There's an excellent article today at Energy Bulletin.
By John Michael Greer
That dimension of our predicament was pointed up by a commenter who responded to part of last week’s post by suggesting, among other things, that people would still be getting their food from supermarkets for long enough that anyone alive today doesn’t need to worry about other options. It’s not an example that gets brought up often; still, the same assumption that current ways of doing things will remain in place indefinitely is an important reason why so many otherwise prudent and intelligent people to ignore the signs that their lifestyle is getting ready to terminate itself with extreme prejudice. A hard look at the logic behind it is certainly in order.This following article is a very important one too. It give us a heads up on what's to come as well as a view inside the thinking of upper end investors. They think the empire is collapsing too.
Observer: Hedge Farm! The Doomsday Food Price Scenario Turning Hedgies into Survivalists
That may seem extreme, but even the lesser scenarios are frightening to some. When asked if this is an end-of-the-world situation, the hedge fund manager replied: "It really is. I tell my fiancée this from time to time, and I've stopped telling her this, because it's not the most pleasant thought." He pauses for a moment. "We just can't keep living the way we're living. It'll end within our lifetime. We're just going to run out of certain things. We'll just have to learn how to adjust."Thanks to Chesire at Hubberts Arms for this story and link.
I just want to take a moment to say that if you're reading this blog, and you haven't yet begun to prepare yourself and your loved ones for the hard times ahead, please hurry. We're fast running out of time.
A good place to start would be joining one of the forums linked at the bottom of this post. You'll find all kinds of helpful information and support from the members there.
The rich are protecting themselves and preparing for collapse. That should tell you something.
Japan
YahooNews: Japan slides back into recession after quake
NaturalNewsTV: Fukushima - One Step Forward and Four Steps Back as Each Unit Challenged by New Problems
Global Conflict
VeteransToday: Unconfirmed: Bin Laden Mission Aborted, American Deaths from Helicopter Crash“EYEWITNESS” INTERVIEW SAYS AMERICANS DIED, MISSION UNSUCCESSFUL
“We saw the helicopter burning, we saw the dead bodies, then everything was removed and now there is nothing”
(thanks to Specific at Tinfoil Palace for the above story! Wow!)
RawStory: Ron Paul: U.S. may try to occupy Pakistan
GOP 2012 hopeful Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) thinks U.S. troops will soon be on the ground for an occupation of Pakistan — and he said so on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" Wednesday morning.
Spiegel: Tahrir Square in Madrid Spain's Lost Generation Finds Its Voice
WashingtonPost: Spanish revolution: Thousands gather in Madrid’s Puerta del Sol Square [VIDEO]
Iraqi Police Targeted in Deadly Triple Blasts
ABCNews: Osama Bin Laden: Authorities Hunt for Terrorists Named in Files Found at Bin Laden's Compound
ZeroHedge: The Second Egyptian Revolution Has Been Scheduled For May 27
CNN: Distrusting U.S., Saudi Arabia embarks on more assertive role
(CNN) -- As U.S. President Barack Obama seeks to reinvigorate his administration's policy in the Middle East, he will have to contend with several issues where U.S. influence is less than overwhelming.
Chief among them, according to Middle East analysts, is the growing assertiveness of Saudi Arabia as it confronts Iranian influence in the region and tilts away from its historic bargain with the U.S.: oil for security.
Wired: Sharing Information Corrupts Wisdom of Crowds
In a new study of crowd wisdom — the statistical phenomenon by which individual biases cancel each other out, distilling hundreds or thousands of individual guesses into uncannily accurate average answers — researchers told test participants about their peers’ guesses. As a result, their group insight went awry.Kasama: 50 Ways to Prepare for Revolution
The people of the United States are currently unprepared to seize a revolutionary moment. We must fix that.
Hosted: West 'causing drought' in Iran, says Ahmadinejad
TEHRAN — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Thursday accused Western countries of devising plans to "cause drought" in the Islamic republic, as he inaugurated a dam in a central province.Financial News
"Western countries have designed plans to cause drought in certain areas of the world, including Iran," the official IRNA news agency quoted Ahmadinejad as saying in the central city of Arak in Markazi province.
"According to reports on climate, whose accuracy has been verified, European countries are using special equipment to force clouds to dump" their water on their continent, he said.
By doing so, "they prevent rain clouds from reaching regional countries, including Iran," Ahmadinejad charged.
Reuters: Factbox: Possible successors to Strauss-Kahn as IMF head(Reuters) - Dominique Strauss-Kahn has resigned as head of the International Monetary Fund, the IMF said in a statement, after his arrest at the weekend on charges he sexually assaulted a maid in a Manhattan hotel.
FDL: Gang of Six Members Were Willing to Cut $400 Billion from Medicare
ZeroHedge: Deutsche Bank Downgrades The Economy After It Finally Realizes That The Japan Earthquake Will Not Boost Growth
MotherJones: Arnold's True Love Child: California's Deficit Problem
CEPR: Why Do Opponents of Social Security Have So Much Difficulty Getting Their Facts Right?
ZeroHedge: Philly Fed Finds Economic Conditions For Low And Moderate-Income Families Deteriorated Under The "Wealth Effect" MandateWhile many outside observers have correctly been arguing that the Fed's third mandate, that of the "wealth effect" has done little if anything to improve the lives of those not at the very top of the wealth food chain, there has been no confirmation of this "speculation" from the Fed. Not for much longer though.
NakedCapitalism: Registers of Deeds as Unexpected Foot Soldiers Fighting Mortgage Abuses?
WSJ: Poll: Americans Want Government to Push Economic MobilityAn overwhelming majority of Americans want the government to help poor and middle-class Americans better their lot, but there was significant disagreement about whether or not the government was pursuing the right strategy. The poll seems to underscore a long-running truism that everyone wants to help the poor but no one agrees how to do it.
Peak oil and Energy News
FallsChurchNews: Tom Whipple: The Peak Oil Crisis: The Summer Ahead
ClimateProgress: Senate Republicans cast “suicide pact” vote for Big Oil that expands drilling while weakening oversight
MarketWatch: Oil ends above $100 a barrel after supply data
TreeHugger: Students Protest Exxon Chair's Commencement Speech, Invite Peak Oil Expert Instead
Rex Tillerson, chair of Exxon, didn't win many TreeHugger friends with his assertion that a transition away from oil is 100 years away, nor his attempts to distance Exxon from the extremes of the climate skeptic lobby. That may be why students at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, MA got so upset when they heard that Mr Tillerson was going to give the commencement speech at their graduation last Saturday. In fact, the students were so incensed they mounted a campaign to get peak oil expert Richard Heinberg on the podium to offer an alternative voice. And they won.BusinessInsider: There's Only On Way Gas Prices Will Really Fall
FastCompany: China Gears Up To Export Nuclear TechnologyStill panicked after the Fukushima disaster? China's not: They're sending nuclear technology to everyone--even Pakistan.
BusinessInsider: How Peak Oil Explains The Last Five Years
ZeroHedge: Raging Alberta Wildfires Depress Canadian Crude Production, Have Little Impact On Prices
PlattsOil: Platts exclusive: Assessing the potential repercussions of sanctions on Syria for the Euro oil markets. Listen at http://bit.ly/oilpod0519
ClimateProgress: By 2015, we could see a new generation of photovoltaic technologies, including 3D solar cells
Environmental News
BBC: Brazil: Amazon rainforest deforestation rises sharplyDeforestation of the Brazilian Amazon rainforest has increased by almost six times, new data suggests.
Grist: Prof. Socolow’s bizarre climate comments and the pessimism of Serious People
PRI: Strange weather and climate changeA meteorologist connects the dots between the recent floods, tornadoes, blizzards and climate change.
TheNewYorker: Interesting article from 1987 The Control of Nature ATCHAFALAYAby John McPhee February 23, 1987
Philly.com: Marcellus driller fined record $1.1MThe Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection on Tuesday fined Chesapeake Energy Corp. $1.1 million for violations related to natural gas drilling activities, the largest penalty ever against a Marcellus Shale operator.
MailOnline: Before and after: Amazing satellite pictures show devastation of Mississippi River flood as officials warn of venomous snake threat
America in Decline
NPR: Inside Obama’s "Orwellian World" Where Whistleblowing Has Become Espionage: The Case of Thomas Drake
Reuters: Perp walk? Blame Giuliani
DesdemonaDespair: More U.S. seniors going hungry(Looks like the south doesn't take very good care of it's elderly citizens.)
NYBooks: A Country Without Libraries
Food and Water
FarmWars: Melons now a Monsanto “invention”
TheNewYorker: The Other Meat (Audio)This week in the magazine, Michael Specter writes about the progress scientists have made in developing in-vitro meat. Here he talks to Blake Eskin about the strong arguments in favor of lab meat and overcoming initial reactions to the concept.
Bloomberg: Wheat Gains for Fourth Day as Dry Weather Persists; Corn Extends Advance
NYT: Drought in Europe Hits Wheat Crop
PARIS — Estimates for the European Union’s wheat harvest are shrinking by the day as plants wilt in a months-long drought that looks set to continue for a while.Reuters: Spanish rain adequate in run-up to grain harvest* Rain 54 pct average in week to May 15
Several months of drier-than-usual weather have parched farmland and cut water reserves in France and Germany, two key grain producers in Europe, stoking worries of a drought similar to that experienced in 1976 and fueling concern for the final harvests.
* Hydropower reserves 16,285 GWh, down 14 GWh
DesdemonaDespair: Oil-rich nations export water stress to ensure food security through African ‘land grab’
The Gulf nations of Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia are rated as the world’s most water stressed countries, with the least available water per capita, by a new ranking of 186 countries.
NYT: Central China Hit by Drought, as Reservoirs Become ‘Dead Water’
Science and Technology
TechnologyReview: Solar Disinfecting Device For the Developing WorldA team at Rice says it can sterilize medical instruments using the sun. The technology could help bring safe surgical procedures to parts of the developing world that lack them.
LiveScience: Japan Earthquake Was 'In the Air' Days Before, Scientist Claims
NewScientist: Sending data to the cloud? Stick it in the post
Doomsteading, Gardening, Urban Farming
Reuters: Equine herpes outbreak hits Western U.S. states(Reuters) - A outbreak of equine herpes in at least six Western U.S. states has forced the cancellation of scores of horse events, just as the prime season for riding shows, sales and rodeos is getting under way.
Other News
SFGate: How are you spending your last day on Earth?
FoxNews: CDC Warns Public to Prepare for 'Zombie Apocalypse'
BorowitzReport: New Study Finds iPad is Cure for Adultery; Owners ‘Stop Noticing Other People Altogether’ (thanks for the laugh rj!) Mandatory Equipment for New Chief, IMF Says
Slate: Sugar Ray Leonard Claims Sexual Abuse by Coach (VIDEO)
RollCall: Rapture Fuels 'Godless' Group's Push
A group of self-described Godless Americans is defying predictions of the Rapture to kick off a new campaign this week against the religious right.
As some Christians quit their jobs this week to prepare for the end of the world, the Secular Coalition for America headed to Capitol Hill with an ambitious task: reducing the influence of religious interests on government.
BusinessInsider: PHOTO OF DSK IN JAIL: Dominique Strauss-Kahn Is Wearing A Blue Suicide Prevention Smock
Salon: IMF's Strauss-Kahn resigns amid sex charges
"I want to devote all my strength, all my time and all my energy to proving my innocence"
USAToday: WATCH: Security video shows man trying to board train with his pony
Guardian: Tenerife beheading suspect had been treated in UK and releasedDeyan Deyanov, 28, was sectioned during visit to see relatives in UK last summer and left Welsh psychiatric unit in October
Discovery: Forgeries in the Bible's New Testament?Nearly half of the New Testament is a forgery, according to a provocative new book which charges that the Apostle Paul authored only a fraction of letters attributed to him, and the Apostle Peter just wrote nothing.
Spiegel: Confronting the Stasi Past When the Persecuted and the Persecutors Trade PlacesForty-seven former members of the Stasi now work at the agency charged with addressing its misdeeds. Agency head Roland Jahn, a victim of the notorious East German secret police himself, is on a crusade to get rid of them. But some think he's taking things too far.
The Forums
TinfoilPalace: New book says USSR was behind Roswell UFO
TinfoilPalace: Bin Laden's Last Words Recorded!!
TheOilAge: Revealing news from Aramco
TheOilAge: Drug shortages!
HubbertsArms: Debunking the stubborn myth that only industrial ag can ‘feed the world’
HubbertsArms: Simulation Shows High Levels of Radiation Hitting the West in May
SilentCountry: Pakistan *hearts* China
SilentCountry: Third World America
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