Category Archives: Where to Be or Not to Be

As oil declines, remote gas stations will closefirst, forcing many to move to urban areas, which will become megacities. For a while food, shelter, and power can be provided to urban centers, but eventually the electric grid will fail and diesel shortages strike. National guards and locals checkpoints are likely to make it hard for people to flee cities for the countryside

Colonization of Mars & The Moon: a book review of “A City On Mars”

Posted on July 19, 2024 by

Preface. There are so many difficulties to overcome to colonize Mars. If the astronauts can even survive the bombardment of radiation on the way there. Where would the energy come from? There is no flowing water for hydropower. Wind and … Continue reading →

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Book review of “Prime Movers of Globalization: the History & Impact of Diesel Engines & Gas Turbines”

Posted on January 25, 2024 by

Preface. This is my book review of Vaclav Smil’s “Prime Movers of Globalization”. A topic near and dear to my heart after working for the 5th largest shipping company, American President Lines (now Neptune Orient Lines), for 22 years and … Continue reading →

Posted in Energy Books, Peak Resources, Rail, Roads, Transportation, Where to Be or Not to Be | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Where to be? Links to Superfund, hazardous waste and other toxic sites in U.S.

Posted on December 28, 2023 by

Preface. If you’re thinking of moving to another state that is under carrying capacity, where agriculture depends on rainfall rather than irrigation, with good topsoil and other ecologically important factors in the approaching postcarbon world, also make sure you’re not … Continue reading →

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Want to survive Peak Everything? Become a Mormon

Posted on September 20, 2023 by

Source: Salt Lake Tribune. For Latter-day Saint families, preparing for emergencies is the norm Preface.  Ted Koppel’s book “Lights Out” highlights the many risks to the grid from cyber and physical attacks, electromagnetic pulses from weapons or solar flares, large … Continue reading →

Posted in Blackouts, Electric Grid & Fast Collapse, EMP Electromagnetic Pulse, Energy Books, Where to Be or Not to Be | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Book review of No friends but the Mountains. Dispatches from the worlds violent highlands

Posted on September 13, 2023 by

Preface. I am fascinated by war and conflict, and especially in this book which shows how societies and conflicts are similar across time and mountain ranges all over the world. These cultures may be inevitable due to the harsh environments. … Continue reading →

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Can we grow enough food postcarbon? Irrigation needs water & electricity

Posted on February 6, 2023 by

Preface. Irrigated agriculture over 58 million acres consumes the largest share of U.S. water. And it’s shrinking as aquifers are drained, reservoirs evaporate, and drought reduces snowpack and rainfall at the same time population and the economy are growing. My … Continue reading →

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Criticism of Dawn Of Everything

Posted on August 29, 2022 by

I’d read a lot of anthropology decades ago so much of “Dawn” sounded right and plausible.  But it seemed too good to be true, and I’ve been looking since then for criticism. Much of what I’ve found was full of … Continue reading →

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An Amazonian community in balance with nature

Posted on May 24, 2022 by

Preface. Now that limits to growth and energy have arrived, it’s past time to invent a sustainable society living in balance with nature without fossil fuels and electricity.  The Dawn of Everything showed us such civilizations from the past. Today … Continue reading →

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Dawn of Everything Miscellaneous

Posted on May 18, 2022 by

Preface.  I’ve put interesting bits that don’t belong in a single category here as well as summaries and links to new archeological discoveries, societies today living in balance sustainably, etc.  Starting with the review from Science which summarizes the book … Continue reading →

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States do not evolve from Bands to Tribes to Chiefdoms to States

Posted on May 15, 2022 by

Preface.  The bulk of this book is dedicated to showing why the idea of the evolution from tribes to states is false. If the authors are correct, then the flexibility of societies to invent ways of living with more freedom … Continue reading →

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