Category Archives: 3) Fast Crash

The case for a fast, rather than a slow one. Most societies crashed in 20 years or less. There has never been or will be again a crash like ours, where the world of 7 billion people became utterly dependent on a non-renewable source of energy — fossil fuels.

Crash alert: China’s resource crisis could be the trigger

Posted on November 25, 2018 by

Preface.  Way to go Nafeez Ahmed, your second home run of reality based reporting on the energy crisis this week.  There are countless economists within the mainstream media predicting an economic crisis worse than in 2008, but they totally ignore … Continue reading →

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The coming crash in 2020 from high diesel prices for cleaner emission of oceangoing ships

Posted on November 21, 2018 by

Preface.  Ships made globalization possible, and play an essential role in our high standard of living, carrying 90% of global goods traded. But the need for a new, cleaner fuel may cause the next economic crisis.  Currently ships can burn … Continue reading →

Posted in By People, Crash Coming Soon, Peak Oil, Ships and Barges | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Germany’s wind energy mess: As subsidies expire, thousands Of turbines to close

Posted on November 16, 2018 by

Preface. This means that the talk about renewables being so much cheaper than anything else isn’t necessarily true.  If wind were profitable, more turbines would be built to replace the old ones  without subsidies needed. Unless they can be dumped … Continue reading →

Posted in Electric Grid & EMP Electromagnetic Pulse, Energy Infrastructure, Wind | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments

Fresh water depletion, contamination, saltwater intrusion, & subsidence

Posted on November 7, 2018 by

Map of the U.S. showing cumulative groundwater depletion from 1900 through 2008 in 40 aquifers. Source: Groundwater Depletion in the United States (1900-2008), USGS Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5079. Preface.  This isn’t mentioned in the subsidence paper below, but half of USA … Continue reading →

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Book: John Perlin’s “A Forest Journey: The Story of Wood and Civilization”

Posted on October 18, 2018 by

Preface.  This contains excerpts from John Perlin’s “A Forest Journey: The Story of Wood and Civilization”. It’s one of my favorite books about natural resources, exploring the role wood has played in the rise and fall of civilizations since they … Continue reading →

Posted in Collapse of Civilizations, Collapsed & collapsing nations, Deforestation, Life Before Oil, Limits To Growth, Peak Resources, Soil, Wood | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Book review of “White Trash. The 400-year untold history of class in America”

Posted on September 27, 2018 by

Preface.  This book makes the case that the poor arrived 500 years ago when America was first settled, and most of them never rose to the middle or upper classes because “land was the principal source of wealth, and those … Continue reading →

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Book review of Hillbilly Elegy and why hillbillies voted for Trump

Posted on September 12, 2018 by

Source: David Horsey / Los Angeles Times Preface. I bought “Hillbilly Elegy: A memoir of a family and culture in crisis” because I’d like to understand why anyone would vote for Donald Trump. Before the election, it was well-known that … Continue reading →

Posted in (Auto)biography, Human Nature, Politics | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

The dangers of relativism, of not being able to criticize anyone or anything because all of our beliefs are equal

Posted on September 4, 2018 by

[ I’ve been criticized for attacking right-wing Republicans, fundamentalist Christians, astrology, medicinal quackery, and so on.  This is dangerous nonsense. It means I can’t criticize Hitler, because after all, he was a product of his times.  I can’t tell my … Continue reading →

Posted in Critical Thinking, Human Nature, Politics, Religion | Tagged , | 5 Comments

Fantasyland 8. Religion the main factor in America’s descent into the darkness of superstition

Posted on August 26, 2018 by

[ This is the 8th of nine posts about Fantasyland.  Andersen believes all of the madness and superstition in America originally springs from our history of religiosity. The scariest part of the insanity is that there are Christians trying  to … Continue reading →

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Fantasyland 6. New Age, alternative medicine, and supernatural madness

Posted on August 20, 2018 by

Preface. This is the sixth of nine posts about this very important book on how and why a large percent of Americans have has been irrational for 500 years. New Age and supernatural beliefs are the religion of people who … Continue reading →

Posted in Critical Thinking, Human Nature, Religion | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment