[OilsNotWell]

http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110005479
Hmmm... Right idea, wrong cause? May be time for a poll: Which would be more likely:
1) A terrorist getting a nuclear device, and launching it from a Scud, or
2) Another good, old-fashioned blackout due to Peak Oil?

[buster]

The war on terror is getting to look more and more like the cold war.

I wouldn't be worried just because the Chinese had one article, in English, on EMP. I've seen lots of writing about EMP here in the US.

And the rhetoric of the report, though couched in "defensive" language, is primarily fightin' words. You can read it yourself:

http://www.iwar.org.uk/iwar/resources/e ... -22emp.pdf

Here's some choice verbiage:

"The US must establish a global environment that will profoundly discourage such attacks. We must persuade nations to forgo obtaining nuclear weapons or to provide acceptable assurance that these weapons will neither threaten the vital interests of the United States nor fall into threatening hands.

For all others, we must make it difficult and dangerous to acquire the materials to make a nuclear weapon and the means to deliver them. We must hold at risk of capture or destruction anyone who has such
weaponry, wherever they are in the world.

Those who engage in or support these activities must be made to understand that they do so at the risk of everything they value. Those who harbor or help those who conspire to create these weapons must suffer serious consequences as well.

In case these measures do not completely succeed, we must have vigorous interdiction and interception efforts to thwart delivery of all such weaponry.

-- end quotes --

Jesus Christ on a shingle! Don't these thinktankers realize that becoming a paranoid beleaguered supercop makes us MORE the target of terrorism, never LESS!

We won't be "safe from terrorism" until we learn to "play well with others!"

[Aaron]

We won't be "safe from terrorism" until we learn to "play well with others!"

And vice versa?

[soberingreality]

both scenarios are going to happen its just a matter of time. maybe not a scud...maybe a sampsonite for the delivery vehicle

[Leanan]

maybe not a scud...maybe a sampsonite for the delivery vehicle

Exactly. Pouring money into "Star Wars" missile defense is a such a stupid waste. All it would take is some guy sailing up the Hudson with a bomb in the boat.

[Leanan]

We're listening to the Yankees-Angels game on TV. Because they have no video, due to a partial blackout of the stadium.

[tmazanec1]

Just had another blackout. They seem to be happening here every few months, after years with only several.

[KiddieKorral]

Where are you at?

[BorneoRagnarok]

Here in Sejingkat Industrial Estate, East Malaysia, the blackout happens everyday and it last for 1 hour . It happens 3 times a day. The factories are closing.

So that's why I made preparation for Stone Age way of live. The only electric sucking sevice I use is a small fan and a 60W light and a fridge. Stone Age way of life is not too bad. It melt all the fat around my pot belly and clear up skin rashes due to longer exposure to sunlight and more physical work. I feel younger . Even Flintstone will be proud..

[tmazanec1]

Suburban Cleveland (Maple Heights).

[smallpoxgirl]

In a certain way I envy you Borneo. Hope to be there soon myself. (lifestyle not location)

[gg3]

Smallpoxgirl, once you get there, you'll wish you hadn't said that:-)

It's one thing to make radical lifestyle changes voluntarily. It's another when they're forced upon you by crisis and you have to deal with the nitty gritty. "Uh oh, ran out of toilet paper and can't get to the store..." (or, there ain't no more toilet paper)

We have power failures a few times a year in the East Bay (San Francisco metropolitan area). Usually only a few hours each time. Pain in the ass though. When I buy a house I'll be looking at the cost of installing solar with a decent battery bank, which will help deal with this issue as well as the primary issue of sustainable energy sources.

[BorneoRagnarok]

Mr gg3 tell the truth. Even I need 3 years to adapt to the basic electricity usage. It need changes in your lifestyles not electricity usage alone. However I do it because I don't like the CFC gas to made a big hole in the sky and chemicals to pollute ground waters with all the products that I might purchase, consume and waste.

Peak oil or no peak oil , I will continue with this lifestyles. Now is Sunday 12:30 p.m. here and I need to go out. Go to hell with any power failures as long as the sun don't fail. I need to exercise under the hot sun to prepare myself for the future. Just made sure you really like what you wish for. Out of 500,000 in this city , I just see 15 people around the track on typical Sunday. One 68 years old man can run non-stop for 4 hours. I only manage to run for 35 minutes at most.

[smallpoxgirl]

Smallpoxgirl, once you get there, you'll wish you hadn't said that:-)

It's one thing to make radical lifestyle changes voluntarily. It's another when they're forced upon you by crisis and you have to deal with the nitty gritty. "Uh oh, ran out of toilet paper and can't get to the store..." (or, there ain't no more toilet paper)

So what? I'll use leaves. Won't be the first time. Mullein is the best choice around here. In decidous forests back east, Sycamore leaves work well. Some of the most beautiful times in my life have been spent without electricity. Give me a warm breeze rustling the leaves and some squirels scampering about over a movie any day.

I'm looking for land in Montana far from the electric grid or phone lines. Passive solar and wood for heat. Oil lamps for light. One outbuilding with solar to run electric hand tools. Probably tote my water. Saw dust toilets. Goats. Chickens. Blueberries. Fruit trees. Work towards growing all my own food.

Sounds like heaven to me.

[uNkNowN ElEmEnt]

One 68 years old man can run non-stop for 4 hours.

Doesn't that make you sick! I can do 3 kms or about 27 min and thats it, but hey it gives us something to aim for eh?

As for using wood heat... I figure I'll do the selective loggint thing. start by using dead wood that's already fallen, but I'm worried about trying to cut down my own trees. I know about widow makers (my dad taught me) but I know the angle they lean at should make you decide which side to start chopping. any tips? Do you take a few chops at one side only and that is the side it should fall towards? which means you have to watch to see when its gonna start falling right?

[BenThere]

Logging 101.

Select least desirable trees. I don't cut down trees that have value for something other than firewood, which means I cut mostly a straggly variety of oak we call "Black Jack". I don't cut cherry, white oak, red oak, black walnut, hickory, or any other variety that can be used for other purposes. A good size is a tree with a 2 or 3 foot diamater. Trees that are down and already rotting may not have much burn value, so picking up dead wood is not always a practical approach.

I a tree is already leaning one way then don't fight it by trying to make it fall another way. If it doesn't have a natural tilt then cut it to fall in the direction that it will do the least damage to other trees as it falls.

Cut a wedge about 2/3 of the way thru the tree on the side that you want it to fall. The bottom of the wedge should be parallel to the ground, and the top of the wedge should angle down about 30' to 45'. Then go to the other side of the tree and cut more or less parallel to the ground so that you will eventually hit the apex of the wedge. The tree probably will start to fall before you have cut it completely thru, so be prepared to step back a good distance when it goes. You should hear it cracking and see it move as it starts to fall, so really pay attention to what you are doing. Don't cut trees when drinking or doing drugs. You don't want to be standing too close to the trunk when it falls cause as the branches hit the ground the trunk can be pushed up and hit you with leathal force. Don't go cut trees all by yourself.

Once the tree is down, it can still be dangerous. First cut off and discard the ends of the branches that are too small to burn. You need to get them out of the way anyway so you can get to the firewood. Then cut up all the branches to the desired lengths and lastly work on the trunk. You axe or saw can get stuck if you do not cut properly, so make sure you have a few steel wedges with you.

Splitting the wood is probably the hardest part of the work. Of course a hydraulic splitter works best, but lacking the gas to run one probably means that you will split by hand. Those big, heavy all steel splitters really work better than the wood handled splitter; they hit with much more impact, and you won't need to worry about missing and splitting your handle. And again, you will need a few steel wedges for some of the more troublesome logs. There is an art to knowing where to hit to split a log effectively. You generally look for natural weak points that might show up as lines radiating out from the center.

Best bet is to go help someone who knows how and learn from his experience. It is not rocket science, but there are a few tricks.

[Woodchuck]

Excellent post BenThere. It's obvious you know your way around the woods.

As forest owners in New York State, we are advised not to even think about rigorous forest work until we complete "The Game of Logging" course. This one week course teaches chain saw safety and safe logging practices. That course is offered periodically throughout the USA with nominal charges.

I haven't taken it, and I use chain saws for light clean up. But rest assured, I will take it when it comes time to harvest a serious amount of firewood. In the Adirondaks, people who use wood heat as a primary heat source average a little less than four cords per season.

Could you elaborate a little more on your reluctance to harvest hickory? I'm in the northern Catskills. Up there, that's considered a low value species. It's good for wildlife and nut production, and that's about it. But as firewood, it gives off more BTUs than anything else. I'm not sure I understand.

[BenThere]

While hickory burns hot, making it desirable for a wood cook stove, it does have value for lumber and for the nuts, which other forrest dwellers like to eat. The benefit is that anything that supports wildlife not only assists natural diversity, but helps support huntable food. Hickory flooring is really quite durable. The type tree I cut burns almost about as well, when properly dry, but does not provide usable lumber or nuts.

[uNkNowN ElEmEnt]

I didn't know it but apparently with the unseasonably cold weather we were very close to not havin
y heat. a pipe burst and the city didn't get out to fix it for hours. the appartment manager had six pumps going to keep the water away from the boilers/generators.

if it went out we'd be toast.

[gg3]

You wouldn't be "toast," you'd be "ice cream":-)

Ben interesting items about logging. Good to know how to use an axe, though as long as there's fuel around to run a chain saw for the heavy cutting, it's probably worth having the option. Also it should be possible to build a hydraulic splitter that runs on human power. It would be slow but it would be a decent force multiplier, and probably less exhausting to use than a splitting axe.

Smallpoxgirl, I'll take squirrels over a movie any day. In fact it's been literally years since I've been in a movie theatre.

However, one doesn't have to choose between driving an SUV and wiping one's bottom with leaves. That's a false dichotomy, and an oversimplification.

Borneo,