Thursday,
February 22, 2007 8:37 AM
Thursday, February 22, 2007 6:29 AM
Some of you have received the Cuban "peak oil" DVD.
Please spread it around! Much of the angst I felt, that process
of coming to terms with the impact of what we are investigating
here together, is now affecting many of you too. I have been
looking at my own process of despair and recommitment. The
feeling is like having something in your head, lets call it
a meme antiviral that begins to dismantle what we "presumed
as correct, presumed as sane, presumed as good." That
is the intellectual part. I am stimulated to look at the problems
again and again and find the SOLUTION, because I was hatched
and fed the "solving" diet by my father. I'm from
a long line of iconoclastic free thinking problem solvers.
My grand father on my father's side was considered a genius
nut who was unemployable except when he was called on to redesign
Exeter's entire water supply, ice house, mill camps. He was
way out side the box and a diabetic we think. My weird inheritance,
not of money but of thought and of course, diabetes. So that
is the intellectual reaction to this "BAD NEWS"
part of dealing with these multiple streams of "we are
fucked." The emotional stress we are dealing with is
harder.
We might be trapped in soft prisons of our own making, but
do we not cry, do we not bleed, do we not love? I want a second
chance. I think we are all grieving the future, at least the
ones who can stand even to look at these things. I was listening
to Pink Floyd, Dark Side of the Moon. You know how when you're
primed by reading and thinking, then lyrics pop out at you,
like someone stuck them in your face?
"And
if the dam breaks open many years too soon
And if there is no room upon the hill
And if your head explodes with dark forebodings too
I'll see you on the dark side of the moon."
What I
did, what I would suggest for you, is to look past the ending
of this type of civilization and get excited about what you
will contribute to our future, to a new way of living. We
don't want this to repeat, this destruction of so many species,
our air, our oceans, and the complete depletion of easy energy.
Put your heart and mind and soul into a clean new world where
we go back and forward at the same time. Only this time forward
doesn't mean a planet chewing mechanical scream of "I
want MORE!" How the fuck can we build that with our little
Empire soaked brains and memes? That, grasshopper, is the
question.
In my
little world of small concerns, I have been using my J stove
every morning to make coffee - which I'm drinking while writing
to you. The top is getting looser - the crown that holds the
pot. I tried to design it so there were no fasteners at all
and was successful until now. I dropped a whole pot of boiling
water today as the crown tilted. I levitated clear - it was
pick black outside and I couldn't see it tilting. So I guess
I will fasten the crown chimney extension to the inner burn
can. I'll take it apart today and look at the simplest way
to do it. I have an idea without screws, but now seeing how
heavy a full big pot of water is, it has to be rock solid.
Hmn.
Oh, baby bunnies are out and about. I was very happy last
year at this time. I remember the bunnies becoming less frightened
of me until finally in April, they were crowding around the
trailer and not even getting out of the way when I would come
out in the morning. I was king of the bunnies. This year,
maybe because of all these dark thoughts and the travail associated,
the bunnies are keeping their distance. But they are so cute
and they don't have the cool stealthy bunny thing down yet.
The forget to run behind a bush, then to see me better, they
turn sideways. Not a real good strategy. But if you've ever
lived with farm animals, there is something in the new ones,
a something that is the opposite of the Pink Floyd lyrics
above. They are bursting with life, bursting with the energy
of creation. They are right the fuck in the middle of being
bunnies and it is just to much to bear sometimes so just HOP
baby, HOP!
My baby goats, back on the farm in Alpine, they used to do
that. They would stand stock still, vibrate and then life
was just toooooo fucking much and SPROONNG the would shoot
straight up. The life energy would hit me and take me with
it for a moment. So I get that little hit - that knock back
to balance with the new bunnies now. It ain't over folks,
it's just a transition. Live or die, really it is all change
and all good. Grab life, eat it, live it, run in the wash
naked at night and scream at the stars. Vibrate. HOP!
Pictures a little later. It is light, must snack and walk
up the mountain. Later chicklets.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007 7:21 PM
Here's a quote that Rick sent me that fits with the attack
of "paralysis by analysis" that I suffered a few
days ago.
| "In preparing for battle I
have always found that plans are useless, but planning
is indispensable." Dwight D. Eisenhower |
The problem
with trying to discuss a complex of interlocking problems -
as complex as global warming - peak oil- runaway debt - world
wide topsoil loss - sterilization of the oceans - is that you
cannot see the likely interactdions of such a broad range worldwide
failures. So what do we do? Like the bunny who freezes as a
defense against predators, we freeze our brains, look around,
and say, well not today, looks OK to me. I guess it must work
somewhat for bunnies, but for us, well, we'll all make good
organic fertilizer for the remaing 500 million or so. So what
if our planning will be wrong, for the wrong thing, at the wrong
time, will not work, will have unexpected results, it is essential
because we have to make sure we don't do this again.
.
In the same vein, a reader we haven't heard from for a while,
Lisa, wrote me tonight. While her observations seem largely
spot on, what is most important to see is the process that she
goes through, and that each of us must go through in our comprehension
of what is about to occur. It's all the little light bulbs that
go off in your head as each variation ends up in the same place
- a huge die off over a very short time. Sometime I'll do an
essay on why the die off will be so quick. I believe that once
one of the trigger events occurs, the die off will be in less
than 5 years, with the huge die off beginning in the third year
of crop collapse. You stop oil, you stop agriculture growing
your food with oil, no food equals many fewer people real quick.
Here's Lisa's post-
| My
question to you is this: Why do you think peak oil and
not global warming is going to be the most critical issue
our world will have to face? You didn't ask, but here
are my thoughts.
If peak oil
is the issue, then I better procure my 5 acres of land
soon. I'll plant a small orchard and start building
raised beds for gardens. I'll build my earthbag home
designed for passive solar, set up solar panels, erect
a windmill, and dig a well. I'll start researching the
technology that was used pre 1900 and take a look at
how the Amish use their technology. I think that peak
oil is the lesser of two evils in the end-of-civilization
scenario. I would gladly take that over global warming
any day of the year.
If global
warming becomes the threat that I believe it will, there
is nothing the average person can do. There is nothing
you can do to really prepare. The world will change
so radically and so fast that adaptation, which normally
occurs over many generations and centuries, will not
keep pace. Humans are integrated into nature in ways
that most people can't even comprehend. When species
begin vanishing because the habitat has changed so fast
they couldn't adapt then the environment
we thrive in will become very inhospitable. Formerly
fertile growing regions will become desert. Northern
regions that held ice and snow in reserve for water
will thaw. Sea levels will rise. I think the time to
heed the warning was back in the 70s when things could
be changed. Now I think it is a juggernaut that picks
up speed with every passing moment. It has taken on
a life of its own.
It is impossible
to prevent the die-off that will come with either peak
oil or global warming. If peak oil, then food that was
available in the past will not be able to be moved as
far or with as much ease. Resources will have to be
allocated and medications will not be as available over
as large an area. If global warming, then areas that
were previously fertile will no longer produce the types
of crops as before. Water will be harder to obtain for
irrigation. There will be more fighting over resources.
There will be less space available to people as water
levels rise. Where will the people go? How will the
people be fed? To even make a dent in global warming,
it would take a massive effort
involving every single person on the face of the planet.
If everyone resolved to having only one child per couple
the population would be cut in half in one generation
and to one-quarter in two generations. Still, it would
take at least three generations before the population
would be at a level able to be sustained by available
land and food. But in three generations, other species
that rely on the earth will be gone. Great whales will
disappear because the food chain will have collapsed
in the oceans. Many food fish species will also disappear.
It's a bleak prospect at best.
Worst of
all, and possibly the most likely, is the combination
of global warming and peak oil together. I don't have
children so I won't be leaving anything behind that
will cause me worry. I'll probably be dead before the
full ramifications of the future world are realized.
But people with children and grandchildren should be
the ones that care the most but seem, sometimes, to
care the least. One person can't truly prepare. It will
take a commitment from every person on the planet starting
today. I don't see that happening anytime soon. A plan
is good to have but it can't be so rigid and practiced
that it prevents a person from thinking creatively and
being flexible if the situation does not evolve
exactly the way one thought it might. I think the best
course of action is to be realistic about what might
happen, what a course of action might be, but stay open
to other options and change as facts present themselves.
I still think the most likely scenario will be small
enclave communities where people look out for each others'
interests in order to serve their own. No matter what
comes, it's not going to be pretty. - Lisa
|
Mycomments: Peak oil is a crisis point only because capitalism
and manufacturing require constant expansion. Stop and think
about that. I will only lend you money (if I'm a bank, or a
farmer in China who has money in a savings account) if I believe
you will make a profit. Your manufacturing business must be
able to grow if I'm to get interest on my money that I loaned
you. To expand your business you need raw materials, energy
and labor, more every year because your expansion is fueled
by more credit from me each year. Even when you make a profit
I seek to loan you more and you want more to expand further.
So peak oil means that we have used 50 percent of the oil of
all the oil we will EVER FIND. (it does not mean 50 percent
of what we alreayd now about). The harder to reach, find, drill,
and pump 50 percent is still remaining. There are many years
of oil, but that does not matter because the first day that
the markets think that you can't get oil to run your business,
they will call your loan and all loans and the huge house of
cards that is fake money will crash unlike 1929. This will be
a global crash of markets. It is Deflation, not recession. It
is a thousand 1929s all at once.
I think that will happen within the next two years. Smarter
people than I can't believe it has run on this long and in fact
it is held up by governments and the world BANKSTERs because
the collapse is inevitable if they blink for even a moment.
But peak oil is a real thing, not like dollars and Deutchmarks,
and real estate loans. There is no question that the consequences
will be as I have outlined - all agree - the only point is when?
That seems like the lesser news. If someone said we're all doing
to die on Tuesday, and the meteor was tracked and the scientists
said, no no, no meteor on Tuesday. It's coming on Wednesday.
Is that supposed to make you feel better?
Global warming: I understand that the first big dramatic event
of global warming will likely be the liquefying of the Greenland
ice sheet - maybe this year maybe in 5 years, 10 years. Maybe
not Tuesday but certainly by Saturday. Soon. When that happens,
the Gulf stream stops. When the Gulf Stream stops, Europe begins
a ice age. As they shiver they may think, I'll go check on that
middle east oil and make sure MY SHARE is there.
Our first oil wars are already in progress as every American
should know because we started it. Iraq. Coming up soon - Iran!
Do you think that when China has us default on our debts - if
that occurs first - they use that money - dollars- to buy oil
on the global markets, as currently oil MUST be bought with
real US dollars, well, when we don't pay - like us, they will
go get the oil the way we have taught them. OIL WAR, and these
wars may be nuclear. So it is a toss up - if the Greenland sheet
goes this year, yea you can say global warming shot first, followed
by the same effect on oil as will happen even without global
warming. It only needs one Bankster, (IMF goon) on one morning
to say to his neighbor, "the emperor has no clothes"
and and we will have the same effect. So global warming, debt,
and peak oil are all cards in the hand of the same game.
One point
Lisa made was that the time to do something about this was
in the 70s. Really it was way too late by then both for the
planet, peak oil, global warm, the rape of the seas and loss
of top soil. The planet already was too infected. What infection?
Us! and those pesky memes I talked about a few days ago. We
have it in our pointing little meme laden heads that this
planet is ours to use as PEOPLE see fit. The rest of you lessor
icky things just stay out of the way. I have a right to my
MTV!
You see when we started to choose agriculture, thousands of
years ago, over hunting, gathering, moving, we somehow built
a meme that comes out of various gods' mouths - it goes like
this. This is your world I give it to you. Go forth and prosper.
Prosper meant no longer having any sense of balance with the
needs of the rest of the animals, or the planet. Only with
each other, and between groups of us. After that it was only
time. We just are fortunate to have ringside seats for exciting
finish. It is really a race. Do we flatten and use up everything
before we collapse - leaving Mars like cinder of a world,
or does earth win by having - and this is the best card Gaia
has - but us going in to nuclear holocaust and world wide
death of 4.5 to 5.5 billion people from starvation, war, disease.
That's Gaia's best card. Because we are the infection. Boy
it is hard to think that. We hit the edge of our little dish
and there just ain't no more to eat up, and we are going to
be so pissed and will be looking for someone to blame. Oh
yea.
The odd
thing about conservation - people think I ride the little
moto -bicycle because I don't want to use resources. Hah,
every gallon of oil/gas I save means the end of our little
human experiment in raping a world takes a bit longer. If
you read the piece on empire that is linked on the blog, you'll
see that if you're pulling for the other side - earth, the
remaining species, low island people everywhere, then you
should be hoping for the collapse to happen tomorrow. The
longer this continues the more we are destroying the planets
slim chance to recover. So no, I don't ride the motobike because
it saves gas, or is the "green" thing to do. I do
it because I am cheap (and lazy). Lets here what some of the
rest of you think about Lisa's letter! Pretty damn stimulating
stuff. I think I sleep with the cover over my head tonight.
Night chickies!
Tuesday, February 20, 2007 9:27 AM
Have you ever wondered why all those people who are involved
in "primitive arts" are spending their energy like
that. If I thought about it at all I figured they were escaping
into a past via a hobby that kept them busy and didn't let
them harm too much. With my own growing appreciation of the
problems and changes and opportunities we fast in the coming
years, I have been reading many of the primitive websites.
I finally got down to a discussion topic between various American
and European "abos" and I was surprised to find
that their thinking parallels our discussions here very closely
with a difference in their point of view and techniques. I
think you might be interested so here is the link. PaleoPlanet
- primitive living experiences. I think you can read it
as a guest without logging in, though it is simple to register
- you have to bring something you have killed and skinned
with a stone point knapped by yourself to join as a full member.
I'm switching slowly to doing all my cooking on the jet stove.
My propane in one bottle is almost out, leaving me with a
full 30 lb - 7 gallon bottle, which would see me through the
next two to four months. It is certainly less convenient to
start the fire and then put the pot on, but not too hard.
It takes me about 3 to 4 times as long. Once at full jet burn
the cooking is pretty much the same time. Cleaning the pot
is more difficult because of the soot. I wipe the bottom in
the sand to get most off and then wash it. I'm going to try
and find a pot to dedicate to the jet stove so that I don't
have to bring it inside at all. It has to have a cover and
of course, I have to find it as salvage.
I thought I would adopt a "buy nothing new" policy
for 3 months, just to see if I can do it. I love finding things
I can make other things out of, like knives, arrow points,
lumber (from the old mine - my new work bench that I will
burn when I leave). I love making my own paint, my own life.
I have a sewing machine with me and I could alter all my clothing
that is getting bigger as I'm getting smaller. Ah I'm shriiinnnkkiing.
But on the idea of not buying anything I have my tax return
coming back and I would like to buy a good sleeping back and
a 12V freezer so that I could freeze the rodents and bunnies
I am trapping around the trailer - I'm kidding - no reason
to bother them with all these tourists. Hey, why do they call
it tourist season down here if you're not supposed to hunt
them?
I am working on my core back pack. The altoid tin of emergency
supplies might be great if you're PHil and don't need them
anyway, but when I'm stressed I want to reach into a pocket
and find a lighter, and I want to sleep warm in a good sleeping
bag. My "core" kit for walking away is going to
be the minimum that I would want with me to take a break from
civilization for a month or so, and the tools to allow me
to make myself comfortable and listen in while it all sorts
out. .
 |
Here
is morning water heating for coffee. It takes about
two handfuls of sticks - or if you look at the sticks
in the throat of the feed can, about two times that
to heat four cups of water to boiling in this pot. That
was about an hour ago and just now I started beans for
my famous to me beans and rice for tonight -with my
yumm sauce. So half a cup of dried beans in a big blue
enamel pot and 1 cup of water came to a boil in about
2 minutes.
The enamel pot got the water hotter faster, perhaps
because it is wider than this one and catches more of
the burning exhaust gas.
Once
the beans were boiling I moved them to the solar cooker
where I will check on them at 1pm to see if they need
more water. They should be ready for supper! Free cooking,
and very inexpensive food.
Kind of looks like a hobo camp. Ed Foster refers to
all of us as hobos. Phil and I discussed the term "primitive"
and it's application to "primitive technologies"
and he feels that it would be more accurate to say "simple
technology." This came about because I said, why
look for knappable rock where there is so much thick
broken glass (bottoms of bottles usually). |
In discussions with friends on the phone and in email, I realize
that I am not a hermit but at the same time I find myself driven
to be by myself and be quiet, to think and feel, but sometimes,
in the eveningsI I wish there was someone to share with, to
cook for, to converse with, and to be intimate with. I know
I'm not very good at that as I'm immediately corralled by the
needs of that person, but still, evenings are lonely.
I feel like I've started on a quest of some sort, and I don't
get to have those things until I return from this experience.
So I will not resist thus push to explore my thoughts and experiences
as they relate to what comes. It is what is right now, and there
is a reason for it in a cosmic sense I suppose. Certainly I
am not alone in wondering what we should become and how we should
become it. Many people, very different people from different
directions are thinking the same things.
I like Gary's optimism, he feels there are mind blowing answers
to simple appropriate technology and to our integration into
the real world just waiting in the minds of many many people
- waiting for the straight jacket of Empire to crumble, and
like jewels in a clay mix they and their answers will be exposed.
It is an exciting vision of the future and it may well be the
one that occurs. I hope so, because Mordoor grows stronger by
the day, and we are prisoners within it's gates.
Monday, February 19, 2007 2:00 PM
Rick sent a very good link to building "big wind"
turbines for the little guy. I love the idea of actually building
the windings and casting the magnets but that tower scares
the crap out of me. Click
here for Rick's link to the "otherpower" article.
Busy Monday, and it's an almost thunderstorm here - very powerful
and cleaned the air. I did a hike this morning up the mountain
and took pictures - 7 of them of these tiny little blue/purple
flowers in the desert tarmac. One was less out of focus and
you see that below. I also felt some sympathy for a barrel
cactus.
Dare to Dream! Beauty (out of focus) pops up were we don't
expect. This blossom is the size of a pencil eraser.
Right, Ouch!!! Barrel cactus have water that is OK to
drink where the big Suhauros have poisonous water. So
if you're a barrel cactus, well, it's gotta hurt! |
 |
 |
 |
Above:
Yesterday I collected some chunks of charcoal from the fire
pits at Crystal Hill along with two other rocks that might
make pigment. Today I decided to see if I could make a smooth
black paint that would work to be the natural pigment paint
that I would like to decorate Barstick with - for the petroglyph
designs. So I broke and egg and passed it back in forth between
the shells until all the clear (white) was gone. I took one
piece of charcoal outside, put it in a paper envelope and
crushed it by lightly tapping with a hammer on the envelope
with a large rock as the anvil. The carbon black comes right
through the envelope so I put everything into a zip lock and
came in to practice painting a few glyphs. On the left above,
I've got the egg yolk in one dish, the blue cup has distilled
water, and the other small saucer has the charcoal ground
as fine as my patience would allow.
You can see the result on the typing paper.
This was the first time I painted with egg yolk and I was
anxious to see if the charcoal would stay in suspension and
flow with the brush. I guess those centuries old paintings
must have figured it out long before me. My first tempura
paint. Black worked well but was not ground fine enough. I
was surprised to see that tempura when dry is a semi gloss.
Flow was not great but when it used the dustier charcoal to
make the paint it flowed well. It dries fast and felt to me
somewhere between a water color and an oil. Above the little
butter dish lid was may palette.
I plan to use the upper left glyph and the one to the right
of the big horn sheep (guessing) for Barstick's vertical decoration
below the handle. So now I have one simple technology color
in my kit. I need about a dozen more and I have to find how
to grind the pigments without them blowing away, and how to
separate out the fines from the not ground fine enough. I
bet there is a website!
Real tempura artists must have a way to stop the egg yolk
from drying so quickly besides just thinning it. You don't
get to keep this paint. I fried up what was left and it was
good but my teeth are really disgusting :)
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