. The skill would be more valuable than the possession. Plus, who knows how good of quality the cheap China built ones are. And stay away from fancy modern crap like fiberglass and compound bows. You want to reproduce under primitive conditions. Below are build-it-yourself links.
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Do-It-Yourself/1984-09-01/The-Classic-Crossbow-You-Can-Build-Your-Own.aspx
http://dudeworld.com.au/HOWTO.CROSSBOW.HTML
END
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
resource depletion
RESOURCE DEPLETION
Well, it was nice while it lasted. I didn't say much about guns for awhile so the trolls were staying away, lurking over at the blog Large Plastic Carbines For Small Inadequately Endowed Mouth Breathers. I think they have software that alerts them as soon as I say anything firearm related. I guess it was really my fault. I failed to encapsulate my idea into a bumper sticker length slogan. Allow me to correct that mistake. IT'S NOT ABOUT THE TACTICS, IT'S ABOUT THE LOGISTICS.
*
Logistics are not about running down to Big Bob's Sporting World and buying a case of ammunition and then getting ready to battle evil hoards of biker gangs or jack booted thugs. That is stockpiling. Logistics is how that ammunition got to Big Bob's. It's about the whole chain of supply, from raw ore to the energy used in its extraction to the capital used by the mine to finance itself and every other step along the way. You need to take into account a lot of different causes and effects. And as I've been trying to tell everyone, especially those not wanting to listen, we are running out of resources. You can't plan the future the same way things were done in the past. The past was the abundant Oil Age and the future is a mass die off as cheap and abundant oil runs out. We have already reached that point and are in the down phase. Ammunition can run out because the military needs it to steal the last of the cheap oil ( remember, it's not about running out of oil, it's about running out of cheap and abundant oil which fueled our economy- an economy that now has no other "fuel" ) from the middle east. It can run out because of politics. It can run out because of economics, lack of credit or bankruptcy or mines being closed. It can run out for many different reasons.
*
But underlying most of those reasons is the fact that the Oil Age is ending and we no longer live in a material abundant world. The population has overreached the environment. The only reason we have so many people is that we had plenty of oil. Oil made the extra food. The oil is running out. Oh, we'll have oil miles under the sea or locked up in shale. But that won't feed seven billion people. Saudi Arabia and Mexico and Russia and the North Sea with big puddles of oil close to the surface, that fed those billions of people. If we had that cheap easy flowing oil we wouldn't have an end game economic depression. Yes, derivatives caused it, but cheap oil would have allowed us to squeak by. If we still had that oil, the global drought could have been worked around. If we still had abundant oil we wouldn't need a depression like this to cut back on our resource use.
*
Investing now in resource sipping strategies is what I advocate. Relying on a bike instead of a car. Using less heat in the winter. Stocking up on cheap grain while it is still available. And, yes, using firearms that use a lot less ammunition. A few, a very few, can conserve ammunition in a firefight. Anyone that claims they can do it without practice seem to me to be suffering from machoism and delusion. Under stress, you revert to training. If you can afford that training. Otherwise, like the vast majority of us, you need the tool to conserve that ammunition. Knowing you only have one shot instead of five in the same time frame will force you to make those shots count. And that is exactly what you need to do when you have a limited amount of ammunition and there will be no replacement. This is not the Industrial Age where ammunition was churned out of factory after factory by the millions every day. Resources are becoming dear. You need to start living as such.
*
You can't waste resources the rest of your life like you've been doing. That was only possible through cheap energy. Cheap energy is over. I don't care that it is far smarter tactically to arm yourself with high rate of fire weapons. What I care about is that soon those kinds of weapons won't have enough to shoot. In the meantime, use tactics to negate most of the disadvantages of slower firing weapons. And don't forget to apply resource scarcity to the other areas of your life. Soon, you will be forced to.
END
Well, it was nice while it lasted. I didn't say much about guns for awhile so the trolls were staying away, lurking over at the blog Large Plastic Carbines For Small Inadequately Endowed Mouth Breathers. I think they have software that alerts them as soon as I say anything firearm related. I guess it was really my fault. I failed to encapsulate my idea into a bumper sticker length slogan. Allow me to correct that mistake. IT'S NOT ABOUT THE TACTICS, IT'S ABOUT THE LOGISTICS.
*
Logistics are not about running down to Big Bob's Sporting World and buying a case of ammunition and then getting ready to battle evil hoards of biker gangs or jack booted thugs. That is stockpiling. Logistics is how that ammunition got to Big Bob's. It's about the whole chain of supply, from raw ore to the energy used in its extraction to the capital used by the mine to finance itself and every other step along the way. You need to take into account a lot of different causes and effects. And as I've been trying to tell everyone, especially those not wanting to listen, we are running out of resources. You can't plan the future the same way things were done in the past. The past was the abundant Oil Age and the future is a mass die off as cheap and abundant oil runs out. We have already reached that point and are in the down phase. Ammunition can run out because the military needs it to steal the last of the cheap oil ( remember, it's not about running out of oil, it's about running out of cheap and abundant oil which fueled our economy- an economy that now has no other "fuel" ) from the middle east. It can run out because of politics. It can run out because of economics, lack of credit or bankruptcy or mines being closed. It can run out for many different reasons.
*
But underlying most of those reasons is the fact that the Oil Age is ending and we no longer live in a material abundant world. The population has overreached the environment. The only reason we have so many people is that we had plenty of oil. Oil made the extra food. The oil is running out. Oh, we'll have oil miles under the sea or locked up in shale. But that won't feed seven billion people. Saudi Arabia and Mexico and Russia and the North Sea with big puddles of oil close to the surface, that fed those billions of people. If we had that cheap easy flowing oil we wouldn't have an end game economic depression. Yes, derivatives caused it, but cheap oil would have allowed us to squeak by. If we still had that oil, the global drought could have been worked around. If we still had abundant oil we wouldn't need a depression like this to cut back on our resource use.
*
Investing now in resource sipping strategies is what I advocate. Relying on a bike instead of a car. Using less heat in the winter. Stocking up on cheap grain while it is still available. And, yes, using firearms that use a lot less ammunition. A few, a very few, can conserve ammunition in a firefight. Anyone that claims they can do it without practice seem to me to be suffering from machoism and delusion. Under stress, you revert to training. If you can afford that training. Otherwise, like the vast majority of us, you need the tool to conserve that ammunition. Knowing you only have one shot instead of five in the same time frame will force you to make those shots count. And that is exactly what you need to do when you have a limited amount of ammunition and there will be no replacement. This is not the Industrial Age where ammunition was churned out of factory after factory by the millions every day. Resources are becoming dear. You need to start living as such.
*
You can't waste resources the rest of your life like you've been doing. That was only possible through cheap energy. Cheap energy is over. I don't care that it is far smarter tactically to arm yourself with high rate of fire weapons. What I care about is that soon those kinds of weapons won't have enough to shoot. In the meantime, use tactics to negate most of the disadvantages of slower firing weapons. And don't forget to apply resource scarcity to the other areas of your life. Soon, you will be forced to.
END
Monday, March 23, 2009
ammo blues
AMMO BLUES
My first thought today was, Happy Friggin Monday. I love it when my kids call me on the weekend, they always have amusing adventures to report ( my son managed to burn his boots in the camp fire ) and it goes a long way towards filling in their absence. The only bad part is that we gab for hours on end and before I know it the day is shot to hell and that just brings the work week around that much quicker. Some weeks I simply don't want to be here which you can all relate to. My second thought was to do an article on the big story of the weekend, everyone talking about the Rolling Stone article on the corporate power grab of the government through bail out funds. Instead, I'll just give it a quick look here and we can move on to other matters. And, for the record, this is a knee jerk reaction and I didn't completely read the whole thing.
*
Rolling Stone is a typical liberal government cheerleader. Republicans are evil corporate ass kissing stoolies and Democrats are only out for the little people and want to help the worker with Union wages and the oppressed minorities with entitlements, blah blah. While I hate the Republicans myself, I also hate the Democrats. Both buy off certain opposing groups with tax money. If you vote for either you are voting against individualism and for Big Government. End of story. No grey, just black and white here. Compassion for anyone equals destruction of my paycheck which equals irreplaceable units of my life stolen from me. I have nothing against private welfare, church welfare, or beneficial societies. I do oppose compulsory compassion. So, the Rolling Stone article is simply more anti-business, pro interventionist propaganda. Plus, it is nonsense. I like conspiracy theories, but they have to be credible. I don't think this one is. Big business buys and sells Congressmen. They aren't engineering a fake economic meltdown to take control of the government. First off, they need government as a patsy to do their unpopular bidding. The target of painful actions thus becomes the government and the businesses can act innocent. Two, businesses need government to protect them with the monopoly of force. They act to keep competitors in line. You want to have a friend in government, not necessarily to run it. It is cheaper to bribe the government than to perform the acts of force yourself.
*
We all know the current problems with the national ammunition supply. Chronic shortages and rising prices. Now, here is a conspiracy I can get behind. The government endlessly prints money to buy up all the ammunition for use by the military and causes the civilian supply to implode. This then becomes de facto gun control. Everybody owns a semi-automatic. Groovy, we can withstand the coming dictatorship. Oops, a small problem, Houston. We can't buy more than a few boxes of ammo for them. Elect the black guy, everyone freaks out and causes more shortages by stripping the shelves in a panic about the coming gun control. And while this is going on, attention has been diverted from the coming food shortages. Gun control or not, it doesn't matter. We will be starved out with no ammunition. We've forgotten that there is more than one way to skin a cat.
*
If you had been listening to me you would have concentrated on bolt actions and revolvers and the current magazine and ammunition crisis would not be effecting you. If you listen to me about the food and stock up on grain now, you can sail through the coming food shortages. I'm not psychic or necessarily more intelligent, but I can think logically. Yes, at times it hurts. The good thing is that I won't have to wait fifty years to be vindicated. I'd give it five. Okay, my timing has always been off, but not the general direction of events. You can't do a damn thing about ammo prices if you've waited too long. But you can actually get enough on a budget if you stick with the ammo stingy weapons. Bolt actions and revolvers. Mass manufacturing and affordable commodities is swiftly coming to an end. This includes affordable ammunition and grain. Buy as much as you can, but don't waste your limited resources. Semi-autos waste your money and then they waste your limited amount of ammunition. You don't need them. It will be harder to accomplish the same task with a more primitive tool, but it can be done.
END
you can buy my crap at www.bisonpress.com
new blog http://backwoods-living.blogspot.com good stuff so far
My first thought today was, Happy Friggin Monday. I love it when my kids call me on the weekend, they always have amusing adventures to report ( my son managed to burn his boots in the camp fire ) and it goes a long way towards filling in their absence. The only bad part is that we gab for hours on end and before I know it the day is shot to hell and that just brings the work week around that much quicker. Some weeks I simply don't want to be here which you can all relate to. My second thought was to do an article on the big story of the weekend, everyone talking about the Rolling Stone article on the corporate power grab of the government through bail out funds. Instead, I'll just give it a quick look here and we can move on to other matters. And, for the record, this is a knee jerk reaction and I didn't completely read the whole thing.
*
Rolling Stone is a typical liberal government cheerleader. Republicans are evil corporate ass kissing stoolies and Democrats are only out for the little people and want to help the worker with Union wages and the oppressed minorities with entitlements, blah blah. While I hate the Republicans myself, I also hate the Democrats. Both buy off certain opposing groups with tax money. If you vote for either you are voting against individualism and for Big Government. End of story. No grey, just black and white here. Compassion for anyone equals destruction of my paycheck which equals irreplaceable units of my life stolen from me. I have nothing against private welfare, church welfare, or beneficial societies. I do oppose compulsory compassion. So, the Rolling Stone article is simply more anti-business, pro interventionist propaganda. Plus, it is nonsense. I like conspiracy theories, but they have to be credible. I don't think this one is. Big business buys and sells Congressmen. They aren't engineering a fake economic meltdown to take control of the government. First off, they need government as a patsy to do their unpopular bidding. The target of painful actions thus becomes the government and the businesses can act innocent. Two, businesses need government to protect them with the monopoly of force. They act to keep competitors in line. You want to have a friend in government, not necessarily to run it. It is cheaper to bribe the government than to perform the acts of force yourself.
*
We all know the current problems with the national ammunition supply. Chronic shortages and rising prices. Now, here is a conspiracy I can get behind. The government endlessly prints money to buy up all the ammunition for use by the military and causes the civilian supply to implode. This then becomes de facto gun control. Everybody owns a semi-automatic. Groovy, we can withstand the coming dictatorship. Oops, a small problem, Houston. We can't buy more than a few boxes of ammo for them. Elect the black guy, everyone freaks out and causes more shortages by stripping the shelves in a panic about the coming gun control. And while this is going on, attention has been diverted from the coming food shortages. Gun control or not, it doesn't matter. We will be starved out with no ammunition. We've forgotten that there is more than one way to skin a cat.
*
If you had been listening to me you would have concentrated on bolt actions and revolvers and the current magazine and ammunition crisis would not be effecting you. If you listen to me about the food and stock up on grain now, you can sail through the coming food shortages. I'm not psychic or necessarily more intelligent, but I can think logically. Yes, at times it hurts. The good thing is that I won't have to wait fifty years to be vindicated. I'd give it five. Okay, my timing has always been off, but not the general direction of events. You can't do a damn thing about ammo prices if you've waited too long. But you can actually get enough on a budget if you stick with the ammo stingy weapons. Bolt actions and revolvers. Mass manufacturing and affordable commodities is swiftly coming to an end. This includes affordable ammunition and grain. Buy as much as you can, but don't waste your limited resources. Semi-autos waste your money and then they waste your limited amount of ammunition. You don't need them. It will be harder to accomplish the same task with a more primitive tool, but it can be done.
END
you can buy my crap at www.bisonpress.com
new blog http://backwoods-living.blogspot.com good stuff so far
Saturday, March 21, 2009
movie review
MOVIE REVIEW
EVER SINCE THE WORLD ENDED
Rated NR 2001
By Calum Grant and Joshua Litle
This movie uses a documentary style, the interviewer and cameraman recording interviews of the survivors of a super plague. At first I had fears of Blair Witch BS, jerky camera action and what not, but the whole thing was rather well done. Overall a very good effort. Now, that said, the film does suffer from a severe California Lifestyle outlook. I had forgotten how totally out of touch “those people” were, having successfully escaped that mad house almost twenty years ago, but this movie definitely brought that insanity back to life.
*
Twelve years after the plague started ( of unknown origins with no known cure ) and ten years after the end which left only 186 people left in San Francisco, our two guys decided to do the whole interview for prosperity shtick. Kind of the book Warday, but on video and in the Bay Area and just north. It isn’t just talking heads, they show people actually doing the things they are talking about such as fishing with spears and poles on the beach. The pace is good and never lets up and they bounce back and forth in the interviews so it doesn’t get boring. Plus, there is plenty of live video as the two travel with others. There are shots of the Golden Gate bridge falling apart, clearly the CG budget buster here even though the film never seems low budget or cheesy. But, good Christ the feel of the whole thing.
*
Think of painfully hip young people. Now, picture painfully hip and young urban Californians. All with lifetime indoctrination in politically correct thought. These people are their own culture, and if Baby Jesus had any love for us they would be their own country. Those people living in California, I’m sorry to hear that. Those Californians cursing me right now, tough crap. I was born and raised there and I am qualified to pronounce you friggin wacked. The whole thread this movie had was that with almost total population decline everyone left had the abundant resources to do as they deemed fit. You had a women’s commune. One of them was interviewing for a sperm donor. She wanted a child, not a family. The women’s commune would all pitch in as the family unit. Way to go, keep that PC brainwashing going. Another teenager was tired of the reminiscing of the adults and had gone from foster parent to foster parent until he was satisfied with a group of kids raising themselves. One guy was living up in the trees. He only used a crossbow so he stayed silent and he had animal totems in his hat. The ultimate groovy nature tree hugging lifestyle. Two guys were slackers, smoking weed all the time. Their tip was to follow the wild dog packs to edible and abundant food ( just be careful they don’t turn on you, dude ).
*
Every decision was made by arguing amongst themselves. One psycho guy had started fires, endangered the city. He was run out of town. After “listening to the ghosts” in the wilderness away from everybody he wanted to return to the city and be with other people. Of course everyone was afraid he’d start fires again. Blah, blah, talk, talk, what do we do about crazy dude? Kill him? Too barbaric, who are we to play God, yada, yada. The guy ends up dead by an unknown executioner. Most of their reaction was that there were too few people left and it was a tragedy. Morons. Any normal society after the crash a sentry would have smoked him as he came back. Or, plenty of volunteers would have stepped forward to off the silly twit. And been praised for the effort. Instead, these idiots are talking about not allowing hate to become toxic or some such drivel. Hate is good, dumbass. It keeps you focused and alive.
*
And then there was the conspiracy nut ( the plague was by the CIA/NSA/CDC- I don‘t have proof yet, but I will! ). Portrayed as weak chinned and almost effeminate and completely off his rocker. Okay, I will admit that most conspiracies are a bit much and their devotees a bit too focused with almost no sense of humor. Although, let me just say look at the hole in the Pentagon. It’s the size of a bunker buster rocket, far too small to be the fuselage of an airliner. But that’s all I’ll say about that. My point here is that in the movie this portrayal struck me as a bit pro-liberal PC big daddy government and a bit anti-individual. Maybe I’m reading too much into it. But the conspiracy guy was a clear bit of propaganda one way or another. Then, near the end, one of the traveling group was shot by unknown assailants ( perhaps another negative portrayal, the evil unseen rural dweller attacks the hip and cool city dude ) and still several days out they can’t get him back since they’re almost out of water. And his wound is starting to smell a bit. Argue, argue, what do we do, and then another guy shoots the wounded one. Okay, problem solved. No more burden to carry.
*
To me this kind of goes along with the whole outlook so far. California is the ultimate idea of personal freedom without any responsibilities ( which is why the Nanny State is so popular there since it is the only safety net the juvenile society has ). I can’t see beyond myself, so I’ll eliminate any problem to myself. Pathetic.
*Genre Rating-very good. Not perfect, the mass die off leaving massive supplies to the survivors seems like a cop out to me. But everything stays consistent. The salvage of materials to explain what they have is realistic. The lack of people translates into a believable hunting existence. The gravity water system for the city is explained, gardening is believable in their climate. Everyone is nicely dressed, explained by salvage.
*Nudity Rating-piss poor. No skin.
*Overall Rating- very good. While the whole California Culture pollutes the film, there is no denying it was well made and has a realistic feel to it. Even their sanitized appearance is excused by youth and a relatively easy and less stressful lifestyle.
END
EVER SINCE THE WORLD ENDED
Rated NR 2001
By Calum Grant and Joshua Litle
This movie uses a documentary style, the interviewer and cameraman recording interviews of the survivors of a super plague. At first I had fears of Blair Witch BS, jerky camera action and what not, but the whole thing was rather well done. Overall a very good effort. Now, that said, the film does suffer from a severe California Lifestyle outlook. I had forgotten how totally out of touch “those people” were, having successfully escaped that mad house almost twenty years ago, but this movie definitely brought that insanity back to life.
*
Twelve years after the plague started ( of unknown origins with no known cure ) and ten years after the end which left only 186 people left in San Francisco, our two guys decided to do the whole interview for prosperity shtick. Kind of the book Warday, but on video and in the Bay Area and just north. It isn’t just talking heads, they show people actually doing the things they are talking about such as fishing with spears and poles on the beach. The pace is good and never lets up and they bounce back and forth in the interviews so it doesn’t get boring. Plus, there is plenty of live video as the two travel with others. There are shots of the Golden Gate bridge falling apart, clearly the CG budget buster here even though the film never seems low budget or cheesy. But, good Christ the feel of the whole thing.
*
Think of painfully hip young people. Now, picture painfully hip and young urban Californians. All with lifetime indoctrination in politically correct thought. These people are their own culture, and if Baby Jesus had any love for us they would be their own country. Those people living in California, I’m sorry to hear that. Those Californians cursing me right now, tough crap. I was born and raised there and I am qualified to pronounce you friggin wacked. The whole thread this movie had was that with almost total population decline everyone left had the abundant resources to do as they deemed fit. You had a women’s commune. One of them was interviewing for a sperm donor. She wanted a child, not a family. The women’s commune would all pitch in as the family unit. Way to go, keep that PC brainwashing going. Another teenager was tired of the reminiscing of the adults and had gone from foster parent to foster parent until he was satisfied with a group of kids raising themselves. One guy was living up in the trees. He only used a crossbow so he stayed silent and he had animal totems in his hat. The ultimate groovy nature tree hugging lifestyle. Two guys were slackers, smoking weed all the time. Their tip was to follow the wild dog packs to edible and abundant food ( just be careful they don’t turn on you, dude ).
*
Every decision was made by arguing amongst themselves. One psycho guy had started fires, endangered the city. He was run out of town. After “listening to the ghosts” in the wilderness away from everybody he wanted to return to the city and be with other people. Of course everyone was afraid he’d start fires again. Blah, blah, talk, talk, what do we do about crazy dude? Kill him? Too barbaric, who are we to play God, yada, yada. The guy ends up dead by an unknown executioner. Most of their reaction was that there were too few people left and it was a tragedy. Morons. Any normal society after the crash a sentry would have smoked him as he came back. Or, plenty of volunteers would have stepped forward to off the silly twit. And been praised for the effort. Instead, these idiots are talking about not allowing hate to become toxic or some such drivel. Hate is good, dumbass. It keeps you focused and alive.
*
And then there was the conspiracy nut ( the plague was by the CIA/NSA/CDC- I don‘t have proof yet, but I will! ). Portrayed as weak chinned and almost effeminate and completely off his rocker. Okay, I will admit that most conspiracies are a bit much and their devotees a bit too focused with almost no sense of humor. Although, let me just say look at the hole in the Pentagon. It’s the size of a bunker buster rocket, far too small to be the fuselage of an airliner. But that’s all I’ll say about that. My point here is that in the movie this portrayal struck me as a bit pro-liberal PC big daddy government and a bit anti-individual. Maybe I’m reading too much into it. But the conspiracy guy was a clear bit of propaganda one way or another. Then, near the end, one of the traveling group was shot by unknown assailants ( perhaps another negative portrayal, the evil unseen rural dweller attacks the hip and cool city dude ) and still several days out they can’t get him back since they’re almost out of water. And his wound is starting to smell a bit. Argue, argue, what do we do, and then another guy shoots the wounded one. Okay, problem solved. No more burden to carry.
*
To me this kind of goes along with the whole outlook so far. California is the ultimate idea of personal freedom without any responsibilities ( which is why the Nanny State is so popular there since it is the only safety net the juvenile society has ). I can’t see beyond myself, so I’ll eliminate any problem to myself. Pathetic.
*Genre Rating-very good. Not perfect, the mass die off leaving massive supplies to the survivors seems like a cop out to me. But everything stays consistent. The salvage of materials to explain what they have is realistic. The lack of people translates into a believable hunting existence. The gravity water system for the city is explained, gardening is believable in their climate. Everyone is nicely dressed, explained by salvage.
*Nudity Rating-piss poor. No skin.
*Overall Rating- very good. While the whole California Culture pollutes the film, there is no denying it was well made and has a realistic feel to it. Even their sanitized appearance is excused by youth and a relatively easy and less stressful lifestyle.
END
Friday, March 20, 2009
calorie cost
CALORIE COST
All calories are created equally, but some calories are more equal than others. Good Christ, I amuse myself. Here we are, entering into the Greatest Depression Known To Man Throughout All Of History Because We Are Incorporating The Derivatives Implosion With Peak Oil In Which We Are All Going To Die ( GDKTMTAOHBWAITDIWPOIWWAAGTD, pronounced just like it's spelled ) where millions more comedians are out of work and I'm trying to be funny. If you think the Detroit unemployment of 23% is bad, take a look at the comedians. But I make no apologies for putting any downwards pressure on their wages or even for being directly responsible for their being out of a job since they can't hope to compete. If it's good enough for the housing industry with illegal workers displacing Union positions, its good enough for me. Plus, just as the mortgages written by banks on those houses fattened up a few CEO's wallets, my actions help the executives at Fox and HBO. I won't get any thanks from them, not even sloppy seconds on one of their aspiring actresses, but I just can't help who I am.
*
Now, acknowledging that not all calories are the same, you need to keep that in mind as you read this article. Obviously, white processed flour is not as healthy for you as whole wheat flour. And whole wheat kernels freshly ground are healthier for you than store bought whole wheat flour that's been sitting around for awhile. And, obviously, white rice is not as good for you as brown, but since brown rice has almost no shelf life, you use white. What I'm saying here is, don't bring up the obvious. Today we are simply comparing calorie costs, not which calories are better for you. I trust you'll keep that in mind yourself and make your own rational informed decisions. Now, see what you made me do- all that long winded drivel for a disclaimer. Warning! This coffee might be hot! Warning! Do not use this dollar store pool blow up toy as a life saving flotation device! Warning! Your three hundred pound lard ass standing on the top rung of this ladder will cause the laws of gravity to take effect and your large girth to come crashing down to earth!
*
What storage food delivers the most calories? How much do those calories cost? As if there was any confusion about the most perfect survival food, whole wheat kernels once again are the best of the bunch. Buying in bulk at the feed store for $15 per fifty pounds, one dollar delivers 5,000 calories. Not too far behind that is white flour at $2 a five pound sack at Wally-World, giving you 3700 calories per dollar. Top Ramen is 2530 calories per dollar if you get the fifteen cent pack. Pasta is 2285 per buck. Rice is 1760 calories per dollar which kind of goes to show you that is is way overrated as a survival food. Since both white flour and white rice have most of their nutrients removed by milling, you should go with white flour since it delivers over twice the calorie count for the same price. The poor pinto bean only delivers 1410 calories per dollar. And, yes, it is a superior protein food. But for a simple calorie comparison it fairs poorly. Instant mashed potatoes only give you 1360 calories per buck. Now, keep in mind that all but the wheat kernels are bought in small quantities, around a buck. You would get more calories per buck by buying in bulk. The ratios would more than likely stay the same.
*
I hope this helps a bit when it comes time to pick what you wish to store. If it doesn't help, if you feel I've wasted your time, I'll try to make it up to you. Tune in tomorrow for the next movie review.
END
Buy My Crap!!!! www.bisonpress.com
All calories are created equally, but some calories are more equal than others. Good Christ, I amuse myself. Here we are, entering into the Greatest Depression Known To Man Throughout All Of History Because We Are Incorporating The Derivatives Implosion With Peak Oil In Which We Are All Going To Die ( GDKTMTAOHBWAITDIWPOIWWAAGTD, pronounced just like it's spelled ) where millions more comedians are out of work and I'm trying to be funny. If you think the Detroit unemployment of 23% is bad, take a look at the comedians. But I make no apologies for putting any downwards pressure on their wages or even for being directly responsible for their being out of a job since they can't hope to compete. If it's good enough for the housing industry with illegal workers displacing Union positions, its good enough for me. Plus, just as the mortgages written by banks on those houses fattened up a few CEO's wallets, my actions help the executives at Fox and HBO. I won't get any thanks from them, not even sloppy seconds on one of their aspiring actresses, but I just can't help who I am.
*
Now, acknowledging that not all calories are the same, you need to keep that in mind as you read this article. Obviously, white processed flour is not as healthy for you as whole wheat flour. And whole wheat kernels freshly ground are healthier for you than store bought whole wheat flour that's been sitting around for awhile. And, obviously, white rice is not as good for you as brown, but since brown rice has almost no shelf life, you use white. What I'm saying here is, don't bring up the obvious. Today we are simply comparing calorie costs, not which calories are better for you. I trust you'll keep that in mind yourself and make your own rational informed decisions. Now, see what you made me do- all that long winded drivel for a disclaimer. Warning! This coffee might be hot! Warning! Do not use this dollar store pool blow up toy as a life saving flotation device! Warning! Your three hundred pound lard ass standing on the top rung of this ladder will cause the laws of gravity to take effect and your large girth to come crashing down to earth!
*
What storage food delivers the most calories? How much do those calories cost? As if there was any confusion about the most perfect survival food, whole wheat kernels once again are the best of the bunch. Buying in bulk at the feed store for $15 per fifty pounds, one dollar delivers 5,000 calories. Not too far behind that is white flour at $2 a five pound sack at Wally-World, giving you 3700 calories per dollar. Top Ramen is 2530 calories per dollar if you get the fifteen cent pack. Pasta is 2285 per buck. Rice is 1760 calories per dollar which kind of goes to show you that is is way overrated as a survival food. Since both white flour and white rice have most of their nutrients removed by milling, you should go with white flour since it delivers over twice the calorie count for the same price. The poor pinto bean only delivers 1410 calories per dollar. And, yes, it is a superior protein food. But for a simple calorie comparison it fairs poorly. Instant mashed potatoes only give you 1360 calories per buck. Now, keep in mind that all but the wheat kernels are bought in small quantities, around a buck. You would get more calories per buck by buying in bulk. The ratios would more than likely stay the same.
*
I hope this helps a bit when it comes time to pick what you wish to store. If it doesn't help, if you feel I've wasted your time, I'll try to make it up to you. Tune in tomorrow for the next movie review.
END
Buy My Crap!!!! www.bisonpress.com
Thursday, March 19, 2009
welcome committee
WELCOME COMMITTEE
Before we start today, I apologize if I gave any incorrect information yesterday. I was so focused on the cost aspect of water treatment I paid no attention to effectiveness and used the terms purification and filtered and treated too loosely. I trust all my minions are smart enough to question everything, even my divine utterances.
*
I got this idea from watching my first Official Reviewed Doomsday movie last night. That movie review will follow today and from now on I'll post them on the weekend. Then, a week later I'll go back and delete it. You get it free, and I'll get to eventually sell it to you if you then desire. Plus, I won't be publishing it twice that way ( once in Chicken Little, once as a book ). A welcome committee at your retreat. Let's just say that your OpSec is effective. To those that didn't get that, it's operational security. The same kind of people that don't have to do mental arithmetic to figure out when 1700 hours is use this kind of jargon. I don't care for it but still find myself lapsing into its use now and again. You didn't blab about all your stockpiled goodies. No one really knows what you have. However, against all odds a straggler comes across your cabin and while he doesn't know what is there he figures even a poorly stocked cabin has more than what he does which is nothing. So he breaks in and decides this is as good a place to stay as any. Even if you have a concealed door to the root cellar or whatever, you still have a Goldilocks and the Three Bears situation going on. And Goldilocks is armed.
*
And even if he can't get in because of your super paranoia, he can still ambush you as you arrive. I'm not saying it is going to happen, but this kind of thing is right up Murphy's alley. It could happen. Just dumb luck, not even poor planning on your part. Now I'm sure someone that's spend a million bucks for a super retreat has this one figured out. But since most of our ( poor people ) retreats are trailers on junk land or cabins too far away from work to be habitable, I think it is a concern bearing some thought. I'm not talking about leaving items for theft as much as I'm bringing up the concern someone will blunder into your dwelling after taking to the road in an emergency. Even during "normal" times, what is to say one of the increasing homeless population won't find your place and when you visit innocently you won't encounter problems?
*
Each solution generates it's own problems. You shelter in place there is the mortgage and increased population to be concerned with. You bring everything you own including the dwelling to your land as needed, you might get gridlocked or face Federal travel restrictions or gas shortages. If you can't live there full time, what about a friend or relative? We all know slackers that don't work. What about paying for satellite TV to keep them entertained out there and visit once a month to take them grocery shopping with their Food Stamps and fix whatever they broke? Just a thought. Obviously you would need to trust them.
END
Before you read the movie review below, buy my crap at http://www.bisonpress.com/
*
TIME OF THE WOLF
Rated R, 2003, subtitled in English
Isabelle Huppert and lots of other French dudes.
The movie starts off after a disaster. One can’t be sure but it seems the basic theme throughout is lack of pure water and dying livestock so the disaster it most likely contamination of the water supply throughout the country. A family pulls up in their minivan to a vacation home. Gets out, starts unloading a few boxes of groceries. They get inside and there is some other guy with his family and he is armed. This is where the English subtitles come in pretty handy because the strange mother has a screaming kid with her. If I had been trying to listen to the conversation I wouldn’t have been able to hear much of anything. And they must have gotten the screaming baby soundtrack cheap because you hear it a friggin lot through the movie. Sure, sure, we all know as soon as people start toppling over dead from thirst things get all traumatic and kids seem to sense that everything will get lots better if they start bawling. But, this irritation doesn’t start until later. At first, you just think it’s as annoying as trying to read subtitles.
*
Dad and Mom and two ten to fifteen year old kids are the owners of the cabin. The stranger inside with his wife is the one with the screaming kid. Keep this in mind for what happens next. Dad, blah, blah, why are you here? What do you want? Let the kids go outside. The kids are excused and Dad doesn’t get one more sentence out when, bam, the stranger shoots him. You’re thinking, okay, he’s a novice at stealing others supplies and was nervous so he fires the gun ( it isn’t explained how the civilian gets a gun in socialist France, since I have nothing against Frogs, their saving our butts from the British and all, but let’s face facts they didn’t learn a damn thing after the Nazi’s took over and won’t allow the public to arm themselves ). No, I think that damn kid screaming drove him over the edge and he went nuts. He tells the wife to take the kids and leave and Mom is a bit smarter than her rapidly cooling husband who tried to rationalize with the crazy armed guy while a baby was screaming and she hauls butt.
*
Now, I hate say this, but that’s pretty much it for excitement in this film. It was decently budgeted, the acting was good, the story wasn’t full of holes until the end ( which I’ll get too shortly ), but I guess being European it just has to be different. They decided that different here was to go as slow as possible and say as little as possible. The movie lasts almost two hours and you wonder why. Were they paid by the minute? They could have easily wrapped in up in half the time. As I describe the rest of the film, just visualize it all taking place at a very slow pace. I Could Have Gone And Pissed And Missed Nothing slow. About as slow as this review. Mom and kids go walking down the road, knock on a few doors of people they know ( I cleverly deduced this by their names being called out ) and no one will answer. They go into a barn to sleep and Mom tells the kids to stay put as she visits another house where she finally gets a little help in the way of a few handfuls of food ( “don’t come back, my husband mustn’t know. We have seven mouths to feed. It’s because you’ve always been so nice, you see.” ). Finally, karmic payback. They chow down and go to sleep. The middle of the night daughter wakes up Mom in a panic, her brother has disappeared. They have no flashlight, so Mom the smoker uses her lighter to get a handful of hay lit. Keep a fire going, I’m looking for the brother, don’t let it go out so I can find you, I’m leaving now and coming back to the friggin barn on fire you silly little twat. They go to sleep and in the morning wake up and there’s the kid. With another kid, a stranger. The kid doesn’t say where he’s been. This kid, by the way, turns out to be a lot of work. Oh, boo hoo, daddies dead and your parakeet died and life so sucks for you just shut up already we all have issues. But of course you don’t really start hating this little punk until later. He looks innocent and doesn’t say much but he turns out to be pretty high maintenance. Okay, new kid is the girls age ( she’s the oldest ) and all glaring and full of attitude and right away we want to kick his ass. I don’t know why Mom invited him along unless it was so her daughter and this guy could act all terribly European teenaged angst and such.
*
Walk along, look for breakfast but all the dead sheep are dead long enough to have maggots, swipe the clothes off the dead guy since it’s cold out ( the only sensible thing this delinquent does the whole film). And then they come to a train station and things really start slowing down. Young punk steal a pair of eyeglasses ( to start fires with ) and the train station group tries to stop him and he hides in the woods and the daughter goes out there to meet him once in awhile acting all hurt he’s ungrateful for the medicine or food but what did she expect since he’s a punk but she’s probably mooning for him and it’s all terrible French and sophisticated and stupendously boring. A group of traders come along on horses with water to trade, some foreigner ( Polish? ) in the group all weepy and screaming ( her screaming blending in with all the babies crying back at the train station, let’s not forget that ) her baby needs water. The train station group is always arguing about who’s in charge and how they need to work at blocking the track in case a supply train comes along ( it seems all areas are suffering from the trains not running and no supplies are getting through ) and other crap. Trying to show us how selfish and greedy and unorganized everyone will be but just giving me a headache with all the shouting. Shut up already, I’m trying to read the damn subtitles.
*
It just goes on and on and some crap about “the Just”. In all the world there are only 36 and if one dies the world ends and I wonder if the professed train station leader is one? But I don’t think he acts like one of the Just. What the hell are they talking about. I guess it’s a French thing, I wouldn’t understand. Then another guy is talking about how people throw themselves into fires and burn up. Again, what is he talking about? But in the end, after a whole lot of nothing happens, old neighbors fighting ( they seriously don’t like Poles in France it seems ) and a search for a stolen goat ( by the punk of course ) and a bunch of other crap, the brother tries to throw himself into the nighttime bonfire ( they keep it going to alert that train that never comes ) but is stopped by the night time guard. There, there, you’ll feel better after you cry, rock in my arms, blah, blah. And the next scene is the view outside of a moving train but it never shows if this is the one picking up the group or if it is just someone remembering how the trains used to run and then the movie ends. Huh? That made no sense.
*
Okay, a few great lessons here. Your retreat could have the bad guys already in there, so have a BOB buried nearby so you have a flashlight and don’t have to burn hay for light. Crying kids kill. Don’t trust funny talking foreigners. And, French movies are really weird.
*
*Genre Rating- Excellent. All action happens after the collapse, no phony last minute rescue.
*Nudity Rating-Poor. Only one shot, and it was a corpse being prepared which has zero appeal.
*Overall Rating- Fair to good. A well done movie only suffering from slow pacing. The weirdness may have to do with the cultural differences.
END
Before we start today, I apologize if I gave any incorrect information yesterday. I was so focused on the cost aspect of water treatment I paid no attention to effectiveness and used the terms purification and filtered and treated too loosely. I trust all my minions are smart enough to question everything, even my divine utterances.
*
I got this idea from watching my first Official Reviewed Doomsday movie last night. That movie review will follow today and from now on I'll post them on the weekend. Then, a week later I'll go back and delete it. You get it free, and I'll get to eventually sell it to you if you then desire. Plus, I won't be publishing it twice that way ( once in Chicken Little, once as a book ). A welcome committee at your retreat. Let's just say that your OpSec is effective. To those that didn't get that, it's operational security. The same kind of people that don't have to do mental arithmetic to figure out when 1700 hours is use this kind of jargon. I don't care for it but still find myself lapsing into its use now and again. You didn't blab about all your stockpiled goodies. No one really knows what you have. However, against all odds a straggler comes across your cabin and while he doesn't know what is there he figures even a poorly stocked cabin has more than what he does which is nothing. So he breaks in and decides this is as good a place to stay as any. Even if you have a concealed door to the root cellar or whatever, you still have a Goldilocks and the Three Bears situation going on. And Goldilocks is armed.
*
And even if he can't get in because of your super paranoia, he can still ambush you as you arrive. I'm not saying it is going to happen, but this kind of thing is right up Murphy's alley. It could happen. Just dumb luck, not even poor planning on your part. Now I'm sure someone that's spend a million bucks for a super retreat has this one figured out. But since most of our ( poor people ) retreats are trailers on junk land or cabins too far away from work to be habitable, I think it is a concern bearing some thought. I'm not talking about leaving items for theft as much as I'm bringing up the concern someone will blunder into your dwelling after taking to the road in an emergency. Even during "normal" times, what is to say one of the increasing homeless population won't find your place and when you visit innocently you won't encounter problems?
*
Each solution generates it's own problems. You shelter in place there is the mortgage and increased population to be concerned with. You bring everything you own including the dwelling to your land as needed, you might get gridlocked or face Federal travel restrictions or gas shortages. If you can't live there full time, what about a friend or relative? We all know slackers that don't work. What about paying for satellite TV to keep them entertained out there and visit once a month to take them grocery shopping with their Food Stamps and fix whatever they broke? Just a thought. Obviously you would need to trust them.
END
Before you read the movie review below, buy my crap at http://www.bisonpress.com/
*
TIME OF THE WOLF
Rated R, 2003, subtitled in English
Isabelle Huppert and lots of other French dudes.
The movie starts off after a disaster. One can’t be sure but it seems the basic theme throughout is lack of pure water and dying livestock so the disaster it most likely contamination of the water supply throughout the country. A family pulls up in their minivan to a vacation home. Gets out, starts unloading a few boxes of groceries. They get inside and there is some other guy with his family and he is armed. This is where the English subtitles come in pretty handy because the strange mother has a screaming kid with her. If I had been trying to listen to the conversation I wouldn’t have been able to hear much of anything. And they must have gotten the screaming baby soundtrack cheap because you hear it a friggin lot through the movie. Sure, sure, we all know as soon as people start toppling over dead from thirst things get all traumatic and kids seem to sense that everything will get lots better if they start bawling. But, this irritation doesn’t start until later. At first, you just think it’s as annoying as trying to read subtitles.
*
Dad and Mom and two ten to fifteen year old kids are the owners of the cabin. The stranger inside with his wife is the one with the screaming kid. Keep this in mind for what happens next. Dad, blah, blah, why are you here? What do you want? Let the kids go outside. The kids are excused and Dad doesn’t get one more sentence out when, bam, the stranger shoots him. You’re thinking, okay, he’s a novice at stealing others supplies and was nervous so he fires the gun ( it isn’t explained how the civilian gets a gun in socialist France, since I have nothing against Frogs, their saving our butts from the British and all, but let’s face facts they didn’t learn a damn thing after the Nazi’s took over and won’t allow the public to arm themselves ). No, I think that damn kid screaming drove him over the edge and he went nuts. He tells the wife to take the kids and leave and Mom is a bit smarter than her rapidly cooling husband who tried to rationalize with the crazy armed guy while a baby was screaming and she hauls butt.
*
Now, I hate say this, but that’s pretty much it for excitement in this film. It was decently budgeted, the acting was good, the story wasn’t full of holes until the end ( which I’ll get too shortly ), but I guess being European it just has to be different. They decided that different here was to go as slow as possible and say as little as possible. The movie lasts almost two hours and you wonder why. Were they paid by the minute? They could have easily wrapped in up in half the time. As I describe the rest of the film, just visualize it all taking place at a very slow pace. I Could Have Gone And Pissed And Missed Nothing slow. About as slow as this review. Mom and kids go walking down the road, knock on a few doors of people they know ( I cleverly deduced this by their names being called out ) and no one will answer. They go into a barn to sleep and Mom tells the kids to stay put as she visits another house where she finally gets a little help in the way of a few handfuls of food ( “don’t come back, my husband mustn’t know. We have seven mouths to feed. It’s because you’ve always been so nice, you see.” ). Finally, karmic payback. They chow down and go to sleep. The middle of the night daughter wakes up Mom in a panic, her brother has disappeared. They have no flashlight, so Mom the smoker uses her lighter to get a handful of hay lit. Keep a fire going, I’m looking for the brother, don’t let it go out so I can find you, I’m leaving now and coming back to the friggin barn on fire you silly little twat. They go to sleep and in the morning wake up and there’s the kid. With another kid, a stranger. The kid doesn’t say where he’s been. This kid, by the way, turns out to be a lot of work. Oh, boo hoo, daddies dead and your parakeet died and life so sucks for you just shut up already we all have issues. But of course you don’t really start hating this little punk until later. He looks innocent and doesn’t say much but he turns out to be pretty high maintenance. Okay, new kid is the girls age ( she’s the oldest ) and all glaring and full of attitude and right away we want to kick his ass. I don’t know why Mom invited him along unless it was so her daughter and this guy could act all terribly European teenaged angst and such.
*
Walk along, look for breakfast but all the dead sheep are dead long enough to have maggots, swipe the clothes off the dead guy since it’s cold out ( the only sensible thing this delinquent does the whole film). And then they come to a train station and things really start slowing down. Young punk steal a pair of eyeglasses ( to start fires with ) and the train station group tries to stop him and he hides in the woods and the daughter goes out there to meet him once in awhile acting all hurt he’s ungrateful for the medicine or food but what did she expect since he’s a punk but she’s probably mooning for him and it’s all terrible French and sophisticated and stupendously boring. A group of traders come along on horses with water to trade, some foreigner ( Polish? ) in the group all weepy and screaming ( her screaming blending in with all the babies crying back at the train station, let’s not forget that ) her baby needs water. The train station group is always arguing about who’s in charge and how they need to work at blocking the track in case a supply train comes along ( it seems all areas are suffering from the trains not running and no supplies are getting through ) and other crap. Trying to show us how selfish and greedy and unorganized everyone will be but just giving me a headache with all the shouting. Shut up already, I’m trying to read the damn subtitles.
*
It just goes on and on and some crap about “the Just”. In all the world there are only 36 and if one dies the world ends and I wonder if the professed train station leader is one? But I don’t think he acts like one of the Just. What the hell are they talking about. I guess it’s a French thing, I wouldn’t understand. Then another guy is talking about how people throw themselves into fires and burn up. Again, what is he talking about? But in the end, after a whole lot of nothing happens, old neighbors fighting ( they seriously don’t like Poles in France it seems ) and a search for a stolen goat ( by the punk of course ) and a bunch of other crap, the brother tries to throw himself into the nighttime bonfire ( they keep it going to alert that train that never comes ) but is stopped by the night time guard. There, there, you’ll feel better after you cry, rock in my arms, blah, blah. And the next scene is the view outside of a moving train but it never shows if this is the one picking up the group or if it is just someone remembering how the trains used to run and then the movie ends. Huh? That made no sense.
*
Okay, a few great lessons here. Your retreat could have the bad guys already in there, so have a BOB buried nearby so you have a flashlight and don’t have to burn hay for light. Crying kids kill. Don’t trust funny talking foreigners. And, French movies are really weird.
*
*Genre Rating- Excellent. All action happens after the collapse, no phony last minute rescue.
*Nudity Rating-Poor. Only one shot, and it was a corpse being prepared which has zero appeal.
*Overall Rating- Fair to good. A well done movie only suffering from slow pacing. The weirdness may have to do with the cultural differences.
END
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
water recap
WATER RECAP
Generous loyal minions sent contributions and I've been counting my chickens before the check cleared thinking what doodads I wanted. I ordered a few ski masks and a 12v charge controller from www.sportsmansguide.com because I didn't have multiples of either one. Anytime the temperature gets into the teens I put on a ski mask which fits right over my eyeglasses and not only does my melon stay much warmer, my face doesn't freeze into a snot dripping frost bitten grotesque veneer. I got the charge controller because a guy that used to work here gave me his solar panel. Just gave it to me. Sucker. 45 watts, and the old style panel that will last a lot longer. So for the cost of a controller, $25, I've doubled my solar capacity. When I talked to him a second time he mentioned it was draining his battery and that he kept disconnecting it each night. So I guess that's why I got it. I'm thinking I can hook it up in the van to avoid dust and potential theft. Which will also serve as a back up "generator" if I stop driving into town ( currently my other panels charge the batteries I only use for lighting and the second truck battery is my entertainment/computer electricity ). I also ordered another water filter from www.lehmans.com , for $55. It used to be just a smidgen above $50 but they've increased their shipping charges ( I think Sportsman's did too, actually ).
*
So, having ordered another 13k gallon filter I was naturally thinking about water and how all my loyal minions didn't write as a second job so they didn't get paid the $1.50 an hour I do and thus couldn't afford a filter of their own ( seriously, this job pays spit which is why it is a labor of love first and only then when you're damn good and have paid your dues does it secondly start to pay ). So, always caring about other people I figured we could do a water purification recap, starting at the cheapest way of getting safe water and moving up to a super deluxe $50 generic Berky filter. To start with, fire. Fire is free almost everywhere. A few skinny women might be trying to scrounge for the same wood as you after the collapse, complaining how they have so many children to cook for but you can safely write that off as female manipulation. Just knock her down and take your wood. Maybe you can burn your SUV for cooking, Yuppie Scum! Okay, boil your water. But don't waste the wood. You don't need to let it stay at a rolling boil. Take all the past advice about boiling extra minutes per thousand feet of elevation and forget it. When bubbles start to rise, the water has stayed hot enough to pasteurize the water. I've written an article about this before ( it's a recap, right? ) but as usual with my piss poor organizational skills I have no idea when. Look for it if you want the full info ( and just to let you know, even though none of you have ordered Chicken Little #6, I've already put out #7. I still have my loyal sucker chained to his computer churning out new compilations for me which proves someone still loves me even if you don't- order at www.bisonpress.com ).
*
Next up the frugal scale we have the clay pot. Take an unglazed flower pot ( if it has a hole in the bottom you must cover it up- minions have suggested silicon caulking and a saucer ) and fill it up with water. Let drain. Do that three times as a way to clean. Now, the next batch is ready to drink. Poor bastards in tropical countries use this method. If it can clean water buffalo crap and Tropical Super Mold it can clean your water. Periodically you take clean water and scour the pot to clean off the accumulated crud. About the same money or a little more, you have the Water Pasteurization Indicator. Its a tube full of soy wax that melts to tell you the water is hot enough. You can Wiki a description and buy one at http://65.108.108.197/catalog/ . You can also put water in a pop bottle and let it sit in the sun a few hours as a purifier but it would be less efficient away from the equator. Plus, the wax gauge is only a few bucks which is cheap insurance.
*
About the same price is a solar pond. This one you really should look up for yourself as I've forgotten most of the details, but it just a much more efficient version of the Army desert still. You dig a shallow wide hole with black plastic on the bottom covered with clear and have a collection trough for the distilled water. You are only buying the two pieces of plastic but you should have extras due to degrading from exposure and the likelihood of ripping. I wouldn't recommend this method because it is so temporary, but it is an option. Last up is the expensive generic Berky filter. Minions have pointed out cheaper filters, but I'm not sure they will last the thirteen thousand gallons a Berky will. I got this method out of a book years ago, so I didn't invent this. But I've rarely seen it mentioned so I try to spread the word. You buy a Berky replacement filter element for $50. Take two food grade poly buckets with lids. The top one has a hole drilled in the bottom. Stick the filter nipple through it. The filter comes with a threaded screw/nut and gasket so unless the gasket dries out ( I don't know if it will, a caution for storage ) you secure the filter easily that way with no leaks. A hole in the bottom lid lets the water collect in the bottom bucket. Simple. Okay, it's more like a $70 filter if you buy two buckets and lids but it sounds much more frugal the other way.
*
That should about sum it up. From no cost to cheapest filter cost for your water purification needs.
END
Generous loyal minions sent contributions and I've been counting my chickens before the check cleared thinking what doodads I wanted. I ordered a few ski masks and a 12v charge controller from www.sportsmansguide.com because I didn't have multiples of either one. Anytime the temperature gets into the teens I put on a ski mask which fits right over my eyeglasses and not only does my melon stay much warmer, my face doesn't freeze into a snot dripping frost bitten grotesque veneer. I got the charge controller because a guy that used to work here gave me his solar panel. Just gave it to me. Sucker. 45 watts, and the old style panel that will last a lot longer. So for the cost of a controller, $25, I've doubled my solar capacity. When I talked to him a second time he mentioned it was draining his battery and that he kept disconnecting it each night. So I guess that's why I got it. I'm thinking I can hook it up in the van to avoid dust and potential theft. Which will also serve as a back up "generator" if I stop driving into town ( currently my other panels charge the batteries I only use for lighting and the second truck battery is my entertainment/computer electricity ). I also ordered another water filter from www.lehmans.com , for $55. It used to be just a smidgen above $50 but they've increased their shipping charges ( I think Sportsman's did too, actually ).
*
So, having ordered another 13k gallon filter I was naturally thinking about water and how all my loyal minions didn't write as a second job so they didn't get paid the $1.50 an hour I do and thus couldn't afford a filter of their own ( seriously, this job pays spit which is why it is a labor of love first and only then when you're damn good and have paid your dues does it secondly start to pay ). So, always caring about other people I figured we could do a water purification recap, starting at the cheapest way of getting safe water and moving up to a super deluxe $50 generic Berky filter. To start with, fire. Fire is free almost everywhere. A few skinny women might be trying to scrounge for the same wood as you after the collapse, complaining how they have so many children to cook for but you can safely write that off as female manipulation. Just knock her down and take your wood. Maybe you can burn your SUV for cooking, Yuppie Scum! Okay, boil your water. But don't waste the wood. You don't need to let it stay at a rolling boil. Take all the past advice about boiling extra minutes per thousand feet of elevation and forget it. When bubbles start to rise, the water has stayed hot enough to pasteurize the water. I've written an article about this before ( it's a recap, right? ) but as usual with my piss poor organizational skills I have no idea when. Look for it if you want the full info ( and just to let you know, even though none of you have ordered Chicken Little #6, I've already put out #7. I still have my loyal sucker chained to his computer churning out new compilations for me which proves someone still loves me even if you don't- order at www.bisonpress.com ).
*
Next up the frugal scale we have the clay pot. Take an unglazed flower pot ( if it has a hole in the bottom you must cover it up- minions have suggested silicon caulking and a saucer ) and fill it up with water. Let drain. Do that three times as a way to clean. Now, the next batch is ready to drink. Poor bastards in tropical countries use this method. If it can clean water buffalo crap and Tropical Super Mold it can clean your water. Periodically you take clean water and scour the pot to clean off the accumulated crud. About the same money or a little more, you have the Water Pasteurization Indicator. Its a tube full of soy wax that melts to tell you the water is hot enough. You can Wiki a description and buy one at http://65.108.108.197/catalog/ . You can also put water in a pop bottle and let it sit in the sun a few hours as a purifier but it would be less efficient away from the equator. Plus, the wax gauge is only a few bucks which is cheap insurance.
*
About the same price is a solar pond. This one you really should look up for yourself as I've forgotten most of the details, but it just a much more efficient version of the Army desert still. You dig a shallow wide hole with black plastic on the bottom covered with clear and have a collection trough for the distilled water. You are only buying the two pieces of plastic but you should have extras due to degrading from exposure and the likelihood of ripping. I wouldn't recommend this method because it is so temporary, but it is an option. Last up is the expensive generic Berky filter. Minions have pointed out cheaper filters, but I'm not sure they will last the thirteen thousand gallons a Berky will. I got this method out of a book years ago, so I didn't invent this. But I've rarely seen it mentioned so I try to spread the word. You buy a Berky replacement filter element for $50. Take two food grade poly buckets with lids. The top one has a hole drilled in the bottom. Stick the filter nipple through it. The filter comes with a threaded screw/nut and gasket so unless the gasket dries out ( I don't know if it will, a caution for storage ) you secure the filter easily that way with no leaks. A hole in the bottom lid lets the water collect in the bottom bucket. Simple. Okay, it's more like a $70 filter if you buy two buckets and lids but it sounds much more frugal the other way.
*
That should about sum it up. From no cost to cheapest filter cost for your water purification needs.
END
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
asshat neighbors
ASSHAT NEIGHBORS
Can you request acts of vengeance from leprechauns? Will they do you a solid, or will they react violently to your request? Or, is it only when you mess with their pot of gold when they get angry? I need answers because let me tell you, the whole karma thing has turned out to be a disappointment. How many friggin decades must I wait before wife #2 gets her comeuppance? Good lord, already. So, being St. Patricks Day and all and being half Celtic myself so thinking perhaps I have a little leverage here, I'm just wondering about the wee people and their powers. Because if they can help a brother out and play a bit of mischief on the ex, I'd also like to request that they take a look at my asshat neighbors.
*
I'm living on junk land. There is a third of a mile of crap road to get there. The closest occupied lot is about a quarter mile away. And yet, I have to put up with less than optimal neighbors. Three out of four will go tearing up and down the road at high speed, despite the ruts and bumps. Do they tear up an axle or some such? No, not even in their Ford. So, all spring and summer I have to put up with clouds of dust since I'm on the east side of the road and we almost never go without some kind of wind. My solar panel is constantly getting dusty and I spent all that money and can't even get much performance out of them. Do the slim sucking farm animal molesters care one bit? No.
*
Next up is the dogs. I have four miles before I get into town and all along the way I have dogs that want to eat me. They look well fed, I just think there is something about a bicycle that sets them off ( most likely, they know they have a shot at catching it, unlike a car ). Last year I had one of the mutts bite me. I kept yelling at the owner to keep his dog off the public road but that did as much good as telling the wife you want sex. It finally dawned on me I would have to do something to keep the pukes from chasing after me myself so I bought a couple of cans of pepper spray. It was indeed a glorious and happy day when I shot one ( they were a pair and stout and muscular brutes they were ) right in the nose. I can only hope I killed him because I've never seen more than one since, and while he barks at me he keeps his distance. Just to make sure, a couple of times when I saw him out of his fence I chased after him trying to spray him and he ran away. The other dogs along my commute are much smaller and less mean and a few kicks have solved that problem. My point here is that only one owner of all these dogs has tried to keep the dog away. The rest could care less. Let Rover eat the mailman, we only get junk mail anyway ( okay, there are cluster boxes, not mailmen, but you get my point ).
*
Last Friday was Friday The Thirteenth. I was pretty excited, hoping Wall Street would crash or something, but nothing happened all day. Then I got home and discovered a bunch of paperwork on my door. The county had been out and discovered my unapproved septic system. Oops! Happy Friday The 13th to me. I sent the guy a letter explaining it was only grey water, not black. But to avoid further trouble I disconnected the hose and am collecting the water in my holding tanks. Saturday I bought a portable sewage tank at the RV store. $100. I understand I could have just tossed the grey water in the bushes and continued as before with the sawdust toilet, but now I'm really paranoid. They are watching me. I must conform. I must now dump my sewage in town for $3. Ad somehow I have the feeling that one of my asshat neighbors turned me in. How else would they have known? Granted, there is a ten to twenty percent chance the guy does cruise the back roads looking for illegal septics. Since, you know, they have no paperwork to do or anything. It could happen.
*
The point? Your neighbors are asshats. They will turn you into the zoning Nazi's now and Homeland Security when guns are outlawed. I hate people ( not loyal minions of course ).
END
Can you request acts of vengeance from leprechauns? Will they do you a solid, or will they react violently to your request? Or, is it only when you mess with their pot of gold when they get angry? I need answers because let me tell you, the whole karma thing has turned out to be a disappointment. How many friggin decades must I wait before wife #2 gets her comeuppance? Good lord, already. So, being St. Patricks Day and all and being half Celtic myself so thinking perhaps I have a little leverage here, I'm just wondering about the wee people and their powers. Because if they can help a brother out and play a bit of mischief on the ex, I'd also like to request that they take a look at my asshat neighbors.
*
I'm living on junk land. There is a third of a mile of crap road to get there. The closest occupied lot is about a quarter mile away. And yet, I have to put up with less than optimal neighbors. Three out of four will go tearing up and down the road at high speed, despite the ruts and bumps. Do they tear up an axle or some such? No, not even in their Ford. So, all spring and summer I have to put up with clouds of dust since I'm on the east side of the road and we almost never go without some kind of wind. My solar panel is constantly getting dusty and I spent all that money and can't even get much performance out of them. Do the slim sucking farm animal molesters care one bit? No.
*
Next up is the dogs. I have four miles before I get into town and all along the way I have dogs that want to eat me. They look well fed, I just think there is something about a bicycle that sets them off ( most likely, they know they have a shot at catching it, unlike a car ). Last year I had one of the mutts bite me. I kept yelling at the owner to keep his dog off the public road but that did as much good as telling the wife you want sex. It finally dawned on me I would have to do something to keep the pukes from chasing after me myself so I bought a couple of cans of pepper spray. It was indeed a glorious and happy day when I shot one ( they were a pair and stout and muscular brutes they were ) right in the nose. I can only hope I killed him because I've never seen more than one since, and while he barks at me he keeps his distance. Just to make sure, a couple of times when I saw him out of his fence I chased after him trying to spray him and he ran away. The other dogs along my commute are much smaller and less mean and a few kicks have solved that problem. My point here is that only one owner of all these dogs has tried to keep the dog away. The rest could care less. Let Rover eat the mailman, we only get junk mail anyway ( okay, there are cluster boxes, not mailmen, but you get my point ).
*
Last Friday was Friday The Thirteenth. I was pretty excited, hoping Wall Street would crash or something, but nothing happened all day. Then I got home and discovered a bunch of paperwork on my door. The county had been out and discovered my unapproved septic system. Oops! Happy Friday The 13th to me. I sent the guy a letter explaining it was only grey water, not black. But to avoid further trouble I disconnected the hose and am collecting the water in my holding tanks. Saturday I bought a portable sewage tank at the RV store. $100. I understand I could have just tossed the grey water in the bushes and continued as before with the sawdust toilet, but now I'm really paranoid. They are watching me. I must conform. I must now dump my sewage in town for $3. Ad somehow I have the feeling that one of my asshat neighbors turned me in. How else would they have known? Granted, there is a ten to twenty percent chance the guy does cruise the back roads looking for illegal septics. Since, you know, they have no paperwork to do or anything. It could happen.
*
The point? Your neighbors are asshats. They will turn you into the zoning Nazi's now and Homeland Security when guns are outlawed. I hate people ( not loyal minions of course ).
END
Monday, March 16, 2009
pascalian wager
PASCALIAN WAGER
Blaise Pascal was a mathematician that put forth an argument for devout behavior that can be summed up as follows. Even if the odds are against a vengeful god existing, it is still prudent and rational to behave as if he did. It is a small price to pay to forgo illicit pleasures in this life as an insurance policy because if there is even the slightest possibility of such a horrible consequence as eternal damnation and hellfire in the afterlife it is best to avoid that consequence. In other words, just in case, act to avoid the worse case scenario. Or, as one wag said of Y2K, it's the consequences not the odds.
*
Now, whenever you want to sound really smart and intelligent, just tote out some dead guys quote that agrees with what you are saying and you are suddenly golden. I happened across the above description is an otherwise forgettable book on how the world might end. I think it was Our Final Hour. Too much crap on man made bio-engineering and such. But it gave us today's topic so it wasn't all bad. So, whenever idiots start telling you the worst is past now that the Dow gained five percent after losing 50%, or the spouse is screaming at you about how you prevented the family from going to Disney World because you spend all the vacation money on a generator and MRE's for Y2K, or you read a book giving a really good argument that petroleum is mineral based and we can never run out so man can build private space craft and colonize the universe and live happily ever after in a Libertarian paradise, just bring out the Pascalian Argument that we must prepare even if the odds are against disaster. I can almost guarantee you that this will not work, but the beauty of it is that you will sound really smart doing it. Then, you can either feel really smug about yourself, or there will hopefully be just a small little worm of doubt in your adversary.
*
I understand that most people are quite content is their bread and circuses world of non-stop 74 channels of TV and soy oil and corn syrup fast foods. They haven't used their brain except to conspire against others for many years. Their grey matter is as flabby and disgusting as their thigh and belly fat. They are lame and crippled members of the herd milling around the water hole and have no clue that carnivores are circling. They position themselves in the middle for the false sense of security, not realizing that the fit members on the edges will run away quickly and leave them vulnerable. So even demonstrating your superior intellect may have no effect on others. It is worth a try of course. Just don't expect too much. And many people can't even really be blamed for their ignorance. Herd behavior is, after all, a survival instinct. Those that act outside that group are acting in counter productive ways. Just because we will soon be proven correct is no reason for others to believe us now. We are the crazy ones, as judged by what has benefited the species for the last hundred years or so.
*
Of course, one must acknowledge that the Pascalian Wager is just that, a wager. We are betting we are right, that we have correctly figured the odds. But even if Derivative Meltdown turns into another Y2K ( which I highly doubt but stranger things have happened ) it was still worth acting as if it was inevitable and imminent. We've covered this before. Even if wrong, you still have the insurance for next time. What we are talking about this time is having the intellectual high ground when arguing with significant others. But it is just another tool rather than a guarantee. Hope this helps. If not, at least it was somewhat interesting.
END
I don't think I've told you for several days, so buy my crap www.bisonpress.com
Blaise Pascal was a mathematician that put forth an argument for devout behavior that can be summed up as follows. Even if the odds are against a vengeful god existing, it is still prudent and rational to behave as if he did. It is a small price to pay to forgo illicit pleasures in this life as an insurance policy because if there is even the slightest possibility of such a horrible consequence as eternal damnation and hellfire in the afterlife it is best to avoid that consequence. In other words, just in case, act to avoid the worse case scenario. Or, as one wag said of Y2K, it's the consequences not the odds.
*
Now, whenever you want to sound really smart and intelligent, just tote out some dead guys quote that agrees with what you are saying and you are suddenly golden. I happened across the above description is an otherwise forgettable book on how the world might end. I think it was Our Final Hour. Too much crap on man made bio-engineering and such. But it gave us today's topic so it wasn't all bad. So, whenever idiots start telling you the worst is past now that the Dow gained five percent after losing 50%, or the spouse is screaming at you about how you prevented the family from going to Disney World because you spend all the vacation money on a generator and MRE's for Y2K, or you read a book giving a really good argument that petroleum is mineral based and we can never run out so man can build private space craft and colonize the universe and live happily ever after in a Libertarian paradise, just bring out the Pascalian Argument that we must prepare even if the odds are against disaster. I can almost guarantee you that this will not work, but the beauty of it is that you will sound really smart doing it. Then, you can either feel really smug about yourself, or there will hopefully be just a small little worm of doubt in your adversary.
*
I understand that most people are quite content is their bread and circuses world of non-stop 74 channels of TV and soy oil and corn syrup fast foods. They haven't used their brain except to conspire against others for many years. Their grey matter is as flabby and disgusting as their thigh and belly fat. They are lame and crippled members of the herd milling around the water hole and have no clue that carnivores are circling. They position themselves in the middle for the false sense of security, not realizing that the fit members on the edges will run away quickly and leave them vulnerable. So even demonstrating your superior intellect may have no effect on others. It is worth a try of course. Just don't expect too much. And many people can't even really be blamed for their ignorance. Herd behavior is, after all, a survival instinct. Those that act outside that group are acting in counter productive ways. Just because we will soon be proven correct is no reason for others to believe us now. We are the crazy ones, as judged by what has benefited the species for the last hundred years or so.
*
Of course, one must acknowledge that the Pascalian Wager is just that, a wager. We are betting we are right, that we have correctly figured the odds. But even if Derivative Meltdown turns into another Y2K ( which I highly doubt but stranger things have happened ) it was still worth acting as if it was inevitable and imminent. We've covered this before. Even if wrong, you still have the insurance for next time. What we are talking about this time is having the intellectual high ground when arguing with significant others. But it is just another tool rather than a guarantee. Hope this helps. If not, at least it was somewhat interesting.
END
I don't think I've told you for several days, so buy my crap www.bisonpress.com
Sunday, March 15, 2009
guest article
GUEST ARTICLE
Riddle Me This, Riddle Me That
What does Virginia Tech, A dead Preacher, Pres Obommy and the democrats all have in common. Survey Says. Gun Ban. These events and people are all going to contribute to the reinstatement of an Assault Weapons Gun Ban. Let's not forget that Hi Cap handgun magazines will be included in this mix of dirty evil weapons that have no use but in the hands of government authorities. Now I was trying to refrain from sending in this kind of junk to Jim for guest article consideration since the topic has already been beat like a dead horse but I wanted to tell you about my latest firearm purchase and I needed a segue. Just as important is the fact that the AWB is on our door step and I do not want anybody to miss out.
A little background on my weapon cache and firearm experience or lack there of. I made my first firearm purchase in 2007. It was a Savage bolt action 30-06 with scope. It was a Bi-Mart special and I paid about $320 for it. Middle of the road rifle but pretty accurate. I wanted an all around hunting rifle and it seemed to fit the bill. Prior to firing this gun the only other firearm I ever shot was a .22LR rifle. I bought some Remington 180 grain Core-Lokt and some greek surplus ammo. Both rounds shot great out of that rifle. I am left eye dominant and the rifle was a right hand model so I would reach over the top of the gun to work the bolt. No big deal but a little awkward.
My second purchase was a Taurus Tracker 44 magnum 5 shot revolver. I thought this would be the only way to stop an angry bear while I was out and about in the woods. Pretty good kick from that one. Paid about $400 for that piece.Third up was the tried and true Remington 870 shotgun with 28 inch barrel. This was another Bi-mart special at around $300. I followed up those purchases with a couple of 22LR rifles, a Savage bolt action and the other a Remington 597. These were going to be my rabbit killers and I paid less than $300 for both, cheap scopes included.
I decided at some point last year that I needed a larger caliber cheap semi auto rifle that would be somewhat affordable to shoot. I ended up with a Saiga 7.62x39. I found a new one locally for $309 and it included one factory 10 round plastic magazine and one 30 round metal AK47 magazine modified by Surefire. Lastly I just purchased a Smith and Wesson M&P 40, more about this purchase later. Now for those who have read my previous comments and guest articles you are probably thinking that I am an idiot, "you could have bought two tons of wheat in buckets with all that dough". I am sympathetic to that criticism and you are mostly right.
To be fair though my initial gun purchases were geared towards my ambition to start hunting. Events changed and now I am facing the possibility of Divorce and Bankruptcy. In recent guest articles I described some of the BK exemptions in my home state of Oregon. I think I failed to mention the firearm exemptions so here is the legal code for Oregon: " 18.362 Exemption for firearms. Every citizen of this state above the age of 16 years shall be entitled to have, hold and keep, for the own use and defense of the citizen and shall have exempt from execution one rifle or shotgun and one pistol. The combined value of all firearms claimed as exempt under this section may not exceed $1,000.
"It is not 100% clear to me whether the $1000 exemption limit is per person or per BK filing. Regardless in my case my children are both under 16 years of age and would not qualify for the exemption. And even if my wife and I filed the BK jointly she would not want anything to do with possessing any firearms so I will be whittling down my collection to two weapons one rifle and one handgun. I am going to sell the remaining weapons to friends and family and use the proceeds to buy a water tank for the cabin.This is were the recent fervor around the gun ban comes in to play. I know that even if the gun ban is enacted that I can still purchase a pump shotgun, a bolt action rifle and revolvers at close to pre-ban prices. This led me to the decision to purchase the M&P 40 handgun and the decision to keep the Saiga rifle. These guns and/or the hi cap magazines they use will likely jump dramatically in price after a ban. Also these two guns have a total value of less than $1000, so I should be go to go as far as the BK trustee is concerned.
Now about my new pride and joy the M&P .40 caliber handgun. I read a lot of positive reviews on this gun prior to going to the store. I ended up trading in the 30-06 Savage plus cash to purchase this gun. It is really a nice looking gun and feels very good in hand. The magazines hold 15 rounds and S&W has a deal for two extra mags with an M&P gun purchase through April. I haven't had a chance to shoot it yet but the boys and I are heading to the cabin later this month and hopefully I can pop off a few rounds at the gravel quarry. A nice bonus feature about this gun is that I found a company selling a drop in 9mm conversion barrel for $100 bucks. I will need to pick up some 9mm magazines which hold 17 rounds for this gun and I will be able to shoot either the .40 S&W or the 9mm rounds by changing out the barrel and switching magazines. I think the .40 cal round has the ballistic edge but the 9mm is a little cheaper and might be easier to find in bulk or surplus lots.
The moral of the story is to get your hi cap magazines and dirty evil weapons now before the prices go any higher. Here are links to the Assault Weapons bills that I am aware of. There is also a bill that has some ridiculous registration requirements for certain firearms. Watch for these bills to advance. And remember now that Pres. Obommy has got his wish for embryo farming to be funded by the goverment out of the way he will have plenty of free time to sign any gun ban bills that come across his desk.This Assault Weapons bill is actually being introduced by some self proclaimed
Republicans: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-6257 This is the Democrats Assault Weapons bill: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-1022 Here is the registration bill, scary stuff: http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h45/text
END
Riddle Me This, Riddle Me That
What does Virginia Tech, A dead Preacher, Pres Obommy and the democrats all have in common. Survey Says. Gun Ban. These events and people are all going to contribute to the reinstatement of an Assault Weapons Gun Ban. Let's not forget that Hi Cap handgun magazines will be included in this mix of dirty evil weapons that have no use but in the hands of government authorities. Now I was trying to refrain from sending in this kind of junk to Jim for guest article consideration since the topic has already been beat like a dead horse but I wanted to tell you about my latest firearm purchase and I needed a segue. Just as important is the fact that the AWB is on our door step and I do not want anybody to miss out.
A little background on my weapon cache and firearm experience or lack there of. I made my first firearm purchase in 2007. It was a Savage bolt action 30-06 with scope. It was a Bi-Mart special and I paid about $320 for it. Middle of the road rifle but pretty accurate. I wanted an all around hunting rifle and it seemed to fit the bill. Prior to firing this gun the only other firearm I ever shot was a .22LR rifle. I bought some Remington 180 grain Core-Lokt and some greek surplus ammo. Both rounds shot great out of that rifle. I am left eye dominant and the rifle was a right hand model so I would reach over the top of the gun to work the bolt. No big deal but a little awkward.
My second purchase was a Taurus Tracker 44 magnum 5 shot revolver. I thought this would be the only way to stop an angry bear while I was out and about in the woods. Pretty good kick from that one. Paid about $400 for that piece.Third up was the tried and true Remington 870 shotgun with 28 inch barrel. This was another Bi-mart special at around $300. I followed up those purchases with a couple of 22LR rifles, a Savage bolt action and the other a Remington 597. These were going to be my rabbit killers and I paid less than $300 for both, cheap scopes included.
I decided at some point last year that I needed a larger caliber cheap semi auto rifle that would be somewhat affordable to shoot. I ended up with a Saiga 7.62x39. I found a new one locally for $309 and it included one factory 10 round plastic magazine and one 30 round metal AK47 magazine modified by Surefire. Lastly I just purchased a Smith and Wesson M&P 40, more about this purchase later. Now for those who have read my previous comments and guest articles you are probably thinking that I am an idiot, "you could have bought two tons of wheat in buckets with all that dough". I am sympathetic to that criticism and you are mostly right.
To be fair though my initial gun purchases were geared towards my ambition to start hunting. Events changed and now I am facing the possibility of Divorce and Bankruptcy. In recent guest articles I described some of the BK exemptions in my home state of Oregon. I think I failed to mention the firearm exemptions so here is the legal code for Oregon: " 18.362 Exemption for firearms. Every citizen of this state above the age of 16 years shall be entitled to have, hold and keep, for the own use and defense of the citizen and shall have exempt from execution one rifle or shotgun and one pistol. The combined value of all firearms claimed as exempt under this section may not exceed $1,000.
"It is not 100% clear to me whether the $1000 exemption limit is per person or per BK filing. Regardless in my case my children are both under 16 years of age and would not qualify for the exemption. And even if my wife and I filed the BK jointly she would not want anything to do with possessing any firearms so I will be whittling down my collection to two weapons one rifle and one handgun. I am going to sell the remaining weapons to friends and family and use the proceeds to buy a water tank for the cabin.This is were the recent fervor around the gun ban comes in to play. I know that even if the gun ban is enacted that I can still purchase a pump shotgun, a bolt action rifle and revolvers at close to pre-ban prices. This led me to the decision to purchase the M&P 40 handgun and the decision to keep the Saiga rifle. These guns and/or the hi cap magazines they use will likely jump dramatically in price after a ban. Also these two guns have a total value of less than $1000, so I should be go to go as far as the BK trustee is concerned.
Now about my new pride and joy the M&P .40 caliber handgun. I read a lot of positive reviews on this gun prior to going to the store. I ended up trading in the 30-06 Savage plus cash to purchase this gun. It is really a nice looking gun and feels very good in hand. The magazines hold 15 rounds and S&W has a deal for two extra mags with an M&P gun purchase through April. I haven't had a chance to shoot it yet but the boys and I are heading to the cabin later this month and hopefully I can pop off a few rounds at the gravel quarry. A nice bonus feature about this gun is that I found a company selling a drop in 9mm conversion barrel for $100 bucks. I will need to pick up some 9mm magazines which hold 17 rounds for this gun and I will be able to shoot either the .40 S&W or the 9mm rounds by changing out the barrel and switching magazines. I think the .40 cal round has the ballistic edge but the 9mm is a little cheaper and might be easier to find in bulk or surplus lots.
The moral of the story is to get your hi cap magazines and dirty evil weapons now before the prices go any higher. Here are links to the Assault Weapons bills that I am aware of. There is also a bill that has some ridiculous registration requirements for certain firearms. Watch for these bills to advance. And remember now that Pres. Obommy has got his wish for embryo farming to be funded by the goverment out of the way he will have plenty of free time to sign any gun ban bills that come across his desk.This Assault Weapons bill is actually being introduced by some self proclaimed
Republicans: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-6257 This is the Democrats Assault Weapons bill: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-1022 Here is the registration bill, scary stuff: http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h45/text
END
Saturday, March 14, 2009
guest article
GUEST ARTICLE
Once you are doom-aware, there is no escape. Try to take a doom break, and your efforts are for naught. It is everywhere. And hell, I don't even watch the nightly news.
Charles Hugh Smith has a great blog, http://www.oftwominds.com/blog.html. Recently he’s had articles about how the economy and employment is changing, and how we might become part of the informal economy. He envisions this to include self-employment in repair work, less government bureaucracy, and possibly even support from the local government for micro businesses.
Take time out from the apocalyptic fiction and Depression stories, read a mystery book. In the #1 Ladies' Detective Agency Series, written by Alexander McCall Smith, the main character is Mma Ramotswe. She lives in Botswana, Africa. People who are lucky enough to have jobs are nearly socially obligated to hire those who are less fortunate. If you have a job, it is the right thing to share the wealth, hire someone to clean your house, and maybe cook some dinners. Or maybe you have a yard and vegetable garden that need attention. There's a good amount of informal employment happening as people try to get by.
More time out, an evening at the theater. August Wilson's play, Gem Of The Ocean, has a character named Solly Two Kings. His self employment is picking up dog shit, which is called "pure". Pure is used to tan leather
(http://www.btinternet.com/~kingsmerecrafts/page75.html), and it must have other cleaning purposes, as he sells dried crap to households. A bit of a switch from the usual crap we buy, or the crap we take off of others. And more informal employment.
For those of us who still (briefly) dwell in the middle class, we might get a little opportunistic, and fantasize about having our own cooks, cleaning ladies, gardeners, all for a mere pittance (slave wages!!). Or maybe we are extra exploitive and we consider having other services provided. The better use of brain power might be to imagine, how will WE be earning our pittance? What services are we willing to provide?
I've squirreled away tea bags, maybe I'll head down to the boulevard and sell cups of tea. Or, I'm getting practiced at making laundry detergent, that's useful and cheap, maybe there's a few bucks in that. What are YOU going to do for your slave wages??
Once you are doom-aware, there is no escape. Try to take a doom break, and your efforts are for naught. It is everywhere. And hell, I don't even watch the nightly news.
Charles Hugh Smith has a great blog, http://www.oftwominds.com/blog.html. Recently he’s had articles about how the economy and employment is changing, and how we might become part of the informal economy. He envisions this to include self-employment in repair work, less government bureaucracy, and possibly even support from the local government for micro businesses.
Take time out from the apocalyptic fiction and Depression stories, read a mystery book. In the #1 Ladies' Detective Agency Series, written by Alexander McCall Smith, the main character is Mma Ramotswe. She lives in Botswana, Africa. People who are lucky enough to have jobs are nearly socially obligated to hire those who are less fortunate. If you have a job, it is the right thing to share the wealth, hire someone to clean your house, and maybe cook some dinners. Or maybe you have a yard and vegetable garden that need attention. There's a good amount of informal employment happening as people try to get by.
More time out, an evening at the theater. August Wilson's play, Gem Of The Ocean, has a character named Solly Two Kings. His self employment is picking up dog shit, which is called "pure". Pure is used to tan leather
(http://www.btinternet.com/~kingsmerecrafts/page75.html), and it must have other cleaning purposes, as he sells dried crap to households. A bit of a switch from the usual crap we buy, or the crap we take off of others. And more informal employment.
For those of us who still (briefly) dwell in the middle class, we might get a little opportunistic, and fantasize about having our own cooks, cleaning ladies, gardeners, all for a mere pittance (slave wages!!). Or maybe we are extra exploitive and we consider having other services provided. The better use of brain power might be to imagine, how will WE be earning our pittance? What services are we willing to provide?
I've squirreled away tea bags, maybe I'll head down to the boulevard and sell cups of tea. Or, I'm getting practiced at making laundry detergent, that's useful and cheap, maybe there's a few bucks in that. What are YOU going to do for your slave wages??
Friday, March 13, 2009
doomsday films
DOOMSDAY FILMS
Two things before we start today. One, you are getting guest articles both weekend days. I'm not the only glutton for punishment. Two, a loyal minion sent in the below links about the coming legislation to ensure only the big agri-giants survive and thrive by controlling or eliminating farmers markets. Yet another example of how a complex system can't decentralize to save itself from collapse.
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h111-875
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Monsanto-s-dream-bill-HR-by-Linn-Cohen-Cole-090309-337.ht ml
http://cryptogon.com/?p=7362
http://www.campaignforliberty.com/blog.php?view=12671
http://shepardpolitics.blogspot.com/2009/03/hr-875-would-essentially-outlaw-family.html
*
I'm happiest when I have an ongoing writing project above and beyond the daily blog. The blog is all good and well but by its very nature is short and concise whereas I like to pontificate unending. That takes a book. Plus, when I'm dead and gone everyone will read them and wish I was still around so they could bask in my greatness. And they'll feel like turds for not acknowledging my superiority when I was alive. But I need to be all excited and tingly about the subject matter or it simply doesn't materialize. I keep trying to write a novel and I get excited for several days and then it sort of just dies. I almost wonder if your brain doesn't have to be wired a certain way to write fiction, something I lack. I can gather data, analyse, tie together obscure facts, yet I can't write fiction. Do I lack imagination? Well, it doesn't matter too much. I suck at it and even though I'll try again off and on I think the whole thing is doomed. So, when I got a new and bright idea the other day I was relieved. I could abandon my last fiction attempt and go back to non fiction.
*
I might be wrong, but I don't think anyone has done a book on doomsday movies. Review every single one, what they were about, how good or bad, whether it even is about doomsday or if it was classified erroneously. And of course I'll be writing a needlessly long review for every one and adding my cynical and gloomy brand of humor. And, being an electronic book I can go back every year or three and add new films and you'll have to pay me all over again! Why, I could make an extra five or ten bucks a month! Loyal minions, line up for my exploitation!
*
If you go on www.wikipedia.org and go to "doomsday films" you will find quit a list. I don't agree that a lot of them are anywhere close to doomsday films. Titan A.E.? I didn't see it, but I believe it was a cartoon and at the opening the earth is destroyed and the ship flies away. So, that's more high tech sci-fi than doomsday. And while Terminator had that doomsday feel to it, both from dreams about the resistance in the ruins and the ending where you could just feel the beginning of the end, I don't think Terminator 2 had the same feel. And in 3, the only doomsday connection was the very ending. Okay, it is all pretty subjective. What I feel should make the list might not agree with what you think. If you think they left any out, please let me know. Some I won't be able to review, like the British TV series. I'm going to reactivate my Netflix account and watch one or two a week. Then I'll write them up afterwards. Even the ones I've watched two or three times I'll watch again. You can't give a good review when it's been years since you watched it.
*
So, the other question ( I guess the first question is, are there anymore than what was on the wiki list ) is, do you want them as I write them, posted as the daily article or do you want me to wait until I'm done and put them all together? If I post as done the cheaper loyal minions don't have to buy anything. If I wait, you pay $2, $3 at the most and it's all together nice and tidy. This is going to cost me a bit of change. The average cost on Netflix is about $2 a movie for the cheaper packages. If I got the four at a time ( which makes each one much cheaper ) I wouldn't have enough electricity to watch them each week. Please give your input, and don't try to rain on my parade here. This book prospect excites me, and an excited Jim has enough enthusiasm to churn out the daily drivel.
END
Two things before we start today. One, you are getting guest articles both weekend days. I'm not the only glutton for punishment. Two, a loyal minion sent in the below links about the coming legislation to ensure only the big agri-giants survive and thrive by controlling or eliminating farmers markets. Yet another example of how a complex system can't decentralize to save itself from collapse.
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h111-875
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Monsanto-s-dream-bill-HR-by-Linn-Cohen-Cole-090309-337.ht ml
http://cryptogon.com/?p=7362
http://www.campaignforliberty.com/blog.php?view=12671
http://shepardpolitics.blogspot.com/2009/03/hr-875-would-essentially-outlaw-family.html
*
I'm happiest when I have an ongoing writing project above and beyond the daily blog. The blog is all good and well but by its very nature is short and concise whereas I like to pontificate unending. That takes a book. Plus, when I'm dead and gone everyone will read them and wish I was still around so they could bask in my greatness. And they'll feel like turds for not acknowledging my superiority when I was alive. But I need to be all excited and tingly about the subject matter or it simply doesn't materialize. I keep trying to write a novel and I get excited for several days and then it sort of just dies. I almost wonder if your brain doesn't have to be wired a certain way to write fiction, something I lack. I can gather data, analyse, tie together obscure facts, yet I can't write fiction. Do I lack imagination? Well, it doesn't matter too much. I suck at it and even though I'll try again off and on I think the whole thing is doomed. So, when I got a new and bright idea the other day I was relieved. I could abandon my last fiction attempt and go back to non fiction.
*
I might be wrong, but I don't think anyone has done a book on doomsday movies. Review every single one, what they were about, how good or bad, whether it even is about doomsday or if it was classified erroneously. And of course I'll be writing a needlessly long review for every one and adding my cynical and gloomy brand of humor. And, being an electronic book I can go back every year or three and add new films and you'll have to pay me all over again! Why, I could make an extra five or ten bucks a month! Loyal minions, line up for my exploitation!
*
If you go on www.wikipedia.org and go to "doomsday films" you will find quit a list. I don't agree that a lot of them are anywhere close to doomsday films. Titan A.E.? I didn't see it, but I believe it was a cartoon and at the opening the earth is destroyed and the ship flies away. So, that's more high tech sci-fi than doomsday. And while Terminator had that doomsday feel to it, both from dreams about the resistance in the ruins and the ending where you could just feel the beginning of the end, I don't think Terminator 2 had the same feel. And in 3, the only doomsday connection was the very ending. Okay, it is all pretty subjective. What I feel should make the list might not agree with what you think. If you think they left any out, please let me know. Some I won't be able to review, like the British TV series. I'm going to reactivate my Netflix account and watch one or two a week. Then I'll write them up afterwards. Even the ones I've watched two or three times I'll watch again. You can't give a good review when it's been years since you watched it.
*
So, the other question ( I guess the first question is, are there anymore than what was on the wiki list ) is, do you want them as I write them, posted as the daily article or do you want me to wait until I'm done and put them all together? If I post as done the cheaper loyal minions don't have to buy anything. If I wait, you pay $2, $3 at the most and it's all together nice and tidy. This is going to cost me a bit of change. The average cost on Netflix is about $2 a movie for the cheaper packages. If I got the four at a time ( which makes each one much cheaper ) I wouldn't have enough electricity to watch them each week. Please give your input, and don't try to rain on my parade here. This book prospect excites me, and an excited Jim has enough enthusiasm to churn out the daily drivel.
END
Thursday, March 12, 2009
buy crap now
BUY CRAP NOW
I was leisurely perusing yesterday's comment section, by all the Gods mercifully void of rabid troll remarks, when suddenly alarm bells started going off, an annoying din that could not be ignored. Battle stations, battle stations. All hands on deck. My jaw grew slack and I was almost at that embarrassing point where I started drooling down my bib overalls when I figured out what all the panic was. A loyal minion was going to wait to buy a grain grinder until he could afford a quality unit costing $400! Not on my watch, buddie! I have to talk him down to safety. Super Bison to the rescue.
*
Never, ever, ever, wait to buy a life saving tool. Buy a piece of crap at first. Now, if an asteroid crashed into earth or Yellowstone erupts or the Chinese nuke DC after we default on our Treasury Notes interest payments, you are covered. You have the tool. Better yet, you can afford to buy two or three of those tools. If, after time, nothing bad happens like people discover that the global derivatives exposure is a quadrillion and a quarter bucks and they were purchased with only 5% down and their downside risk equals thirty times the entire global GDP and everyone panics and takes to the streets, well then, you can purchase a quality unit. A grain grinder costs $25 after shipping. With such an inexpensive unit you can now go down to the feed store and buy grain and there will be hardly any line because all the rest of the idiots who failed to buy a grain grinder are all lining up at Wal-Mart to buy flour and such. You have just saved your life by not being in the middle of a food riot. All because you bought a piece of crap instead of waited six months for your allowance to build up ( you talk all tough and act macho, but I know your wife has you on an allowance ) so you could buy a better built grinder.
*
All the closet militia members are pushing and shoving in line at the gun store, trying to be the first in line to buy an AR15 or AK47. They know they will need high rates of firepower to fight off Obammies Bully Boys when it comes time to send in the three National Guard companies left after Afghanistan deployment to confiscate guns. If you go over to the World War Two surplus section and buy a Mauser or Enfield ( the Russian M-N might be a little more scarce due to popular demand, or at least its ammo will be ) you won't have to fight the crowds, and more than likely their will be ammunition available for it. At one tenth the price. And while I call this crap, they are far from low quality. The grinders are cast iron monsters, they literally can't fail. It might be a little harder to use since they require three passes through to get wheat to turn into fine flour ( you grind on course, then a little finner setting, then the finest setting ) but they are $25 instead of several hundred. Surplus bolt guns are much tougher than today's plastic models. They were made for bayonet fighting and their dense wooden stocks are simply dandy for butt stroking any dissenters.
*
Other items do show a huge quality difference. Cheap footwear or clothing for one. But you can buy military surplus from www.sportsmansguide.com very cheap that should be of high quality. A $15 sleeping bag with a Mylar blanket inside will not last very long. But far better to have that than no sleeping bag at all because you were waiting to be able to afford a $200 one. Same with food. Wheat, corn, beans and rice with a bit of lard will be a terrible diet ( we are of course assuming you are buying whole wheat flour and corn tortillas from the market and eating them regularly so that you are storing what you eat ) but with sprouting it will keep you alive and in good health. If you wait, saving up your money for MRE's, freeze dried foods, canned meats, etc., you might find yourself with plenty of cash but no food during an emergency. Or, only a one month food supply instead of a years worth for the same price. A piece of junk land, paid for, is far better than losing your twenty acres with forest and stream and pasture to the bank when you are laid off.
*
You must have your supplies now. Even if it is crap. The economy continues to sink. There is no sector getting better, only worse ( I ignore gun and ammo since with shortages a lot will be going out of business ). Why do you need to be convinced it is the time to panic? We are not an island, immune to the worlds problems. One small altercation on one piece of water and oil stops being imported. Look at the winter natural gas shutdown from Russia. Look at the problem the folks in Iceland had getting food when their banks got in trouble. First world nations are facing financial and supply problems, we can too. You need to be prepared already because no one knows when exactly or in what form trouble will come to our neighborhood. Buy your crap now, what you can afford. And then, if able, buy better. Keep the crap and you will be able to barter it at fantastic prices during and after a collapse. It won't go to waste. With my writing income, I'm still only bringing home $700 a month. And I'm still prepping. More than I was when I made a lot more. Yes, of course I've been working and saving and investing to reach this point where my bills are lower. But mainly I am at this point because I'm able to sacrifice and do without. If I can prep on my income, anyone else can far more easily. You have no excuse.
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You knew this was coming- if you're going to buy crap, get some of mine too! www.bisonpress.com
I was leisurely perusing yesterday's comment section, by all the Gods mercifully void of rabid troll remarks, when suddenly alarm bells started going off, an annoying din that could not be ignored. Battle stations, battle stations. All hands on deck. My jaw grew slack and I was almost at that embarrassing point where I started drooling down my bib overalls when I figured out what all the panic was. A loyal minion was going to wait to buy a grain grinder until he could afford a quality unit costing $400! Not on my watch, buddie! I have to talk him down to safety. Super Bison to the rescue.
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Never, ever, ever, wait to buy a life saving tool. Buy a piece of crap at first. Now, if an asteroid crashed into earth or Yellowstone erupts or the Chinese nuke DC after we default on our Treasury Notes interest payments, you are covered. You have the tool. Better yet, you can afford to buy two or three of those tools. If, after time, nothing bad happens like people discover that the global derivatives exposure is a quadrillion and a quarter bucks and they were purchased with only 5% down and their downside risk equals thirty times the entire global GDP and everyone panics and takes to the streets, well then, you can purchase a quality unit. A grain grinder costs $25 after shipping. With such an inexpensive unit you can now go down to the feed store and buy grain and there will be hardly any line because all the rest of the idiots who failed to buy a grain grinder are all lining up at Wal-Mart to buy flour and such. You have just saved your life by not being in the middle of a food riot. All because you bought a piece of crap instead of waited six months for your allowance to build up ( you talk all tough and act macho, but I know your wife has you on an allowance ) so you could buy a better built grinder.
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All the closet militia members are pushing and shoving in line at the gun store, trying to be the first in line to buy an AR15 or AK47. They know they will need high rates of firepower to fight off Obammies Bully Boys when it comes time to send in the three National Guard companies left after Afghanistan deployment to confiscate guns. If you go over to the World War Two surplus section and buy a Mauser or Enfield ( the Russian M-N might be a little more scarce due to popular demand, or at least its ammo will be ) you won't have to fight the crowds, and more than likely their will be ammunition available for it. At one tenth the price. And while I call this crap, they are far from low quality. The grinders are cast iron monsters, they literally can't fail. It might be a little harder to use since they require three passes through to get wheat to turn into fine flour ( you grind on course, then a little finner setting, then the finest setting ) but they are $25 instead of several hundred. Surplus bolt guns are much tougher than today's plastic models. They were made for bayonet fighting and their dense wooden stocks are simply dandy for butt stroking any dissenters.
*
Other items do show a huge quality difference. Cheap footwear or clothing for one. But you can buy military surplus from www.sportsmansguide.com very cheap that should be of high quality. A $15 sleeping bag with a Mylar blanket inside will not last very long. But far better to have that than no sleeping bag at all because you were waiting to be able to afford a $200 one. Same with food. Wheat, corn, beans and rice with a bit of lard will be a terrible diet ( we are of course assuming you are buying whole wheat flour and corn tortillas from the market and eating them regularly so that you are storing what you eat ) but with sprouting it will keep you alive and in good health. If you wait, saving up your money for MRE's, freeze dried foods, canned meats, etc., you might find yourself with plenty of cash but no food during an emergency. Or, only a one month food supply instead of a years worth for the same price. A piece of junk land, paid for, is far better than losing your twenty acres with forest and stream and pasture to the bank when you are laid off.
*
You must have your supplies now. Even if it is crap. The economy continues to sink. There is no sector getting better, only worse ( I ignore gun and ammo since with shortages a lot will be going out of business ). Why do you need to be convinced it is the time to panic? We are not an island, immune to the worlds problems. One small altercation on one piece of water and oil stops being imported. Look at the winter natural gas shutdown from Russia. Look at the problem the folks in Iceland had getting food when their banks got in trouble. First world nations are facing financial and supply problems, we can too. You need to be prepared already because no one knows when exactly or in what form trouble will come to our neighborhood. Buy your crap now, what you can afford. And then, if able, buy better. Keep the crap and you will be able to barter it at fantastic prices during and after a collapse. It won't go to waste. With my writing income, I'm still only bringing home $700 a month. And I'm still prepping. More than I was when I made a lot more. Yes, of course I've been working and saving and investing to reach this point where my bills are lower. But mainly I am at this point because I'm able to sacrifice and do without. If I can prep on my income, anyone else can far more easily. You have no excuse.
*
You knew this was coming- if you're going to buy crap, get some of mine too! www.bisonpress.com
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