The Boy Scout's Motto

When Peak oil comes...


U.S. Military Warns of Serious Oil Shortfall by 2015

In a frightening bit of news, the U.S. Joint Forces command recently issued a Joint Operating Environment report warning that surplus oil production capacity could vanish as soon as 2012, leading to serious oil shortages by 2015. Dire consequences, they predict, could follow quickly.
View attachment 9085

What they are essentially predicting is the onset of “peak oil”—the point at which the demand for oil will always be higher than the actual supply.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/04/16/1583194/us-military-warns-of-serious-oil.html

While it will be hard to predict exactly what will happen in the face of such a drastic sea change in the world’s energy supply, the report says “it surely would reduce the prospects for growth in both the developing and developed worlds.” It may cause fragile states to become failing states and failing states to collapse, while also causing major problems for overpopulated oil-guzzling states such as China and India.


Here in the U.S., the possibility of at least a difficult recession is very strong. The report notes, “One should not forget that the Great Depression spawned a number of totalitarian regimes that sought economic prosperity for their nations by ruthless conquest.”

If this were one study, it would be scary enough, but the report’s conclusion aligns with a peak oil study from Kuwait as well as an estimate done by billionaire Richard Branson’s energy taskforce.

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/04/16/1583194/us-military-warns-of-serious-oil.html#ixzz0lqRuucvo
 
no doubt the greenicks havent got any guns. When crap hits the fan armed thugs will just relief them of thier cosey little setup. stupidos.

Agreed, that's why Firearms should be the first thing on a prepper's list. You can't keep what you have if you can't protect it. Even if you hate guns you should at least own a shotgun or .22 rifle.

A survivalist tends to overcompensate on the self-defense category and that's why I don't call myself a survivalist. Prepardness is a mindset and a way of life focused around preparing for all situations INCLUDING if nothing happens at all.
 
no doubt the greenicks havent got any guns. When crap hits the fan armed thugs will just relief them of thier cosey little setup. stupidos.
 
No need to be a survivalist, it's a bit over-rated. It's better to be prepared by accumulating more of the stuff you already use, and slowly ween yourself off the government titty.


Crisis spurs spike in 'suburban survivalists'

AP foreign, Tuesday May 26 2009



GILLIAN FLACCUS
Associated Press Writer SAN DIEGO (AP) Six months ago, Jim Wiseman didn't even have a spare nutrition bar in his kitchen cabinet. Now, the 54-year-old businessman and father of five has a backup generator, a water filter, a grain mill and a 4-foot-tall pile of emergency food tucked in his home in the expensive San Diego suburb of La Jolla.

Wiseman isn't alone. Emergency supply retailers and military surplus stores nationwide have seen business boom in the past few months as an increasing number of Americans spooked by the economy rush to stock up on gear that was once the domain of hardcore survivalists.

These people snapping up everything from water purification tablets to thermal blankets shatter the survivalist stereotype: they are mostly urban professionals with mortgages, SUVs, solid jobs and a twinge of embarrassment about their newfound hobby.

From teachers to real estate agents, these budding emergency gurus say the dismal economy has made them prepare for financial collapse as if it were an oncoming Category 5 hurricane. They worry about rampant inflation, runs on banks, bare grocery shelves and widespread power failures that could make taps run dry.

For Wiseman, a fire protection contractor, that's meant spending roughly $20,000 since September on survival gear and trying to persuade others to do the same.

"The UPS guy drops things off and he sees my 4-by-8-by-6-foot pile of food and I say 'What are you doing to prepare, buddy?'" he said. "Because there won't be a thing left on any shelf of any supermarket in the country if people's confidence wavers."

The surge in interest in emergency stockpiling has been a bonanza for camping supply companies and military surplus vendors, some of whom report sales spikes of up to 50 percent. These companies usually cater to people preparing for earthquakes or hurricanes, but informal customer surveys now indicate the bump is from first-time shoppers who cite financial, not natural, disaster as their primary concern, they say.

Top sellers include 55-gallon water jugs, waterproof containers, freeze-dried foods, water filters, water purification tablets, glow sticks, lamp oil, thermal blankets, dust masks, first-aid kits and inexpensive tents.

Joe Branin, owner of the online emergency supply store Living Fresh, said he's seen a 700 percent increase in orders for water purification tablets in the past month and a similar increase in orders for sterile water pouches.
He is shipping meals ready to eat and food bars by the case to residential addresses nationwide.

"You're hearing from the people you will always hear from, who will build their own bunkers and stuff," he said. "But then you're hearing from people who usually wouldn't think about this, but now it's in their heads: 'What if something comes to the worst?'"

Online interest in survivalism has increased too. The niche Web site SurvivalBlog.com has seen its page views triple in the past 14 months to nearly 137,000 unique visitors a week. Jim Rawles, a self-described survivalist who runs the site, calls the newcomers "11th hour believers." He charges $100 an hour for phone consulting on emergency preparedness and says that business also has tripled.

"There's so many people who are concerned about the economy that there's a huge interest in preparedness, and it pretty much crosses all lines, social, economic, political and religious," he said. "There's a steep learning curve going on right now."

Art Markman, a cognitive psychologist, said he's not surprised by the reaction to the nation's financial woes — even though it may seem irrational. In an increasingly global and automated society, most people are dependent on strangers and systems they don't understand — and the human brain isn't programmed to work that way.

"We have no real causal understanding of the way our world works at all," said Markman, a professor at the University of Texas, Austin. "When times are good, you trust that things are working, but when times are bad you realize you don't have a clue what you would do if the supermarket didn't have goods on the shelves and that if the banks disappear, you have no idea where your money is."

Those preparing for the worst echo those thoughts and say learning to be self sufficient makes them feel more in control amid mounting uncertainty — even if it seems crazy to their friends and families.

Chris Macera, a 29-year-old IT systems administrator, said he started buying extra food to take advantage of sales after he lost his job and he was rehired elsewhere for $30,000 less.

But Macera, who works in suburban Orange County, said that over several months his mentality began to shift from saving money to preparing for possible financial mayhem. He is motivated, too, by memories of the government paralysis that followed Hurricane Katrina.

He now buys 15 pounds of meat at a time and freezes it, and buys wheat in 50-pound bags, mills it into flour and uses it to bake bread. He checks survivalist Web sites for advice at least once a day and listens to survival podcasts.

"You kind of have to sift through the people with their hats on a little bit too tight," said Macera, who said his colleagues tease him about the grain mill. "But I see a lot of things (on the Web) and they're real common sense-type things."

"I don't want to be a slave to anybody," he said. "The more systems you're dependent on, the more likely things are going to go bad for you."
That's a philosophy shared by Vincent Springer, a newcomer to emergency preparedness from the Chicago area.

Springer, a high school social studies teacher, says he's most worried about energy shortages and an economic breakdown that could paralyze the just-in-time supply chain that grocery stores rely on.
In the past few months, Springer has stockpiled enough freeze-dried food for three months and bought 72-hour emergency supply kits for himself, his wife and two young children. The 39-year-old is also teaching himself to can food.
"I'm not looking for a retreat in northern Idaho or any of that stuff, but I think there's more people like me out there and I think those numbers are growing," he said.
 
JTH, you forgot one last thing (from the same article) :laugh: You forgot the Survivaballs! ;)
slide_6155_81888_large.jpg
 
:worried: -the bike - what does it run on?
You don't expect me to [be able to] pedal that thing, do you ???? :toung: :rolleyes::p
 
From Birchtree's 1911 Boy Scout Handbook

View attachment 9058

Courage
It is horrible to be a coward. It is weak to yield to fear and heroic to face danger without flinching. The old Indian who had been mortally wounded faced death with a grim smile on his lips and sang his own death song. The soldier of the {249} Roman legions laughed in the face of death, and died often with a "Hail, Imperator!" for the Roman Caesar upon his lips. One of the stories connected with the battle of Agincourt tells us that four fair ladies had sent their knightly lovers into battle. One of these was killed. Another was made prisoner. The third was lost in the battle and never heard of afterward. The fourth was safe, but owed his safety to shameful flight. "Ah! woe is me," said the lady of this base knight, "for having placed my affections on a coward. He would have been dear to me dead. But alive he is my reproach." A scout must be as courageous as any knight of old or any Roman soldier or any dying Indian.
 
I'm moving in a month, and hope to get some decent ranch land in Texas. I plan on beginning a new lifestyle.

Living off the grid, urban-homesteading style, with the Dervaes family

View attachment 9054


It's trendy to go green, grow some vegetables in your back yard, have a few solar panels on the roof and drive a hybrid car.
Ten years ago, before green became the hot new movement, Jules Dervaes and his family decided to try and become almost fully sustainable.
Dervaes, 62, lives with his three adult children in a 1917 Craftsman house in North Pasadena that he purchased in 1984. A bit reminiscent of "The Little House on the Prairie," the mini farm of sorts is a stone's throw from the 210 freeway.

Eco-pioneers, the family is driven by an old-fashioned lifestyle in harmony with nature.

Jules refers to the place as an urban homestead and the project as the Path to Freedom.

"It's a journey toward self-sufficiency"

Anais Dervaes puts orange peels into a pot of marmalade that she is cooking with the help of her sister Jordanne. Jules Dervaes and his children have transformed a Pasadena Craftsman into an urban farm. They grow all of their own food, make their own fuel, and try to do as much as they can to be self-sustaining. Pasadena, CA 4/1/2010. (John McCoy/Staff Photographer) (John McCoy/Staff Photographer)


in the city," he says. "In the last 10 years, we've gone from 10 percent self-suffciency to 60 to 70 percent now. Our main dependency is on water, transportation, gas."


Jules cultivates one-tenth of an acre on his one-fifth of an acre property. Last year he grew 5,300 pounds of 350 different kinds of organic vegetables and fruits. Among them are broccoli, carrots, assorted greens, heirloom tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, daikon radishes and more, grown mostly from seeds, in the jam-packed raised beds in the back yard.
"We try to be gardeners in the city and live off the land. We have spring, summer and fall/winter gardens.

"I started a small vegetable garden for personal use in 1985," - and it's been multiplying ever since, says Jules who had a lawn maintenance business for several years.

In 1990, because of the drought, he turned his front yard into edible landscaping, planting wild flowers. Shortly thereafter, he launched a small edible flower business - "it was a new craze at the time" - selling flowers to a handful of local restaurants until 1999. "Until 2000 I was a hobby gardener."

But a decade ago he became much more serious about feeding not only his family but others. "It came in stages."
His daughter Anais, 35, manages the kitchen while Jordanne, 26, oversees care of the animals - eight chickens, five ducks and two goats. Justin, 31, gardens, waters and makes 30 gallons of biodiesel (green fuel) a month from waste vegetable oil collected from local restaurants. It is used to run the family's two diesel cars.

Jules, the manager, does a little bit of everything, including replanting the beds and picking the greens and produce sold to local restaurants.
Their 15-year-old business, Dervaes Gardens, grosses about $20,000 yearly in sales of organic produce and edible flowers to local restaurants, caterers and individuals. Among their clients are Marston's restaurant, Elements Cafe and Kitchen and Kitchen for Exploring Foods, all in Pasadena.

Jim McCardy, owner/chef of Marston's, began buying produce from the Dervaes family about six years ago when "they came to my back door at the restaurant and gave me samples of some lettuces which were incredible." Now "I get baby greens from them two or three times a week" in addition to other in-season produce including Meyer lemons, different types of Swiss chard, heirloom tomatoes and herbs.

"The things I get from them are used in the dinner menus" (the restaurant is open Wednesday through Saturday for dinner). Among the creations he makes with the produce are crispy goat cheese salad with pesto vinaigrette; grapefruit and avocado salad; tempura scallop salad with asparagus and peanut coconut dressing; heirloom tomatoes with greens, fresh mozzarella and pine nut lemon vinaigrette; swiss chard with roasted chicken; and sea scallops with Meyer lemon and chive sauce. A couple of the salads on the menu credit the Dervaes organic greens.

"The baby greens have a much more pronounced fresher flavor and more vibrant color as they have been in the ground a couple of hours before."
The family also makes money (for necessities) from products/seeds sold at their online stores www.peddlerswagon.com and www.freedomseeds.org.
"Almost every day we have some surplus produce (sign up at www.dervaesgardens.com to find out about it or check the list at www.localharvest.org) that individuals can purchase," says Anais.
Last year the chicken and ducks produced 1,780 eggs, three-quarters of which were sold as well.

"During the summer, 90 percent of their meals come from food they grow while in the winter it's more like 60 percent," notes Jules. Sometimes they trade produce, barter or pick up extra food items in bulk at a co-op or shop at Trader Joe's, Whole Foods or Vons.

Following a lacto-ovo-vegetarian diet, the family eats mainly vegetables along with eggs, milk and cheese. Occasionally, they will eat fish. About "30 percent of what we eat in winter meals is my canned goods," says Anais, - "tomatoes, beans, fruits, garlic, peppers, squash, apples, figs, jalapeno jelly, pickles, apple butter, jams (blueberry, strawberry, fig, guava). We freeze things, too (mostly berries and some tomatoes, peppers and zucchini) and dry herbs."

Anais keeps a simple pantry - with flour, rice, sugar, oats and pasta - and shops once a week. "I don't tire of cooking three meals a day (in a very small kitchen)," she says, adding, "taste the food — it is dynamite and speaks for itself."

Although they don't use small electric appliances like a food processor or blender (they opt for hand-cranked models), they do have an energy-efficient refrigerator with freezer and a washing machine that run on green power. They use gas stove-top burners for cooking but a solar oven instead of a conventional one for baking dishes, which take twice as long, notes Anais.

They've had 12 solar panels since 2004 that provide two-thirds of their energy (power) from the sun. The balance comes from green power they buy from the city of Pasadena (from a wind farm near Palm Springs), says Jules. "We're 100 percent green wind and solar."
Their green power electricity bill runs $12 a month, the gas bill $15 and the phone bill $80 to $100. The water bill is $600 a year (the family showers once a week).

"We wear second-hand clothes from thrift stores, eBay or castoffs from friends," says Anais.
The household has a dual personality - embracing both low- and high-tech simultaneously. They have computers, a television (no cable) and subscribe to Netflix. "It's The Waltons meet The Jetsons," says Jules, chuckling.

Their goal is to have "as little impact on the environment as possible while living in the city," says Jordanne.

The family happily shares its expertise. Children enrolled at the New Horizon School often tour the Dervaes gardens next door.

"Farmer D's (that's how the school affectionately refers to Jules Dervaes) urban homestead is a living laboratory for the school," says Kim Budge, one of the school's director. "He's been an example to all of us as to how we can live a more eco-friendly life in an urban environment."
With the school trying to have a green focus and teach the children about the importance of caring for the Earth, classes visit the animals, garden, blender on the bicycle and solar oven at different times.

"The children's interest has sparked parent interest," adds Budge. "The Dervaes family has actually inspired us as a school to hold a community-wide eco-fair in spring 2011 (each grade will have an eco-friendly project to promote sustainability). And at the school's open house this May, each class will also have an eco-project on display."

"This lifestyle is difficult," admits Jules. "My attitude is survivalist backed up with stubbornness. I'm not saying that this lifestyle is for everybody. (But) some of it is for everybody."
 
Back
Top