Richard Heinberg
I was listening to Richard Heinburg, author of the End of Growth, on Coast to Coast AM yesterday. He bills himself as an author, educator and speaker. Essentially, it is his view that the economic party is over in America, the middle class is dead, there is an energy crisis stemming from an increasing expense, difficulty in the extraction of oil which will lead to high prices and that there is really nothing to be done except hunker down, save your money and grow a garden.
Now, while I am totally onboard with folks increasing their self-sufficiency and know-how, I believe that this Heinberg guy couldn't find his ass using both hands when it comes to the energy question. It is definitely not a shortage of energy resources; it is an over-abundance of government causing a shortage. Let me suggest just a few things to show that this is the case. The corporations are constantly telling us through their government minions and disinformation officers like Heinberg, that oil and nuclear are the only viable energy alternatives. And that we are running out of oil so prices must be increased dramatically, and we must immediately build fifty more Fukushima-style nuke plants.
First, the largest pools of easily accessible, high quality sweet crud in the world is right here in the continental United States - and that's without including the untapped Alaskan resources. The problem is the deal that Kissinger cut with the middle-east to suspend development of US resources in exchange for making the US dollar the petroleum dollar. In other words, let me repeat: the problem is not a shortage of oil but rather an over-abundance of government!
Here are some other energy resources that are very real and could be expanded today to supplement and/or replace oil and nuclear entirely:
- Sunlight can turn water into hydrogen and the California Hydrogen Highway expanded nationwide.
- Scientists Use Sunlight to Make Fuel From CO2
btw this isn't something confined to the lab. I have a friend that I grew up with that is using this technology and his company is in full scale production profitably doing this right now! - Obama declares war on coal! The use of super abundant coal in America is being restricted and punished by the current administration. I also remember when Bill Clinton came into Utah and put a huge, clean burning, easily accessible coal resource off-bounds in return for huge under-the-table payoffs by Lippo. WTF Clinton you stinking piece of human garbage???
- Alcohol fuel from cellulose. Stop listening to the lies about how alcohol fuel would use up all the corn! Or that it is not possible to become oil independent using alcohol. Brazil proved that an entire country the size of the US could become oil independent by switching to clean burning alcohol. An endless supply of alcohol fuel can be produced here in the US for about 75 cents a gallon, and run cleaner, cooler and safer in our cars and trucks. And it sure doesn't take millions of dollars and years of construction to build a network of alcohol stills on the farms of America like it does with oil refineriers and nuke plants.
- I haven't even began to touch on power generation from the endless ocean wave action, tidal forces, magnetics and so many other viable methods.
- BTW Fukushima is far from over - it is getting worse everyday and has come to the point that the heroic teams of 50 won't even enter the areas anymore. We may yet see full blown China syndrome meltdowns in Japan and huge sections of their country that will be uninhabitable for thousands of years. Is that really what we want for America????
- Deep drilling for renewable abiotic oil like they do in Russia.
- The irrational prohibition - by the federal government - on American farmers growing industrial hemp, an excellent renewable biofuel that will grow on lands now filled with nothing but sagebrush. Hemp is a fantastic crop that enriches the soil, used as fuel, can also be used as paper, cloth, converted into plastic and is a rich food source containing high levels of protein, not to mention being the most potent anti-cancer properties known to man!
- Enable the Liquified natural gas boom in America!
- How about the federal government giving back state lands to the states! The feds own nearly 650 million acres of land — almost 30 percent of the land area of the United States. There are some states like Nevada with 85% of it's land owned by the federalees! Even putting just a few percentage points of the federally withheld land back into the state tax base could provide the money needed for a state to solve all of it's energy problems.
The list above is just a warm up. The solutions are infinite! This all just leads me to one conclusion - that Richard Heinberg needs to go educate himself! Heinberg's perspective is a big crock of shit designed to help boost oil prices into the stratosphere before oil companies begin opening the US reserves and to turn us into a 3rd rate nation of hunkered-down handwringers. Frankly, I'm totally sick of these kind of guys. Heinberg says that it would not work to get government out of the way so that the private sector can solve the energy problems as has been demonstrated by the failure of austerity measures now underway in several countries. AUTSTERITY MEASURES??? AUSTERITY MEASURES IS NOT THE GOVERNMENT OUT OF THE WAY YOU MORON!!!! IT IS MORE TAXATION, MORE REGULATION, MORE ENFORCEMENT AND MORE RESTRICTIONS BY BANKER-DIRECTED GOVERNMENTAL MENTAL PATIENTS!!!!
WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR DAMAGE HEINBERG!!!!!!!!!
Cheap Glasses
I haven't worn glasses for the last couple of years. I wanted to see if my eyes would naturally adjust to normal if I didn't use eye glasses as one would a crutch. Strangely, I haven't missed them all that much, even though I am quite near-sighted. I invested in one of those See Naturally courses, but just put it up in the closet and never practiced it; seemed like a lot of work. So, I can't really comment on whether the course works or not. Anyway, I finally broke down the other day at Walmart and got a $50 eye exam from a real eye doctor. I am happy to report that my retinas were not tearing away and my eyes are not turning into glaucoma glass. However, I did almost have a cardiac event when I was handed over to the optician to order some glasses with my fresh new prescription.
I need two pairs, one for computer work and one for driving. The cheapest frames I could find on the sample wall were $38 and it was pointed out that I really would not be happy with such crappy frames. Then you start adding on the lenses with a high polycarbonate fractal inversion coated with InfoGuard and scratch resistant platinum-titanium UV coating and deluxe patented FrameFlex and whatever blah blah blah. Bottom-line: I'm quickly moving towards 400 bucks out of pocket. Ouch!
Over the last few years my vanity has admirably decayed away and I don't care what I look like, especially when I'm alone working on my computer. So I went online to see if there wasn't a cheaper way to get glasses. uhh...ye-ah. How about $6.95 for a delivered-to-my-door pair of glasses! There's a lot of frames to choose from and you can try them on a virtual face to see how they look. In fact you can even upload your own picture and try on the various frames. This is really cool! The website is at: http://www.zennioptical.com. I'm going to order a couple pairs today and let you all know how it worked out. I can't wait!
Update: I got my glasses (for driving and computer work) in about a week. I've been using them for a couple of months. They cost me $6.95 for each pair and they work great! Awesome deal!!
They have glasses with progressive lenses for $9.95. And prescription racquetball googles for thirty bucks. I'm going to try those next.
Ancient Chinese Secret
Today, I am totally amazed at the huge number of uses there are for white vinegar. It's been used around the world for thousands of years. Vinegar is made by oxidizing alcohol into ascetic acid. Most store vinegar is a 5% strength, but you can get it in 20% strength that will totally toast the weeds in your garden and cracked driveway. Throw wilted greens into some cold water with a little vinegar and they will come alive. Add some vinegar when cooking beans to get rid of the post-bean farts.
Oh, but let me talk about deodorizing stuff. Vinegar is so powerful that it is about the only thing that can get rid of onion/garlic smells from the cook's hands, rid a pet of skunk-spray, clear nasty paint smell out of room, conquer cat-piss smell or even clear the rancid stench out of my runners that I like to wear with no socks! You can marinade with it and tenderize even the cheapest meat. Spiders and bugs will run screaming from your room if vinegar solution is sprayed around. A vinegar foot-soak is a sure-fire cure for even severe athlete's feet and for easily removing the tough scum from cooking pots without scrubbing them up with Comet, remove decals from car windows or gum from the carpet. Put some in the wash and your colored clothes will brighten up, the fabric will soften, the static will reduce, and it will absolutely kill mildews and fungus growing in that pile of wet gym clothes. In fact, spray it on that black mold hiding down in the basement and watch it sizzle away in agony. Not so tough now are you Mr Mold??? Incredible stuff and yet is so cheap that you can get a big bottle from the dollar store!! Take time to Google it up and get ready to save yourself a ton of money.
Stress kills!
We've all heard that before and nodded our head in agreement. However, what "stress" actually means and how it kills us is usually less clear. It's all about getting oxygen into our cells. The body is under control of either the parasympathetic system, which is normal and like an autopilot, or the sympathetic system. Under the parasympathetic system, available oxygen is readily taken in and used by the cell and the garbage is taken out. However, if we sense danger then we can shift to sympathetic nervous system control which is the Flight or Fight response. When we are under the Fight or Flight response then the cells lock down in readiness for battle. The problem with that is the oxygen doesn't get into the cell when it's in lockdown, and the garbage isn't taken out. The sirens are blaring and the cell shuts all the gates thinking it's under attack. If oxygen isn't getting into the cells for prolonged periods then nasty diseases like cancer are going to be the result. And now here's the point: The Fight or Flight lockdown doesn't have to initiated by a guy hitting you in the face. A negative belief system such I'm useless, I'm not good enough, No one gives a shit about me, will put the cells into stress lockdown! If the cells are in lockdown then exercise, deep breathing or oxygen therapies are going to be minimally effective because even though you make the oxygen available it still has to get into the cell to be used.
Peppermit Essential Oil
A couple days ago, I bought a 4oz bottle of Peppermint oil off Amazon for about 10 bucks. Why? I wasn't all that sure. I had read that Rosemary oil helps the memory especially if used while studying and then I read that Pepperment oil helps with alertness (as well as chasing away rats, spiders and those creepy earwigs I see in my room sometimes!) So I ordered both oils. I'm still waiting for the Rosemary to show up, but I must give testimony to the Peppermint oil. I tip the bottle a couple times onto a Brawny paper towel, crumple it up into my hand and breath in deeply. WOW! What a headfreeze!! But it totally works. I get amazing focus, alertness and renewed drive to keep studying and working well past what I would normally do - and it's all without the high-cost of caffeine let down. Now if I was to combine the two effects......hmmmmm. More on this later. I am just very impressed at this new study aid discovery. 'nuff said. <snort>
Hyaluronic Acid and MSM
I've been playing racquetball with a friend, almost every morning, for the last few months. It's been wonderful in keeping me breathing hard for about a couple hours. Previously, I would attempt to get some daily cardio, but more than 20 minutes on a treadmill was about all I could take without dropping dead of boredom. Actually, I would normally find an mental excuse to skip the aerobics on any particular day. We play a few games and wow! 90 minutes of hard huffing and puffing has gone by without thinking about it. And for those killjoys out there that are planning to write to tell me that the aerobic activity must be more repetitively constant in it's movement or some other dumb shit, I will give you my reponse right now: STFU.
The point is this. The cardio conditioning of the regular racquetball has been awesome, but it has also beat the crap out of almost every joint in my body. I've been walking around stiff and in pain like a 90 year old from a recent car wreck. <groan>. So in desperation, I ordered some Hyaluronic acid, MSM, Glucosamine, Chondrotin, Ester-C. I've been taking about 500 mg of the HA and MSM for about a week now (along with the other stuff in the Osteo Bi-Flex) Have I noticed anything? It is incredible what I've noticed. Terrible pain in left super-stiff achilles tendon has been reduced about 80%. Other stiffness and pain in other joints like my knees has also been reduced about 70%. Elbow tenonitis? ok that's still there <groan>. But get this: sun damage wrinkles in my face are starting to disappear - all in one week. I can't wait to see where this is going to in a couple of months!
One Minute Miracle Cure
Hey, want to know what scares the big pharmaceutical companies? I worked for them for about 12 years and I can tell you. It really scares them that people will figure out that almost all their fine pharmaceuticals are bullshit. Here's just one example. A few drops of 35% Hydrogen Peroxide in a bottle of water three times a day costs just about nothing. However, it will cure or alleviate a very long list of common problems. One Minute Miracle Cure by Madison Cavanaugh is totally worth the time to read.
...we can finally be freed from having to pay a trillion dollars to the pharmaceutical companies that are doing their best day and night to propagate the illusion and the deception that they are interested in our health when in actuality, they are legally robbing us blind with their drugs - without actually restoring our health. We can finally live in a world where we are no longer at the mercy of disease, and where we no longer fear the ravages of old age and all the debilitating conditions it brings. - Madison Cavanaugh (p. 105)
The FDA has become nothing but a minion of these powerful companies allowing big pharma to do it's own testing and even then the testing is done against placebo rather than known effective therapies. What a joke. The other main purpose of our modern FDA is to insure that competitive therapies are restrained. The FDA is just another expensive useless fed agency, no longer serving people, that must be defunded and disbanded. A blind fund should be set up that all the big pharma pays into to fund anonymous drug testing by universities so pharma cannot skew and lie about the results. Additionally, all the drug lobbyists on capitol hill should be publicly flogged.
Cooking Miracle
I am such a lousy cook. I don't have the patience it takes to cook real food and so I end up practically living on cold cereal. Not good. Lately, I've been feeling like getting in food storage is a high priority. However, I also feel that a person should eat the same stuff that they are storing so there is no giant bio-shock when I suddenly must depend on it. Also, if you don't use the stuff then eventually you throw it out and you don't know how to cook it anyhow. So, what have I been getting? Beans. Big bags of dried beans and wheat and rice and oats; but mostly beans: pinto, black and white. Nature's low profile powerhouse of nutrition. The problem is that if I can't make something in about 15 minutes or less, then I probably will not be making it. Dried beans take forever. Something has got to give here. And then I discovered the answer! Pressure cooker. I can throw in some beans, onions, old meat - well, just about anything I've got laying around, screw down the top, let it pressure cook for about 20 minutes and presto changeo! amazingly good food emerges like magic.
