I’ve just received notice of emergency food price increases, effective immediately. I have shut down the website shopping cart until I can publish the new prices (done).

The catalog will be out-of-date as a result (now updated). The website will be updated tonight as fast as I can get this done and the shopping cart reopened.

No existing orders already placed should be affected (as far as I know).

This is happening with alarming frequency. No notice at all — just instantaneous price increases. I know why — regular readers do too. Demand is unbelievable and worldwide. This is creating shortages and higher prices from wholesalers and manufacturers. Toss is all the other things going wrong in our world today and we’re sliding very fast.

Filed under collapse — as this is a sure sign of things to come.

I’ve spent a few moments scanning the headlies, err headlines today and a bit last night. I’ve been much too busy to keep up on the news lately, but most of the sites I checked were, well, worthless. I didn’t learn anything of importance. The “news” was just fluff and distractions, nothing of real interest or importance (to me).

Now this is actually a normal event in truth, I’ve never found much to hold my particular brand of interest very long. I find most of the headlies to be misadvertisements for information that I already know about. What is in print is often badly watered down and diluted with milk and honey to be nearly meaningless.

Although this is “normal” from my perspective, here’s why I’m bringing this up. Crash / collapse is definitely speeding up, the news that IS out there make this pretty clear. But there is still so little public awareness due to the headlies being repeatedly regurgitated over and over again, even on progressive sites and sites known for their investigative journalism.

This is a rhetorical question, but why is this still happening? The consensus trance is very much in play here, even on these sites. I mean, the only people that would even care about some of these stories are people that have no idea at all (or refuse to believe it) that our civilization is imploding like a punctured balloon.

I often receive recommendations for this site or that site which I faithfully check out (unless I already know what it is). I admit, most of the time, I’m left feeling empty because I didn’t find the content I was hoping for. I think Lonewolf said that he refuses to read the last paragraph of every article he finds, since they very often completely refute all the facts and evidence that they just shared. This is true - try it sometime for yourself.

In other words, the “unwinding” of the articles information is always there. Now, carry that concept just a bit further. Consider the entire Internet and even the talking idiots on television as part of the global news service. Now, how much “unwinding” is there to distract with disinformation and headlies? We should also call them footer lies I think, since they wind up shooting down their own arguments at the end of every article, but nobody would know what I was talking about if I did that.

So, from my perspective, our news input is very much focused on making sure we don’t stay adequately informed or especially, taking any action at all in regards to the so-called “news” that is being shared. Stop and think about this comment for a moment. When did a news article actually ask you to do something? Or anything at all? You’re supposed to just be a passive and only mildly interested observer as you surf through the channels, a vague listener actually. But don’t do anything, nothing at all is required of you.

Almost all of the news is like this. So let me ask the obvious: why even bother if we are not going to be involved in any of this? Perhaps more importantly then this question is this one when you dig a little deeper: if the news won’t report the true state of affairs anyway, then why are we even reading, listening or watching the news at all?

If it really is all fluff and distraction, then what do we actually hope to learn? We all sort through for the nuggets of information and the little gems and finds that are worth knowing about, but this is actually takes quite a bit of work. Many sites have dedicated themselves to doing this for you — but these are the very sites I’m talking about here. Even THEY are guilty of painting over the truth with their little footer denials, again and again and again.

I find this disconcerting to be honest and it is a reason I don’t read them much anymore. From my perspective, there really isn’t much to be said that hasn’t already been said. A million more words, or a billion, it won’t change anything anymore. And that is the message that is NOT being said, not loudly enough and not often enough. There is still this false hope (in doing nothing but passive listening) that we are going to continue on with our civilization, somehow and all will be well. It might get a little rough and it might actually be a bit painful at times, but we’re “going to make it” somehow.

Hogwash. This is absolute pure unadulterated BULLSHIT and it’s coming from these very same sites I’m trying to focus on here. They obviously don’t get it, at least not like I do and some of you. They are still pumping out headlies and disinformation articles just like before, meaningless and informationless fluff pieces that don’t do squat, even in the face of more doom and gloom evidence.  They are still failing to connect the dots and faithfully paint the picture this represents.

This blog is not a news site and never will be. I’ve little interest in that and don’t have any help anyway. But I have tried to chart a particular, if not unique course for the blog. It’s woefully incomplete in many areas, but you already have my answer on why that is. But consider this — if we are headed but for one inescapable conclusion to our world and civilization today, why is it that there are less then ten (and I’m being generous here) sites that state this as the unadulterated truth and that we must individually prepare for this inevitable eventuality?

I mean really, what else is there? If your world is going to collapse into utter ruin and destruction, just exactly WHEN is the right time to speak that truth? When is the right time to start preparing for that truth? When is the right time to set aside all the fluff pieces and disinformation articles and get on with the program of figuring out how you and yours are going to deal with this situation?

The main stream media will still be pumping Brittany stories and Hollywood celeb crap right through the collapse I’m sure. But the Internet isn’t Hollywood, at least a large portion of it. The Internet is where some real gems can be found if you can find them, sources of information that are informative, educational and instructive. But even this level of sharing isn’t enough — and really, never will be because its all based on an obsolete paradigm destined for implosion.

Somebody just emailed for example and canceled their order due to job loss. This is the personal collapse I’ve been talking about here. For some people, there will be no recovery from this situation and they will go join the ranks of the homeless because they will have to. They will have no other choice.

This is the real world news that we need to be listening to and the real world events that should make us sit up and take notice. What Washington does or what Obama says or what some other talking fool claims is really pretty damned pointless, none of it will have any direct effect on you and moreover, there is nothing you can do about it anyway. We need to be focused in on the real issues at hand that are affecting us all.

We can’t fix high prices on gasoline, food or transportation, we can’t do anything at all about our rigged political processes, we can’t even get the creeps in office out of their positions of abuse anymore. Of much greater importance is how this present generation and the young are going to survive the next fifty years as our environmental conditions collapse creating positive feedback loops impacting every single aspect of human civilization on this planet.

I don’t have TIME for fluff pieces and “footer denials” anymore. What’s the bloody point of claiming the world is going to collapse into starving billions and then to make the lofty but unsubstantiated claim we’re going to be alright if we throw even more money at a problem we’ve never fixed before?

Goodness gracious — if we haven’t solved world hunger YET, how in hell are we going to solve it NOW? Are we stupid or what?

Our world of diminished supply and abundance simply can’t magically fix something that has been unsolvable in the past. That’s like having a glass of water set out in the desert sun and when it has 3/4 evaporated, claiming it’s going to magically fill back up in a place that never rains. It’s not going to happen. We’ll never have what we started with, our “human endowment” has been badly exploited to such a degree that we will NEVER see it this good again.

Even “renewable resources” such as water, trees and even soil, are going to take far longer to replenish themselves sufficiently to maintain human populations. Our withdrawal, or “mining for resources” in the oceans, forests and lands throughout the world is still accelerating, we’re long, LONG past the point where the natural rhythms and cycles can EVER recharge themselves and replenish what we’ve taken and what we’ve damaged. In fact, we’re thousands and thousands of years past that point, having largely consumed our natural endowment in the past 100 years. This is an incredibly short span of time, but it represents just how terribly far into overshoot this present civilization really is.

It is THIS civilization that is to blame and it is THIS civilization that must come to an end — but almost nobody is talking about what should be plainly obvious, and why we’re still being filled with marshmellow fluff. I don’t like being a Twinkie or treated like one, because it’s not going to help me at all, or you.

We hear fluff like “alternative energy” and “carbon credits” and “green Earth” and many other such terms that imply exactly the same things and the same conditions of exploitation that created our present predicament as if any of these things are going to “save us”.  They will DESTROY US, just like the incredibly stupid biofuels scam has proven to be.

This isn’t news or even the least bit helpful — we need information on how we can dismantle this civilization and return to truly sustainable living, not some rob from Peter to pay Paul kind of shell game.

Alas, it’s not going to happen, which I well realize. The headlies and disinformation will only get worse and worse. I spotted an article today that said that the financial bailout for England banks will be kept secret — nobody is going to be allowed to reveal which banks got in trouble and received a helping hand. Then why even bother telling us? It is going to be this kind of deception that will rule the day on the Internet and elsewhere I’m afraid. Telling the whole unadulterated truth just isn’t in the cards.

I definitely don’t have the time or the inclination to try and make this site a news service, it just can’t happen. I think that this kind of effort is a total time waster too. I’m at the point now where I wonder what the motive is for anyone that does try to do this, especially those sites that claim a collapse is coming but are still in the “news” business.

Not me, I can’t keep this blog up to date anymore and don’t really see why I would. I’ve seen enough, you’ve seen enough to know that it’s time to move on to more important things, like figuring out how your going to survive the next ten years. That’s important. That’s reality.  And that’s not being talked about anywhere else except on a very few sites. And that’s just plain stupid.

The weather has finally cooperated and melted off the snow (and stopped it’s intermittent snowing). Work is now proceeding on the crashstead at all possible speed. I’ve been burning off some huge brush piles which were in the way. Really hate to do that, but it’s necessary. I heard that they’re paying good prices for wood chips, but I don’t have the time or inclination to get somebody out there to do this.

I have also been trying to accumulate more of the necessary supplies and ‘essentials’ I consider “must haves” (or must have more of in my case) while the dollar still retains a shred of purchasing power left. The economic meltdown continues, but you can still find some good deals that will be literally priceless this time next year.

Diesel is well over $4 a gallon here, I think it’s about $4.35 or something like that, but I’m having to fuel some heavy equipment and am paying the going rate. This time next year, it will be around $6 or possibly even higher, so what you can do this year will be around 30% cheaper or so then next year if we make it that far.

This is true for many expenditures and ‘investments’ that must be made right now and not later. Later will certainly be too late and too difficult. The US dollars continues to plunge at break neck speed into the basement and the entire financial system is only function due to sheer momentum. But consumer confidence is shot to pieces.

That incredibly stupid tax rebate offered by the liar in chief isn’t going to make the tiniest dent in our financial situation. Americans are going to spend this on essentials or just blow it on junk they don’t need. But it’s such a paltry amount that it is really rather meaningless.

Still some good deals to be found — ammunition, military surplus, medical supplies, bicycles, hand tools, even food. Most people don’t realize what they’re giving up when they sell these things to pay their bills or unload, in just a short while, these things will be truly priceless.

Miday USA is a major reloading supplier, they are sold out of most bulk bullets and some bulk primers (no back order either). Get what you can while you can.

This is the time of year around here when the garage sales start up, I’ll be buying more hand tools as I find them.

Books are always essential and some really great deals can be found if you shop the books boxes people lay out at their garage sales. I’ve picked up quite a few gardening, composting and even greenhouse books for pennies on the dollar at garage sales.

2008 is the year when you should COMPLETE all of your essential shopping. I’m definitely not kidding here. If we even make 2009 before it falls apart, you will be very glad you did. The slumbering herd has already panicked in some ways (food being one of them), but they’re still not aware of what this really means to them and what kind of future they’re going to need to really be prepared for.

Competition for some essential gear is still thankfully low. Not low in competition is land, water, food, fuel, ammunition, or night vision. I’ve yet to see land prices drop really at all, despite what appears to be a terribly slow and sluggish real estate market. This is pretty much the opposite of what I had hope for. Lots of cars, trucks and useless junk for sale, but land is still commanding a premium despite slow sales and a glut of properties on the market.

2008 will also be the year to get out of the cities if you’re still in one. Not a good place to be. If you’re still there, I hope you’ve figured out someplace else to be by now. Black clad machine gun toting “protectors” are going to be much more common as the fascism cracks down in a desperate bid to retain control and keep a lid on the growing uneasiness.

It’s not terrorism (what terrorism?) that I fear — it’s the police state that is encroaching upon everyone and everything. I’m not interested in tagging my chickens for some bureaucrat and never will. What chickens? I don’t see no stinkin’ chickens…

It’s really weird in an eye-opening way to see your worst fears come true. It’s like writing history before it happens. You need to “be there” at your crashstead now if you can. There won’t be time later on to deal with the myriad of things like you might think. This is the only time you can count on — right now. Do what you can, while you can.

Many people are curious what I’ve decided to do (don’t even bother asking, I will not tell you). It’s already there in the past blog entries and articles I’ve written, but I’ve never felt comfortable enough to advertise the details on this blog. I don’t think any of you should either. But here is a few hints for those who are still struggling like I did with what can be done with limited time and funds.

Focus on gathering the supplies you can while this window of opportunity is still open. Buy used, buy often and learn as much as you can about the things you are actually doing and planning to do. Spend your time wisely, because time really is short. Be aware of limited restrictions and supplies, some things cannot even be bought on the civilian market anymore for example.

If you don’t have the funds to buy land, locate a suitable location that will permit you to live there when the time comes. Since I’m already in the woods, there is a lot of vacant land out there. The Forest Service claims they own it, but the truth is, I do. So do you. They don’t like people squatting on “their land” and have rules and fines against it. I’m not particularly concerned about that. There will be very little they can do about it when things are tough.

Locating water is really important. Site yourself with a suitable water source and make sure it’s either filtered or potable to begin with. Most surface water cannot be trusted and plan accordingly. You can build a water filtration system yourself that can process a fair amount of water using sand and charcoal filters (for taste) or buy commercial filters to deal with sediment and things like giardia.

You will have to invest some time in preparing your crashstead, no matter where it’s at. This is the burning season around here, when the snow melts and there are brush fires being started everywhere, even in the forests. It’s a great time to blend in and look like you belong there.

There is also a lot of private forested land that is owned by timber companies. This land too is rarely used except by hunters and snowmobilers, but there are many thousands of acres of such land scattered around. Land that has been recently logged won’t be revisited anytime soon.

I scored a year or so back on a bunch of plastic food grade barrels. I think I’ve got 40 or more of these things, they’re great for storing things in waterproof containers and they can be buried with some serious effort. Plan their contents carefully. Moisture can be kept out if they have gasketed lids with a rubber seal and each one will hold quite a bit with careful packing. I think they are either 55 or 60 gallons each, I’ve got a couple of different types.

Really important considerations are fuel (heat), dehydration and sanitation (water), transportation (feet and bicycles), security (figure that one out yourself), signature (evidence, including light, heat, thermal, visual, smoke, sign, etc.), and of course, location. Definitely not easily solved by any means, but if you’re going to “do this”, do it now. This is probably your last “summer chance”.

I don’t know what it’s like “there” in your area and cannot offer anyone any specific recommendations. Even the best laid plans oft go astray anyway, and as others have noted, the odds of our survival individually are increasingly slim indeed. There are planetary forces at work that are absolutely stupendous in size and magnitude and there is nothing at all any of us can do about them.

Be that as it may, it’s still behooves me to at least try, no matter what. I’m simply not ready to give up yet. These are things I can’t control or even hope to control, so I’m choosing to focus on the things I can control. And that’s really ALL I can do, the rest is simply not up to me at all. If Monsanto for example, decided to starve the world through genetic manipulation of crops or something even worse — there if nought I can do about it. Move on and focus on what you can control. If your neighbors won’t listen or prepare or make any preparations at all — move on, you don’t have the time to deal with their recalcitrant behavior. They’re on their own anyway, just like you.

Remember, it’s what people do the reveals really where their “at”, not what they say. Hope, if there is ANY to be found ANYWHERE, will only be found in the doing and no place else. But misguided or blind hope (often erroneously called faith) is often found in doing either nothing, or engaging in ridiculous exercises that bring zero returns. Take your pick. Decide what you’re actually going to DO for your crashstead and your preparations and go do it. Give up already on “this” life, because it’s already over, everything except the crying and the dying. Harsh, I know, but coming soon to a theatre near you.

All efforts to save, sacrifice or prevent the coming calamity are misguided or blind hope exercises, based upon a critical misunderstanding of the severity of the problem. I liken this to the same efforts to try to change our political system, it’s so badly abused and perverted today that it would be better to destroy it then to attempt to fix it. All we ever get is more self-appointed and “anointed” monsters ever (s)Election cycle and nothing ever changes and nothing ever will.

We can’t stop climate change either — or the police state, or the march towards fascism, or the food supply problem, or the energy problem or the melting polar caps, or the methane gas release from the permafrost, or the acidification of the oceans, or the two party system, or actually much of anything at all. And every single one of these things, all by themselves spells our guaranteed collapse because our momentum cannot be halted, it can only collapse.

We’re so far into overshoot because of past cheap energy that the crash of our oil-soaked civilization is a foregone conclusion. Plan accordingly. Plan as if your life depends on it, because it does. Plans as if it is “all over” because it is. Plan as if you are trying to survive the end of the world because you are. Plan as if the world’s entire population is going to go absolutely berserk and many of them will eventually try to kill you — because they will for you being smart enough to plan ahead (yeah, you’re going to make many enemies for having foresight and a modicum of intelligence, get used to it).

Crashstead plans. Make them now and follow them through. It’s not rocket science, it’s just common sense. Do it now. Do what works for you.

If there ever was headline that should make you stand up and take notice, this is certainly one of them.

Wheat Crop Failures Could Be Total

On top of record-breaking rice prices and corn through the roof on ethanol demand, wheat is now rusting in the fields across Africa.

Officials fear near total crop losses, and the fungus, known as Ug99, is spreading.

Wheat prices have been soaring this week on top of already high prices, and futures contracts spiked, too, on panic buying.

Experts fear the cost of bread could soon follow the path of rice, the price of which has triggered riots in some countries and prompted countries to cut off exports.

David Kotok, chairman and chief investment officer of Cumberland Advisors, said the deadly fungus, Puccinia graminis, is now spreading through some areas of the globe where “crop losses are expected to reach 100 percent.”

Now I really don’t expect anybody to pay attention to this, but certainly a few will. And it will “break the bank”, I guarantee it. We will certainly see more of this, far sooner then anyone feared: Food Riots Erupte Worldwide

My ship times are 12 weeks a climbing. Polyanna’s (as usual) have proven to be dead wrong. Not to worry, they’ll soon be dead too.

A worldwide wheat failure has unbelievably serious consequences. Production and harvest shortfalls and the economic doom are bad enough, but a total crop loss?

Time to buck up. Going to be hard, hard sailing ahead.  I told you nobody was ordering enough food. Prices are going to go into the stratosphere while people are dying.

Practicing for martial law, no doubt. You’d think these morons of terror would get mighty tired of playing the ‘terrorism card’, but since it works so well on sheep, they’ll keep doing it.

Definitely all Amerikan.

So’s this: Robot Vigilante

I can’t believe some citizen built such a thing.

No — saying I “told you so” doesn’t help. Food lines in America, happening now.

WalMart Limits Rice Purchases

Top retailer Wal-Mart’s Sam’s Club unit said Wednesday it is limiting the amount of rice individual shoppers could buy at one time, as rice prices hit new records around the world.

Sam’s Club said it had temporarily placed limits of four 20-pound (nine-kilogram) bags a person for jasmine, basmati, and other long-grain white rice types.

“We currently have plenty of rice for Sam’s Club Members,” the company said in a statement.

“However, like our competitors, we’re just taking the precautionary step of limiting sales of the very large 20 pound bags” of imported white rice, it said.

Sam’s Club, a members-only bulk retailer chain owned by Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, said smaller-sized bags of rice were not affected by the restrictions; nor did they extend to Wal-Mart stores.

“This temporary cap is intended to ensure there is plenty of rice for all our members. No other items are affected.”

————————-

Anybody want to bet that those people aren’t just their for the rice?

The phone is ringing off the hook (but I’m not answering it, it is the only way I’ll retain my sanity, you must order through the shopping cart only, you can also send email with questions, I’m quite prompt about responding still) and I have been in contact with my largest supplier. The panic is everywhere. I think this is premature, but it’s definitely creating some rather monumental problems for all of us.

Shipping times page updated again. I definitely told you so.

I’m going to lay out some instructions to blog contributers and customers. I realize that not everyone will read this or know about it, but it’s the fastest way I know to get some information out there.

I am going to have to prioritize my time. The situation is beyond critical. I can afford about 30 seconds for each person and too many persons are demanding far more time then that. This is unfortunate, but due to growing panic, it’s probably not going to change anytime soon.

Therefore, priorities are in order and what I need / expect.

Website

a) No more phone orders. If you want to order, please order through the shopping cart.  Our cart gives you live shipping quotes (if any) and will automatically compute all charges.

b) No more phone calls unless it’s a dire emergency. Call volume has been extreme as callers have discovered. Either they can’t get through or we’re constantly interrupted with a stream of callers.  Update: Our phone number was changed in October 2008, we’ve gotten tired to death of the telemarketers running up on phone bill.  This number is available for customers only now.
c) Do not ask for a free catalog sent through the mail, it’s on the website as a download ONLY. I will not send you a printed catalog. If you do not have Internet access, figure something out.

d) No more order changes, or appending items to your order, the canneries have stopped this practice and so have we. This takes up a huge amount of time to unravel and redo.  Please get it right the first time. Do your homework, figure out what you need and get it in all at once. Trust me — you’ll be glad you did, prices continue to climb every couple of months now.

e) New order minimums are $250 per order, we are the largest specialty supplier of bulk foods in the industry, and we are focused on helping people with serious preparations.

f) Do NOT bug me about your order — I cannot make the canneries go any faster, they are badly overwhelmed and it’s getting much worse. I post realistic estimates, not something you’ll find very often. They are doing a fantastic job under critical conditions. They will do everything they can to get their orders out the door, but they are still pouring in way too fast. Trouble makers and problem customers WILL have their orders simply canceled and refunded. There IS such a thing as a “bad customer” list at every cannery, don’t get your name placed on it.

If your order is overdue (beyond the published ship times at the TIME you ordered), I do not mind questions and inquiries regarding this.  We want your order to be filled on time too.

g) READ the shipping times page. It is constantly being updated, adding about one additional week of delay time for every day that goes by, until such time as we think we are far enough out that we can meet our time estimates. If you do not wish to read it, DO NOT ORDER. If you are impatient - DO NOT ORDER. During Y2K, our ship times hit 10 months, so we’re nowhere near that yet, but I fully expect that to happen sometime this year.

h) Email your questions. I do answer email, this also provides a written history of your question and my answer, which is now critical so I can keep track of everything. I cannot possibly remember all the details I’ve tried to cover via the phone and can’t do the phone anymore anyway. If you won’t use or read your email, then don’t bother me.

Keep your emails pertinent — long drawn out emails are barely scanned for information. I can handle about 100 - 500 emails a day, and I’ve reached that limit already.

i) READ the information on the website — that’s why it’s there. The FAQ page and all of the Information Pages are published for your assistance. Don’t ask me to repeat what’s already there, I’m sorry, but I just find this sort of ridiculous.

j) Blocked phone calls are still a problem.  If you block your calls, then we’re not going to be able to reach you by phone. Check your spam box if you have not heard back from us, I do answer all email that has questions. If it’s just commentary, I deal with the questions / answers first.

k) Food shortages are definitely showing up. Expect that. Nothing at all can be done about it. We will fill as much of your order as we possibly can. Most items are back ordered as required by Alpine Aire, Mountain House and Richmoor (Update: Rainy Day no longer fills any back orders, this policy was stopped in May 2008). Some items cannot be replaced as they disappear from the entire market for the season (or for good). Mushrooms are an example of this, as is Golden 86 wheat and some others. Be glad you are receiving ANY food and you don’t live in India.

l) NOBODY is ordering enough food. Not even close. I am still stunned at the incredible short sightedness I’m seeing here. What “exactly” do you think is going to happen in “one year”? Our world food situation will not magically improve unless we each start growing a portion of our own food, and that isn’t going to happen either. This is exactly what you SHOULD be doing and learning how to do and getting ready to do, but remember that for every one person who plans or tries to do this, about 100,000 - 1,00,000,000 or more people aren’t. They’re going to keep expecting to go to the grocery store and buy whatever they need.

There is no magical bullet to our food crisis. Absolutely NONE AT ALL. Global demand is skyrocketing daily. Food shortages are now happening around the entire world in over 30 countries. It is all interlinked and connected to resource depletion, climate change, economic malfeasance and even biofuel production (among many other factors, such as the bee die-off). Focusing in on any one issue and you fail to see or appreciate the magnitude of the problem. Don’t get mad at me — I’ve been screaming warnings for two years now and I’m hoarse and sick to death of trying to manage sheep who can’t recognize dead grass from green grass.

Your WINDOW is nearly closed already. World events are accelerating at a break-neck speed. Either get with the program or get off the bus.

Blog

a) Comments by blog commentators with links are automatically held for moderation because there is an “http:” in the URL address you included. Leave that out and it will be published without me having to come here and do it manually. Everyone can figure out your link if you exclude that anyway.

b) Blog registration is turned OFF. This has been covered here before. It will NOT be turned on. I don’t have the time to babysit the newcomers and kick off the troublemakers. If you don’t like what’s written here — move on. If you are a fan, enjoy it while you still can. Existing blog members have proven themselves reliable (thank you very much) and can be trusted to contribute, share and assist. That’s the way it’s supposed to work.

c) Blog updates are getting few and far between, depending on my workload. That can’t be helped. What has been said needed to be said (imo) and what else is there? We’re all watching this thing unfold rather rapidly. I am personally moving up my timescale rather dramatically. For example, I thought we’d have 6 month backlogs by fall. Now I think it will happen by summer and this will trigger some really serious panic. We’ll probably see some serious food rationing this year as a result. Panic won’t help anybody, but it sure will make things worse then they already are.

It is a strange feeling to have all of your ‘predictions’ come true. For the past two plus years, I have been warning that there would be global food shortages that would even affect Americans in the land of plenty. These were not predictions, but simple assessments of where things were headed due to the domino effect of collapsing systems around the world.

The American media has finally caught on, barely, by reporting the growing shortages in newspapers, television and radio. But the “entire truth” of the situation still remains hidden.

I do not “know” the whole outcome of what is happening like some have hinted at, but I do know that we have only barely begun to see the horrors to come. I know this to be true for several reasons. History for example, paints an picture of intense human suffering due to things like famine and resource depletion. Climate change, still stupidly denied by many also paints a historical record of cataclysmic changes that effected ALL life on Earth.

We know now that these things are irreversible. We can do absolutely NOTHING about resource depletion or climate change. They are what they are and will be what they will be. We can no more put greenhouse gases back into the bottle (sequestering) then we can replenish the oil in the ground. It can’t be done.

The current crop of proposals I’ve seen suggest that we can in fact do this. I remain utterly unconvinced for a couple of reasons. Number one: most of the proposals are totally unproven. At best, they are “guestimates” which is a very, VERY dangerous proposition when you are considering what it means should they fail, or cause irreversible environmental impacts, even accelerating climate change.

Number two: humans have a propensity to squander any “saved” resources. The is Jevons Paradox as I recall, our alleged “savings” are quickly used up despite our best efforts at conserving. Energy for example, if produced by renewable resources, would simply spawn entire new industries and consumption. It’s “free” right? Might as well “use it”.

And thus the cycle of our destructive behavior would (and does) continue. It seems we are absolutely doomed to collapse, and I think we are. I think our own human history proves this over and over and over again. Why should “we” in this generation be any different? We are neither smarter nor more able to change things then they were, our ancestors. It could be argued in fact, that we are dumber and less aware then ever before. Sure, we have instant communications, but our entire paradigm of living is so out of kilter with reality and a world of finite and even fragile resources, that we yet stupidly believe we can “control” our destiny.

I think not. I think we are foolishly following in the footsteps of all those other collapsed civilizations from around the world who also believed that they would be immune from cause and effect. This is very hard for us to grasp, the world is indeed a big place, but just look back over the past 20 or 30 years. Human population and demand has swollen to unprecedented levels, we are as much as 85 times OVER our actual carrying capacity.

This is a hugely significant number. But it is meaningless to almost everyone. Our world view is of the modern world, we barely understand what happened right here only 100 years ago when wild Indians still roamed the land. And we’re all too busy to really concern ourselves with these things, we feel the need to press forward and ahead all of the time. The past is the past, after all, let’s embrace the future.

Well, I dare say, the future isn’t even remotely what everyone seems to still think it’s going to be. Blog readers know my thoughts on this. I’ve long been trying to create a picture from the mosaic of “dots” taking place around the world and my “predictions” of our future has not changed one bit I’m afraid. It’s still as bleak, if not bleaker then ever.

Like the scientist who are constantly reassessing their estimates of climate change and how fast it’s really happening, I’m doing the same thing. Here are a few things I now know to be true:

a) nobody is storing enough food. This is not an upsell at all — just a simple fact. You didn’t buy enough when it was cheaper and now it’s in serious short supply and getting worse, daily.

b) climate change is far, far worse then anybody has estimated except mavericks like Lovelock. Denial isn’t making it go away of course, but this is getting ridiculous. I wish I had a plug nickel for every idiot that claims it’s not true. I could build my own Eiffel Tower. Climate change is already have severe impacts around the world, but we haven’t see the real thing yet. The REALLY scary thing about climate change is the methane NOW being released from the Siberian permafrost. A runaway effect is starting that will destroy most life on earth. Yeah, I’m that doom about it now.

c) we can do NOTHING at all about stopping climate change — or resource depletion. For every cause and effect, we have Jevons Paradox at work. Our tiny, futile and utterly puny efforts to stop the Goliath of climate change are downright laughable. The only ’solution’ is to dramatically reduce global population, revert to Stone Age living and ride it out for the next ten thousand years. There you have it. Not going to be voted the most popular I’m sure.

d) proposals to ‘reinvent’ our business models to ‘go green’ are stupid, wasteful and utterly misguided. They continue to practice resource depletion in one form exchanged for another, growth, capitalism and expansion. All the things that should not be happening.

e) contraction is ‘out of the question’ for all the leaders of government, enterprise and business. This spells their death knell. So what? Let ‘em all die. Needs to happen, the sooner the better. And yes, I know what this means. But I also know that if we don’t let or make this happen, we ALL die, as in the human species will go extinct.

f) are you fucking serious? Yes, of course I am. Our worldview is incredibly warped and distorted. We can only “see” what we have experienced and come to know as being “real”. But think about it. Our artificial, shrink-wrapped and food coloring added world isn’t real and never was. Injecting more hormones (stimulus) won’t make it anymore real either. Or lab grown meat. Or biotechnology. Or any other technical wizardry that says “exploit whatever you can for your own benefit”.

This is “stupid thinking” by technologists that are attempting deny the real world we live in. Cover it up, pave it over, master it, harness it and force it to “behave” for human pleasure and consumption. Look where it got us. Look where it’s going. Look at what is going to happen. How can anyone lay claim that this is “better”?

Yeah, we could have done whatever we had wanted and the planet could have absorbed it all — if we had limited ourselves and our excesses, but that is something we could not seem to do. So we didn’t — we went ahead and conquered it all and each other and launched thousands of wars to kill off those that just didn’t see it that way. We were right, after all, our way or the highway. Death to the infidels and savages and all that. Manifest Destiny was our mantra — and we killed our planet in the process.

Stupid is as stupid does and we’re still seeing a whole lot of stupid. This is because we have not learned to escape from this present paradigm of resource control (ownership) and consumption (greed). We have forgotten what life is all about and have replaced it with this artificial caricature of instant pleasure and selfish gratification.

So be it. Our destruction is nigh and overdue. The reaper comes and will wreck terrible vengeance upon us all. Nothing we can do about it now.

g) warning people is a waste of time, dangerous and will lead to panic. But it will happen anyway, so ‘get used to it’. Go with the flow so to speak. You and I and everyone else really can’t help anybody, we’re all going to face our personal collapse on our own anyway. You don’t see people helping those in real need now, right? I’m mean, a handout here and there isn’t real help, it’s a pity party. Nobody steps up to the plate and say’s, hey — let me really help you out here.

Well, some do, but on such a tiny level and scale that it’s obscured by all the current human suffering going on in the world. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do it, it only means we’re not doing enough of it. Not even close, and not ever enough when the shit really hits the fan here.

No, my ‘faith’ in the human heart has not changed one bit. The same greed, selfishness and stupidity rages rampant. Those that predict a kumbaya future have absolutely no concept at all of human selfishness — or human history. It is not the meek who inherit the earth and never have — it is the vicious, brutal, violent and evil bastards that plunder and profit until somebody worse then they are comes along and takes them out.

Nobody is really getting ready for that world, not in the circles I run in at least. I strongly suspect that there are in fact groups preparing for this, but they’re well funded and well staffed and well trained. Yeah, I’m talking about the military here, they’ve got hidden bases all over this country and the world. And they have both the funding, scientist and researchers to know exactly what is coming down and headed their way. We have only the barest understanding what Continuity of Government actually means.

h) our self-imposed ‘isolation’ from one another is deplorable, predictable, necessary and evil. In other words, we’re already dead. We don’t like each other, trust each other or think we need each other. Only the latter is wrong. There will be no solutions for this until we start dying in droves. Between now and then, we’ll keep killing each other with a vengeance. We like doing this. This is why humans are at the top of the food chain, we kill with impunity. Nowadays, we do this with great efficiency. Expect much more of this in the near future.

i) anyone preparing for this future will be marginalized as ‘crazy’ using a variety of labels and terms to describe their demented state. This is only meaningful when they come to you with pitch forks and clubs. And they will, in droves. They won’t blame themselves for being irresponsible and clueless, they’ll blame you for being prepared. Irrational behavior will characterize their actions. We’re seeing this now in new housing developments, new roads being built and crop lands being planted in biofuels. What we will see in the future will be truly bizarre as they try desperately to cling to their chosen way of life.

I’ve much more I’d like to add to this, but I have extremely little time these days. So, better then nothing, sorry it can’t be a bit more. Thanks to everyone who is sending me links, I’ll try to get them posted, but the orders are pouring in so fast now I can’t hardly breathe I’m so covered up.

Oh - stop calling me and leaving blocked numbers.  If you don’t hear back, that’s why.

More news on the growing global shortage: Japan’s hunger becomes a dire warning for other nations

Food Rationing Confronts Breadbasket of the World

Don’t know why anybody would complain about paying $30 — better then starving.

In other unimportant news, Al Gore says nothing is being done about climate change. Haha! Told you so.

By the time these talking heads wake up to the real facts, we’ll be knee deep in salt water. Make sure your ’stead is at least 300 feet above sea level.

Blizzard in Vancouver, the “latest snowfall on record” for that area. I dunno, it snowed here too, cold as snot outside.

If the media would (not!) finally pull its collective head from its ass, we’d be seeing headlines a lot worse then this. They still can’t or refuse to connect the dots. But it’s probably a good thing too, since panic will make sure everyone dies.