tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post4745992015024354858..comments2024-03-16T09:24:45.474+01:00Comments on 22 Billion Energy Slaves: It's the Energy, StupidJason Heppenstallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17886109260870545074noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-57012021207808315782016-11-05T15:25:04.753+01:002016-11-05T15:25:04.753+01:00I just qualified for a FREE BURGER KING GIFT CARD,...I just qualified for a <a href="http://gift.syntaxlinks.com/r/BurgerKingGiftcard" rel="nofollow"><b>FREE BURGER KING GIFT CARD</b></a>, claim yours, this promotion is open...Bloggerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07287821785570247118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-14747435108316293102013-03-25T20:26:16.453+01:002013-03-25T20:26:16.453+01:00Those Corns have obviously been harbouring some vi...Those Corns have obviously been harbouring some virulent flu strains as a welcome to newcomers and tourists and to sort the men from the boys. I'm sure you will have passed the test. At least we have a late spring this year so the sap will not be rising yet and there are still tree planting opportunities.<br /><br />My favourite medicine is honey, freshly squeezed lemon juice and whisky topped up with hot water. It always does the trick for me. Does that count as herbal?Phil Espinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03291438294869499059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-40810292155975518032013-03-25T18:29:12.591+01:002013-03-25T18:29:12.591+01:00No. Not like that, no criticism intended toward A...No. Not like that, no criticism intended toward Aaron at LucidDreams. Just like-minded people electig to live in proximity to each other, off the grid, what's mine is mine and what's yours is yours, everybody minding his/her own business. People would sort themselves out into their own levels of want and contentment. It's not even possible to live in willing poverty in the "system". Compulsory utilities are expensive; alternative heating, animal husbandry, not permitted; jobs are foul and degrading, people compelled to work -- all the hours of their endless, clock-dragging days -- just for the wherewithal to ensure they have food and shelter enough to ensure they show up for their foul, degrading work the next day. Nothing new in *that* observation. And for what? A particle board house with vinyl siding, black mold eating at the carcinogenic adhesives even before its construction is complete, all the beams and joists and struts put together with hardware "joiners", production of which latter outsourced to cheapest Chinese bidder, good stuff, eh, sleep easy in your "quality home", zero construction skill or integrity required. That's all people really get out of it; and a few frenzied, exorbitantly overpriced vacations in "sunny wherever", where the only object is to stay so blotto for two weeks that you won't have the presence of mind to shriek in despair at your predicament. Boy we sure are having fun here in sunny wherever! So. When do you suppose Starbucks will open a franchise on the peak of Everest? --Just self-regarding people, content with mismatched clothes, who cares, anyway?, whatever fits, and food, whatever's in the pantry. I eat boiled potatoes with garlic and salt and pepper, soaked in vinegar, and homemade bread and yogurt (cultured from dry milk powder) almost every day. I haven't died of malnutrition yet. Why is it that people living in systematically mandated poverty have no access to garden plots!? That leaves most of my miniscule, unearned, social-parasite income for books and materials for my work in the fine crafts -- "uneconomic" production, people moue glibly, greedily, in fake comaraderie; badgering me to sell, offering me packs of cigarettes for fifty hours labour. Go where your heart and reason lead and break the rules, or acquiesce. You do have that choice. If even a few would come together, people can get by on so little -- fuck the solar panels, they're just another trap -- and everybody grew a lot of everything, like the townspeople in Jerome Bixby's, 'It's a *Good* Life', our choiceless world being a resounding metaphor for Bixbay's grey nothingness outside the village -- even with climate change, there'd probably always be enough of *something* to eat. That means all their (our) time is OURS, for prideful, passionate work, me in textiles, you in whatever. Once one has her/his tools, which pretty much everyone can get one way or another, usually legally, and a garden, you're fixed! What's wrong with poverty? "My mind to me a kingdon is, such present joy therein I find." We need to reclaim our lives and our integrity.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-77185070626859788612013-03-25T10:29:24.980+01:002013-03-25T10:29:24.980+01:00Hi Steve. As I mentioned above ... I'm not ove...Hi Steve. As I mentioned above ... I'm not overly worried. They reckon it will take 10 years to build, so we can perhaps double that, or even triple it if there are lots of protests. By then the scale of the cost will seem astronomically unaffordable. <br /><br />I only really mentioned it to shed some light on the kind of debate going on here.Jason Heppenstallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17886109260870545074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-16131686116914834502013-03-25T10:26:58.014+01:002013-03-25T10:26:58.014+01:00Ozarks? Is that where that movie 'Winters Bone...Ozarks? Is that where that movie 'Winters Bone' is set? Looks interesting ...<br /><br />I'll be following with interest. Would love to visit one day.Jason Heppenstallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17886109260870545074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-80394039385365198752013-03-25T10:25:16.472+01:002013-03-25T10:25:16.472+01:00Thanks Phil. The only tree I've managed to pla...Thanks Phil. The only tree I've managed to plant so far is a half-dead Christmas tree bought from a supermarket in Copenhagen 3 years ago. I've been so sick with fu since then that I've hardly been outside - a real welcome return!<br /><br />Feeling better now, after some Chinese herbal medicine that cost and arm and a leg.Jason Heppenstallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17886109260870545074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-21941488310672352642013-03-25T10:08:00.548+01:002013-03-25T10:08:00.548+01:00Never fear - apparently a ship-load of LNG has jus...Never fear - apparently a ship-load of LNG has just arrived from Quatar. Phew - anyone would think the msm are playing false jeopardy with us.Jason Heppenstallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17886109260870545074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-34979058141111686162013-03-25T10:06:29.974+01:002013-03-25T10:06:29.974+01:00Thanks Brian. I'm not doing anything too radic...Thanks Brian. I'm not doing anything too radical imo. Neoprimitivism is out for me. If it were just me on my own then maybe I would be living in the bushes and eating squirrels. Having a family puts some limits on what I would like to do and what I am able to do.<br /><br />Jason Heppenstallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17886109260870545074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-65882168087762516722013-03-25T10:02:53.845+01:002013-03-25T10:02:53.845+01:00I'm not too worried about the nuclear being bu...I'm not too worried about the nuclear being built out. I doubt it will ever be affordable.<br /><br />I have plenty of resources to deal with the cold. I can get wood from my woodland and I have snapped up two very efficient cast iron wood burners in Denmark. Nobody makes efficient stoves like the Scandinavians do - for them it's (historically) been a matter of life and death to make sure yours stove is efficient. Jason Heppenstallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17886109260870545074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-48402484204109474182013-03-25T02:24:57.212+01:002013-03-25T02:24:57.212+01:00Running out of gas? hmmm... Sounds like the start ...Running out of gas? hmmm... Sounds like the start of an Alex Scarrow thriller: Last Light, Afterlight.russell1200https://www.blogger.com/profile/16258915475311426433noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-67390718849335317212013-03-23T21:18:46.575+01:002013-03-23T21:18:46.575+01:00Hi Jason, welcome back to blighty to you and your ...Hi Jason, welcome back to blighty to you and your family. I've been hard at it planting cherry trees, plums, hazlenuts and an assortment of berries over the last month in my garden and allotment and now look forward to reading how your food forest develops. <br /><br />Phil Espinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03291438294869499059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-39054803377377510402013-03-23T13:47:59.748+01:002013-03-23T13:47:59.748+01:00Thanks for the plug Jason.
Glad to hear you'...Thanks for the plug Jason. <br /><br />Glad to hear you've made it back to your magical homeland. You've embarked on another great journey. Yet this time it seems the opposite of your nomadic ways. I'm looking forward to seeing how the hobbit house in your woodland foxland turns out. You're an inspiration to us all. I wish we were on the same side of the pond. <br /><br />The Foxstead project hit some speed bumps, but it's still got traction. Seems we may end up in NE Texas for a bit before arriving in Arkansas. We've got a new member offering up 40 something acres. Seems water is the problem due to overall drought in Texas...but you can't look a gift horse in the mouth. Arkansas is definitely the last great frontier in the states. Undeveloped Ozarks which can be had for 17 to 18 grand an acre. We'll see what happens.<br /><br />If anybody reading this is interested in what we are doing with the Foxstead project, you can find out about it at doomsteaddiner.org. Go to the forum and look for the "community owned doomstead" thread. Luciddreamshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02128676983998762432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-59815186714937785182013-03-23T01:27:32.527+01:002013-03-23T01:27:32.527+01:00Jason; I wouldn't sweat the nuke too much. The...Jason; I wouldn't sweat the nuke too much. They are very expensive, way beyond the initial sticker price,and even if the guaranteed rates deal goes through, financial liability backing is getting to be a tough hurdle as well. did the gov't aproval include for that, or was it simply permitting? During the last portion of the nuke buildout here in the States, there were many nukes that got started and never finished. Some were all the way up to ready for fuel, and still got mothballed. The general financial climate is much weorse now, so I will be surprised if any more get built. There are actually two being built right now, the first in thirty years or so, but I bet they never finish. Steve Carrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11706114439618856525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-21014213793443753362013-03-22T23:17:48.530+01:002013-03-22T23:17:48.530+01:00I must say that when I first started reading your ...I must say that when I first started reading your blog, I was a bit scared. Recently, one of the other peak aware people on the web I had been following, KMO of the C-Realm podcast, had left his powered down living space for New York City. I had just recently downsized my own life and thought to myself that if everyone was doing the opposite after doing what I had just decided to do, then maybe I had made a huge mistake. I have to admit that early on in the blog, you were playing coy with your readers by not initially telling the whole story as to why you left Spain. I am glad you made it back to a happier space and I feel a little more secure in my own life decision. -Brian @ theemergist.wordpress.comAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-60204553801845404202013-03-22T23:17:41.296+01:002013-03-22T23:17:41.296+01:00Heard about the nuclear plants, but the source sai...Heard about the nuclear plants, but the source said no one was likely to spend the money so its all conceptual. If the UK's lucky the Uranium will run out before the electricity does. <br /><br />How are you going to deal with the cold? Firewood and a rocket mass heater sounds like the best option. Also theirs gravity lights being built and designed in the UK. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07113030328290684028noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-56413667733651473792013-03-22T18:26:07.093+01:002013-03-22T18:26:07.093+01:00The UK, economy-wise, feels like some kind of twil...The UK, economy-wise, feels like some kind of twilight zone. On the one hand we are seeing the rise of extreme poverty, and on the other it is BAU and people are driving round in their new BMWs and talking about holidays in Florida. <br /><br />My wife went down to the job centre yesterday and asked if there were any jobs. There are plenty, she was told, and could more or less expect to pick one up within a week or so. <br /><br />The UK economy might be on a downward trajectory, but let's not forget it is also one of the world's richest, and all that money isn't going to disappear overnight.Jason Heppenstallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17886109260870545074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-46616294416046671212013-03-22T17:18:01.122+01:002013-03-22T17:18:01.122+01:00I've been watching the nuclear power debate wi...I've been watching the nuclear power debate with interest. Like you, I left the UK thirteen years ago and came to California. We've been considering Cornwall ourselves, my wife just got back from spending eight weeks there. She loved the area but was shocked at how badly the UK economy is faring.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-62492787089394366252013-03-22T16:02:21.124+01:002013-03-22T16:02:21.124+01:00I like the steel-meshed cage analogy and can remem...I like the steel-meshed cage analogy and can remember them well! As far as the nuclear reactor goes, well it's not a done deal yet because they are arguing over costs. That's an argument that will likely escalate - and then there are the 10+ years it will take to build the thing. Did I mention that there's already a nuclear power station there? It's smaller than the one they are planning, but it's quite far from me, really - about 200 miles to the east - and the winds tend to come out of the west. <br /><br />Intentional community? You should have a word with Aaron aka LucidDreams at emtmusings@blogspot.com.Jason Heppenstallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17886109260870545074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-74143768154871239672013-03-22T15:51:52.407+01:002013-03-22T15:51:52.407+01:00Hard news about the nuclear reactor. The sort of ...Hard news about the nuclear reactor. The sort of thing that settles in your gut like something you can't digest and can't vomit. I had got to the seriously intending stage of moving to a starting-up intentional community in NB (Canada) only to realize the location was fewer than fifty miles from Atlantic Canada's only nuclear power plant. Frustrating. People don't seem to realize that if the electricity fails for only a couple of weeks, those things are started on an irretrievable course of meltdown. It's blowing a gale now where I am that is fiercer than anything I have ever experienced, the latter including a couple of tropical hurricanes. Multiple trees down, local structures not even wholly repaired from the last big blow several weeks ago when a couple of roofs came off in their entirety, poof, yet to see what this tree-battering demon will have done. I just watched a plank of vinyl siding come loose from a nearby building and go up, up, up, in the updraft, up over the Bay, thousands of feet amazingly up it went, a whole plank of vinyl siding, still going up when I lost sight of it. While it snows and snows on the Mainland, and your own warm Guernsey drifts over. This is happening much faster than any of the projections I've read. We're in a psychotic carnival, one of those cheap, shoddy fairs on a huge tarmacked parking lot, and the ride we chose is spinning faster and faster and we can't get off. I remember those caged ferris wheels that tumble you over and over while going round and round and half the riders scream to the carnie from their puke-stinking steel-meshed cages, letusoff!, letusoff!, and the carnie doesn't even blink. You might consider relocating to Newfoundland. There are a lot of abandoned outports, accessible only by boat, where a determined group could hunker down and watch what's coming. My guess is that the best place to be will be the least populated. Let me know if you can find like minds and want to come. I'll join you. I can contribute horticultural and textile skills.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com