The Greatest Luxury In The World

Few people realize that one of the greatest luxuries in the world is a good night's sleep.  Anyone who suffers from insomnia, noisy neighbors, chronic pain, a needy newborn, nightmares, being BROKE AS FUCK, or any other sleep-depriving condition will tell you: proper rest is priceless.  To bastardize the old triple-negative joke...


Good sleep is like sex: it's not important unless you aren't getting any.


Recall a time in your own memory when you couldn't get enough sleep... hopefully it wasn't last night.  Remember the frustration while trying?  Remember staring at the clock and dreading the alarm?  Remember blurry days of headaches, sluggishness, and dozing off?  Shitty...


My time living on a little boat anchored in exposed places gave me a deeper appreciation of good sleep.  Whatever the ocean was doing dictated whether or not I slept: it was out of my control.  If the sea was rough, and the boat swung about erratically, there was little chance of getting any sleep.  I couldn't read because it would make me more nauseous. Sometimes I'd swim or row myself ashore and pass out on the beach, but usually I'd just spend the night lying on the floor of the boat (the coolest and calmest spot!) yet feeling far from it.


The sea state wasn't the only thing that robbed me of sleep on my boat trip.   At different times high winds, electrical storms, general uncertainty, and the fear of midnight marauders kept me up.  Though I don't claim anything like a true appreciation of HUNGER, there were a few nights when feeling starved and not knowing where my next meal would come from kept me up.  I think that's part of the reason I'm so gung ho about stockpiling food at the moment.


I don't know real hunger because on that trip there was always the safety net of throwing in the towel, ditching the boat, crying for help from parents and friends, and heading back to the good ol' USA.  No matter how bad it got, there was always another option.  No matter how RESTLESS I became, in the back of my mind there was always a way out.


Unfortunately, people in real dire straits don't have the luxury of good sleep or additional options.  I look at the growing poverty and uncertainty here in the USA and I realize most Americans don't have a way out of the sleep-depriving conditions they're experiencing.  Lost jobs, lost homes, lost futures, unpayable bills, legal troubles, sick kids, growing crime, and on and on... 


Right now, 77% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck and are one personal setback away from deeper suffering.  In this environment, one little snafu can sink a person deeper in debt with no reasonable way of repaying it.


Fortunately, tonight I slept well until 3 a.m.  when I found myself wide awake and angry.  I awoke from a rare Zombie warfare dream.  I was one of many people stuck in a city overrun by hordes of bloodthirsty subhuman monsters.  For some reason, spraypaint was very useful in killing them.  At one point the drama subsided and we survivors decided to have movie night.  All Hell broke loose when flaming zombies broke through defenses and ran through the crowded theater... not good not good.

Ummm, NO.  How about PLAN C instead?!?

Now, I wouldn't exactly call this a nightmare - more of a subconscious training exercise - but it was still an unwelcome dream because I don't personally want to be haunted by the dominant fear of our culture.


The dominant fear?  Sure: Zombies.  Bottom line, whether they admit it or not, most people hardly know and do not trust their neighbors.  They are also, whether they admit it or not, nervous about an extremely uncertain future.  One way to deal with these fears is to embody them in a mythical creature.  This is why post-apocalyptic zombie movies have been so popular lately... the concept of uncontrollable, ruthless consumers resonates with real world fears.


After all, what is a zombie if not a sleep-deprived, unhealthy, disheveled, disenfranchised, and discontent consumer?!  Sure they stumble around practicing cannibalism, but how many wouldn't rather have a delicious, malnutritious fast food hamburger...


The irony of our current situation is that unchecked desires for frivolous luxuries are taking away the true, free, and easy luxuries offered by righteous living.  All the greedy assholes out there are officially ruining it for the rest of humanity, both present and future.


A secure environment.  A trustworthy society.  Good friends.  Good times... and above all else, Good sleep: these are the truly important things.  Could someone tell that to the greedy dipshits digging our mass graves?!


In these uncertain times, one thing is certain: from the moment their whole scheme starts unraveling until they enter the Big Sleep, those responsible won't catch hardly a wink.  Their own consciences will guarantee that.  All the disenfranchised consumers (zombies!) will guarantee that.


So, dear reader, I implore you this: if you one day find yourself looking like a zombie, please make an effort to only eat the brains responsible for our cluster fuck.  Don't take your frustrations out on your fellow zombies.  We're all in this together.


Me?  My conscience is clean.  Til' the day I die I'll sleep like a baby... except, of course, when I'm WIDE AWAKE.


PEACE.

Industry Experts Ring The Alarm: We're About to Drop Off Oil's Production Peak Plateau

PLEASE READ THE SUMMARIZED INTERVIEW BELOW DR. ROBERT L. HIRSCH'S CREDENTIALS.

Dr. Robert L Hirsch casually swearing to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

-Dr. Robert L Hirsch, author of the Hirsch Report, commissioned under the Bush Department of Energy circa 2005, Senior Energy Program Advisor, SAIC (World oil production), Senior Energy Analyst, RAND (Various energy studies), Vice President of the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), Vice President and Manager of Research and Technical Services for Atlantic Richfield Co. (ARCO) (Oil and gas exploration and production), Founder and CEO of APTI, a roughly $50 million/year company now owned by BAE Systems. (Commercial & Defense Department technologies), Manager of Exxon’s synthetic fuels research laboratory, Manager of Petroleum Exploratory Research at Exxon. (Refining R & D), Assistant Administrator of the U.S. Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA) responsible for renewables, fusion, geothermal and basic research. (Presidential Appointment), Director of fusion research at the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission and ERDA.

In short, Mr. Hirsch knows his shit.  If you think otherwise, YOU don't know shit.

Recent Interview About RL Hirsch's upcoming book The Impending World Energy Mess... available October 1st, 2010.

Interviewer: In the book that you are about to publish, your case is that ‘peak oil’ may happen very soon indeed. According to you, when might we be getting into trouble ? In ten years, in less than ten years ?

Hirsch: Let me begin with this : the background is the production. World oil production had been progressing and then it’s been flat, fluctuating, since the middle of 2004 : it’s been on a ‘plateau’. The economic recession led to a decline in demand, but not much.

Interviewer: The world demand is going up again. It’s back to where it was before the beginning of the crisis in 2008.

Hirsch: Correct. And the oil production fluctuates in a band of 4 or 5 %. It’s not very big. I think that the world oil production cannot go higher than that.

Interviewer: What is your hypothesis ?

Hirsch: We will stay in this band, and within 2 to 5 years, world oil production will go into decline.

Interviewer: So you have in mind the same terrible scenario which has recently been put forward by the Pentagon, the Lloyd’s and Chatham House, and by the German army.

Hirsch: Roughly, yes.

Interviewer: The Department of Energy too mentions a fluctuating, or “undulating” plateau of the oil production. Are you talking about the same thing?

Hirsch: The difference is that they say we will get to that plateau somewhere in the future. But we are already there! And if you look at the data, there’s no question we’re there.

Interviewer: A decline of world oil production within 2 to 5 years. What would happen if you’re right?

Hirsch: It’s going to be a mess, and all of a sudden it’ll be obvious.

THE WHOLE INTERVIEW IS AVAILABLE HERE...

A SUMMARY OF HIRSCH'S COMING BOOK IS AVAILABLE HERE...

FOR MORE ON THE OIL PLATEAU GO HERE... 

The Roots of Our Discontent

As I've learned from recent comments, many of you think I'm a paranoid conspiracy theorist or wanna-be doomsday prophet.  Given all the mainstream and alternative press devoted to crackpot theories, your assumption is understandable.


With all the disinformation being spread, it's easy to lump a THINKER like me with the Mayan Calender literalists, Bible literalists, Koran literalists, stereotypical survivalists, whiney bitch liberals, infinite-growth economists, or other DOGMATIC WACKOS.

Perhaps you picture me hunkered down fearfully awaiting a shift in Earth's magnetic field, the eruption of the Yellowstone Caldera, a large meteorite impact, a plague of biblical proportions, or some other massive natural disaster.


That couldn't be any further from the TRUTH.  I couldn't CARE LESS about those commonly held fears. 


My concerns for our collective future have nothing to do with ancient prophecies, astrology, religion, or some variation on god's revenge.  None of us has any control over solar flares, planetary magnetism, super-volcanoes, meteorites, etc.  If one of these commonly feared things were to take us down, I could die happily knowing it wasn't our fault. 


After all,

.

What gets my goat is our collective failure to address glaringly obvious and inevitably catastrophic problems we do have control over.


These problems aren't new or overly-complicated.  We've had solid knowledge confirming their existence for decades.  Hell, these problems are so apparent a clued-in person can hardly escape their awareness... and being aware of them is very painful.  It's no wonder most people spend very little time THINKING about the big picture.


Fortunately, - over the last FIVE DECADES - numerous wise people have addressed these problems and offered brilliant solutions.


Sadly, the rest of us have largely ignored these problems as we ignore so many other inconvenient and uncomfortable truths about OURSELVES.

Here in the USA, the ROOTS of our catastrophic problems are simple and few:


1) Unrealistic economic models,
and
2) Absurdly wasteful ways of life.  Please let me explain...

The inherently flawed Dream in which We Americans have placed our hope is rooted in the concept of INFINITE GROWTH.   Dr. Seuss once explained this to the kid in all of us:

"Business is Business and Business must grow."

The road to INFINITE GROWTH is paved with short-sighted development, wasteful resource consumption, and the buying and selling of a whole lot of unnecessary shit.

INFINITE growth is impossible on a FINITE planet.

The more we develop, the more we destroy.

The wealthier we become, the more we waste.

The faster we move, the more we pollute.

The stronger we git, the more we suffer from arrogance.

Most importantly, the deeper we dig, the less we have left.  

No sane human denies that Our Nation is entirely dependent upon absurd quantities of fossil fuels.  The same TRUTH applies to all industrialized nations.  WE ARE ALL using up massive amounts of irreplaceable energy.


This energy MUST flow perpetually from reliable sources.


If supply can't meet demand, things get ugly.  Shortages result, prices go up, economies flounder, conflicts intensify, "quality of life" drops, and the poorest people suffer most.  Worst case scenario international conflicts escalate which further limits available supply and perpetuates human suffering.


In a modern war - economic or escalated - one of the most effective strategies is to cut off your enemy's energy supply.  History shows this tactic's success countless times.

Not a baby food factory.

Many a castle was seiged with STARVATION.
Many a city overrun by BLOCKADE.
Many a nation crushed through EMBARGO.  
Many a corporation crippled by SUPPLY CHAIN SABOTAGE.


History's most dramatic reminder of this tactic's success is the Nazi defeat in WWII.  A crucial turning point came when well orchestrated Allied bombing cut Axis oil supplies by up to 80%.


After that, the Nazis could barely afford to fly their planes, drive their cars, heat their homes, or run their country, let alone fight a WORLD WAR.

GAME OVER FOR HITLER.

The obvious targets in a MODERN RESOURCE WAR - which could quickly escalate into WWIII - would be oil wells, refineries, pipelines, ports, tanker ships, mines, railways, etc.  Here in the US, much of our energy comes from far flung points on the Earth, offering ample opportunity for enemies to fuck with our shit.

Figures on this 2008 map are in thousands of barrels per day.  Note that the US imported over 60% of the oil it consumed in 2007.  Also note that our known domestic reserves will be entirely depleted in ~10 years if we maintain 2008 rates of production.  If things stay close to the same, by 2020 we will have to import almost 100% of all oil we use.


Clearly things CANNOT stay the same.

Concern over the obvious issue of oil dependency is the reason why many of our most enlightened scientific and political leaders have been SCREAMING - for decades - ...

"WE NEED TO GET OFF FOREIGN OIL."

Even the MORONS have addressed the importance of decreasing our dependence.  In fact, all of our last 8 PRESIDENTS have publicly acknowledged the issue.  Notice that though they made ridiculous claims to the contrary, our dependence on foreign oil has increased steadily.  Check it:


President Richard Nixon (in 1974 with 36.1% of oil from foreign sources): “At the end of this decade, in the year 1980, the United States will not be dependent on any other country for the energy we need.”

President Gerald Ford (in 1975 with 36.1% of oil from foreign sources): “We must reduce oil imports by one million barrels per day by the end of this year and by two million barrels per day by the end of 1977.”

President Jimmy Carter (1979, 40.5% of oil from foreign sources): “Beginning this moment, this nation will never use more foreign oil than we did in 1977 – never.”

President Ronald Reagan (1981, 43.6% of oil from foreign sources): “While conservation is worthy in itself, the best answer is to try to make us independent of outside sources to the greatest extent possible for our energy.”

President George Bush (1992, 47.2% of oil from foreign sources): “When our administration developed our national energy strategy, three principles guided our policy: reducing our dependence on foreign oil,…”

President Bill Clinton (1995, 49.8% of oil from foreign sources): “The nation’s growing reliance on imports of oil… threatens the nation’s security… [we] will continue efforts to…enhance domestic energy production.”

President George W. Bush (2006, 65.5% of oil from foreign sources): “Breakthroughs…will help us reach another great goal: to replace more than 75 percent of our oil imports from the Middle East by 2025.”

President Barack Obama (2009, 66.2% of oil from foreign sources) “It will be the policy of my administration to reverse our dependence on foreign oil while building a new energy economy that will create millions of jobs.”


But We haven't changed anything. We haven't even made a legitimate effort.


In fact - and this is what really SCARES ME - the brunt of Humanity is DOZING OFF as we sink beyond oil's global production peak.  On the downslope of this predictable bell curve the supply of oil available at any future point in time is guaranteed to be less than we currently extract.

This isn't rocket science.  It's basic supply chain management.  BELIEVE IT!


If you need proof, history provides a very clear example of the bell curve oil production follows.  All we have to do is look at US domestic oil production because that PEAKED in 1971.

We're also offered rather conclusive proof that GOOD POPULAR MUSIC is a thing of the PAST.  There's no denying that. ;-)


Here's an interesting graph that lists important countries' oil peaks and factors that into the bigger picture of overall global supply.  Each individual country's DOCUMENTED peak year is listed after it's name.  Note that Alaska is listed separately from the United States, and that it's peak production year came way back in 1989.

By these numbers we're ALREADY A FEW YEARS PAST PEAK OIL PRODUCTION and the downward tend of decreasing production is accelerating.  Since oil is crucial to INFINITE GROWTH ECONOMICS this timing meshes well with the GLOBAL ECONOMIC DEPRESSION we've been experiencing lately.


So yeah, US Oil Production peaked long ago and GLOBAL Oil Production is currently at or beyond it's peak.  There is absolutely NO DOUBT that the amount of oil available at any given future point in time is going to DECREASE both RAPIDLY and SIGNIFICANTLY.  No matter what we do, no matter what technology we develop, no matter how badly we trash the planet trying to suck every last drop of retrievable oil from it, we are guaranteed shortages of our most crucial resource.  That's just the way it is here on a FINITE PLANET.


I'm sorry to burst your precious little bubble of HOPE, but TRUTH is more important.


Meanwhile, global demand for energy is SKYROCKETING as rampantly developing countries - most notably China - mimic our American example and embrace an energy-intensive, CONSUMERISM-based society.

Notice that Chinese energy consumption DOUBLED in the last DECADE.

Now, returning to OIL in particular, let's look at Chinese consumption for the recent past.

Between 1980 and 2006, Chinese oil consumption QUADRUPLED!


If we look at future projections, we witness the TRAGIC DISCONNECT between PLANNING and REALITY which is at the root of our CURRENT DEPRESSION and could very well catapult humanity into WORLD WAR III.

These projections are from 2009.


Despite the fact that we are now at or beyond PEAK OIL, the US Energy Information Administration is putting out blatantly impossible projections of future oil consumption.  SInce  we are already using the maximum amount of oil that we can extract from Planet Earth at any given point in time, it is UTTERLY IMPOSSIBLE for any country to increase their oil consumption beyond current levels without TAKING IT FROM SOMEONE ELSE.  


Take your pick.

Source: BP Statistical Review of World Energy.


An honest projection out to 2030 predicts global oil consumption at LESS THAN HALF of current levels.  In the near future, every nation is going to feel a big pinch in their energy flow.  Instead of voluntarily changing lifestyles to embrace the new reality, a more likely scenario involves more of the same fighting for OIL.


OIL supply goes DOWN.  CONFLICTS over oil go UP.  Guaranteed.


This situation poses a potentially catastrophic dilemma.  Around the world, ~7 billion people not only need OIL to eat, but growing numbers of them are also firm believers in the inherently flawed philosophy of INFINITE GROWTH and the WASTEFUL LIVING prompted by CONSUMERISM.


Our media machine has been pumping out FLASHY BULLSHIT for decades, and the rest of the world has bought into the tragic concept of INFINITE GROWTH under the guise of the GOOD LIFE, aka THE AMERICAN DREAM.


Here in the HOMELAND, we're now starting to suffer for a century of serving as such a BAD EXAMPLE.  What goes around comes around, and this one is guaranteed to bite us all in the ass.


It's frightening to speculate what happens once demand drastically eclipses supply, but many people have looked to the future and offer LOGICAL predictions.  On this site, OILFREEFUN, I will now start offering my own predictions along with suggestions of what we can do as individuals to minimize this catastrophic trend while preparing personally for the worst.


Crazy?  Perhaps... but nowhere near as crazy as INFINITE GROWTH ECONOMICS or the ABSURDLY WASTEFUL LIVES which most of out countrymen have "chosen".


If you're still reading, I'm sure many of you are skeptical and pondering how alternatives to oil factor into the big picture.  My own personal reasoning is this...


If some other source could meet the need that oil currently fills for us, do you think we'd be fighting perpetually to maintain our supply of foreign oil?  If there wasn't oil in the Middle East, none of us would care remotely what happened there.  This war began a long time ago and will continue for a long time into the future.  It is being fought entirely because of OIL.

The fact that we've fought so long and so hard for oil provides ME with all the proof I need to BELIEVE that nothing can realistically replace it.  If there was any other viable option to "Keep America Rolling", I'm confident that our economic and political leaders would have embraced it long ago.  After all, Our Presidents have been soap boxing energy independence for 40 YEARS.


Sadly, THERE IS NO OTHER VIABLE ENERGY SOURCE which is why we get a bunch of BULLSHIT regarding national energy policy.

Coal and Natural Gas can be turned into liquid fuels but the process is very costly and wasteful.    Also, reserves of these fossil fuels are nowhere near sufficient to do what they do for us now while replacing the energy deficit from decreasing oil availability.

Ethanol offers a false hope because it takes huge expanses of farmland and massive amounts of water and fossil fuel energy to produce.  If anything, ethanol production exacerbates our current predicament, contributes to climate change, artificially inflates global food prices, and takes food from the mouths of people who are already starving.  You don't have to take my word for it:

Time Magazine, April 7th. 2008 

Solar, Wind, Hydroelectric, Tidal, and Geothermal power are great, but there is absolutely NO POSSIBILITY of these sources coming anywhere close to meeting our current energy needs.  Right now, the US gets 6% of it's energy from renewable and "clean" energy sources.

Source: NPR, 2009

Unless we somehow come up with TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS WORTH OF NEW ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE almost OVERNIGHT, there is no way clean energy is going to fill the growing void left by decreasing oil supplies.  No other energy source comes close to providing what oil does and no energy source ever will.

If you did your homework, you know that...

THE ONLY TRUE SUBSTITUTE FOR OIL IS A DRASTICALLY DIFFERENT LIFESTYLE.


SUSTAINABILITY gets plenty of lip service, but most people don't even understand what "sustainable" means.  Almost all "green" initiatives are short-sighted loads of crap.

If you haven't personally felt the pinch yet, remember that in a global perspective we in the United States are still relatively rich.  That said, even here in Teton County, Wyoming - the wealthiest county in the United States - many people struggle to find jobs, pay bills, and get by.  Meanwhile, the big buckaroos who've settled here for cushy tax purposes have got more money than they could ever spend.


The NEW DEPRESSION is going to get MUCH WORSE and the gap between rich and poor will continue to grow to UNPRECEDENTED LEVELS.

INCREASING INEQUALITY coupled with RESOURCE SCARCITY and UNAVOIDABLE INTERNATIONAL CONFLICT at a time when the PARADIGM OF INFINITE GROWTH HAS NO OTHER OPTION BUT TO SHIFT is the recipe for MASSIVE GLOBAL CHANGE.


While this change certainly won't be pretty, it doesn't have to be deadly.  Keep reading and I'll do my best to help keep you at least a few steps ahead of the HERD.


PEACE.

Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps

If you need a reminder of how sleazy scheisters on Wall Street are bankrupting America, maybe you should check out the movie Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps which opens tomorrow.

I don't know if it's any good, but I'll bet that it is.

 No matter how unrealistic or outlandish it seems, rest assured a movie like this is rooted firmly in our real world.  After all, Director Oliver Stone is the man behind eye-opening classics like PLATOON.

In the original Wall Street (1987), a greedy inside trader named Gordon Gekko gets busted for attempting to break up an airline so he can plunder the workers' retirement fund.

Sounds familiar... prophetic, even.

In Wall Street 2, Gekko is back on the street and apparently hasn't learned that his underlying philosophy, "Greed is Good", has some serious flaws.

If you see the film, make an effort to analyze Gordon Gekko as a person. Then ask yourself how many guys just like him are out there fucking with our collective financial futures.  If you're feeling really sassy, acknowledge their existence and start raising awareness of how they should be dealt with.  PEACE.

One Year Food Supply Love Nest! As Easy As...

...one mattress, two dogs, and $1500 in canned calories.

Now that I've got a HOME again, I recently spent $1500 building a solid bed.

The mattress was free.  My lady supplied the sheets.  And I dropped $1500 on the frame, which we made from two "one year food kits" recently purchased online from SamsClub.com.  Shipping, amazingly, was only about 90 dollars.

Go ahead and declare me "nutty as a squirrel fart"... but please keep reading.

Today FedEx delivered 26 packages, each containing 6 large cans of assorted FREEZE DRIED foods.  The friendly delivery man didn't think I was crazy.  In fact, he said he drops off a food supply somewhere almost every day.

All 156 cans of food have a 20-30 year shelf life.  Each of the kits is designed to supply one adult with all the nutrients they need to live healthily for one year.  Just add CLEAN water.

I did my homework and think I found the best package at BY FAR the best price.  If you're planning for an unpredictable future on a tight budget, this article should serve you well.  Especially if you can stomach patronizing MALL*WART and supporting the Mormon-Run "Auguson Farms" brand which makes this kit.

Personally, I've got no problem with Mormons.  Like me, they're nutty in their own way.  To each his own.  One thing's for sure: collectively, the Mormons have a heck of a lot squirreled away in expectation of rainier days.

The kits' ingredients are generally healthy and there are NO ARTIFICIAL PRESERVATIVES.  For example, a can of freeze-dried raspberries has only one ingredient: RASPBERRIES.  Assuming the berries were well washed, that's pretty good shit.

Here's the official product description.  Please scan through it and note what's included.

Augason Farms™ Food Storage One Year Kit includes all the food nutrition for one person for a full year. The kit includes a wheat grinder and a total of 78 #10 (institutional size) cans, which are:

3 Long Grain White Rice (47 servings per can)

9 Hard White Wheat (54 servings per can)

3 Spaghetti (25 servings per can)

6 Dehydrated Potato Dices (22 servings per can)

3 Freeze Dried Sweet Corn (15 servings per can)

3 Freeze Dried Sweet Peas (13 servings per can)

3 Dehydrated Chopped Onions (653 servings per can)

1 Dehydrated Green Beans (24 servings per can)

1 Freeze Dried Broccoli Florets & Stems (20 servings per can)

3 Freeze Dried Apple Dices (11 servings per can)

3 Freeze Dried Whole Strawberries (22 servings per can)

1 Freeze Dried Whole Raspberries (20 servings per can)

3 Honey Coated Banana Slices (21 servings per can)

3 100% Country Fresh Instant Milk (39 servings per can)

3 Chocolate Morning Moo’s® Low Fat Milk Alternative (61 servings per can)

3 Cheese Blend Powder (45 servings per can)

6 Vegetarian Meat Substitute Bacon (flavored) (188 servings per can)

3 Vegetarian Meat Substitute Beef (flavored) (40 servings per can)

3 Vegetarian Meat Substitute Chicken (flavored) (45 servings per can)

3 Vegetarian Meat Substitute Taco (flavored) (33 servings per can)

3 Pinto Beans (47 servings per can)

3 Lentils (49 servings per can)

3 Dried Whole Eggs (56 servings per can)

I hope the CHEESE BLEND POWDER is bearable. Regardless of quality, at least it's my own.  History shows ya can't stand your ground when fueled by...

It may not make sense to you, but to me investing much of my "wealth" in long-shelf-life food makes perfect sense.  This under-appreciated video sums up the situation quite nicely and with minimal doom and gloom.  You might even catch yourself laughing.

The numbers back this guy up.  Even before all the bullshit hit the fan - when economic life was fine and dandy - food prices were growing like crazy.

Overall Food Prices (US$) Up 75 Percent Since 2000.. graph ends in 2007.

    Source: World Bank, DECPG

The following chart gives a pretty good idea of where food prices have gone from 2007 until recently.  It shows what $100 invested in March of 2007 was worth come February 2010.  Over a span where the S&P 500 lost 1/5th (20%) of it's value, agri-food stocks grew by a whopping 4/5ths or 80%!

Regading the immediate past, CORN prices have increased by ~30% in the last three months.  Over that same time span the Dow, S&P 500, and NASDAQ indexes have all risen by less than 5%.  Remember that due to it's use in ethanol production, corn is the foundation of the US agricultural sector and that when it's price rises, all other food prices rise as well.

Food Production is becoming more costly, and global demand is increasing as developing countries strive to embrace a more "American" diet.

Nothing edible is going to get any cheaper in the foreseeable future, and I know many of us are already dealing with painful grocery bills.

Whether we suffer an abrupt and total societal collapse or not, my tangible investment in food will certainly grow in value over the coming years. With a 20 to 30 year shelf-life, I rest assured that within a few years it'll be worth at least twice what I paid for it.  Best case scenario, five to ten years down the road, it'll be worth a lot more than that.

Worst case scenario, international commerce crumbles and this $1500 investment becomes PRICELESS.

If the REAL SHIT hits the fan, a friend and I have at least 365 days in the bank and one HELL of a TO DO list.  Unless some jackass succeeds in taking it away from me, this $1500 investment will give me the opportunity to embrace that reality and interact with it's makers.  I will be empowered to serve hot meals, hot beef, and hot lead.  Circumstances are sure to vary.

Anyway, back to logistics.  With two of us working together, carrying all this shit into the house and building a queen-size bed took about 10 minutes.  None of the boxes were too heavy for one person to easily carry.

We left a hole in the middle of the boxes because we didn't have enough for two complete levels.  Two old closet doors fit perfectly atop the "frame" of boxes.  An old sheet skirting the base would make it look like any other bed.

Not too shabby,eh?

An Old Door Minimizes Baseboard Heater Issues.

There's a baseboard heater next to the bed, so we took another old door and partitioned it off from the boxes.  This is to assure the food remains at optimal storage temperatures (55-75 degrees F) and doesn't suffer abrupt temperature swings which can also speed deterioration.

The mattress provides good insulation on top, assuring that - even on the hottest and coldest days - our food store remains at a relatively stable temp.

I'm stoked because the mattress sags less in the center than it did when perched atop a box spring.  Also, it's a lot less squeaky than the flimsy bullshit bed frame we used to have.  As Borat would say, "NICE!"

That's it for today.  Life is too short to waste it entirely in front of a goddamn computer.  Might as well go test the bed again...

PEACE.

Song of the Day:

Bob Marley, My Cup