---I ponder at times, how we, the American Society actually manages to exist?---i stand gaping at our bizarre congressional do nothing system and the total surgical removal of financial "Noblesse Oblige" in the United States.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noblesse_oblige

I am thinking along the same line as the Chinese in doubting the stability of our society and our supposed financial system. My basic belief is that we are on a societal Event Horizon.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Event_horizon . There is one hope I am hanging onto and that is Obama--this in itself is unfair and unreasonable---but possibly as a beacon of reason--and through his obvious expectations of excellence he may succeed in turning around our Jerry Springer level of consciousness to something approaching a mature society with viable goals and objectives for the future. Deep within my heart of hearts i doubt it tho...

I am currently reading "Reinventing Collapse" by Dimitri Orlov..I am a consistent reader of Mr. Orlov's blog and it is excellent--his overall concept is the comparison of the economic collapse of the former Soviet Union and the current economic depression here in the United States. He speciality is comparing how the average Russian survived to how can the average American survive what is happening and what is coming..it is extremely interesting and has great first person insights on day to day life and problems under these circumstances..He writes in a delightfully non-technical manner--on people--how both he and those around him survived bad times and how practical thinking and practical skills are essential to the future. http://cluborlov.blogspot.com/

I called my senators and congressman today--the first time I've ever done this---asking for their support of President Obama's budget proposal and for support for his stand on his platform issues issues. This is an amazing step for me---you really,really do not know how amazing---

I am planning on completing my internal requirement to obtain 30 days worth of emergency food--this weekend i ordered an additional case of MRE's (12 meals total). Finding self contained food for 30 days for two people economically is tough...combine this with my demands of easy storage--long shelf life and the ability to grab this stuff and go if necessary MRE's are the best bet...

I also need to order some necessary equipment for my solar power systems and work on multiple small tasks that can be easily overlooked at my urban homestead. I have a long list of material to obtain that i believe is required to insure that my wife and I are as self sufficient as possible for the upcoming near future.

On the net recently that attracted my interest:

tent citys-----http://www.ncbuy.com/news/2009-03-26/1017504.html

power thefts---http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2009/03/16/20090316gan-powertheft16-ON.html

legalizing marijuana---http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1884956,00.html

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/1461900,CST-NWS-pot05.article

The Nano car---http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7954979.stm

buy that weird Japanese car you've always wanted: http://www.japanoid.com/

That's it for now---be nice we need it now---fix something yourself---go to the park and hang out---read---stock up on food--make something unusually artistic for your house---and take care.

I'm not going to spend any time discussing the news from this past week---it's just too crazily confused out there right now and true understanding is just too challenging to render our society's problems down into a logical sequence. What's right--what's wrong is lost in the soundbites....Obama is amazing but he's alone in his genius and surrounding him is politics as usual in the Congress and throughout the rest of the government---i am sure of only one thing-----that we are heading for an immense economic/societal drop off------I'm going to hunker down in this blog with my own thoughts and actions and leave everything else alone.I spent this day off working in our gardens, on our solar panels, and ordering and organizing our economic emergency supplies....in reality working on self-reliance/survival gives me something to do with myself and makes me feel as if i am in control of SOMETHING that surrounds me on a day to day basis....

I'm tremendously glad to hear that the Obama's are putting in an organic vegetable garden at the white house...way to go Obama's...I've been a huge proponent of individual home food & power production for a long,long time... i am so beside myself that we actually have a representative of the thoughtful human in the white house now after the upper crust idiots we have suffered with for so long...there are plans up on the web of the soon to be planted white house organic garden--you should take a look..this year we bought a booth at the local farmers market held each Saturday at the town square...profit is not the motive--I'm really attempting to put into actualization a trading culture--more like----i trade you excess of my vegetables that i planted, for excess of yours that i did not plant. This is not to say that i won't sell what i don't use if that's the only alternative but it is definitely secondary in my mind....if the economy worsens this barter-trade-partnership community is going to be the only way we will get by...

I obtained (well I actually purchased) a 2007 French science film film on DVD "Chrysalis". Most excellent! Sort of a cop, mystery, noir film thing set in Paris of 2027---the fights are astounding and done by the dude who set up all the fight scenes in the Bourne movies but these are even better--they are tremendously realistic....plus it is interesting to visualize how other culture's artists see the coming future....if you get a chance to see this movie it is most excellent...

I don't care what that this watch features GPS and every other bell and whistle known to watch making mankind---I SIMPLY WANT ONE! How cool is this?

http://oobject.com/home/news/kogan-gps-watch-has-bluetooth-and-bulk/6158/

I have been purchasing long-shelf life emergency food supplies---every two weeks I've purchased either a box of 12 MRE's (meals ready to eat) or a Mountain house 72 hour food kit---8 food packages---(of which i now have 2). My goal is to have enough easy to store--emergency food on hand for both my wife and i for at least a month. I've also obtained chem light sticks--a pocket survival kit--cranked power flashlights--and water purification tablets.

One of the things i believe individuals overlook when considering emergency supplies or self-reliant living is fishing as a food source. I don't fish, you know as a hobby, or hunt....i was (am) primarily a city kid....but i started thinking about alternative food sources other than gardening and did the "uh--what about fishing and why haven't i thought of this before" thought pattern....although there are not a large amount of fishing locations here in southeastern New Mexico--there are a few that i could get to either by segway or on foot--and having a viable, compact, inexpensive fishing kit to have in storage for that just in case scenario....the photo in this section demonstrates the type of fishing kit i am thinking of purchasing and putting away..i don't have any equipment where fishing is concerned so the kit has to have everything that i would need...this is the type of planning for a bad future that simply can't hurt us--$17.00 of prevention may make all the difference in the future. To me self-reliance is not stockpiling ammunition for a resident evil situation but more of a thought experiment on developing a quality lifestyle outside of society's boxes. Besides fresh fish would be not only an excellent food supplement but viable trade items.....next:

What do i believe would be excellent trade items during a Great Depression type meltdown? well----plain gold rings (much better to carry and easier to deal with than Krugerrands), cigarettes, really, really good marijuana, .22 caliber ammunition, excess garden food production, rechargeable batteries, garden seeds, medicines, Craftsmanship skills such as: real life repair capability, smart guy capability applied to real world problems-say building a still (being a guy like the character Brain in the movie, Escape from New York would be really valuable). There are probably 1000 other items that could be mentioned here that i simply cannot think of right now but I'm sure you get the overall concept. Keeping trading possibilities in mind for the future will be important...

Well, read think and work hard at being self sufficent--help others out getting there--read wikipedia by just clicking from reference to refence, it's a cheap way of getting educated---

pay off/down your debt----until you do you are a slave--

I am a doomer......i admit it...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doomer

An admitted, dedicated follower of James Howard Kunstler----

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Howard_Kunstler

but definitely not a survivalist......

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivalist

An Obama liberal doomer to be specific---
i buy solar panels, hybrid cars, grow extensive gardens, have no debts, i do have 30 days of MRE's/freeze dried food on hand---180 gallons of fresh water in my rainwater recovery system--I'm not planning on the end of society--just a change in society---a big turn---a forced turn to a belief in community, self-sufficiency whenever possible---and an end to cannibalistic capitalism. "Greed is good" is soon to be excise from our collective psyche...The best part of being a doomer is that there is not much of a downside if you proceed in a logical sequence.
http://consumerist.com/5168314/50-of-americans-2-paychecks-away-from-having-big-financial-problemos


Let us proceed with a thought experiment that nothing bad happens as a result of the current unpleasantness.....................in a few months the economy bounces back--gas is cheap and looks that way forever and easy financing for everything from credit cards to even bigger SUs to MacMansions rises from the current banking ashes....what then is the downside to my having worked my life in a doomer philosophy?
Err--ah--none that i can see...
If none of the dire societal and economic projections occur at all---no long term depression---no peak oil problems---no social tail eating----as a result of my applied doomer philosophy lifestyle we am still:
free from debt---living in a beautiful little, paid for Hobbit house---spending 1/4th of the norm on gasoline, free of dependence on the power grid----eating fresh vegetables from our square foot gardens---are within walking distance of the library and have 30 days of emergency food and water to depend upon.....so where is the downside involving my application of the doomer philosophy?
This rainy and dark morning i was working in my shed---lit by stored electricity produced through my solar panels---wondrous---
The first element of action is to disregard any concept that smart guys can fix our current problems. The supposed smart guys we depended on to act properly fucked us into this mess-----The Smart guys have no real idea how to get us out of it----only we as individuals can take care of ourselves now as both active, responsible individuals and small cooperative communities of viable citizens. Use the remaining time and access to services to invest in useful material such as solar panels---right now the best investment you can make with your money is in equipment for self- sufficiency...stockpile seeds for gardening---investment in a good solar system will eventually make a better return on your money than anything the financial market will be able to offer for a long, long time. Invest time and money in restructuring your lifestyle---the lifestyle you have been brainwashed into believing was important---and necessary---displaying excess is unimportant---being able to take responsible care of yourself and/or your family is of primary importance for the upcoming 10 years. Rely/depend on nothing that society promises---it will probably not be there---count on being on your own---but help develop a small, responsible, viable, surrounding community.

i suddenly felt the need to list out the things/concepts/opinions/structures/systems that i believe in---you'll almost get an explanation on each item listed:

Swearing:---how the fuck do some people get through life without swearing? I know they do but how the fuck do they manage? Cussing fits what life throws at us---we are the only animal that cusses and we need to......

Legalizing Marijuana: the "war on drugs" ranks high up on the uniquely American strangeness of wasting our national fortune on useless moral problems we create out of thin air---time for us to grow up and maybe our recent societal crash will help out eliminating this Nancy Regan's your mom like stupidity--

http://reason.com/news/show/132034.html

Gay Marriage: Why should anybody care what anybody else does if it does not concern them---who cares who marries who? Besides gay people should lose half their shit every so often just like everybody else---this subject seems to bother people who look like Pat Nixon and hate their own marriage but stay together because supposedly Jesus says to---

Pro-Choice: Anti-abortion people obviously cannot get laid properly so that their minds can balance---once again why would you care what someone else does---it's their body asshole!---plus pro life people seem to be real happy to vote against social support for single mothers when their not busy protesting against abortion.

Getting Old: i cannot understand people my age--57 or older---who'll do anything to keep from looking old---or acting old. There's nothing worse (or stranger) than an old guy or woman who works out or worse those who combine working out with that Kenny Rogers plastic surgery thing going on---ugh! Being old is great---i hated being young---get off my lawn whippersnapper!

Growing your hair: I'm an old hippie assuredly, but this skinhead, nazi, the recently embraced American concept that the masses must all look the same----thing----that our repressed society has had going on for the past few years is incredibly, incredibly stupid--from the day i retire to the day i die there will not be a single haircut---

This will have to do for the moment--i may make this a standard segment--or then again i may be too busy growing my hair, getting old and swearing to keep this up...

One more vote for reason and societal maturity-----

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/1461900,CST-NWS-pot05.article

A group of British employee's win 4 million pounds and plan on reinvesting in the company that employ's them---Oh the horror of socialism----
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1159732/Workers-hit-4m-Lotto-jackpot--vow-invest-winnings-bosss-struggling-business.html

I've just completed reading these books:

World made by Hand--James Kunstler

Cyberabad days by Ian MCDonald

Hot, Flat and Crowded by Thomas L. Friedman

All three were excellent I can easily recommend any of the three---the first two are fiction on possible worlds of the future and the third is non-fiction dealing with our world of today and the upcoming near future--Cyberabad days is a series of short stories on India of 2040-2050 very cool and very strange---World made by hand is the novelization of what would happen to a small NY state town 10 years after peak oil and an economic/social meltdown....

I spent this past Sunday afternoon setting up a stand alone solar kit i purchased off Amazon. This kit is actually quite the thing--a single solar panel--all required wiring, regulator, small battery, low consumption light bulbs with plug in jacks...everything you'd need to light up a small shed or (very small)living quarters all for $129.00. I assembled the entire kit in about an hour with a Swiss army knife--piece of cake to put together....according to the instruction after first charging the included battery for 3 days----- standard usage of the system allows for 6 hours per day of powered light from the system...I am enamored and impressed so far with this system---it is a perfect combination of technology fulfilling a basic need and low cost which could make such a difference to so many.....I have 4 panels on my roof right now as a central system and now this stand alone system to provide light in my shed. The kit comes complete with charging adapters for a variety of electronic devices as well...the first photo in this section i took in my shed as i put the kit together----although the solar panel is not in the best position right at the moment for producing the maximum amount of power---i wanted to test the system prior to hard mounting the panel on the exterior shed wall or roof--so this set up is temporary--for you apartment dwellers this set up would be a perfect system for you---the panel would easily fit on a balcony or even in a window--the two included light bulbs and ability to charge electronic devices could handle your basic emergency power needs....Since received i strung the lights in the shed and they work great---lots of light---this kit works great and is a perfect demonstration of the possibilities of urban self-sufficiency.

Russian family garden production during their past economic "difficulties"....is reported on in this blog from Club Orlov---which although filled with small plot potato production figures, this article actually delineates a truth on how we can persevere through the possible upcoming times with intensive small plot gardening.

http://cluborlov.blogspot.com/

I highly recommend this blog as a practical information source for self-sufficiency based on the author's personal experience with the Russian economic meltdown of the late 80's and 90's.

Ok that's it for now---more later.....