Monkeyfister

This won't mean much, until it starts happening all over America. But take note now, that $100 oil is already pricing many countries out of the market, and the problems are already wide-spread throughout the world. The Global Market has found its end.

via Energy Bulletin

Largely unnoticed in America are the increasingly frequent electricity shortages developing around the world.

Many of these are caused by shifting weather patterns that are leaving hydro-electric dams with insufficient water to produce at full capacity. While some aspects of global climate change are temporary, many, such as the melting of glaciers, seem destined to last for decades, or perhaps centuries, thereby depriving the world of some of the best sources of cheap, renewable electric energy.

Thermal power production across the globe is struggling to cope with high prices and shortages of coal, fuel oil and diesel. Several poorer countries have shut down the bulk of their generation capacity as they are no longer able to pay the fuel bills to keep going.

Then there is the inexorable growth of the world’s population –- 77 million more of us each year. While not all the new born get instant access to the wondrous benefits of electric power, enough do to keep demand rising and rising. Of yet more significance is the rapid economic growth of China, the subcontinent, oil exporting states and lots of other places. With new-found wealth comes the demand for more and more electricity for lights, appliances, heating, cooling and a myriad of power-consuming devices that we in America and the other OECD countries adopted decades ago. There simply is not enough investment in new plants and distribution networks to keep up with surging demand.

A few places in the world have active insurgencies. Iraq, Afghanistan and Nigeria immediately come to mind, for insurgents just love to blow up their local electric power infrastructure. There are very few things an insurgent can do that will get everybody mad at the government quicker than shutting off the power.

Energy shortages are now so frequent across the world there is a new web site, www.energyshortage.org, devoted to keeping track of them all. There are currently 96 different places in the world that have reported some form of energy shortages in recent months. These range from large areas of China, through the sub continent to small South Pacific islands such as Saipan and the Marianas that have not been heard from much since World War II.

Nearly every government in the world has announced plans for more electricity production. Most would like nuclear power plants that would, in theory, free them from the vagaries of hydro power and the steadily increasing prices of fossil fuels. Unfortunately, most of these plans have no foundation in reality, for unless the country is a wealthy one, the rapidly increasing prices of major projects such as oil refineries and power plants, particularly of the nuclear variety, are going to become prohibitively costly very soon. As for nuclear power stations, it is almost certain those few countries that have the capability to design and build them are going to be preoccupied for decades with building them for their domestic market or the ultra-rich oil exporters.

Make your plans accordingly.


To Top Of Main Page

Labels: Collapse, Global Economy, Global Resources, Globalism, Peak Energy, Peak Oil

The pressure seems to be building out there, between the farms and the Supermarket.

via KSWO

With diesel fuels on the rise, and truckers threatening a strike, farmers have no choice but to fuel up. They have to use diesel to power tractors and other equipment, not to mention trucks to transport their goods such as livestock and crops that are perishable. As soon as a farmer's product is ready for market, it has to be shipped as they may spoil. If farmers don't sell what they produce, they don't eat.

Some local farmers worry that they won't be able to earn money for food, much less profit. All farm expenses are high - the cost of diesel, fertilizer, equipment, and even feed for animals have increased - and, farmers don't know what else they can do. "We use our tractors and trucks to produce our products, look after our cattle, and it's really costing us as farmers to operate," say farmer Don Hankins.

Hankins says he paid $2.32 per gallon last year, and that same gallon is up by one dollar - even on biodiesel. "It costs $3.50 for farm fuel," says Freddie Garrett of Comanche County Farm Bureau. "You have a tractor that'll cost....it'll use 10 gallons an hour." Since farmers' goods are perishable, and in the case of animals must be fed daily, farmers can't put a stop on production. "There's no place to strike, you can't keep your product off the market. You can't keep from hauling your cattle to town. Cattle have to be looked after, our crops have to be looked after, and you can't just walk away from it for two weeks and let it go," he says. "It has to have twenty-four-seven attention, especially on livestock."

Hankins says retail stores can mark up prices to be sure they earn a profit, but farmers must sell at wholesale based on what a buyer is willing to pay. "Your product will go higher, and we certainly don't want to get in a situation where we have to buy or import all of our food, like we're in the situation with oil;" he says. "That could easily happen if we're not very careful."

But, Hankins' real concern isn't outsourcing. He's concerned about farmers not having enough money to pay for necessities. "If this just keeps going up just like it is now, some of them will just simply have to quit," he says.

Garrett says the Farm Bureau has attempted to get legal legislation passed to help farmers with this situation, but their attempts have not been fruitful. To additionally cut down on costs, farmer must cut back on cultivating fields, running tractors and trailers as little as possible - sometimes not at all. Wildfires have also been detrimental to farmers, and burned many crops and hay bales - and in some cases even cattle.

It's a good time to start your own garden!


To Top Of Main Page

Labels: Farming, Fifty Million Farmers, Fuel Prices, Unsustainable farming

It would be a wonderful thing to see.

via ABS-CBN

LAKE STATION, Indiana - At truck stops across the United States, a low grumbling about high fuel costs is growing into threats of nationwide strikes.

Scattered protests and rallies have broken out in recent weeks as diesel fuel costs rose to four dollars a gallon from three dollars a gallon six months ago and about 1.60 dollars a gallon just four years ago.

But so far, nobody has been able to settle on a date for pulling the big rigs off the road.

"I wish they would do it and if they did I'd be the first one in," said independent trucker Chris Walker, 52, as he filled his tank at a truck stop in Lake Station, Indiana that was charging 3.94 dollars a gallon.

"If they were to shut down (trucking) for a couple days they'd give us a blank check."

Benjamin Cooper, 77, smiles when he talks about the wildcat trucker strikes during the oil crises of the 1970s.

I say do it, Truckers. Shut It Down. Solidarity.

In this day and age of "Just In Time" supply policies, and an expansive warehouse on wheels system in place, it's important to appreciate just how reliant upon the Trucking Fleet that we have become.

A week of empty WalMart stores just might be the medicine Americans need to pull out of their stupor, and look at the crises crashing around them.



To Top Of Main Page

Labels: Fuel Prices, General Strike, Shut It Down, Strike

What a fine song.




To Top Of Main Page

OMFG! Forbes.com has noticed little ol' homespun me! Gosh, Am flattahed, and shocked!

I get a badge, and everything! PLUS! "40% of all net revenues collected by Forbes.com (after agency commitments, ad serving fees and external network support)." What's not to jump at?

Gotta love email:

We think your blog would be a great fit for our Network: an invitation to join‏
From: Gitelle, Sharon (sgitelle@forbes.net)

You may not know this sender.Mark as safe|Mark as unsafe
Sent:
Tue 3/25/08 4:35 PM
To:
Monkeyfister@hotmail.com
Security scan upon download

NETWORK K...pdf (430.3 KB)

Hi:
You are invited to join the new community of the high quality business and financial bloggers from Forbes.com. Our community - the Business and Financial Blog Network, will launch shortly.

Your blog will be promoted to our roster of blue-chip advertisers and we will only run campaigns that are appropriate for your audience. Our Adify advertising technology enables you to:

* Review and approve any advertisement
* Access on-demand, real-time reports on the performance of campaigns and ad spaces for your blogs and naturally your earnings.

You will receive 40% of all net revenues collected by Forbes.com (after agency commitments, ad serving fees and external network support)


Ad positions:

* 728x90 leaderboard
* 160x600 skyscraper
* 300x250 rectangle

Please note that we need your site to run the 728x90 leaderboard PLUS at least one of the other two ad sizes-the 160x600 skyscraper and 300x250 rectangle.

Forbes.com will provide you with a Business and Financial Blog Network badge to denote membership. You will also receive semiannual research from us that sheds new light on trends and traction of the Blog Network to help you know more about your readers and other blogs in the network. We will host an annual conference at the Forbes Galleries for members of our Blog Network, presenting new trends, tools and other aspects of technology that affect the blogging community in general and our members' specifically.

To apply, visit here.


Please fax the executed network member agreement to me at 212-366-8868 or e-mail an executed copy in a PDF to me at: sgitelle@forbes.net


For more information regarding revenue share, pricing, billing and payment, please see Section 4 of the attached ad network member agreement.


I think your blog would be a great fit for our network, and I would love to hear from you if you are interested in learning more about it.


Sharon Gitelle
Forbes.com
T:212.366.8997| F:212.366.8868 | C: 917-653-9093

Awesome!! Just what I was looking for!

It MUST be true, it's on the Internets... right?

Spooky day when Forbes want MY opinion widespread.

No. I'm not responding to that nonsense.

Amusing, none the less.



To Top Of Main Page

Labels: Heh-Indeed

This is inspiring. So much with so little.. Of course... he's getting support from SOMEWHERE.


via Boing Boing

Farewell My Subaru is a new book from Doug Fine, environmental journalist and NPR contributor, documenting an experiment in green living (in which, we might add, the author does not abandon his laptop, or the internet). Snip from the summary:

[He] vows to grow as much of his own food as he can, use only the sun to power his ‘Net surfing and sub-woofer, and consume little to no fossil fuel for an entire year — never mind that he’d never raised so much as a chicken or a bean. Or that he had no mechanical or electrician skills. Or that coyotes and mountain lions would like to treat his Funky Butte Ranch like a buffet line.

Today on Boing Boing tv, a short film to give you a taste of that experience, directed by Jason Ensler.

All the links and more at the link above.




To Top Of Main Page

Labels: Sustainability, Sustainable Living

Left Bloggers are really turning me off with their HRC/BHO Partisan shanking bullshit.

I've been out in my garden, working for what I need.

I'll have pics and posts soon.

I'm pretty happy with what I've got... I'll be happier in about six weeks, when I have the last bunch of beds finished.


To Top Of Main Page

Labels: My Life As It Is

That Most Special And Sacred Of Christian Holy Days!
























To Top Of Main Page

I just bought this on Friday, and was out the past two days test-firing it (amongst other things) at my friend's house. This is the first pistol that I have ever owned, and will probably be my only hand gun. I don't think that I need another one.

This is a 9mm pistol. Semi-automatic and semi-compact. Mine is olive green like this. Click pic for bigger view.

via CZ's website

After 3 years of some of the most aggressive small arms testing ever, the New CZ P-01 will be the successor to the CZ 75’s currently in use by the Czech National Police. The P-01 is based on the CZ 75, but with improvements in Metallurgy, quality control, and design. The components of the P-01 are completely interchangeable. This required some very careful re-design so that reliability and accuracy were not compromised. The P-01 is named to convey that this is a new pistol and a new level of quality and Reliability, the P-01 is the first New CZ of the New Millennium.

The P-01 features:
- A forged aircraft grade aluminum alloy frame for light but reliable day-to-day carry.
- A Hammer forged barrel for accuracy and durability.
- De-cocker action and a firing pin block for maximum safety.
- The P-01 is also equipped with an M3 rail to accept lights or lasers.
- Dual slide serrations for easy slide operation.
- Generous squared triggerguard for gloved hands.
- Re-contoured trigger for smoother, consistent trigger pulls
- Durable, chemical resistant, matte polycoat finish.
- Lanyard loop on butt.
- Checkered rubber grips and serrated front and back strap for superior handling.
- Easy disassembly for cleaning.

Here is the run-down on the Safety Tests that this firearm had to pass. It's a pretty impressive set of tests.

I am a fairly small-framed person, and so I was specifically looking for a smaller-caliber, sub-compact pistol. One that was lightweight, reliable, safe against accidental firing, durable, didn't shake my arms loose when I fired it, looked nice, and wasn't too expensive*. It took me over a year of researching, comparison, and time at a firing range to decide on this hand gun, but at a certain point, it surfaced as the standard in all comparisons. I recommend it for plenty of reasons-- mainly, its reliability, safety and durability are unmatched. As a sub-compact, it fits nicely into a smaller hand, it is fairly lightweight (1.7 pounds), yet recoil is surprisingly light for a 3.9 in barrel, and recovery time for the next shot is very short.

I am left-handed, and yet find every control on the pistol (all on the left side) easy to reach and operate. I use my index finger to engage the slide lever (instead of my thumb, like a right-hander), but I consider that another safety aspect, as my finger is nowhere near the trigger when the slide loads a bullet.

The trigger action is fairly light in single-action mode. It pulls easily at ~2-1/2 pounds of pull. There is about 1/4 inch of "loose" trigger pull before the trigger mechanism is ready to roll, and that point is obvious. I find this a good feature, as in target shooting, it gives me a moment to breath before squeezing the shot. Some might find that looseness annoying, but it is not too different from the "Accu-Trigger" safety feature in Savage Firearms rifles. The trigger also won't fire under the weight of the gun, even in single-action mode. The de-cocker is a fantastic feature. Simply push the lever, and the hammer safely dis-engages without firing a chambered bullet.

Disassembly is very simple, and every piece easy to clean, and replace. I was reading along with the instructions the first time, and was surprised at how simple the process was. A quick tap with an allen wrench on the right side of the slide actuator pops the slide free. Carefully lift the spring out, and everything else comes out with no hassle. CZ sends along everything you need for disassembly and cleaning in the handy case, with a spare clip, and a life-time warranty.

A hand gun is not for everyone, but if you're considering the purchase of one, I'd give the CZ P-01 serious consideration. Especially if, like me, it is the only hand gun you ever plan to own.



*-- just like a shrubbery.


To Top Of Main Page

Labels: Liberals With Guns