Oil and Presidents

Want to know what the last US presidents said about US dependency on foreign oil? Here are lovely quotes, and each one of them is a presidential promise that was never kept. Read this article entitled "A history of false starts for US energy independence".

Solar Water Disinfection

I stumbled upon this article on solar water disinfection, SODIS for short. This seems a simple and reliable way to disinfect smaller amounts of water. Cheap and reliable. I would not necessarily want to use it for daily water consumption, but it seems a great way for emergency situations such as water shortages in a crisis situation or on a hiking trip. Glass unfortunately does not work as well as PET bottles. UVA has a wavelength of 400 nm to 315 nm, UVB ranges from 315 nm to 280 nm. Ordinary window glass passes about 90% of the light above 350 nm, but blocks over 90% of the light below 300 nm, meaning that window glass blocks a bit more than the lower half of the UVB wavelength range. This research data by Waste and Resources Action Programme would indicate that transparent wine bottle can be used. According to this roughly 90% of all UVA passes through, while all UVB is blocked. Maybe additional exposure time to sunshine can compensate for the UVB blocking of glass in comparison with PET.

Forest Kindergarten

A friend told me about Forest Kindergarten this weekend. Apparently this idea originated in Scandinavia and is now popular also in Germany and Austria. The concept is simple, preschool kids in the age of 6 to 10 years are picked up in the morning by a bus and brought to a "forest kindergarten", i.e. to the woods. There they play and learn - 4 hours a day usually - in the outdoor in the midst of the forest under professional adult supervision. They are there all-year round, rain or snow. There is no class room and no building. In the particular example that a friend worked in, there is a shipping container that acts as an emergency shelter and storage room, but is never used by kids under normal circumstances. There is a part in the woods where the trees are younger and denser and offer a natural shelter against rain. In addition there is a large tarp tied between the trees to provide additional protection. This is where the kids and teachers go when it rains heavily. The kids play and learn by climbing the trees, picking up and throwing pine cones, make toys from fallen branches with simple tools like a knife, swinging on ropes hanging off some bigger branches, forming pieces of art similar to spiderwebs with ropes or cords and so forth. The key is that they are always outdoors, always in tune with nature and get to appreciate the many wonders and offerings of a forest. And it is very ecological too: no heating, no building to maintain. What a great concept and what a marvelous way to teach kids about nature and the environment. Here some links: Forest Kindergarten (English), Waldkindergarten (German).

Debt and You

What's the relationship between you and national debt? This video explains it in 5 minutes.

Simpler and More Fulfilling

Voluntary Simplicity can have many aspects, and as this well written article shows it does not necessarily have to be about consuming less. The article is entitled "A Blindness to Systems" and published on The Archdruid Report by John Greer.

This quote from his essay should get you curious: "What would you say, if I told you that I’ve come up with a way to eliminate unemployment – yes, even in the face of the current economic mess? What if I explained that it would also improve the effective standard of living of many families and decrease their income tax burdens? And that it would also increase our economic resilience and sustainability, and simultaneously cause a significant decrease in the amount of automobile traffic? Would you be all for it?" His answer is not new, but it can be a key to a simpler yet richer, i.e. more fulfilled, life for some of us.

Deja Vu

Sadly, the European Union is following the US footsteps. A $1 trillion EU/IMF bailout package was agreed upon over the last weekend. The EU politicians do exactly what they have said they would not do, not so long ago. Once again a crisis is used to reduce civil rights, create more globalization, push through laws that might raise eyebrows under normal circumstances, etc. The goal of it all? It seems to be redistribution of wealth from the poor and middle-class to the super rich, on a global level; meaning that - as an example - the Greek middle-class will pay for the fifth Bentley of some unseen and unnamed rich investor in some far away country. A year ago, the EU politicians vowed to not print money as done by the US to tackle the financial difficulties. Now the EU will be printing. On creation of the EU and the Euro currencies the ECB said that it would never buy EU government bonds. Now they will do exactly that.

And where is the democracy? Have the citizens been asked? Just like the US government decided on the bailout packages for the financial infrastructure without consulting the citizens in 2008-2010, the EU governments do so now. We live in a pseudo-Democracy. Democracy as we have it is just an empty shell after having been carved out from the inside over decades. Many Germans raised their voice against the initial €135 billion bailout package for Greece. Now, against the will and interest of many Europeans, a €750 billion EU/IMF bailout package has been decided without any public discussion, in a big hurry, in just a single weekend.

Are we citizens or are we slaves? You be the judge.

Earth Up Potatoes

While many experienced farmers and bin permaculturists will know the term "earth up", to beginners this might be a new process. It is used to improve the yield of potatoes, by adding more and more soil over the time period of weeks burying the bottom part of the plant and forcing it to produce another "layer" of potatoes. Earthing up can be done in the field or in bins, and even in old tires. Here are some good descriptions and videos of how to grow more potatoes by using the process of earthing up: How To Earth Up Potatoes (on Videojug), How to Earth Up Potatoes (by WikiHow), Growing Potatoes in Tires (on YouTube), and Growing Potatoes in Bins (on YouTube).

Have fun growing your own potatoes, even on your city terrace. And remember, your home-grown potatoes avoid the total of 10 "chemical" treatments of purchase average supermarket potatoes.

Sad Video

This must be one of the worst videos I saw in my life: Slaughter of 12 civilians in Iraq in 2007. Here is the background. In Iraq in 2007: one Reuters journalist and his driver get out of a car, the journalist takes pictures, bystanders gather to watch, a US helicopter observes them and decides to kill them, with 8 innocent people dead or wounded a good samaritan stops his van in which he brings his 2 kids to a school event to help one wounded man, the helicopter gunman is given permission to "engage" again and kills the good samaritan and wounds his two kids. Here are some newspaper articles from the New York Times, The Moderate Voice, and Huffington Post. Initiating violence is a bad thing under all circumstances, even more so in case of state-initiated violence like war.

Euro

In order to get public opinion at least partially in favor of the 135 billion Euro bailout of Greece by the EU and IMF, European newspapers had to report on this issue. It was most likely on the cover pages of most serious national newpapers. In Austria, "Die Presse" on April 30 had a half page report on Greece and the Euro on its coverpage with the title in big bold letters. In this article Die Presse described a scenario in which the EU countries split, with countries like Greece being expelled from the Euro zone. Another scenario that was mentioned is the reverse, in this alternative scenario the rich EU countries like Germany and France voluntarily leave the Euro behind and go back to national currencies like Deutsche Mark or a new currency. The French Le Monde and the Italian La Repubblica had similar reports on the Greek crisis and its impact on the Euro currency and the European Union.

Nobody can say anymore he hasn't heard about it or hasn't been warned. The second phase of the crisis is just starting. And if establishment-oriented newspapers are reporting on the cover pages that the Euro will possibly break, then this has to be taken seriously. The world crisis is far from over, it is about to reach full speed. This is the world we live in: Weak economies worldwide, countries like Greece, Portugal, Ireland close to bankruptcy, not to mention the US, the commercial real-estate crisis about to explode, never before seen debt in the US and EU, official 20% unemployment rate in countries like Spain and unofficially 30% considered possible, doubts about the Euro and the Dollar, the end of the Euro, ... Extremists would add to the scenarios the possibility of a new world currency, now that both the Dollar and the Euro are in terrible shape, this might be an ideal moment for the elite to take over more control and power through the introduction of a new world currency.

These are very shaky times. Beside a few ultra-rich and ultra-influential people, nobody will be able to escape this financial tsunami that is building up and that will change our lives over the next 20 years. Unemployment will affect us or someone close to us, European government (e.g. Austria) will be raising the taxes and invent new taxes which will affect us, inflation will affect us, and so forth. There is no more hiding. Time to stock up on food, coffee and other durable items.

135 Billion Euro

The problem in Greece that temporarily culminated in a joint EU and IMF rescue package of a bailout of 135 billion Euros, has a long history. It did not just happen overnight or in 1 year. It started in 1998, 12 years ago, when the EU Commission rejected including Greece in the start of the Euro currency countries. The Greek story read like a thriller and includes chapters of fraudulent manipulation of its balance sheets with the help of Goldman Sachs (as reported by the New York Times).

With the injection of 135 billion Euros, is the problem resolved? No. According to a report from financial advisor Bert Flossbach who went to Greece for onsite interviews, a large portion of the aid goes directly into the hands of rich Greece banks that speculated with the aid, and indirectly into the pockets of Greece's richest businessmen and foreign investors. In short, the aid will not reach the Greece economy, certainly not the average employee. Secondly, the dept is so high that in the documents that outline how Greece is going to achieve 30 billion Euro expense cuts about 10 billion (30%) is listed as "miscellaneous", i.e. it is unknown. In the radio interview Flossbach used the term "Greece will have to produce this junk of 30% like a magician by pulling a rabbit out of a hat". As a result of the massive dept, the inability of the EU to face the inevitable facts, and the unwillingness of the Greek politicians to take fair, but drastic measures, Greece will be in the very same situation the very same day in 3 years when the EU and IMF aid package runs out. History will repeat itself. In 2013, just like last month, Greece will again face bankruptcy.

Who is to gain, who is to lose? As always when the IMF intervenes, it is a redistribution from the borrower to the lender. In short, the US - principal owner of the IMF - will be richer and the Greek population will be poorer.

Crisis Survival Community

Dr. Jörn Berninger, a macroeconomist and crisis manager, runs an excellent video blog entitled "Crisis Survival Community" as well as a textual Financial Crisis Blog on his home page. I follow him for more than half a year now and found him insightful. He also has a German speaking blog with very similar content. Have a look at these sites yourself, check out his predictions and listen to his comments which now and then also include some hints regarding personal financial investment decisions.