I am currently reading "When Money Dies" by Adam Fergusson. This is an account of Post World War One German Hyper-inflation. Published in 1975 and recently reprinted the book excellent in that it contains first person narratives on how people survived when a potato cost the equivalent of $4,000.00.

There is a great deal of economics, exchange rate numbers and descriptions of politics of the day, which to me makes this book not for everyone. The most important information for me was personal records offered in the book, such as the diary of a German widow who traded her piano for food to tie her family over the winter. Other diaries, letters and reports on the effect of the economic collapse are covered.......Hungary, and Austria who suffered this hyper-inflation as well are also discussed...it is not surprising the urban vs. rural attitude held by these countries for years was instigated during this time period due to the fact that the peasants farmers in all three countries survived this time frame very well....not a surprise right? You can only guffaw if you have a working garden...if not bear this in mind. I am half way through and can recommend this book if you are interested in first hand accounts of the collapse of economies....

I have ordered a new pistol for my licensed conceal carry...a used, German Police, H&K P7 in 9mm. The German police are replacing the P7 which was their issued handgun, returning the old handguns to the manufacturer for credit, therefore these pistols are now available on the used marketplace.

The P7 is the Swiss watch of handguns---i used to say that anyone carrying one of these was an example of a $200.00 man carrying a $1700.00 handgun. Now i have to eat my words. I could have never, ever afforded one of these pistols new...and they were never available on the used market place previously for an affordable price...Thankfully institutions never remain focused....there is no real reason for the German police to change weapons other than the new is better thought process. Institutional stupidity pays off at times and for me this is one of those times.....I know how weird I am----an armed, liberal, survivalist, socialist, with no tribe.

Photo's from our "recovering" economy....................

The pundits are still pushing that the SLINGBLADE population of the United States will alter the government come this Mid Term election, this very upcoming Tuesday. It well may happen and if it does we as a nation deserve the results. If this stupidity revolution occurs you will hear no more from me on politics. If America elects these right wing idiots I will spend no more time thinking, writing, or speaking of politics.....if this election goes the wrong way anyone with more than two brain cells to rub together will no longer be welcome in this society. Good luck to all of us----

Civilization is unbearable, but it is less unbearable at the top.
Timothy Leary

One in eight Americans are now on food stamps?....Our laid off brother-in-law finds that firms he applies to are now only searching for people with "less than 18 years experience". What a wonderful spin that is eh? Vehicles 5 years old with 100,000 miles are an unaffordable $15,000.00 price on dealer lots? Real estate is just plain dead, the cost of food rises slowly and steadily till sticker shock sets in. $12.00 for Mouth Wash?

We have actual Idiots, running for office this time....We had always thought politicians were idiots, but this has switched from independent personal opinion to actual recorded fact.

"I've got morons on my team" as Strother Martin said.

The new American world is fast approaching, We, the new, all encompassing, lower class understand this for the most part, despite the fact that the vocal representatives from trailer park world think that supporting the constitution and eliminating immigration will provide the WalMart heaven they feel they have been promised...I believe that all of us in the new low class are hunkering down, waiting for the next problem.

Not all are preparing, not many can. It costs money to prepare for an uncertain future, time and hard work. All three of these factors are kept in short supply by the policies of the ruling classes....... Preparing for a crashed future however should be our major concern since there is nothing we can do, I repeat, nothing we can do as individuals to fix our current problem status:

We (both privately and as a nation) are maxed out on borrowing.

All members of a household are working if they can find it.

We are working more hours than any other population in the world.

Our main assets, our retirement funds and real estate are shit.

Our income has been shit for years and will now be reduced.

The societal problems we face cannot be fixed on a personal basis any longer...you know, the old, pull up your socks and get to work---concept? Which was thrown out to the poor in the past by the upper class mill owners......It would be better, right now, for we, the members of the new low class to invest in gardening supplies, good strong utility clothing, stored food, portable shelter, wood heat and medicinal supplies rather than paying that extra house payment, investing in stocks, or saving into their corrupt system. If you have food, if you have prepared, you can always squat by setting up your tent in an abandoned, foreclosed, house. Soon Police services for the protection of property will be non-existent so squatting becomes a viable alternative....as long as you have prepared outside of the system....

Ask yourself what would be better? Facing privatized social security, and no health care, which is the Republican Moron platform.......

With or without stockpiled food? With or without a producing garden? With or without a bicycle? With or without solar panels? We have no secure future----plan on that rather than on the bullshit spin from the elite classes designed to continue separating you from what money there may be left.

I am finishing up Robert B. Reich's AFTERSHOCK--- which is overall an excellent book which i am enjoying very much. Reich centers the book around the concept that wall street and investment banking is not the true culprit in our depression but rather the rape of the middle class wealth is the demon. The actual acknowledgement of the destruction of the wealth of the middle class under the Bush Administration is something new in an economics book....the rape of the middle class is like your creepy uncle---always there but as of yet never spoken of... something to be swept into the corner and not discussed.

I recommend this book, easy to read and without the bullshit most economists rely on to dodge giving real answers--- Mr. Reich provides actual answers to the problems he evaluates---a rare thing in this world today.

"In Spite of the Gods" by Edward Luce is my next book on the way. I am a believer in the China, India, Brazil triangle of upcoming power theory. I have worked in India and was amazed, damaged, uplifted, and changed forever by it...Even at that time in the late 80's and early 90's I felt that India was a living example of our solient green future... I am interested to see what Mr. Luce has to say.

I pre-ordered PREDATORS which arrived on the release day-----OUTSTANDING is all I can say about this film. Filled with action from the first moment, Adrien Brody who received quite a bit of sarcasm from the SF community when chosen for the lead was EXCELLENT! I am waiting for the release of his action figure for this film in 2011 to add to my collection.....Great visuals, special effects..and new elements Predator elements to add to this culture's history.

8 violent individuals are air dropped onto a hunting preserve planet and the fight begins......The inclusion of the Predators having their own version of hunting Dogs is spectacular. Weapons, and equipment very correct and in this predator movie they worry about their ammo count! The "i could do without" segments such as Lawrence Fishburne's character, the doctor character and the blood feud between predators, these drawback elements do not ruin the basic premise of this film.

The concept that there is no bad predator movie was laid to rest by the under the ice, aliens vs. predator abortion of a film from years ago----a bad predator movie can be made---but PREDATORS is evidence that one can make a good, solid predator movie. I read some reviews on the Internet that are just plain wrong and stupid regarding this film....that the reviewer had expectations that could be fulfilled by no film....don't be misled, turn the lights down, settle in and just let this movie roll over you, like i did 5 times---it is excellent.

In this world of sin and sorrow there is always something to be thankful for; as for me, I rejoice that I am not a Republican.
H. L. Mencken

I am currently learning the Tarot---which is not that easy----studying fly fishing--------------- (my gear came in)......learning how to operate a new smart phone......reading "After Shock" by Robert B. Reich.....sorting through a group of very small solar panels to see what use i can put these to...repairing my Rovio robot with the replacement parts that actually, finally, showed up..... staring at the winter garden which is so different....and setting up my personal kit for the upcoming winter.

I have pretty much finished up every summer/fall project i had started...there are a few small things left to do which I will finish up over the next two weeks, mopping up so to say.

Driving down the street to my coffee shop one day this week I saw, what was obviously, two 15 year old girls standing and talking on the sidewalk....Nothing strange here, and your first thought is probably----- "you old perv!" What i was observing however was that each of them had a baby carrier. New Mexico is now, after beating out Mississippi, the state in the union with the highest number of unwed teenage mothers. I could not help feeling that somehow these two girls were playing dolls? That like playing dolls there was no need for nasty old boys to be around?

I see young girls with these pre-marriage babies all the time now, most often out somewhere with their mother/grandmother. Unlike religious fanatics, i could care what someone does---I engage on this from a societal viewpoint and not from a moralistic position. This region is too deeply Republican, too "born again" to teach birth control so i can only assume that this is a Palin situation, the no sex before marriage delusion followed immediately by a teen mother & baby. In this area of New Mexico however, the sheer mass of numbers of unwed mothers means that if there is marriage in the future, the male must accept the "barbie baby" from the start of the relationship.

Does this cost? Oh yes! I am quite sure that all parties involved are on any government programs available to them, including the preachers daughter, the Republican party chairman, and the oil executive. Therefore there is no expulsion from any of the local social groups for unwed motherhood---it is merely disregarded as an issue. Every one's daughter gets pregnant as a teenager, receives their government sanctioned funding, rich or poor, and moves along.

I have to laugh when i hear Republican speeches that it is the illegal immigrants that are taking advantage of social services by having babies, that unwed teen mothers is a racial/poverty problem---here in southeastern New Mexico, white, 16, year old mothers drive about in SUV's bought for them by their oil company granddad, with the kiddie in the car seat' to collect their government checks....but............. Because all their daughters are fucking---rich/poor/legal/illegal/found the lord/lost the lord.....it is OK.......nothing to see here.

Any informed borrower is simply less vulnerable to fraud and abuse.
Alan Greenspan

This week I finished reading "Adventures among the Ants" by Mark Moffet. A great book but you really have to want to understand the nature of ants to enjoy. I recommend' but it is definitely not for everyone. I then ordered "Aftershock: The Next Economy and America's Future" by Robert Reich for the upcoming weeks read...books i cannot live without them.

My Fly fishing beginners kit arrived this week and i purchased a fishing license....My intent is to learn how to fish (something I have never done) as both a source of alternative food supply and possibly for future relaxation.....overall it was a subdued week---

The American stock market means nothing.

"The depression is over--the stock market is bouncing back." Has been the mantra all week from both the financial and regular news services...heartening to the Rich I'm sure.

The new truth, is that the American stock market means nothing any longer to the economics of the American underclass. The stock market rises--with no job or wealth creation for you and me.

The stock market is something that matters only to the Oppressors of the people now, a private world of trading paper where they take turns making each other wealthier by seeing who can fire the largest amount of underclass workers to insure a profit to their fellow rich.

Our system of economics morphed into the destruction of the middle class and the creation of a two class only system in America-------the Rich and the Underclass. The rich destroyed the American Middle class cutting it into pieces which were sold as scrap for a quick profit much as they destroyed American manufacturing capability in the 80's and 90's.

We pulled everything we had in the market out a couple of years ago. The stock market became a place where our money was necessary only for others to make money off it---not for any type of honest share for us. The banks and savings accounts are the same, no interest on savings that amount to anything----no honest share for us, but the bankers enrich themselves playing with my deposited money, with my life. Literally.

The reality of how the world will be lived in a fallen America becomes sharper and clearer every day. My wife and I now invest in ourselves, in solar panels for independent power, in stored food against future shortages and for building a greenhouse for winter crops. This is what the underclass needs to invest in------Invest in independence from the coming storm of collapse. Do not allow the Rich to play with whatever funds you may have left. Save-----then invest debt free in physical items to address our new underclass realities---Food, Power, housing. Invest in these items and fuck the Rich!

The conservatives, the tea naggers, and the Republicans are all screaming at me...from web news and commentary sources------I am glad that the liberals seem above this... to some commentators, this liberal lack of screaming at the voting populace, to them means lack of action, interest or possible defeat. This I do not believe to be true. Like the verbally abused housewife after a while no response is the best response.

In my experience only wack jobs need to scream out their beliefs and theories. Only idiots try to talk over another human being when it is their chance to reply. Steven Hawkins does not scream for us to believe him on the creation of the universe? The Dali Lama does not scream at people from the pulpit (like right wing preachers) on politics?

Jimmy Carter would lecture us--and righteously so as it turns out----he never did or would he ever do the political screaming that is being delivered from the right. These are the times I count myself so lucky for having killed my Television and cable so long ago. I imagine that those of you who are still watching Television are facing a terrible time of election screaming madness. I have a hard time believing that anyone no, matter how incredibly stupid, would be convinced by only the loudest voice in the room....but then again this is the American public.....

"Death is a very dull, dreary affair, and my advice to you is to have nothing whatsoever to do with it".
W. Somerset Maugham