I haven't been writing much lately. What the hell's up with THAT, anyway?

Well-- to start-- my hours are way up as the Xmas shopping season is off and running and most of my down time is spent whimpering piteously in a fetal position rocking to and fro, whilst hallucinating Xmas musak...

... not really.

I'm just wiped out at the end of my day and ready to curl up with some movies, a book, or a phone call-- as I have not the energy to 'get on' the computer and do my usual routine. Only a few weeks left of torturous customer hell and then all will be right with the world again.

Yesterday, one of my newly hired co-workers (we'll call her 'Marla') was verbally attacked and disparaged by a customer who complained because our aisles are filled with boxes needing to be stocked PLUS copious overstock. (We had 2 double-load trucks come in last week since no trucks come on holiday weeks.) We really need an extra person on the floor but corporate decided to cut hours even though our discount retail stores are making good profits even as compared to a normal, non-recession, year. It makes for a big mess. So, the complainer had a legitimate point. And, were they to bitch to me, I would have told them so! Generally, I use such moments as a golden opportunity to complain about corporate fucking us little people to line their pockets. Disgruntled customer feels validated and heard and life goes on smoothly. I like to start off with the words, "You are absolutely right!" and go from there. It works like a charm, even with totally crazy people.

( Retail drama ensues )

THIS seems more in keeping with the dreams 3 of us had earlier this year before Swine Flu hit:

"U. K.'s Daily Mail reported today [Nov. 15, 2009]: “British scientists are examining the strain of swine flu behind a deadly Ukrainian outbreak to see if the virus has mutated. A total of 189 people have died and more than one million have been infected in the country. An unnamed doctor in western Ukraine told of the alarming effects of the virus: ‘We have carried out post mortems on two victims and found their lungs are as black as charcoal. They look like they have been burned.’” The World Health Organization reports the intense Ukrainian H1N1 outbreak has slowed down in its rapid spread. The next step is to see if that Ukraine A/H1N1 virus has mutated to a more virulent strain."

Ah...

Now those of you who keep up on my paranoid conspiracy theory news know that this entire scenario is rather expected...

Remember THIS post? --> http://lucretiasheart.livejournal.com/628453.html

"...the Baxter Laboratories that she alleges purposefully tainted the swine flu vaccines sent to the Czech Republic with live bird flu virus (this is true-- and was in mainstream news, it was caught in time, luckily) is the very same lab involved with the infamous Moshe Joseph whistleblower case.

Joseph went on a radio program last month in LA and said that he had connections to the intelligence community and discovered that Baxter Labs was set to send tainted flu vaccines to the United States on purpose to kill people worldwide in an artificially caused epidemic.

... Point being that this now makes 2 people who claim Baxter Labs, both in the Ukraine and elsewhere, are part of some worldwide plot to begin a massive and deadly epidemic. This scenario would indeed fit the alarming and synchronous dreams myself, my husband, and our friend had last winter and spring."

Do please note the remarkable coincidence... Baxter Labs in the UKRAINE was caught "accidentally" contaminating vaccines months ago, but in one instance was caught before the bad shipment of vaccines made it to the Czech Republic. NOW we're hearing that a terrible new pneumonic plague is striking the Ukraine??

Wow. What an amazing coincidence...

Stay tuned.

I went to visit my friend Robin at her haunted Victorian in McMinnville this week, and had a lovely time overall-- despite the poorly heated behemoth of a house. At least I had a couple of ghost incidents (which I'll write about later.)

Right now I want to bitch about something: CELL PHONES.
In particular, people who can't stop checking them, texting on them, and playing games on them constantly.

My husband and I don't have cell phones. We just use a regular 'old' type cordless phone. I personally don't want to deal with the fuss, bother, and constant interruption of a cell phone. That's my choice, and someday that may change, but I tell you this so you will understand that I still live much as Americans lived 10-15 years ago before cell phones were the rule.

At Robin's house, she has 3 daughters and a 'foster' son all aged 18 -- 22, and their friends, and herself and her husband, all around and in and out and all carry cell phones. This visit I had to her house was the first I'd had in some 10 years, and yet there were constant interruptions from those damn cell phones.

I don't just mean the calls (even during movies or something when the darn things should be turned OFF!) but the constant texting back and forth-- especially when people are dealing with some heated issue-- and the games and such. Over and over again, I'd be in the middle of a discussion with someone, or just hanging out casually, and off a cell phone would go, and then those "live and in person" would automatically be demoted on the priority list. A lot of people complain about this, but this is the first time I've been subjected to it constantly over the course of 2 days. Its really bad and apparently also NORMAL.

Another normal thing..? Whenever there was even the slightest pause, even a group of people talking in a kitchen making dinner would all immediently go to their phones and work on texting or games or something. There was never the slightest patience for even the tiniest moment of peace. The heads bent down, the screens lit up, and that was that until the environment demanded attention somehow.

I read a book during these times. For once, I didn't feel like the rude one!! But I was also watching everyone else and their absolute dependence and addiction to the small hand-held devices they carried around with them everywhere. It was disturbing. Every single quiet moment was filled with cell phone stuff. EVERY moment.

The consensus was obvious: that each text, each phone call, had an urgency that simply could not be put off. Robin, who I credit with ample common sense, even pulled her cell out to check it and answer texts at red lights while driving!! I was stunned and even a little frightened.

I have been watching people-- especially young people-- walk and bike and drive along while texting and gaming and listening to music for years now. However, I had not been in a household full of cell phone users like this before and it quite frankly freaked me out.

I don't think I'm a total fuddy duddy. Yet the trends I see with this disturb me on several levels for multiple reasons. Am I the only one who thinks there are some definite problems here? I'm all for people having fun and enjoying technology. Hell, I love technology. But the constant and joyful enslavement to a small device is beyond normal fun. Its like an addiction so common no one notices it. Its beyond socially acceptable discourtesy and crossing over into the collective neurosis stage now.

Some of you may recall when I posted THIS: http://lucretiasheart.livejournal.com/642388.html

I've been keeping an eye out and responses to this bit of news are quite impassioned at times:

http://www.chrismartenson.com/blog/its-really-bad-oil-reserves-intentionally-overstated/31155

Excerpts:

"If this is true, and if it needs to be confirmed, it means that all models of stocks and bonds that rely on long-term cash flow models are wrong. It means that our primary assumption of petroleum fueled growth is wrong. It means that we are several decades late in responding. It means that we do not have time to slowly modify our fleet to carbon-fiber electric cars or any other fantasy technology.

It means that we've squandered (and continue to squander) our most valuable resource of them all - time.
I'll be honest, I would feel completely differently if there was even a glimmer that anybody in DC had the slightest inkling of the seriousness of the situation, but they display no public awareness. "

"Most would have no idea what is implied by the possibility that governments have been systematically overstating oil reserves and future flows...

...if what the Guardian reported is true, it means that the future will change profoundly, radically, and probably quite suddenly when the implications are more widely appreciated. "

This from a blog that reports on markets and ecology. He was as stunned as I to see the report on the mainstream UK Guardian.

Other publications, more mainstream, reported on this with a stupendously fake naive passion, saying in essence, "Of course they wouldn't lie on purpose! What could be the motive for such a thing?" Um... it's stated in the report-- to forestall PANIC. Duh!

Yet the "damage control" must be done. Spin spin spin spin away....

This post by Strieber was one of his better ones-- more information presented with speculation more thoughtfully. Well worth reading:

http://www.unknowncountry.com/journal/?id=393

He is cautious about the whole "2012" scenario-- he doesn't think that December 21, 2012 is an exact doomsday date, or even a date of any particular significance. Rather, he thinks its more of a head's up about an 'era of change' type of thing.

But then he starts talking about possibilities and intriguing facts-- which, put together, make for some interesting notions:

"Something has been happening recently that exemplifies what I talk about in that presentation. In this case, asteroids have begun passing earth at close range and, in one case so far, entering our atmosphere and exploding.

Something that has been estimated to happen every five years or so--an asteroid of 10 feet in diameter or more passing close to earth--has just recently been happening every few weeks. When added to all the other changes that we are seeing that are related not to events on earth but to larger cosmic events, one has to think that, whether the ancient world knew it or did not know it, we are, in fact, in a time of great change."

"We are in a period of higher than average asteroid activity in our solar system, and no matter how the data are massaged to prove that there is no reason for concern, the fact is that the past two years have seen an awful lot of impacts and close approaches, and the past few months have been particularly notable.

So, what does this all have to do with the 2012 phenomenon? Frankly, I'm not entirely sure, but I do find it peculiar and, frankly, a bit ominous, that things like this are happening more and more the closer we get to the date that a number of past civilizations associate with great change. "

"There is a book called "the Cycle of Cosmic Catastrophes" that makes an interesting case that physical debris from a supernova struck earth approximately 12,000 years ago, shattering the Laurentide ice sheet and bringing the last ice age to an end. Subsequently, further evidence of this impact has been found in various places, most recently on islands off the coast of California.

Another book, called The Cosmic Winter, published about 10 years ago, contains calculations that suggest that the Piscid, Orionid, Perseid and Taurid meteor showers, two comets, Encke and Rudnicki, and the asteroids Hephaistos and Oljato, all came from the same gigantic object, a huge cometary body that entered our solar system about 20,000 years ago.

Debris from this body was probably responsible for the disaster that befell earth 12,000 years ago, and, if people with sophisticated astronomical and mathematical skills had been present on earth at that time, they would have been able to make calculations similar to those made by Victor Clube and Bill Napier, the authors of The Cosmic Winter, and perhaps, therefore, to accurately predict when this debris field, which must be in some way moving in orbit around the sun, might return. "

"Barbara Hand Clow wrote a most innovative book called Catastrophobia that suggested that we received such a devastating blow at that time that we are in a sort of state of amnesia about it, which explains the curious inability of many scientists to face the fact that planetary catastrophes have, far more than evolution, altered the course of life on earth, and also that of human life.

We do know that the same disaster that extinguished most of the large ungulates of North America also destroyed the entire Clovis culture, and that it was thousands of years before human beings repopulated the continent.

We also know that there were substantial and very sudden changes then. The Gulf Stream stopped flowing, and, as has recently been discovered, a Superstorm event took place, causing further planetary disruption. (I pass over the fact that science, which scorned me and Art Bell for identifying the fact that such storms are possible, has now proved that they do happen.)

Sea levels also rose an average of 30 feet as the glacier collapsed, and fantastic events took place, such as a phenomenal rush of water and debris into the Gulf of Mexico and out along the US continental shelf. Any structures or civilizations existing along the shores of the Pleistocene would have been decisively destroyed. And, in fact, there is off the coast of India evidence of a city that must have been submerged at least 9,000 years, which is described by Graham Hancock in his book Underworld. "

Yes, Whitley, yes-- you're totally thinking along the same lines as a lot of people here, myself included. There are an awful lot of incredible coincidences when it comes to evidence of a worldwide civilization that existed and was inundated by sudden, massive, climate change around 10,000 to 12,000 years ago. World myths, ruins (including the Sphinx with its rain erosion) ancient prophesies of another massive climate change coming to OUR time period, geological evidence in rocks, more evidence in tree-rings, ice-core samples, and so on.

When you put it all together a picture begins to emerge...

Strieber ends his entry on a hopeful note. There are more of us humans around than there were even in that long ago civilization 12,000 or so years back, and we have more technology and knowledge more widely distributed than people did then. Even if some disaster back then destroyed higher civilization, it failed to destroy humanity. He hopes that even if a worse case scenario strikes us this time, we'll have the ability to come out of it without losing everything we've gained. Perhaps even begin again wiser than before, and really fulfill all those other prophesies of a "Golden Age To Come" after this next great cataclysm, whatever it is.

This is SO important to understand, and Greer of The Archdruid Report (see links to the left) explains it better than I do...

"It’s common, for example, to hear well-intentioned people insist that the market, as a matter of course, will respond to restricted fossil fuel production by channeling investment funds either in more effective means of producing fossil fuels, on the one hand, or new energy sources on the other. The logic seems impeccable at first glance: as the price of oil, for example, goes up, the profit to be made by bringing more oil or oil substitutes onto the market goes up as well; investors eager to maximize their profits will therefore pour money into ventures producing oil and oil substitutes, and production will rise accordingly until the price comes back down.

That’s the logic of the invisible hand, first made famous by Adam Smith in The Wealth of Nations more than two centuries ago, and still central to most mainstream ideas of market economics. That logic owes much of its influence to the fact that in many cases, markets do in fact behave this way. Like any rule governing complex systems, though, it is far from foolproof, and it needs to be balanced by an awareness of the places where it fails to work.

Energy is one of those places: in some ways, the most important of all. Energy is not simply one commodity among others; it is the ur-commodity, the foundation for all economic activity. It follows laws of its own – the laws of thermodynamics, notably – which are not the same as the laws of economics, and when the two sets of laws come into conflict, the laws of thermodynamics win every time. "

This is an argument I hear again and again and again by most fairly well-educated (perhaps I should say "conventionally educated") people--that the economy will automatically respond to Peak Oil in ways which will solve the Peak Oil problem. But its not that simple, as Greer has just pointed out above. In fact--

" ...just as the economy most needs massive reinvestment in productive capacity to retool itself for the very different world defined by contracting energy supplies, investment money seeking higher returns flees the productive economy for the realm of abstract paper wealth.

Nor will this effect be countered, as suggested by the well-intentioned people mentioned toward the beginning of this essay, by a flood of investment money going into energy production and bringing the cost of energy back down. Producing energy takes energy, and thus is just as subject to rising energy costs as any other productive activity; even as the price of oil goes up, the costs of extracting it or making some substitute for it rise in tandem and make investments in oil production or replacement no more lucrative than any other part of the productive economy. Oil that has already been extracted from the ground may be a good investment, and financial paper speculating on the future price of oil will likely be an excellent one, but neither of these help increase the supply of oil, or any oil substitute, flowing into the economy.

One intriguing detail of this scenario is that it has already affected the first major oil producer to reach peak oil -- yes, that would be the United States. It's unlikely to be accidental that in the wake of its own 1972 production peak, the American economy has followed exactly this trajectory of massive disinvestment in the productive economy and massive expansion of the paper economy of finance. Plenty of other factors played a role in that process, no doubt, but I suspect that the unsteady but inexorable rise in energy costs over the last forty years or so may have had much more to do with the gutting of the American economy than most people suspect. "

Okay-- does that make sense?

This can't even apply the same way in the global sense, since America basically sent all its money outside itself to get energy from other sources in the world. However, when the rest of the world is past peak..? Its not like there's a heck of a lot of other options! The whole team goes down together. Yes, oil will be worth enough that drilling efforts will be made and we'll get it. The problem is it stops being cheap enough to run the entire world on the way it does NOW. All the rules change. Everyone is forced to find alternatives, and economies stop behaving as they have in the last 70-90 years of the Oil Age.

I was pleased to find this answer to the question so many think is already answered. Finite systems cannot sustain infinite growth policies-- especially when the extra energy of oil is no longer abundant enough to be as cheap as its been. That economic rule, a natural systems rule, TRUMPS all others. Period.

Check out this article:

Key oil figures were distorted by US pressure, says whistleblower
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/nov/09/peak-oil-international-energy-agency

Essentially, it says that an insider came out and admitted that all those official estimates of how much oil we have are WAY off. To "prevent panic" the United States pressured everyone to capitulate to wildly inflated figures. The truth is Peak Oil is already here and we are on the downslope side of it for sure. And, surprise-surprise!-- they're LYING to us about it so we don't freak out.

Seriously, read the article. WAKE UP PEOPLE!

Man, we're in such deep shit...

The Daily Show spoofs Glenn Beck: http://jezebel.com/5398654/sick-the-daily-show-spoofs-glenn-beck

I watched this earlier this week and just DIED laughing!!

See, there's bullshit going on-- and then there are bullshit artists like Glenn Beck trying to derail the real seach past the bullshit by re-wrapping truth and lies in a way to keep people snowed and confused. This exposes just how stupid his methods really are-- and how sick most of us are of seeing them. Beck is such a fucking shill.

SHILL
–verb (used with object)

4.	to advertise or promote (a product) as or in the manner of a huckster; hustle: He was hired to shill a new TV show.

I HEART Jon Stewart!!

I'm surprised the media is at last daring to report the true unemployment numbers-- what USED to be the official government number, U6, is around 17%. Over and over again in the last few days, I'm seeing in both text and on television both U3 and U6 numbers being reported in the mainstream media, complete with explanations of what these statistics cover! Color me amazed.

Maybe they're changing their policy of "Its not really that bad, right?" because of another trend that can't help but be noticed: independent bloggers are now the number 1 source for economic news in the entire nation! Think about it-- those of you who read this post, which isn't even primarily economic-- where have you heard the skinny on what's up first when it comes to what's going on out there? From me, TV, or official news in print or online text...?

Exactly.

And I, in turn, and many, many others like me are reading independent news bloggers out there like Naked Capitalism, Calculated Risk, or Mish's Economic Trend Analysis for their news. Why? Simple- because unlike the official media, the independent reporters out there are actually reporting USEFUL information. They all spotted this last crash and crisis months in advance, for starters, and have continued to be on the ball every step of the way. Meanwhile, the for-profit media of TV and newspapers out there are simply repeating whatever their corporate sponsors tell them to-- and essentially giving us lies and spit-up pablum to digest. It doesn't take long for the smart people to figure out who they should be paying attention to... and guess what? CNBC, Bloomberg TV, and the Wall Street Journal are quickly becoming laughingstocks to many- AND they know it.

The result is that now even the half-hour national news is beginning, very recently, to report upon the economy in a way that is just a little bit closer to the truth. This even includes tasty tidbits educating the public on the difference between the U3 and U6 numbers. Guess what, Pollyanna? Unemployment nationwide is closer to 1 in 5 people out of work than 1 in 10. Its a lot worse out there than the Big Boy bankers, brokers, financial firm CEOs and stock market speculators want you normal Joes and Janes to know about. They want you to keep spending your money foolishly and line their already fat pockets with yet more of your money.

I've even seen 2 reports on the mainstream national news in the last week about how the "insiders" --or the very same bankers, brokers, CEOs, etc-- have been quietly and steadily selling their stock once the convenient stock market rally was underway in earnest beginning in July or so... Despite the euphoria on Wall Street recently, they continue to sell, sell, sell-- and many have begun to ask the obvious question: What do they know that all those buyers don't? I am shocked all over again by this perhaps momentary ascent into real journalism.

As this is a very recent change, one wonders if somewhere some media moguls got their heads out of their asses at some meeting, reaching the conclusion that no one was even listening to them anymore. Everyone's comparing notes with the independent non-profit journalists out there and the "mainstream" is becoming ever more marginalized. But really, what can you expect when you keep churning out clunkers like this report from Bloomberg?-->
"Geithner Says Commercial Real Estate Woes Won't Spark Crisis"

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aGGKUQhUZqaQ 

OH YEAH?! The guy's either retarded or lying-- either way, how can anyone with 2 digits of I.Q. to rub together take anything this clown has to say seriously? His platitudes are meant to soothe the simple masses who are unworthy of the truth. Problem is, the masses include independent bloggers... like Michael Panzner, who had a reaction much like mine:

"Is he serious? All you have to do is spend about 15 minutes reading through just a few of the reports that were published recently and it quickly becomes apparent that a tsunami of red ink is forming in the sector, ready to come crashing down on the whole of the banking sector -- as well as the economy -- in the immediate period ahead..."

I'm keeping my eyes on this little trend for sure.

Okay, I have to pass this news along. A new documentary movie about collapse opens tomorrow in select theaters, and you should see it.

Link to trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/user/collapsemovie#p/f

I wish people would understand that life as we know it will not continue much longer. Its already started to fall apart, but few care to admit it. You simply cannot have infinite growth on a finite planet-- reality catches up with you sooner or later.

I'm going to try to see this movie as soon as I can, and when I do I'll post a review.

Oh my gosh! Good stuff, Maynard!

If you look to the left, you'll notice a list of links I visit regularly. My favorites of course-- because I go to them again and again, at least weekly if not more often. One of those links is to "Mish" or Mike Shedlock of Global Economic Analysis. Another is to John Michael Greer's The Archdruid Report. I love both guys. They're intelligent and insightful and can write engaging editorials on our current times. Yet they have some massive areas of fundamental difference of opinion, one being more Libertarian and one being a Greenie. (I know- shocking- right? An Archdruid as primarily Green party?) Which is funny, as I rather consider myself part Libertarian on some issues and mostly Green on the rest, politically speaking.

In the latest Archdruid Report, Greer discusses Mish's economic philosophy (Mish is a "total freemarket" guy and Greer is not.) What a tasty treat to read what one of my favorite bloggers has to say about another of my favorite bloggers! Its well worth reading the whole essay. ~In fact, ALL of Greer's entire blog is so good, the entire thing should be read-- and he only writes roughly once a week, so its easy to catch up and keep up with.

http://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.com/2009/11/harnessing-hippogriffs.html

Excerpts:

"Mish is among the most thoughtful and articulate proponents of the Austrian school in today's blogosphere, and he has an excellent eye for the economic news that matters – which is by and large exactly the economic news that the rest of the media avoids covering. Very nearly the only thing on his blog that makes me roll my eyes is his repeated insistence that the market is always right and government regulation is always wrong; no matter how berserk the market gets, its vagaries are for the best, and any problems should be corrected by privatizing even more government functions. Now of course Mish is hardly an official spokesperson for the Austrian school, as if there were such a thing, but he's not exactly alone in his insistence, either.

Enough people in the peak oil scene share similar views that it's probably necessary to say something about the free market and its potential for solving or creating problems during the twilight years of industrialism ahead of us. Any such comments need to be prefaced, though, by a reminder that a spectrum consists of something other than its two endpoints. Just as a great many people on the left have picked up the dubious habit of using labels such as "fascism" for any political system to the right of Hillary Clinton, a great many people on the right seem to have convinced themselves that any form of economic regulation at all is tantamount to some sort of neo-Marxist hobgoblin – a "socialist-communist-ecologist" system, to use a phrase that actually appeared in one of the comments fielded by last week's post.

Now it bears remembering that drowning is not the only alternative to dying of dehydration; there's a middle ground that is noticeably more pleasant than either. The same principle also applies in economics. "

OMG! Seriously-- sanity? SANITY?! Who is this Greer with his sanity?!

"There have been many examples of market economies in history that were not controlled by governments, but there have been no examples of market economies that were not controlled, and if one were to be set up, it would remain a free market for maybe a week at most. Adam Smith explained why in memorable language in The Wealth of Nations: "People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or some contrivance to raise prices." When a market is not controlled by government edicts, religious taboos, social customs, or some other outside force, it will quickly be controlled by combinations of individuals whose wealth and strategic position in the market enable them to maximize the economic benefits accruing to them, by squeezing out rivals, manipulating prices, buying up their suppliers, bribing government officials, and the like: that is to say, behaving the way capitalists behave whenever they are left to their own devices. This is what created the profoundly dysfunctional economy of Gilded Age America, and it also played a very large role in setting up the current debacle.

There's a rich irony here, in that the market economy portrayed in textbooks – in which buyers and sellers are numerous and independent enough that free competition regulates their interactions – is exactly the sort of commons that so many free market proponents insist should be eliminated wholesale in favor of private ownership. All commons systems, as Garrett Hardin pointed out in a famous essay a while back, are hideously vulnerable to abuse unless they are managed in ways that prevent individuals from exploiting the commons for their own private benefit. This year's Nobel laureate in economics, Elinor Ostrom, won her award for demonstrating that it's entirely possible to manage a commons so that Hardin's "tragedy of the commons" does not happen, and she's quite right – there have been many examples of successfully managed commons in history. Strip away the management that keeps it from being abused, however, and the free market, like any other commons, rapidly destroys itself.

This does not mean that the best, or for that matter the only, alternative to the unchecked rule of corporate robber barons is Marxist-style state ownership of the economy; once again, dying from heatstroke is not the only alternative to dying from hypothermia. It means, rather, that something between these two extremes might be worth trying, especially if it can be shown by historical evidence to work tolerably well in practice. Of course this is what history shows; broadly speaking, economies that leave the means of production in private hands, but use appropriate regulation to harness their energies to the public good, consistently produce more prosperity for more people than either unfettered capitalism or extreme socialism. "

Again with my wild reactions of approbation for these simple truths Greer is espousing...

"This being said, the midpoint between these extremes may not lie where today's conventional wisdom tends to place it. Consider an example from the not too distant past: a large industrial nation with a capitalist economy, but remarkably tough regulations restricting the growth of private fortunes and the abuses to which capitalist economies are so often prone. The wealthiest people in that nation paid more than two-thirds of their annual income in tax, and monopolistic practices on the part of corporations faced harsh and frequently applied judicial penalties. The financial sector was particularly tightly leashed: interest rates on savings were fixed by the government, usury laws put very low caps on the upper end of interest rates for loans, and hard legal barriers prevented banks from expanding out of local markets or crossing the firewall between consumer banking and the riskier world of corporate investment. Consumer credit was difficult enough to get, as a result, that most people did without it most of the time, using layaway plans and Christmas Club savings programs to afford large purchases.

According to the standard rhetoric of free market proponents these days, so rigidly controlled an economy ought by definition to be hopelessly stagnant and unproductive. This shows the separation of rhetoric from reality, however, for the nation I have just described was the United States during the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower: that is, during one of the most sustained periods of prosperity, innovation, economic development and international influence this nation has ever seen. Now of course there were other factors behind America's 1950s success, just as there were other factors behind the decline since then; still, it's worth noting that as the economic regulations of the 1950s have been dismantled – in every case, under the pretext of boosting American prosperity – the prosperity of most Americans has gone down, not up. "

Good point. Excellent point. Our comfortable dismissal of history makes this an impossible lesson to learn for most Americans though. We think looking to the past holds us back from forging the future. The opposite is true of course, yet our culture is very disparaging of history. We can see the consequences of that attitude easily today.

My friend called me last night and let me know she spoke to her cousin again. He went to work in downtown New York (although with some extra caution) and everything was fine. Its now the next day and everything seems to be perfectly normal.

*breathes out sigh of relief*

She was cheerful about it. Her dream was a rare one that made a point to direct her actions, so she wrote everything down and is beginning the process of learning to interpret her more stark and dramatic dreams. She hopes to be able to understand more of what that dream meant in the near future.

Of course, there is always the possibility that her subconscious wasn't clear on time issues (it often isn't-- time awareness is the domain of the left brain consciousness) so that could be it. OR, as she put it, "Maybe I just needed to wash my hair with a new shampoo-- I don't know!" But she was laughing and happy things were just fine, which is the healthiest attitude to have.

Portent dreams are almost always of things that will grab our attention, and disaster/crisis grabs our attention better than anything else, so the dreaming mind may resort to this sort of symbolism to wake us up even when disaster is far from reality. Learning to interpret your dreams better means you'll get less crazy demands for attention through nightmaric scenarios.

I've had no further dreams about potential futures or anything otherwise extra interesting in weeks.

However, in an fascinating turn of events, my friend catphile  had a dream (the details of which are for HER to report, not I) that literally told her in English at one point to "Call your cousin, and tell him not to go in to work tomorrow." [Monday] She felt foolish, and embarrassed, but she up and called her male cousin (who lives in New York) to tell him of the dream. She told him he could do as he liked, of course, but if she had that dream and did NOT tell him due to fear of looking bad, and then something actually happened...? She said she couldn't live with herself. Hense, the phone call. She also promised him that if he took the day off work and nothing untoward happened she'd owe him a NICE Xmas present this year!

He was congenial. Cat's the freak in the family after all! But they ended up having a very nice conversation and he appreciated that she thought of him enough to warn him regardless of the rest of it. He did not say whether he'd go to work today or not.

So... is this an example of my reporting about New York contaminating my friend's subconscious mind? Or might something be up today (or very soon?) Only time can tell.

However, I report of this possibility NOW, because if something does go down in New York (even just with Cat's cousin!) then its recorded faithfully beforehand.

That's all for now.

Reprinted from Moultan-Howe's Earthfiles.com :

"October 30, 2009  Huntsville, Alabama - For twelve years, NASA has had a satellite positioned a million miles in front of Earth with the sun about 92 million miles beyond. Its mission has been to study particles that come near Earth from our sun, the solar system and the galaxy. The satellite is called Advanced Composition Explorer, or ACE, and some of the highly energetic particles ACE has been monitoring are cosmic rays.

The number of cosmic rays reaching Earth are lower when the sun is active and has a strong, turbulent magnetic field that interferes with cosmic ray travel. But when the sun is not active, more cosmic rays reach Earth. The sun is supposed to be in an increasingly active period of Solar Cycle 24 with a solar maximum originally expected in 2011 to 2012. But the sun has been abnormally quiet. Scientists have not seen such a persistently low sunspot number for at least a century. Further, the magnetic field of the sun is at the lowest strength measured in at least 50 years.

Beginning six months ago, ACE satellite data showed a rise in cosmic rays reaching Earth from the Milky Way galaxy. By now, cosmic ray intensity has increased 19% because our sun is so quiet that its reduced magnetic field isn’t deflecting cosmic rays like it has the past few decades. If our sun remains quiet, there could be a 30% increase in cosmic rays reaching Earth in the next year or so – an intensity not seen since 1960. Increased cosmic rays can damage electronic systems and even DNA in living creatures.

What has happened to our sun? NASA’s Heliospheric Team Leader, David Hathaway, says he cannot find another solar minimum in the past that has acted quite like this one that has put out only a few sunspots since Solar Cycle 24 officially began at the end of 2008. Our sun is so quiet that solar physicists from around the world gathered in September to discuss whether we are entering a period similar to the Maunder Minimum of 1645 to 1715, when for 70 years the sun was spotless and there was a mini-ice age. There was no ACE satellite then, but measurements of beryllium concentrations in ice layers indicate that during the Maunder Minimum, cosmic rays were 2.5 times what they are now. Dr. Hathaway points out that Earth scientists did not start measuring cosmic rays until the beginning of the modern Space Age in the early 1960s, and that for the past five decades, our sun might have been unusually active."

So, solar protection down, cosmic rays up-- duly noted. The concept of a Cosmic Wave hitting fairly soon would seem to be especially bad timing-- if true.

I'm starting a new tag-- for astral experiences. I need to keep better track. I have them with regular frequency, with about one a month being noteworthy enough to jot down. I learn so much from the infrequent encounters I have that I really should write about it and compare notes more.

I try to take an hour about twice a week to meditate all the way into deep trance mode-- which is where one has to be to be able to perceive the astral state of reality really well. I make sure I do it when I have no pressing matters on my mind, and when I've had plenty of sleep, and am generally feeling pretty mellow and relaxed. Most of the time, I just feel wonderful floating within my own body and nothing happens. But about once a month or so...? I have a visit or a vision or something.

Earlier this evening, I had one such interesting experience very briefly. I was laying on my back, feeling really good, when I felt and heard someone come into the room through our open door, approach the bed and crawl up. I was surprised, because whoever it was seemed obviously human, and yet I don't run into human ghosts or traveling Out-of-body types much at all. Maybe once every couple of years? And usually I have to be in a haunted house or something.

Years ago, I reacted first very defensively and lamented opportunities later. I've learned not to do that anymore. Now, I lay in wait and try to observe and then engage any visitors. Once, I had the astral forms of monkeys jumping on my bed and trying to attack me. I couldn't understand why these creatures, who wore humanish faces almost like masks, would come after me with such hostility. But after hitting them with some light, I followed them back to where they came from. This is how I figured out they were traveling astrals from the primate center in Beaverton, kept in cages, and evidently bored to the point they learned to jump out of their own bodies during prolonged 'sleep' states. They even learned to travel as a pack. Somehow they saw me and came to attack me. But I felt so bad for them that I was glad I didn't really try to hurt them. They weren't monsters, they were the victims of monsters (us.)

Humans are even more problematic, so I lay there calm and quiet as if sleeping to see what would happen. (Hey, you never know. Once, a guy of about 20 had astral sex with me-- and I really enjoyed it!)

The person crawled all the way up next to me and lay down, then started to tenderly stroke my hair back from my forehead! I was all, "Whaa?" but let him, for once he touched me, I could feel it was a guy (there's a slight telepathy that comes with astral to astral touch.) Then, I pulled my astral arms out of my physical arms (I've become pretty good at that over the years) and reached up to grab his hands. It definitely was a man. A very large (as in muscular and tall, not fat) man with huge hands. I felt his big fingers and thumbs as I closed my own grip on his meaty paws. He was startled, to say the least! He seemed to freeze in surprise. I 'sent' out my astral voice to ask, "Who are you?" and felt even more surprise (I guess most living people just don't DO that!) and he began to try to pull away, but gently as if not to hurt me or accidentally pull the rest of me out of my body (?). I refused to let go, and just repeated my question. I was about to pop my astral head out of my physical one so as to be able to SEE this person when I got interrupted...

My husband chose just that moment to come in to the bedroom to tell me it was time to go shopping, and I broke out of the trance abruptly. I thought maybe I heard a distant echo of a man saying, "Carl"-- but I couldn't swear to it.

I don't know anyone named Carl currently, and the only guy I ever met in my life named Karl would NOT be so nice to me! Naturally, I am curious. This person walked right in and lay right down next to me like it was no big thing, like they'd done it before and knew me or something. To top it off the guy was just tender and kind-- which is lovely, but wtf?? I don't get it.

For another hour after that, I felt weird and partly detached from my body, especially my arms that I had pulled out of their physical shells for that brief period-- but that's normal whenever one pulls out of their body. There's a sort of tingling sensation for whatever portion of the anatomy got pulled away and an accompanying 'floaty' feeling overall. An hour or so and all is back to normal, though.

I shall at some point this weekend go back to find all my other astral experiences and put them under the 'astral' tag-- to make finding these things easier in my LiveJournal.

EDIT~! Ah! Once more I find a correlation between heightened spiritual activity and solar wind storms! Check it out!

HALLOWEEN STORMS: Last night, the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) near Earth tilted south, an orientation that weakens our planet's magnetic defenses against solar wind. Indeed, solar wind poured into Earth's magnetosphere and sparked an early Halloween display over Alaska:

"Bright moonlight almost outshined the auroras," says photographer Daryl Pederson. "But this flare-up was visible over the Chugach mountains in south central Alaska."

So... duly noted.

I keep track of the current collective mood towards Transition Towns and the movement that is gaining momentum globally. It is an effort for people to come together to change what they can locally and prepare for decline or collapse in a practical, proactive, manner.

Yet it has its critics. Carolyn Baker writes back to one in this article:
http://carolynbaker.net/site/content/view/1354/1/

Alex Steffen, in his article, “Transition Towns or Bright Green Cities?” basically complains that the whole Transition Town movement is not enough, that everyone needs to change the BIG stuff-- governments and corporations, so whiling away your time doing TT stuff is a waste of it, as far as he is concerned. A distraction to make you feel good about yourself while actually not accomplishing anything. He feels that Transition Town movements GIVE UP on changing the big stuff, and are resigned to a "dark view" that says we have to prepare for things to fall apart.

Baker responds cogently: "Then comes the really telling portion of the article where Steffen evaluates Transition as “dark thinking.” Before examining his specific misinterpretations of statements from people involved in Transition, let’s notice the disparaging word “dark.” Then let’s step back and ask the question: When people on the Titanic in the wee hours of April 14, 1912 were hysterically trying to find a way to save themselves, would it have been appropriate to call their thoughts, feelings, or actions “dark”? Obviously not because they knew they were perishing. Only individuals who do not understand that the planet and the entire earth community is perishing can talk about “dark thinking” in relation to movements like Transition. Only those who have done no or only cursory research on oil depletion, climate change, species extinction, and overpopulation—or have chosen to immerse themselves in rosier assessments of these issues—would refer to the Transition model as “dark.” '

" No one that I know in the Transition movement “talks cheerfully” about any of these topics. Quite the contrary. If the individuals who founded the movement and contributed to the handbook were joyously celebrating the collapse of civilization and all of the misery that it will entail, they would first of all be psychotic, and secondly, they would not have needed to create a Heart and Soul pillar in Transition to assist people in finding meaning in the midst of horror.

Only individuals who have not fully educated themselves about the state of the planet could deny that its systems are now in a profound process of collapse—a process which is exacerbating daily. The Transition movement is not arguing that collapse is a “tool for social change”, but simply that it is happening, it probably now has a life of its own, and that there’s virtually nothing that large-scale systems can do about it except to intensify the process. "

"And yes, Steffen is correct when he notes:

“Local efforts can’t protect against the violence of a systemic breakdown. The same thing is true of public health and epidemiology, of disaster response and trauma care, of famine protection and crop insurance, and so on and so on. To plan for the collapse of large-scale systems is to plan for widespread evil and suffering; ethical planning for the collapse is impossible: post-collapse idealism is oxymoronic.”

Yes, yes, yes! Although, it is debatable whether Transitioners generally are “idealistic” about the collapse of large-scale systems. What is probably more accurate is that most people who are involved in Transition hold a vision of what is possible and are working to that end; at the same time, however, most understand the momentous, formidable consequences of humanity’s continuation of its current suicidal tendencies, as well as the catastrophic repercussions of collapse.

I must adamantly disagree with Steffen’s insistence that we need “bright green” anything on a large scale. For him, it appears that “large” is the only scale that matters because he seems not to have grasped that “large” is synonymous with empire, “large” is part of the problem, and “large” is unraveling at lightning speed. He wishes us to stop seeing these systems as “out of our control” when that is precisely what is so. The ship is taking on water faster than anyone can cope with, and it is, quite simply, sinking. As for myself, I don’t want or need a “politics of optimism” or the re-arranging of deck chairs. I want nothing less than a lifeboat, and Transition gives me the best one I’m aware of at the moment. "

"Spin it as we will, the human race is precariously poised on the cliff’s edge, hanging by its fingernails. Our challenge is not to try to prevent the collapse of the larger systems, but to respond with resilience and self-sufficiency and to ask the kinds of questions that wisdom traditions and the greatest minds in human history have always asked: Why is this happening? What meaning can I and my community find in this unfolding of events? What do I and my loved ones and my community need to do to prepare? And perhaps most importantly, what is my purpose in being here at this time? What have I come here to do? What can I contribute? "

And I agree.

Good news is that participants in the poll, mostly flisters, are either proud redheads themselves or dye themselves there and/or just LOVE red hair in others! Lots of admiration and a definite bias TOWARDS gingers, as opposed to against them. For example, no one thought red hair was a real turn off sexually, or would hesitate to befriend a redhead.

However, apparently, some ask in Britain, Is Gingerism As Bad As Racism? -- [credit Ednoled]: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6725653.stm?lspan and it would seem the answer is almost sort-of yes. Apparently, bias against redheads is bad in the UK- kind of like 'dumb blond' jokes in the US, only much more hostile. The titian-haired get called names (in an often scary way), are threatened, beat up in school and in pubs, and even have objects thrown at them from moving cars! That's wild. I had no idea.



The saddest part of the article was the comments section, actually-- written by other Brits. Apparently, having redhaired children is not considered desirable!!  ( 8^O

Sadly, as my red-haired husband and myself begin to discuss starting a family, some friends are counselling against our procreation lest we produce "ginger babies".
Claire Knowles, Truro, Cornwall

I was mightily relieved that none of my children have turned out to have red hair and so they will not have to suffer similar abuse.
Rachel Pearce, Matlock, England

Relieved? Relieved? I would be disappointed not to have any red haired children had I any at all! How terrible to hope not to have ginger kids because other people are sure to be mean to them. There is nothing wrong with red hair and I think such an attitude is pathetic and infuriating! Is it just me?!

Its believed the bias comes because so much of history had English against Scots and Irish, and redheads are higher in those populations than in the native English one (which still has a much higher incidence of redheads than, say, America or Germany.)

So, everyone- if you ever have a chance to visit the UK, you may take the opportunity to be thrilled to see so many more redheads there than here-- and while you're at it, feel free to openly voice your approval of gingers (or to be "red and proud" if you are one!) Especially with the children. Maybe make it a point to compliment them or their parents for having excellent DNA. =^D

Just a quickie update on failed banks. We're well over the 100-level mark (I last reported when it was in the 90s).

Check it out:

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com)
"-- Nine subsidiaries of FBOP Corp., a multistate holding company that included California National Bank of Los Angeles, succumbed Friday to the nationwide banking crisis, bringing to 115 the number of banks closed by regulators so far this year.

... The bank failure count for 2009 is still far from 1989's record high of 534 bank closures which took place during the savings and loan crisis. There are about 8,000 banks in the nation, and an average of 10 banks have failed per month this year, nearly four times the number that failed in 2008, and the highest tally since 1992 when 181 banks failed.

This year's failures have already reduced the FDIC's insurance fund to below $10 billion from $45 billion a year ago. Friday's closure will cost the FDIC an estimated $2.5 billion.

After factoring in expected closures, the agency says its insurance fund is in the red and will remain there through 2012. Over the next four years, the agency expects bank closures will cost $100 billion.

The insurance fund also carried a negative balance during the savings in loan crisis.

In September, the FDIC discussed how to raise money to restock the fund and proposed that banks prepay their deposit insurance premiums for the next three years."

Its not the number of banks that have failed that's alarming (although the numbers are hardly reassuring.) Rather- eyebrows quirk regarding the FDIC running out of funds to cover customers bank deposits, and are now basically borrowing from other banks still up and running.

Here's where you get alarmed: The wave of subprime mortgage re-sets that began this entire crisis (or, rather, the straw the popped the balloon on the camel's back) are mostly over-- but there are even higher numbers of Alt-A loans and Option-Arm loans that are just now starting to reset. Huge waves of new foreclosures will be going on throughout 2010 and 2011. This BOTTOM everyone is thinking is in with housing prices won't hit until at least early 2013. (In other words, NOW is NOT the time to buy a house if you can possibly avoid it!!)

Don't believe me? Then listen to 60 Minutes on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUuROWEMjm0

Pay special attention to the part at 3 minutes, 20 seconds through 4 minutes 25 seconds. There's the pretty chart and the numbers to go with it. However, the entire 12 minute report is well worth your time.

This report was done in early 2009, so when the guy at the end says the market (post-crash #1) was "Bullish" because many people were thinking of the crash as "corporate America on sale," he was exactly right. The laws to make it easier to re-finance and modify such awful loans that went into effect earlier this year were begun precisely to stem the tide of new foreclosures expected from these loan re-sets. And they aren't helping much. With unemployment so high and banks so reluctant to lend..? Yeah, that entire plan is just too little, too late.

That's why talk of recovery is sheer bullshit retardation at this point. At best, we're only halfway through this 'recession.' IF we're lucky and manage to eek through all the way to the other side in 2013 (that's IF the stock market and everything else don't crash even worse than before-- which I believe it will--) other pressures and challenges will already be in line and ready to obstacle our much-vaunted Recovery to death. Being mature and realistic means seeing this for what it really is: a Depression. History will bear this out, trust me on that.

I'm so psyched right now!!

See, I see dancing teensy bits of light everywhere which are apparently related to astral energy -- as they emit light that I see on the same wavelength as auras. I've seen them ever since I could remember. I would think they were bits of dust, except they move independent of air flow or wind. I would think they were just my perception of the light receptors in my eyes except I'll see them more or less "thick" at different times and different places - even in the same house! So that doesn't seem to explain it well either. I have noticed that these particles of light respond to auric energy, though, so my conclusion is that I have a form of what some people call 'second sight.' The people who can sometimes see faeries, and are able to see ghosts more often have that ability, and it would seem I do as well. At this point, it's my tentative conclusion that I'm playing around with...

Because I've noticed that my view of these tiny bits of light changes, I've been doing this little "check" every time I notice the 'particles' are extra 'thick'--sometimes so much so they act almost like fog and actually obscure my vision of the physical!-- I go to spaceweather.com and check the auroral oval to see if we're getting hit with a solar storm of any kind. I'm testing my 'astral energy vision' against solar storm surges striking the Earth to see if there are indeed correlations.

Tonight, I can see particles are extra thick, my psi abilities seem a bit keener, and I feel energetic and mildly euphoric-- all signs in the past that a solar wind was striking the Earth. And so I check the site (which updates so regularly its almost live) and SURE ENOUGH!! We are being pelted with a substantial solar wind storm! AWESOMENESS!!

Human auras are measurable as a type of electromagnetic energy. My guess is that the auras I see around living beings (including plants) and some things as well as the flying 'tiny particles' are all manifestations of this electromagnetic energy. When the solar wind strikes the Earth, the energy of all this is 'pumped up.'

Anyway, point being-- I was able to perceive the energetic difference enough on my own to be alerted to check for solar storms. And its not like I do this every day or even every month. Its a rather rare and random thing- yet I was right! I've decided to be more aware of such things and to post and keep track of my progress. (And, yes- if I check and its a negative, I'll post that as well. Fair's fair!) Still, it feels good to have my perception confirmed from an outside source!

Later edit: Here's one wee update:

~~~NORTHERN LIGHTS:  A solar wind stream hit Earth on Oct. 24th and sparked geomagnetic storms around the Arctic Circle. "The auroras were extremely active with fast-moving curtains of green, blue and red," reports Niels Giroud of Mo i Rana, Norway~~~

The solar weather is off lately by quite a bit. I've been keeping an eye on things, and it seems one anomaly that's being taken note of is that though our sunspots and sunflares are DOWN, the solar wind from the sun's coronal holes are up and hitting the Earth much faster than would be expected.

More of my past entries that grab me even 6 years into the future....

Story Weather-- Stormy Thoughts On Teaching Magick/Spirituality, August 2003: http://lucretiasheart.livejournal.com/45087.html

"Get Used To It", September 2003: http://lucretiasheart.livejournal.com/59481.html

Hab Sammiches Up Bear, October 2003: http://lucretiasheart.livejournal.com/72798.html

Post-Apocalyptic Dream, November 2003: http://lucretiasheart.livejournal.com/75839.html

I think every month or two I'll find a few interesting entries to re-post just as I did in the last 2 days here.

Thanks for reading!