email archives		2007, July 31, Tuesday. This should do the rounds - a superb Australian documentary on oil: CRUDE. Another must-watch video: A scrapyard of destroyed U.S. vehicles in Iraq. Peak Oil Lessons from a five day blackout. Iraqis tattoo themselves for easier identification if they're killed. This oil production forecast contains some great data. 2008 looks OK, but then... Iraqis who work for the U.S. forces don't seem to happy. Tom Whipple's Peak Oil Review. Scroll down to section 4...startling numbers. The US is playing dangerous games with Turks and Kurds. Humor: Study: Iraqis May Experience Sadness When Friends, Relatives Die Permalink --- Discuss this post in the idleworm forum. 2007, July 30, Monday. I'm sure a goodly number of you guys work in fecal cubicle jobs (they're mostly all that's left these days, it seems). In order to understand some of the sociopathic office behaviour around you, please do yourself a favour and read this outline of the 48 Laws of Power. I'm not endorsing the use of these tactics - but knowledge of them might help when some reptile tries to use them against you. Rule number 1 from "the 48 laws" is "Never outshine the Master". Indeed: Brown invokes Churchill as he stresses ‘shared destiny’ with US We wouldn't want the British PM to incur the wrath of this wretched little man. Dennis Perrin: Kick Tinkerbell's Corpse. A friendly, older woman I see from time to time emerged from her office cube and sighed about wanting to win the lottery. "More likely, you'll be hit by lightning while riding a unicorn," was my lazy, unoriginal reply. She flashed a pained expression. "I'm serious," she said. "It's pretty much all I have to look forward to." Glancing into her cluttered cube, a human veal crate like all the others, I realized that she wasn't kidding. Lego: Crystal Skull. I want Hitler's car. Does that make me evil? The Mars Rovers still live. Cryptogon: The failed state and you. Survival Acres: Simplify and survive. Half of all boys to be obese. This is good news. They'll be easier to hunt down and corral when the collapse occurs. The meat will be fatty, true, but protein is protein. Permalink --- Discuss this post in the idleworm forum. 2007, July 28, Saturday. Many, many links. If this keeps up, I'll have to start creating categories (shudder). ENVIRONMENT: Foam targets heavy metal clean-up (a substance that takes Mercury out of water). The green green grass of home. I'd love to live in a Hobbit House - if the little Hitlers who work in local government could only resist the temptation to send in their beloved Brownshirts. I just hope the fascists live on the floodplain. Living Unplugged. The joys of living off the grid. FU to The Man. Europeans reluctant to give up cars. Slightly misleading - it's more like 20% of Europeans are basically clueless, selfish boobs who don't give a rat's ass about anything other than themselves (maybe they should move to Texas?) 20% are willing to make substantial changes (good for them), and the other 60% are the usual "squishies", who probably won't change until reality forces them to do so. Joe Bageant had two great quotes on his site that sums things up: "Accept reality, and deal with it." and "The love of comfort is the death of courage." Sainsbury's Will Sell Wine in Plastic Bottles. Some days, I pray that I'll open the door to a hairy-knuckled militia-man with an M16. One bullet in the forehead, and I'll never have to endure moronitudinous stories like this one. Saving the world with plastic wine bottles? Oh sweet baby jeebus, let the rupture come soon, for I am sorely vexed and weary. Wash your hair with Tasmanian rainwater! Yup, that's what good green poseurs do...now, where is that militia-man with the M16? People start composting, only when the garbage trucks stop rolling. Strange species, homo-sapiens... The Human Footprint on Earth, revealed by new maps. Who needs the rainforests? We want soy beans! To feed to cows! To make burgers! Filled with anti-biotics! And hormones! God, I can't wait to grow a big juicy pair of man-boobs. ENERGY: The one giga-watt wind turbine. It's important to remember that if Peak Oil hits soon, we'll see a liquid energy crisis, rather than an energy crisis as such. 700 million cars, 99% of which are built to run on petroleum. Hooray. Oil Depletion Atlas. A most nifty tool - you can roll over the map and find the peak oil production dates for all the major producing nations. Amusing nonsense on youtube. Apparently, peak oil is a zionist conspiracy. If the Jews control OPEC, then they deserve to run the world. Pemex predicts the End of Oil in Mexico - in SEVEN YEARS. KBR better hurry the F*** up with those concentration camps Emergency Detention Facilities that they're building on the Southern border. Pronto, Amigos, Pronto! SPACE/TECHNOLOGY: The Mars Hoax is back. Every goddam August, this happens. Let's kill this f**ker! Saturn V pictures are now ITAR Controlled. Burn your Apollo posters NOW! The most dangerous metaphor - Moore's Law will save us - or will it? A bridge made from paper. The Chinese used to build armour from papier mache. Hm. File this under "skills for post-apocalypse". Cel phones are tracking devices. Another reason not to have one. America's Army - the arcade game. Killing terrists from the safety of your local coin-op. POLITICS & THE RISE OF CORPORATE FASCISM: Gordon Brown's lead may provoke election. I've no illusions about "New Labour", but I love watching tories squirm on the end of a fish hook. Serves them right for the 1980s. "Sow the wind, reap the whirlwind". NYC Mayor's Plans to Limit Cameras. It gets harder by the day to take photos of buildings or cities in the U.S. - such is the power and threat of TerrorMan, arch fiend and mortal enemy of FreedomMan (PReZnit BuSH). Ah hell, it's kinda funny. The lefty photographers should be worrying about so many other things, and instead they're being tied up staging futile protests for their right to photograph buildings. Those neocons are SMART. Maybe I'm on the wrong side.... Slave Labour used to build US embassy in Iraq?. Well, as long as I've got the right to take photographs of said Embassy, I'll be OK. Half of Baghdad without power for 12 days. Jesus - how will the Iraqi people charge their digital cameras??? This is like, so - unjust! Abuse of power by National Park Service police. This is more like it - smelly Brownshirts harassing people at a national park. We need more of this - good, honest in-your-face "where are your papers" nazification of the public space. Wakey wakey, man in the street! I've got you a one-way ticket to a Labour Camp! MEDICINE/HEALTH/FOOD: All men over 50 should take drug to lower cholesterol. Oh, and side effects include "headache, pins and needles, bloating, diarrhoea and rash ... More rarely, people can suffer a severe form of muscle inflammation." Do anything except exercise, change your diet, walk or cycle instead of driving, etc. No - the solution to all life's problems lie with the pharmaceutical industry. Hm...better check my stock portfolio. Aquafina = tap water. WTF? It wasn't flown in from a Himalayan glacier on a 747? Mercury in fish = crazy people. All the preceding links are making sense at last. Permalink --- Discuss this post in the idleworm forum. 2007, July 27, Friday. Well, tis starting to look like Pat Tillman was murdered, by someone on his own side. Three bullets to the head from 10 yards looks mighty suspicious to me...especially in the absence of enemy fire. Cartoon: Zeppelins run on earwax. Survivalacres: Connect the dots. A new form of transport for our future feudal overlords. It'll be easier for them to avoid the stinking peasantry if they can journey between their gated communities 10 feet above ground. Grim forecast of Sea Level Rise. Visit DisneyWorld while you still can... There appears to be a huge gold sell off: Central banks seen rescuing dollar with more gold sales. Suits me - I'd like to buy a few more ounces before it tops $700. Archdruid speaks: A failure of Mimesis. Permalink --- Discuss this post in the idleworm forum. 2007, July 26, Thursday. Slightly misleading headline: W's grandpappy planned fascist coup of USA. Apparently, Prescott Bush wasn't directly involved in the attempted fascist takeover of the US, but he WAS involved in financial dealings with nazi germany. "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree". Which leads nicely to this joke and this cartoon. Ok, ready for Bush's latest speech? Here it is: Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida. I kid you not. Tom Tomorrow cartoon about the real-estate collapse. Two great Ted Rall cartoons: If we withdraw... and This isn't Kyrgyzstan. George Monbiot: Eco-junk Green consumerism is becoming a pox on the planet. If it merely swapped the damaging goods we buy for less damaging ones, I would champion it. But two parallel markets are developing: one for unethical products and one for ethical products, and the expansion of the second does little to hinder the growth of the first. I am now drowning in a tide of ecojunk. Over the past six months, our coatpegs have become clogged with organic cotton bags, which – filled with packets of ginseng tea and jojoba oil bath salts – are now the obligatory gift at every environmental event. I have several lifetimes’ supply of ballpoint pens made with recycled paper and about half a dozen miniature solar chargers for gadgets I don’t possess. Last week the Telegraph told its readers not to abandon the fight to save the planet. “There is still hope, and the middle classes, with their composters and eco-gadgets, will be leading the way.”(3) It made some helpful suggestions, such as a “hydrogen-powered model racing car”, which, for £74.99, comes with a solar panel, an electrolyser and a fuel cell(4). God knows what rare metals and energy-intensive processes were used to manufacture it. In the name of environmental consciousness, we have simply created new opportunities for surplus capital. Monbiot's real point is that the solution is to use less, not merely to buy green. People use "buying green" as an indulgence, which allows them to fly off to holidays in Italy or wherever, guilt free...which is all well and good. Enjoy the floods. There'll be worse. Interesting to note: the climate change we see today is the result of pollution created during the 1960s. If all industry stopped tomorrow, and we lived in caves, we'd still be doomed to 40 years of increased warming, and concomitant climate catastrophes. Good info here on lifestyle prep: the time is now, from a lady who's doing it for real - as opposed to being a yuppie poseur. The real estate meltdown continues. And the madness continues: Nuclear Renaissance. Note that this amazing new solar cell technology is funded by DARPA. Solar powered tanks made of recycled plastics, anyone? The Free Energy Delusion. Survival Acres: The Consensus Trance. Permalink --- Discuss this post in the idleworm forum. 2007, July 25, Wednesday. Hey Britain, meet the new boss. This illustration of the Burj Dubai (tallest building in the world) is a gob-smacker. 1984: Secret list of buildings you can't photograph. Support these troops: Kumbaya Coughs Blood Bill O' Reilly = comic genius. Via lifeaftertheoilcrash.net, as depressing a trio of links as I've ever read. Follow at your own peril: SurvivalAcres: At What Point Do We Stop Eating? Amazon Rainforest collapse? A disaster to take everyone's breath away A link between Dairy and Cancer? I stopped eating dairy compeletly a few months ago - I wish I'd done it decades earlier. Oh well. Permalink --- Discuss this post in the idleworm forum. 2007, July 24, Tuesday. Astonishing account of the floods in England: Most remarkable of all is the fact that the astonishing picture the nation is now witnessing - whole towns cut off, gigantic areas underwater, mass evacuations, infrastructure paralysed and grotesquely swollen rivers, from the Severn and the Thames downwards not even at their peaks yet - has all been caused by a single day's rainfall. A month's worth and more in an hour. ... It is entirely unfamiliar. It is new. Yet it is exactly what has been forecast for the past decade and more. This scares me: Rothschild Dynasty Unites After 190 Years. One ring to rule them all, and in the darkness bind them... As does this: Northrup Grumman buys Spaceship one. Starship Troopers, anyone? Ah, the narcissism: I came out here to be alone. Wal-Mart flip-flops cause chemical burns (made in - where else? China). Nice thread on the Dubai insanity (with photos) in the forum. Good rundown: Peak Oil Review by Tom Whipple. A letter to Joe Bageant: The slow, subtle advance of totalitarianism Also via the forum, some funny Calvin & Hobbes snowman-torture toons. A world without humans (and Rothschilds flying around in spaceships, one assumes). Permalink --- Discuss this post in the idleworm forum. 2007, July 23, Monday. Here's a treat - a ninety minute interview from electric politics - with Joe Bageant. Once Joe gets going, there's no stopping him -this is well worth a listen. Electric Politics has to be one of the most under-rated sites on the internet - check out the right hand column to see some of the interviewees - first rate. I keep bullying people to watch Albert Bartlett's video on the exponential function. I'm not the only one. If you haven't already, take an hour out of your life and have a look. Seriously - go now. England under water. Ironically, people are without drinking water, and panic buying of bottle water is occuring. *** I have to vent: I lived in LA for 12 years. Towards the end I began to seriously prepare for emergencies - I had 100 gallons of water storage (which would only last two people for a couple of weeks); 3 months food, and fuel cells for cooking - enough for maybe a month - really not that long, especially when you see what happened to New Orleans. People who knew me thought I was mildly nuts, or maybe a tad eccentric - this, in Los Angeles - sitting on top of a series of FAULT LINES - years overdue for a MASSIVE EARTHQUAKE. I guarantee you that 99% of the people now desperately seeking clean water would have shared that reaction, tut-tutting at the crazy eco-survivalist nutjob. WHO'S LAUGHING NOW, EH? Enjoy the Evian. No doubt, when the water subsides, they'll all start downing blue pills and return to the cozy bosom of The Matrix. For those few sane souls who want to develop self reliance (also known as "adulthood"), you could do worse than start with In The Wake - tools for Gridcrash. Hang in there, brave little rovers... After Iraq, American feels like a bizarre Disneyland. Read the a-hole comments following all 4 pages of this harrowing account. I don't know why Alternet allows comments after their posts - I always find myself consumed with the desire to hunt down the posters and string them from a lamp-post - in downtown Baghdad. John Michael Greer: Culture Death. Bye bye, fifth amendment. Saudi Arabia's huge Ras Tanura refinery caught fire. By accident. Not by terrorists. By accident. It's an accident. NOT terrism. Interesting speculation on a US war with ... Pakistan. What's the plural of Apocalypse? Apocalypses, or Apocalypti? The indomitable Ran Prieur continues to work on his land - this time building a compost toilet. Similar efforts elsewhere: The Utopia experiment. Permalink --- Discuss this post in the idleworm forum. 2007, July 21, Saturday. I work in an animation studio in a small Canadian town in New Brunswick, population ~10,000. Some Irish people visited the place on Friday - they were here for the local Irish Festival. They mentioned the fact that John Hume was going to be at the opening event. "John HUME?" asked I. "Nobel Peace Prize winner John Hume?" "The same." So off I went, and saw the great man in person. Afterwards, I went to the town's only Irish pub, where I met the man who runs the place (recently returned from a 16 day trip to Ireland, where he drank 241 pints of Guinness - I kid you not). He had some friends at a table. "These guys are Irish too." We shake hands. "Where are you from?" I ask. "Derry. What part of Ireland are you from?" "Arklow." "Arklow. I was just there a few weeks ago. Do you know a man called Jim Rees?" "Eh...yeah. Local historian? My dad knows him!" Small world. Great evening. Tom Whipple gives a rundown of the curren status of Peak Oil The Oil Drum: Updated World Oil Forecasts Scientific American: An Earth Without People Cryptogon: U.S. Government to Seize Assets without Due Process Via Let me explain what they want Guardian: Wakey Wakey America... DailyGreen: 1 Leafblower = 80 cars Video: How to navigate the falling dollar. Martin Durkan (creator of "The Global Warming Swindle") doesn't come out too well in this interview. Permalink --- Discuss this post in the idleworm forum. 2007, July 19, Thursday. Here's hoping you never need this: How to Unlock Plastic Handcuffs. Fantastic! A photo of a Martian dust devil, taken from orbit. No less amazing, Uranus, it's rings and moons, photographed from Earth. Driving a Prius doesn't confer eco-sainthood, or give you the right to vandalise this douche-bag's Hummer. The only perfect "green" car is - NO CAR. Where do these people think the metals in the Prius come from? An organic farm that grows platinum on trees? Cognitive dissonance strikes again... Greyzone: Afraid of extremes. Up to 200,000 Turkish troops are on Iraq's northern border, along with all manner of toys for the boys. Wouldn't that many troops show up on Google-Earth at some point? Note to self: buy disused mine-shaft. T.E. Lawrence had it right on Iraq. Via lifeaftertheoilcrash.net: "Right now things are starting to come unglued". Happiness is not having any money in the stock market. Oh Gordon, I thought you'd handle your first Prime Minister's questions more nimbly than this. "I've only been on the job for five days." (!!!!!) Right GB, the job of Prime Minister was thrust on you on such short notice! Tory cheers of "Bring Back Tony!" - not very adept. C-. Must do better. Casaubon: Low Energy Food Preservation. I wish I could agree with this: Save the World, buy less. It just won't work. Let's say that 50% of the human race wakes up from its delusion, and stops buying consumer crap. What then? Prices on unsold Plasma TVs and iThings fall, which are then bought by the other 50%. The only way that "use less" will work is if it's done by everyone, at the same time - and what, perchance, are the chances of that happening voluntarily? Not that you shouldn't follow the "buy less" path - as (1) you'll be happier (paradoxically, less IS more), (2) you'll save money, or stay out of debt, (3) it IS the right thing to do, and (4) you get used to making do with less - handy when TSHTF. Permalink --- Discuss this post in the idleworm forum. 2007, July 18, Wednesday. Golden Oldie: We Must Preserve The Earth's Dwindling Resources For My 5 Children If someone is going to write seriously about the human colonisation invasion of space as a cure for global warming, I'd like to see some freaking numbers, or at least a few specifics. This is F*cking crackers...and I say that as a space nut. Feel free to discuss. Thanks Garfield (my cousin who owns the internet cafe mentioned a few days ago) for this beauty: Ship of fools: I am getting used to these moments – when gentle holiday geniality bleeds into... what? I lie on the beach with Hillary-Ann, a chatty, scatty 35-year-old Californian designer. As she explains the perils of Republican dating, my mind drifts, watching the gentle tide. When I hear her say, " Of course, we need to execute some of these people," I wake up. Who do we need to execute? She runs her fingers through the sand lazily. "A few of these prominent liberals who are trying to demoralise the country," she says. "Just take a couple of these anti-war people off to the gas chamber for treason to show, if you try to bring down America at a time of war, that's what you'll get." She squints at the sun and smiles. " Then things'll change." I am travelling on a bright white cruise ship with two restaurants, five bars, a casino – and 500 readers of the National Review. Here, the Iraq war has been "an amazing success". Global warming is not happening. The solitary black person claims, "If the Ku Klux Klan supports equal rights, then God bless them." And I have nowhere to run. Katrina victims two years on. I hope they like the taste of Formaldehyde. Now I know where all my hate-mailers went - they're harassing the squishy Democrat liberals at DailyKos. Come back Cletus - I miss your finely crafted death-threats. Permalink --- Discuss this post in the idleworm forum. 2007, July 17, Tuesday. Is nuclear power safe? Pull the other tectonic plate. Video of George Galloway interviewing David Strahan, about, (drum-roll), Oil. Greyzone: We are Orcs. Dammit, I want to be a Hobbit. Permalink --- Discuss this post in the idleworm forum. 2007, July 16, Monday. Sorry, no Worst Wing cartoon today - I'm working on my movie; 5 minutes is longer than it sounds...I'll post some teaser scenes soon. Boingboing: 1952 comic predicts Bush/Cheny Iran policy. Endever? Endeavur? Shuttle name mis-spelld on luanch pad. Joe Bageant: Doctor gives antidepressant for back pain. Cryptogon: Woman Lives Contently in Tiny, Tiny Dream House. New analysis of Miscanthus. Democrats vote for torture. New ways to destroy the Earth: The Humdinga. Another way to destroy the Earth: Have kids. More on Mexico's dire oil situation: Mexico Collapse. Energy news about converting Coal to Liquid. Coal is The Enemy of the Human Race. Permalink --- Discuss this post in the idleworm forum. 2007, July 14, Saturday. Via LATOC, a great 3-pager by Bill McKibben on "growth" and happiness: there is no easy substitute [to oil]: I like the solar panels on my roof, but they're collecting diffuse daily energy, not using up eons of accumulated power. Fossil fuel was an exception to the rule, a one-time gift that underwrote a one-time binge of growth. This brings us to the third point: If we do try to keep going, with the entire world aiming for an economy structured like America's, it won't be just oil that we'll run short of. Here are the numbers we have to contend with: Given current rates of growth in the Chinese economy, the 1.3 billion residents of that nation alone will, by 2031, be about as rich as we are. If they then eat meat, milk, and eggs at the rate that we do, calculates ecostatistician Lester Brown, they will consume 1,352 million tons of grain each year—equal to two-thirds of the world's entire 2004 grain harvest. They will use 99 million barrels of oil a day, 15 million more than the entire world consumes at present. They will use more steel than all the West combined, double the world's production of paper, and drive 1.1 billion cars—1.5 times as many as the current world total. And that's just China; by then, India will have a bigger population, and its economy is growing almost as fast. And then there's the rest of the world. Trying to meet that kind of demand will stress the earth past its breaking point in an almost endless number of ways, but let's take just one. When Thomas Newcomen fired up his pump on that morning in 1712, the atmosphere contained 275 parts per million of carbon dioxide. We're now up to 380 parts per million, a level higher than the earth has seen for many millions of years, and climate change has only just begun. The median predictions of the world's climatologists—by no means the worst-case scenario—show that unless we take truly enormous steps to rein in our use of fossil fuels, we can expect average temperatures to rise another four or five degrees before the century is out, making the globe warmer than it's been since long before primates appeared. We might as well stop calling it earth and have a contest to pick some new name, because it will be a different planet. Oh, Mothership, hurry up and take me home... At the building industry's annual Las Vegas trade show, the "showcase 'Ultimate Family Home' hardly had a family room," noted the Journal. Instead, the boy's personal playroom had its own 42-inch plasma TV, and the girl's bedroom had a secret mirrored door leading to a "hideaway karaoke room." "We call this the ultimate home for families who don't want anything to do with one another," said Mike McGee, chief exectuive of Pardee Homes of Los Angeles, builder of the model. Don't worry people. Exponential growth will continue FOREVER. We'll always find new ways to feed and house more people, and it will never end. Amen. Now shut up and shop. From 2004: Joe Bageant Interview Our religion is comfort and engorgement. Not all of us, but enough of us to keep it all rolling. Hell, even our churches preach a baptised version of the American Dream, which comes down to "anything I can get my goddam paws on and devour — fuck the environment and screw the starving millions. We are a nation of belligerent lard-asses willing to kill anyone and everyone to keep our cars running and the god dam Cheetos (which I openly admit that I eat when I am blind drunk and stumbling under the thundering of gins' poisoned hooves) on the coffee table. Angry? Nope. Just the plain facts my Limey friends. You still think your guy Blair can partner up with a psychopath and ensure a supply of oil. Maybe even score one last ruddy-nutted English victory over the sand niggers you once ruled. Ya know, I don't think you Brits understand that when the last blood of dinosaurs is drained from the Middle East, we will bomb the fuck out of you in the competition for the last drop. As for Bush getting elected, it's the same as Hitler. Bush represents most Americans, or at least a slim majority. But it's a mean majority and we can expect a Reichstadt fire sometime during the next 10 years. Bush may be gone, Kerry may get elected, but we've got an oil habit kiddo, and a lust for empire and you will be roadkill if you get in the road. Sure, there will be some slobbering gutless Democrats elected along the way, but all it will be is a feel-good exercise of an expiring empire. People put too much faith in political parties. They should have taken to the streets 15 years ago. We are not alone. Permalink --- Discuss this post in the idleworm forum. 2007, July 13, Friday. Friday 13th? OK, scary links, here we go! Spooky Printers? Seeing Yellow Tonight, BBC Radio 4 airs a play about Peak Oil - for the next 7 days you can listen to it here. (Thanks, Ed). And so, here are some fun energy links from the oil drum: Mexico: A Nation-State Dissolves? Kuwait: 100 billion barrels of oil? Hm... Peak Oil: Two Reports. Long, grim analysis: Home heating with wood. Permalink --- Discuss this post in the idleworm forum. 2007, July 12, Thursday. When I woke up this morning I was greeted by a most peculiar apparition: a little baby was floating over my bed. Around his person there emanated a sacred light, and his head was capped by a tiny crown of thorns. It was the Baby Jesus. "Dermot," quoth He, "I have come to bring you a Gift. Go thee to this hyperlink, wherein thou shalt find a most amusing video clip. Verily, thou must use Internet Explorer, as Satan himself hath made the html incompatible with other browsers, especially Firefox and Opera, my personal choice when surfing teh tubes." "I'll give it a gander, Lord." Replied I. "Oh, and cut back on the internet porn." Admonished the Holy Infant. With that, the baby Jesus floated up through the ceiling of my bedroom. I heard the woman in the apartment above me scream in horror, as she was getting out of the shower. I followed the link given to me by B.J. - I am sure it will fill the world with joy and merriment. Gravity in action: Ring Herding. Solar warming not connected to climate change. Long article on collapse and preparation, worth reading: Pick up your hat. Permalink --- Discuss this post in the idleworm forum. 2007, July 11, Wednesday. Not much posting; I'm fighting off a really nasty sore-throat/cold. Which leads nicely into this video of Michael Moore ripping into Wolf Blitzer on CNN. Hold your nose through the first five minutes of pro-health care propaganda. It's well worth the wait. Permalink --- Discuss this post in the idleworm forum. 2007, July 10, Tuesday. "LIVE EARTH"? Not for much longer. I'm old enough (unfortunately) to remember Bob Geldof's "Band Aid" and "Live Aid" placebos from the early 80s. I was only 14 or 15, but I remember being utterly mystified at the solution to a human catastrophe being a F*#@ING rock concert, instead of massive government intervention. People starved while Duran Duran pretended to sing, and kids rattled buckets for spare change. I guess it seemed natural to people who watched the TV show "FAME" - "Let's stage a musical to save the school!". So, twenty years on, and we've still learnt nothing. A mature species would respond to the threat of global warming with * international treaties on CO2 emissions (no offsetting - strict RATIONING), * localised food production and distribution (100 mile diet), * massive conservation programs, * public transit, * rail and water based freight system, * immediate stop to suburban sprawl, * food production inside cities, * globalisation reversed, then dismantled, * switch to organic agriculture from chemical, * switch to horticulture from agriculture, * carbon/fuel taxes, * industrial meat production banned, * energy rationing, * air travel rationed, or banned, * population control/reduction, (you'll win votes with that one!), * reductions in economic growth, * a massive switch to solar, wind, maybe (MAYBE) nuclear. And, most vital of all: * a completely new system of economics, one not dependent on exponential growth. (Bye, bye, fractional reserve banking and a debt based economy). As M. Ruppert says: "Unless you change the way money works, YOU CHANGE NOTHING." How many of the kids at "Live Earth" would have signed up for that? 1%? We'd be lucky. What do we get instead of serious discussion? God-Awful rap songs about strippers. Doggerel masquerading as poetry. "Go buy a Prius". We are toast. Go out and buy a Hummer, it won't make a fly's fart of a difference. Here's an idea - a global rock concert stuffed to the brim with every publicity-seeking media-whore rock-star, called "Derm-aid" - all the proceeds go to my Swiss bank account. At least some good would come out of that. Hell, didn't they do the same thing when Katrina hit? That's right...they staged a FREAKING TELETHON, instead of rioting in the streets, demanding that their government justify their wages, people sat down on their widening asses, ate chips and watched TV. Bring on the die-off. I can't wait. Here's a handy gizmo for you Englanders: Rainwater Storage. Detailed photo of the Mars Rover "Opportunity" taken from orbit - look carefully - you can see the tracks of the Rover - BOTH left and right! Another great post from Cryptogon, this time about Gore Vidal's struggle with the city of LA over solar panels: I just don’t see bogus crackdowns by criminal local authorities as worth mentioning now. (Do you also want to see stories about cops beating up old ladies for not maintaining their lawns to Nazi specifications?) This crap is the order of the day in the U.S. They just happened to drop the bomb on a famous limousine liberal author this time. I’m refusing to look at the base level of the meat grinder. Why? That level of analysis isn’t useful anymore for the U.S. If you don’t get it by now, you’ll never get it. I’m not saying that people shouldn’t report these things, but, after reading this shit for 20 years, I’m here to tell ya’: Stories about fascism do nothing to stop fascists. Permalink --- Discuss this post in the idleworm forum. 2007, July 9, Monday. Sorry - no "Worst Wing" cartoon today; I'm wrecked. Four months of continuous work without a day off is catching up with me. Some great links though: Regular visitors will be familiar with my obsession with Peak Oil - the belief that the world is approaching a permanent liquid-fuel energy crisis. Some believe the hypothesis, others don't. Suffice to say, that if the supply of oil was healthy, it would not be affected by the kidnapping of a British toddler. Again, the GLOBAL price of oil was changed by the kidnapping of a SINGLE child. Mark that datapoint in the "we're screwed" column. Start preparing, people. One of my regular visitors informs me that Joe Bageant has included idleworm in the acknowledgements in his book "Deer Hunting With Jesus". I'm humbled and elated. Thanks Joe! I'll order a copy from my local bookshop tomorrow. If you buy it through this link from amazon, I'll get a small commission. I suggest you do so; I wouldn't want to have to send the boys over, kapeesh? Feel free to peruse other titles that I recommend. Breath-taking photos/images: Dubai is F*cking nuts (via lifeaftertheoilcrash.net). Brilliant religious satire: Mr. Deity. More excellence: Tony Blair's legacy An inside account of the 4th of July "festivities" in the US embassy in Cairo: An Egyptian agriculture official with a PhD from an American university told me he’d come solely for a glimpse of the beautifully restored palace. He scanned the state flags that fluttered from the patio’s columns, looking for what he called “the alone star.” “Where’s the Texas flag so I can spit on it?” the official asked in a whisper. “For 20 years, we’ve suffered from Americans who come from Texas!” Guests mingled in the expansive outdoor courtyard of the palace as a band played rah-rah American classics from a small island in the middle of the terrace pond. Guests sweated and schmoozed, exchanging business cards and eager smiles. U.S. Marines in their elegant dress blues strolled through the crowd, looking closely at oversized bags. A French acquaintance who works as a holistic healer wiped the moisture from her brow and rolled her eyes as the band began yet another tune from the “West Side Story.” “I like to be in America/OK by me in Amerrrrica!” the Frenchwoman sang along in her best show-tunes bellow. “Mon Dieu! Enough already.” Permalink --- Discuss this post in the idleworm forum. 2007, July 7, Saturday. I'm really not trying to wreck your weekend, I swear. I just found a bunce of grade-A depresso-links. Read 'em or not: your choice. Joe Bageant, in fine fettle: The Ants of Gaia The hearts of even our most avowedly thriving cities are just a dead, reduced to nothing more than designated spending zones, collections of bars and banks and overpriced eateries lodged at the center of a massive tangle of overpasses and freeways designed for a nation of soft people hurtling themselves through the suburbs in petroleum powered exoskeletons in search of fried chicken, or into the city for the lonely monetized experience called urban nightlife. Which is no life at all, but rather posturing in lifelike poses amid simple drunkenness and engorgement. We allow ourselves to imagine the worst is somewhere in yet another future so we can continue without owning decision. Love of comfort being the death of courage, we continue the familiar commoditized life, the only one we have known. Is it not true that our entire understanding of courage as we know it is about braving some unknown? About making the socially unaccepted and dangerous choice? Stepping forward in the face of the wars and evil mechanics of our own particular time?... ...Some few of us are in a hellish limbo, simply waiting for total collapse because it is easier to rebuild from nothing than to change billions of minds not even remotely concerned with the looming catastrophe. Sweet writing there - as good as any on the societal state of affairs. Steve Bell: cartoon Cryptogon: defunding fascists. This is great - make less than $15,000 a year, and you're untaxed. The trick is to live on less than $288 a week. I'm doing that (in Canada, but the cost of living here isn't exactly cheap). It's easier if you're single, male, and 99% congenital monk. With that, I'm off to work on my illuminated manuscript/animated movie. Money Meltdown. Gold and silver bullion, people. I'll say it again. Land's better, of course, but if you don't have a homestead or a place to settle, get your hands on metal. I know it's not "green", but if it's a choice between indentured servitude post-crash, or some coins, well... Time lapse images of Detroit, over 20 years. Bulgarian teachers have a wicked sense of humour, or something. (Thanks, Bogy!) The Great Depletion. (via latoc). Oceans dying, fresh water to plummet. Permalink --- Discuss this post in the idleworm forum. 2007, July 6, Friday. Some meat:     Is the U.S. mirroring Rome's Fall? Permalink --- Discuss this post in the idleworm forum. 2007, July 5, Thursday. One of my cousins is a regular reader of the site. He owns an internet cafe back in Ireland (not sure if I should say where, given the following). I don't think he'll mind if I post his top 11 horrible work experiences, for your edification and delight: 1) Woman inserts 2 Euro Coin into Floppy drive to "start" computer. Berates me while I try to remove it with a tweezer. 2) Man pulls the plastic plate with the computer number on it so he wouldnt forget it when he came to pay. 3) Man comes in. "I'm looking for an internet cafe but I am not sure if this is what i am looking for." doesn't explain himself and leaves. 4) Man attempts to rob shop, trips over footplate at door, knocks himself unconscious. Customer sees knife, calls cops, cops drag him away unconscious. Staff didn't even notice. Had to show them cctv before they believed me. 5) "Do you have Google on these Computers?" 6) Man turns around to face me with headphones like this ) head in here ( as opposed to ( head in here ). "These aren't f*cking working". 7) Woman comes in with child in pram, leaves child in pram in the shop for 45 minutes while she goes to other shops. Other customers babysit child, then a pregnant hungarian woman spits all over her and calls her a dog on her return. 8) American Customer is giving me sh*t about it costing 1 Euro for 20 minutes to use the computer. My response: "I understand Maam. If you let me finish maam, I understand that 1 Euro is worth about 400$ these days" *Her husband doubles over with Laughter. Wife leaves the shop in disgust. 9) Seven Polish guys come in to get one 10 cent photocopy done, debate Loudly in Polish for 8 minutes before getting one copy done. 10) Man caught masturbating at computer. I lose the rag completely and knock him unconscious. Oops. Staff call cops, cops arrive and I'm expecting to get taken. They literally volleyed him into the police car. "He's been masturbating in churches all over the city. Finally we have the c*nt." 11) Man in suit comes in, looks me up and down: "Can I speak to the Manager?" No, sorry he's on a break. "Well is the Owner around?" No, he's away on buisiness. "Well I.." *I cut him off. "I know you're just about to leave, you presumptious cock. Way to talk your self our of a sale." ***11, 10 and 5 have happened on at least 7 occasions. Permalink --- Discuss this post in the idleworm forum. 2007, July 4, Wednesday. Roberts: The unintended consequences of the “cakewalk war” Kunstler: The State of American Men (meaning young men). It's nauseating. Scientologism: The Art of Handling Thetans Left vs. Right? Haw-haw: System Normal Kim Stanley Robinson: Ecotastrophe Gary Brecher: Om Der Man! What it takes to bring you Fiji Water I'd avoid food that's Made in China Permalink --- Discuss this post in the idleworm forum. 2007, July 3, Tuesday. A disturbing account of the Birth of George W. Bush: The birthing chamber described by Mrs Wilder is a dark dungeon beneath the Bush residence and amongst all the ceremonial paraphernalia and remnants of past sacrificial offerings there is a central platform jutting out from the stone floor. The dark and moist walls are decorated with scribblings from the Sumerian script Cuneiform and speak of ancient scriptures long lost in the sands of time. Before the birthing, we prepare the ground for the brood mother by sacrificing a pot bellied pig on the altar, then drinking the blood. We invoke Moloch, then the birthing begins: Barbara Bush straddles the altar and utters a blood curdling banshee scream, the windows judder in unison to this unholy vibration... It kinda goes downhill from there... Floating wind turbines. It's a lot of trouble, just to escape the NIMBYs. Goodbye, Big Bang; hello Big Bounce. I can't pretend to understand more than 5% of the article, but it's fascinating, nonetheless: New discoveries about another universe whose collapse appears to have given birth to the one we live in today will be announced in the early on-line edition of the journal Nature Physics on 1 July 2007 and will be published in the August 2007 issue of the journal's print edition. Capital: Viking ship sets sail for Dublin Nary a word about the privy, though. Might be a case of "man overboard", if you catch my drift. Two weeks in an underwater cabin. Give me the Viking longboat, any day. There is, in our solar system, a small planet called Ceres. It contains more freshwater than the earth, and may still have a liquid ocean, and life - fossilised or alive. How many people know this, or care? Interesting article on the correct way to walk. (Hint: humans aren't born with shoes). Bigelow launches a second prototype inflatable space station. SpaceX (another private clean-sheet startup) is planning to launch one of their bigger stations in 2009...a truly remarkable development that's gone un-noticed by the public (too busy with Anna Nicole Smith and Paris Hilton, apparently). I find it amazing, and puzzling, that out of nowhere, these private companies are threatening to match NASA and government agencies, but on a miniscule fraction of their money and personnel. Conservatives are right on this much: government beauraucracies are inefficient on a heroic scale. After reading this list of Hitchcock techniques, I had to grab a copy of "Rear Window". Permalink --- Discuss this post in the idleworm forum. 2007, July 2, Monday. Worst Wing, episode 17: Bush, Explained This was a ton of work; it actually involved research. I command you to enjoy it! Thanks to DubyaSpeaks for an invaluable resource of The Cretin's speechifying. While researching, I found these amazon reviews of "My Pet Goat". Permalink --- Discuss this post in the idleworm forum. previous posts - about us - contact