tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post2416607860407460824..comments2024-03-16T09:24:45.474+01:00Comments on 22 Billion Energy Slaves: R is for Revolting BeastsJason Heppenstallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17886109260870545074noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-61733509574406652912017-07-19T15:10:12.066+02:002017-07-19T15:10:12.066+02:00However, there is the form of terrorism which is n...However, there is the form of terrorism which is not a response to anything, but is used cynically as a tool for radical change - in whatever direction. <br /><br />Moreover, people can talk themselves into thinking they are 'oppressed' when they are not. Like ETA in Spain, for instance. <br /><br />There is little hope when dealing with such people. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-21126017450697680392017-07-11T13:36:51.568+02:002017-07-11T13:36:51.568+02:00My son and I agree that Islamic terrorism is large...My son and I agree that Islamic terrorism is largely the inevitable result of many decades/centuries of Western countries' imperialism and violence in the Middle East, yet he tells me that none of his friends understand this. Presumably they think people turn into suicide bombers for no reason at all. <br /><br />At least terrorism, in the long run, has a potential solution - stop oppressing other countries and cultures. The problems of dangerous climate change, resource depletion etc. are much more intractable. Stefan Rahmstorf has recently been saying "Defeatism is the new denial" quite a lot, but I'm not aware of any painless way out of the predicament we've got ourselves into. I don't think there's any sustainable way for 7+ billion people to live on Earth, no matter how many resource-hungry wind turbines and solar panels we make in highly polluting Chinese factories. Nobody is putting forward a model of industrial civilisation that is compatible with a finite planet, limited energy supply and a healthy global ecosystem. Defeatism might actually be the most honest and realistic position that it's possible to take today.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14520380789913390909noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-59178769635957506182017-07-04T06:32:06.225+02:002017-07-04T06:32:06.225+02:00The screws turn and a new normal begins. As a bar...The screws turn and a new normal begins. As a bartender you will be seeing self deception at it's best. As failure to make living arrangements that makes sense manifests in an emergency that won't ever end you will be in a position to see what people blame for the troubles should you polish the shot glasses long enough. I doubt anyone will be talking about the loss of energy slaves as a possible culprit unless you bring it up but I'd like to be surprised on that. In an alcohol sodden venue bringing up collapse issues would be a total waste of time and more likely than not quite unpopular. Even more than bringing the subject just about anywhere else.k-doghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11788296863763985663noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-54053496993922883082017-07-04T04:56:10.653+02:002017-07-04T04:56:10.653+02:00loved the rant. reminded me a little of Jim Kunst...loved the rant. reminded me a little of Jim Kunstler at his best. <br />The fates have conspired to kick me and my wife out of our comfortable leftist bubble of San Francisco by way of eviction so our landlord could take advantage of the current housing speculation bubble to sell the house we were renting.<br />We have landed on a farm of a friend about 100 miles from SF, solidly in the agricultural zone of California. We are woken up now every day by the yodeling of quails and the resident cat walking across our bed to let us know that it is time to feed him. And missing that, the sun rises over the ridge to the east and raises the temperature in our tent into the sweat zone and causes us to get up.<br />And if that doesn't do the trick, the Mexican farm workers showing up for work and the sound of tractors and Mexican polka music will for sure wake us.<br />We are now solidly at the face of food production, something that is profoundly enlightening. Regardless of how much you read about farming, living it is quite another thing. We are tending a garden of about 100 tomato plants and several score of eggplants and peppers and beans and squash and melons and responsible for keeping them all alive and free of pests and so on. So that and watching the goings on at the organic farm next door to the land of our host makes the current politics seem remote and irrelevant. <br />We also don't have air conditioning and of late the temperatures have gone into the hundreds Fahrenheit, or highs in Celcius hovering between 30 and 40, temperatures that are mind numbing and of such a quality that I absolutely cannot give a shit what Donald Trump does. <br />Fortunately, we have a river running to the east of the farm and we take a dip or two a day whenever the temps get us down.<br />But mostly, living a physical life surrounded by the serious business of producing food for other people makes the antics of politicians seem irrelevant and not worthy of attention.<br />This is a land of no rain all summer long and all food production depends on irrigation which these days depends on a steady supply of electricity to run the irrigation pumps. It doesn't really matter what Vladimir Putin or Donald Trump does. If the local electric company can't deliver electricity, the pumps stop pumping and the crops die and in short order, the produce sections of the supermarkets become empty. This is the reality of farming here in California.Wolfgang Brinckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08314364206955412017noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-8419183355947382782017-06-26T13:52:22.651+02:002017-06-26T13:52:22.651+02:00Hi Jason,
Thanks man. I heard recently that picki...Hi Jason,<br /><br />Thanks man. I heard recently that picking and choosing what technologies you utilise in your life is a form of heresy. I hope nobody is hunting for witches these days (sorry for the Bloc Party reference - you may have heard of them?), but I do see signs of that from time to time. You know, the other day somebody who should know better suggested that me being off grid was the cause of the soon to be 20% increase in the price of electricity down here. I was quite disturbed to hear that claim said to my face.<br /><br />The turnout was pretty good at about 10 people. Have you considered having a Cornwall tower?<br /><br />Fair enough about the heatwave and to be honest that is one of the reasons I live up in the hills where the elevated air is cooler (1'C drop in air temperature for every 100m gain in elevation).<br /><br />Yup, that happens with the tarmac. I'll bet you had a few surprised motorbike riders when the stands pushed into the hot tarmac and the motorbikes fell over. That has happened to me... Nice work with the cold fluids. I hope not too many people were caught out by the heat? A mild and misty summer is a pleasure (from my perspective).<br /><br />Yeah I've been watching that unfolding disaster in Portugal and my sympathies go to anyone affected by the fires. I'm reasonably familiar with those "plantations of highly flammable ones filled with volatile oils". Sad to say, but true. You know despite the recurring wildfires here and consequent massive loss of life, people still berate me for even considering managing the surrounding forest given that likely outcome. It is all very strange to me.<br /><br />I saw a lot in those photos from Portugal. Most of the trees appeared to be quite young and they seemed of very uniform age. The cars looked like they had crashed into one another on the bridge which is understandable given the thick smoke and way beyond frightening conditions the occupants would have faced. Mate, I really feel for the families of the deceased. The occupants would have been overcome by smoke well before the fire arrived.<br /><br />Mineral rich plants and soils are less likely to be so damaged by wildfires.<br /><br />My numbers will turn up in the lucky dip lottery on that front sooner or later. I accept the risk and understand the consequences.<br /><br />Cheers<br /><br />ChrisFernglade Farmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06950962122594709186noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-35847053646062961802017-06-25T12:32:43.364+02:002017-06-25T12:32:43.364+02:00Hi Chris - glad you enjoyed it. I know how much ef...Hi Chris - glad you enjoyed it. I know how much effort is required to read things on a dumb phone, so consider me impressed. Hope you had a good and useful time at the Green Wizards meeting. What was the attendance like?<br /><br />I escaped the worst of the heatwave by living where I live. Cornwall is a peninsula jutting out into the Atlantic, and as such it doesn't get too hot in summer or too cold in winter due to the regulation imposed by the thermal mass of the water. Mind you, it still got pretty damn hot here - hot enough to see tarmac melting. I coped by drinking a lot of cold fluids (which is easy to do if you work in a bar that has an ice machine) and sleeping at night with all the windows open to allow air flow through the house. <br /><br />My dog didn't cope quite as well, and spent most of the time lying on the floor with his tongue hanging out. <br /><br />Anyway, the heatwave is over now, and it's back to being mild and a bit misty.<br /><br />I understand your precautionary measures using fireproof materials for your home. If I lived where you do I would do the same. Did you see on the news about the forest fires in Portugal last week? Really tragic, with most people dying in their cars as they tried to flee. Interestingly, those forest fires would likely not have been so deadly if native trees had been planted rather than plantations of highly flammable ones filled with volatile oils. I saw a picture of a whole scorched landscape and at the centre was a small green pathch that was more-or-less unscathed and this turned out to be - you guessed it - somebody's little permaculture farm.<br /><br />J<br /><br /><br /><br />Jason Heppenstallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17886109260870545074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-87570203055662303502017-06-24T12:32:01.421+02:002017-06-24T12:32:01.421+02:00Hi Jason,
Despite my dumb phone, I read your essa...Hi Jason,<br /><br />Despite my dumb phone, I read your essay on the train into the big smoke today where I travelled for the Green Wizards meet up and just wanted to say how much I enjoyed - despite the dark nature of the subject and content - your story and imagery. <br /><br />How did you handle the recent heat wave in your corner of the planet?<br /><br />I was rather wondering about the fire ratings of that cladding. The Great Fire of London has had quite the impact on building techniques and materials even down here. You may be surprised to know that I constructed the house here with tested 90 minute fire walls (inside and outside) and a 30 minute fire rated roof. That means direct flame contact for that period of time before the fire spreads and the structure is damaged. And I took the materials and tested them in a burnoff of forest materials. Some of the materials were very unusual.<br /><br />Polystyrene covered with aluminium as a building cladding. Mate, I just don't know about that. I have burned off that material in burnoffs here and it does not last long at all from my experience. That fire was like watching an unfolding horror story.<br /><br />On a brighter note, well done with the job and I hope it brings in additional resources for you and your family and your farm. Plus you have put yourself at the gritty end of relations with the public. Good stuff as you get to experience the world and its fears from the safety of the other side of the bar.<br /><br />People talk so much rubbish now, but on the other hand, it may be that they are just not trained to have clear thoughts and deal with insights. Dunno, but something is seriously lacking.<br /><br />Cheers<br /><br />ChrisFernglade Farmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06950962122594709186noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-16888007798805057992017-06-22T18:13:50.229+02:002017-06-22T18:13:50.229+02:00I have been offered work as an extra in Doc Martin...I have been offered work as an extra in Doc Martin. Have turned them down, so far, but keep an eye on the background and maybe you'll catch a glimpse of me, should I be hard up. I haven't actually seen it, BTW.<br /><br />Yes, an emerging awareness indeed. It's like a dead rat behind the cooker - you get a faint whiff at first but dismiss it, but over the days and weeks the smell gets worse until it can no longer be ignored. I think we're at the dead rat stage now.<br /><br />Fox Wood is doing fine. I have spent the first four years planting stuff and so now, to a certain extent, I just have to sit back and let it grow. My work there has been held up a bit by my hand injury, and now I have a job, meaning I don't get out there as often as I like. But having a job means I can afford to buy some more trees and plants, and I'm also saving up for some big ticket items, such a wood chipper, which would help me out tremendously. Also looking to hire a digger and get some earthworks done, as well as build a house out of earth bags, of which I have several thousand. Oh, and I've set it up as a company for teaching woodland skills and have a friend willing to teach people how to make Irish currachs (boats made from willow), as well as other things. <br /><br />I can see I need to do a Fox Wood update soon! Jason Heppenstallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17886109260870545074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-58746485445709521672017-06-22T15:47:00.251+02:002017-06-22T15:47:00.251+02:00PBS ( similar to the beeb) has aired Doc Martin th...PBS ( similar to the beeb) has aired Doc Martin these last few years, which my wife and I have enjoyed. While it is fiction, it did give what I hope was a somewhat realistic taste of "the dog end of Cornwall". <br /><br />Your post got me to thinking about the globalized, "smaller" planet we now live on, as popularized by Freidman and others. The malaise, or emerging awareness of a most unpleasant smell you describe are just as accurate for how things are feeling here in the States. There is plenty of variation in how it is expressed, or who is being blamed, but everyone feels it. <br /><br />Past cycles of empire were more local or regional, but now, with world wide global supply chains, media access to the whole world, combined with the underlying peaking of resources ( the real reason the revolting beasts are afoot), we are living through a time when nearly the whole "developed" world is feeling this shift in the wind at the same time. <br /><br />Let's hope those with the power to do so don't resort to politics by other means in trying to hang on to their country's piece of the pie.<br /><br />In other news, the trees we have been planting just keep converting sunlight and doing their thing whether I am surfing on line, or gnashing my teeth, or putzing in the workshop, so that's a good thing. I hope Fox Wood is progressing well, and maybe see a new post there sometime? ( not nagging, but a spot of good news once in a while helps clear the cobwebs).Steve Carrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11706114439618856525noreply@blogger.com