This is why I click on cryptogon.com everytime I log on. Always a link or two worth checking out.
Remember what George Carlin once said? Think about how stupid the average person is… and half of them are stupider than that.
Truly staggers the imagination. I couldn’t stop laughing at the absolute ignorance of some of the people, but of course I suppose it is okay to exercise your right to be a complete dumbfuck.
http://cryptogon.com/?p=13323
I posted this as a thread comment over on latoc:
I guess I’ll stroll in here and toss in my 2 cents.
Civilization sucks. It was a nice idea, but look where it got us. Civilization has always been a function of growth, and all through history growth has been achieved by tapping resources. These days, we’re just really fucking good at that game.
But, we all know that the great puddles of dinosaur juice are running down to the point where “economic growth” is a thing of the past. That’s the new kid on the block of humanity’s history. And it’s really a bitch to accept that what has always – always always always been is no longer in operation. It’s imperative that you get there before you can go anywhere else. I believe most of the conflict on this forum stems from not accepting the new reality.
I’m okay with anyone’s choices about what they want to do as the new era comes about. I’m in the grow some turnips crowd, and far be it for me to disparage someone who has his resources invested in becoming a warlord, or even deciding (for some of the older folks) to just hang loose and watch the show since death will probably come within a 20-ish year period of Powerdown. The topic theme is Angry America – and I see that as a symptom of blaming everyone else for a personal failure to see the writing on the wall.
Many of us want to see civilization flat out die ASAP. Some so they can pull out the guns and take out suits and badges, some so that the salmon have a chance at survival. And some have some End Times rapture belief. The bottom line is that the resource base is rapidly shrinking, the Powerdown is real, and 99.99% of humanity is going to suffer horribly if we don’t voluntarily work hard as hell to lessen our footprint on this planet.
Most of us here aren’t stupid – we know exactly what feeds the destruction and our degree of participation. Shall we support each others’ methods of extraction from the machinery of civilization, cheer one’s ability to insulate themselves from the effects of resource depletion, or quibble about society’s #1 boondoggle (whatever tops your list)?
This is Life During the Oil Crash. Why argue the premise?
the comrade
I suppose I’m offering it up here just as some sort of summary on how I look at “things” these days. Maybe I unplugged the fan that was blowing wind in my sails. I’m not adrift… just don’t have any overriding desire to be anywhere but right here right now.
A wise man once said to me “people are who they are”. I’ve come to the conclusion that cultural inertia is the strongest force in human nature and what mystifies me the most is that I’m not following the mold I was raised in.
Must have been the drugs.
Didn’t get stupid this year – too many years in a row of over ordering thinking I will spend a blissful growing season devoted to the garden. Reality says shit will come up and I’ll be fighting weeds as usual. So I got smaller packets and fewer items. Maybe half of the seed will get in the ground…
376RK-Red Kidney Bean (A=2oz) 1 x $1.40= $1.40
559GB-Golden Bantam Yellow Sweet Corn (B=8oz) 1 x $4.00= $4.00
678DO-Dakota Black Popcorn OG (A=2oz) 1 x $2.20= $2.20
692HB-Hopi Blue Flour Corn (B=8oz) 1 x $5.00= $5.00
893SO-Sugarsnap Snap Pea OG (A=2oz) 1 x $2.00= $2.00
943PF-Prescott Fond Blanc Cantaloupe (A=1/16oz) 1 x $1.80= $1.80
963SO-Sugar Baby Watermelon OG (A=1/16oz) 1 x $1.00= $1.00
1226NL-National Pickling Cucumber (B=1/4oz) 1 x $1.40= $1.40
1411BZ-Black Zucchini (A=1/8oz) 1 x $0.80= $0.80
1539CO-Early Summer Yellow Crookneck Summer Squash OG (A=1/8oz) 1 x $1.10= $1.10
1608TQ-Table Queen Acorn Winter Squash (A=1/4oz) 1 x $0.80= $0.80
1668SM-Sweet Meat Winter Squash (A=1/4oz) 1 x $0.90= $0.90
1675CR-Candy Roaster Winter Squash ECO (A=1/8oz) 1 x $1.70= $1.70
1720NO-New England Pie Pumpkin OG (A=1/4oz) 1 x $1.30= $1.30
1748CF-Connecticut Field Pumpkin (B=1/2oz) 1 x $1.50= $1.50
1962LU-Luffa Gourd (B=1/4oz) 1 x $1.80= $1.80
1966LB-Large Bottle Gourd (A=1/8oz) 1 x $1.30= $1.30
1990BS-Bushel Gourd (A=1/8oz) 1 x $1.50= $1.50
2073SK-Shin Kuroda 5″ Carrot (A=1/8oz) 1 x $0.80= $0.80
2136CH-Chioggia Beet (B=1/2oz) 1 x $1.70= $1.70
2248FB-French Breakfast Radish (A=1/8oz) 1 x $0.70= $0.70
2253PO-Plum Purple Radish OG (A=1/8oz) 1 x $1.50= $1.50
2300TG-Takinogawa Burdock (A=1/8oz) 1 x $1.20= $1.20
2372WE-White Egg Turnip (B=1/2oz) 1 x $1.20= $1.20
2540LS-Bloomsdale Spinach (A=1/4oz) 1 x $0.70= $0.70
2723SO-Salad Bowl Lettuce OG (B=4g) 1 x $1.50= $1.50
2849WD-Winter Density Bibb/Romaine Lettuce (A=2g) 1 x $0.70= $0.70
3158GI-Gigante dItalia Parsley (B=1/8oz) 1 x $1.20= $1.20
3313FO-Fiesta Broccoli OG (A=0.2g) 1 x $2.20= $2.20
3355EJ-Early Jersey Wakefield Cabbage (A=2g) 1 x $0.70= $0.70
3459WO-White Russian Kale OG (B=4g) 1 x $2.60= $2.60
3722PB-Purple Beauty Sweet Pepper (A=0.5g) 1 x $1.00= $1.00
3770CY-Long Red Narrow Cayenne Hot Pepper (B=1g) 1 x $1.00= $1.00
4038CO-Cosmonaut Volkov Tomato OG (A=0.2g) 1 x $1.20= $1.20
4136RO-Speckled Roman Paste Tomato OG (B=0.4g) 1 x $2.00= $2.00
4414SB-Sweet Basil (A=4g) 1 x $1.00= $1.00
4491BO-Borage OG (A=0.5g) 1 x $1.10= $1.10
4509NP-Catnip (A=1g) 1 x $1.00= $1.00
4512CO-Chives OG (B=7g) 1 x $2.50= $2.50
4531BO-Bouquet Dill OG (A=2g) 1 x $1.00= $1.00
4556ZF-Zefa Fino Fennel (A=0.5g) 1 x $1.00= $1.00
4580HH-Horehound (A=0.2g) 1 x $1.00= $1.00
4585LV-Lavender (A=0.2g) 1 x $1.00= $1.00
4592LV-Lovage (A=0.5g) 1 x $1.00= $1.00
4643SN-Stinging Nettle (A=0.2g) 1 x $1.20= $1.20
4657RM-Rosemary (A=0.2g) 1 x $1.30= $1.30
4666WS-White Sage (A=0.05g) 1 x $1.30= $1.30
4679MD-Mad-dog Skullcap (A=0.05g) 1 x $1.20= $1.20-currently on backorder
4684ST-Stevia (A=0.01g) 1 x $2.00= $2.00-currently on backorder
5085PB-Pacific Beauty Calendula Mix (A=2g) 1 x $1.00= $1.00
5369RS-Rocket Mix Snapdragon (A=0.025g) 1 x $2.20= $2.20
5499MD-Madder (A=0.25g) 1 x $2.00= $2.00
5930BR-Red Broom Corn (A=4g) 1 x $1.00= $1.00
6022BM-Panorama Red Shades Bee Balm (A=0.02g) 1 x $1.30= $1.30
6146SM-Indian Spring Single Mix Hollyhock (A=0.25g) 1 x $0.90= $0.90
6316CT-Creeping Thyme (A=0.1g) 1 x $1.00= $1.00
6427DB-Danish Ballhead Cabbage (A=2g) 1 x $0.60= $0.60
We’ll see how it goes, eh?
Kicked off the new year with goats kidding blah blah see previous post, and have been doing battle with the idiot cold spell that has been slamming us all week. 3 crates of stovewood for the Pioneer Maid cookstove and two wheelbarrow loads a day for the heater stove. Feed ‘em and feed ‘em and feed ‘em. It has been nice to have a teakettle full of hot water available at all times – been chugging down weird herb potions the Good Witch Wife concocts to beat this cold into submission. Nothing like herb teas to loosen up huge gobs of lung chiffon – my 8 year old son is truly impressed with 15 foot distance hocks.
Since it’s cold as hell it’s been a good time to bump the rafter insulation project to the front of the job list. Seems like every batt that goes up raises the house temperature by a half degree. As long as it’s above 50 in the house in the morning I can get it warm in here during the Woodstove Hour before the wife gets up. Getting the Milking Parlor (garage) warmed up is another matter. All we have out there is the Hasty Baker cookstove. 40 degrees is good enough for a goat, ho ho!
School has been closed all week – somewhere on a back road is a piece of ice and the school district lives in fear of bus crash lawsuits. I’m sure they’re happy to not have to heat the buildings much when it’s like 5 degrees outside either. I read that some school districts close because they don’t have the money to clear parking lots and sidewalks. I guess that’s what happens when counties go broke.
I’m going to call that the opening act of The Year Everything Starts to Not Work Very Well Anymore. I think the best place to look for evidence of collapse isn’t the stock market or employment figures, but in tax revenue dependent services at all levels. Budgets will finally meet a hard reality – one where numbers can’t be moved around to cover a shortfall. The nearby city (big town) of Neosho for all practical purposes went belly up last month, my county is starved for cash and I see lots of potholes springing up this year and road maintenance disappearing on the tertiary roads that are already beat to shit as it is.
So I’m slogging through the farmy stuff, as the rest of the country slogs away trying to keep the cable bill paid. Nice to know some of the bank bail out money is going into full body scanners, eh? What the hell, at 125 million it’s only fifty cents per capita. Guess I can’t have a Coke the next time I go to the feed store… A small price to pay for our nations security. Where’s that sarcasm smiley?
If you haven’t read the December 31st post I suggest you do… this sorta ties in with it.
Clusterfuck from the git-go:
Par for the course, the goats had access to a buck all goddamned year and decided to make whoopee exactly 5 months ago. So they all dropped kids at the worst possible time. Two dropped kids the day before the wife and I went on our annual two day vacation (eat sleep read jacuzzi and some romper room… 48 hours of no chores) and the rest popped off one per day until we now have 9 kids surviving. It’s cold in these parts – I think 3 of the weakest kids didn’t get enough food from mama and succumbed to the weather so we brought them in the house tonight. That sometimes sets up some confusion with the mama/baby pairing function so I’m now possibly looking at milking 6 goats twice a day and feeding the milk back to the kids.
Predictions for ‘10:
I’m halfway through the new metal roof on the house… I predict I’ll be close to done by the end of the year.
I tore out the ceilings in the house and have most of the rafters insulated at the moment. The plan is to nail up car siding so we have a pretty vaulted ceiling and lofts at the gables for plants and sleeping – heat rises y’know. I predict I’ll be seeing some R-13 in spots through the next holiday season.
The Greenhouse gods hate me. Been on that project for two years now, why not put some money on three?
The garden will be weeds through the summer.
The goats will find their way through the fence and make at least one good hit on the fruit trees.
I’ll net less than I planned for ala the townhouse remodeling project, but the wife will get her kitchen. I’ll be short a few thousand on the tractor I have my eye on. Three cheers for zero % 60 month financing at the struggling local Kubota dealership.
Once the townhouse is finished I won’t find a buyer willing to pay what I owe on it – bwahahahaha!!!
So much for the Captain Obvious list; on to the good shit:
As if smacking around brown skinned peoples in Iraq and Afghanistan wasn’t enough, America’s fearless leaders will put the squeeze on the brownskins south of the border. With Cantrell going to shit Mexico’s production available for export seriously shrinks… and U.S. needs take precedent over their domestic requirements. Or else… Won’t be to hard to garner public support once the spics have been tied to the terror network. Hate and gullibility are fairly easy to manipulate.
Every dollar out of the have-not’s pockets into the bank’s coffers covers one more dollar of toxic mortgages fucking up their balance sheets. And that one dollar sucked out of the commoner covers a hundred buck or more of super arsenic credit derivitives and other such exotic financial products. Prediction: If a dollar of fed money keeps a thousand dollar CDO from melting down, they’ll print it.
The “Green” marketing movement will be quietly shelved. I smell some kind of “patriotic” spending meme resurrecting from the Bush graveyard. A couple of years have passed since that play – plenty of time for the Short Attention Span consumer to get excited about again.
Propane will go up, crude will come down. High end SUV’s run on gasoline, parked in three car garages in all electric McMansions. The poor heat their trailers with propane.
Iowa farmers will feed their hogs soybeans, and close to a billion people in countries that don’t matter will seriously suffer malnutrition – half of them will die.
Predictions are soooo easy.
1. Name an issue
2. Use common sense to see the best option
3. Predict whatever is ass backwards and collect your winnings at the cage.
Bottle fed the kids. Going to bed. Pretty sure the sun will rise long after I get up to do it again in the morning. Happy New Year? I’m thinking 1932 is being recycled.