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.

M. King Hubbert and the future of peak oil by Kurt Cobb

Preface. M. King Hubbert predicted that if we were unable to replace fossil energy with water, nuclear and solar power, that we would go back to an agrarian existence (Hubbert MK (1949) Energy from Fossil Fuels. Science). That is how … Continue reading

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Detecting Food Stamp Fraud

[ The number of Americans on food stamps has been trending up for years, in August 2012 it was 15% of Americans, 47,102,780 people. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), has quadrupled in cost since 2001, and doubled in cost … Continue reading

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Gail Tverberg: Why peak coal, oil, and natural gas will all happen at the same time

China: Is peak coal part of its problem? by Gail Tverberg,  OurFiniteWorld.com  | Jun 20, 2016 The world’s coal resources are clearly huge. How could China, or the world in total, reach peak coal in a timeframe that makes a … Continue reading

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The electromagnetic pulse EMP Threat: House of Representatives hearing 2005

[ Related articles: Russian hackers suspected in attack that blacked out parts of Ukraine How the weapon works (pdf): CRASHOVERRIDE Analyzing the Threat to Electric Grid Operations The EMP Commission estimates a nationwide blackout lasting one year could kill up … Continue reading

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The Devil’s Scenario – near miss at Fukushima is a warning for U.S.

[ The most likely event to trigger a loss of power long enough to cause a spent fuel pool zirconium fire meltdown and release of radioactive particles into the atmosphere is a nuclear or natural geomagnetic storm electromagnetic pulse (see … Continue reading

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After collapse: plunder or feudalism?

  IWW poster “Pyramid of Capitalist System” (c. 1911), depicting an anti-capitalist perspective on statist/capitalist social structures Preface. In this post an anonymous author looks at what will happen if society collapses and we have to suddenly go back to … Continue reading

Posted in Farming & Ranching, Peak Food, Peak Phosphorus, Soil, Where are the rich going | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Coal power plants depend on railroads to deliver coal

[ The extract of a Senate hearing below is mostly spent on testimony by utilities bashing the railroads for not delivering enough coal due to a disaster in the Powder River Basin, Wyoming area, where coal dust infiltrated the stone … Continue reading

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Nuclear war between India and Pakistan more likely, up to a billion deaths

[ It doesn’t take an all out war between the United States and Russia to cause a billion or more deaths.  Even a small war could do that (Robok, A. 2007. Climatic consequences of regional nuclear conflicts. Atmospheric Chemistry and … Continue reading

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Gail Tverberg: 2017 The year the world economy starts coming apart

[ Note: In a 2016 post “Overly Simple Energy-Economy Models Give Misleading Answers” Tverberg points out that: “The common lay interpretation of simple models is that running out of energy supplies can be expected to be our overwhelming problem in … Continue reading

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Why is Detroit falling apart so fast?

Using Google street view history, www.goobingdetroit.com records the decay of homes in Detroit. Above shows homes September 2009, September 2011, and September 2013 I’ve been fascinated with the decline of Detroit since a guy in my dormitory told me back … Continue reading

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