Lifeboats and Earthships

by

A study of charts, early futures, ADP Jobs data, and a fresh book chapter on tap here.  After a manic running of the bears Tuesday, reason seems to be back with futures pointing lower ahead of the opening.

Our focus is back on the “what’s personally actionable” aspect of future living.

Imagine, if you will, that it’s late 1929 but the Crash has not yet happened, and you have some money in the bank.  What would you do, buy, where would you move, how would you live…that kind of context is how we’re set up today.

A check of recent headlines should explain why…

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63 thoughts on “Lifeboats and Earthships”

  1. Imagine, if you will, the mental calculus involved in figuring out current values..
    Fiat Curr./USD = unbacked pieces of paper – intrinsically worthless
    Silver/Gold Phyz- historically valuable
    Bitcoin/crypto- truth
    Alcohol/Tobacco/Drugs – historically holds value during times of hostilities.

    got the scenario in mind ? good – now you are faced with acquiring something you need /must have..medicine/food/a buzz.

    – and it is several weeks After Pooterz “darknightoftheSoulmoment” has passed & he goes all prince Arjuna& Krsna (Crushna) on Nato.

    What form of the above “money” do You or will You Spend First?
    follow on ? Which form of the above “money” will hold/save until last?

    Choose wisely HomegamerZ – this decision could very well affect probabilities of Ure survival in not too distant future?

    * Breakthrough & Closing above 21.50 Silver – this is the B/E line of the “big silver short” – guess we can still trade frm there for time “being”, once Time stops “being” all bets will be off off.

    • Mmmmm… The Mahabharata interesting analogy… Everybody get that? Putin/Arjuna, not quite, but truth does find a way. For instance, Putin/Arjuna could open up the Biden file and dispel the illusions.

      Personally, I am working on dispelling the illusion… In case you haven’t figured it out, it is an illusion and you can’t take it with you.

      Perhaps lead offers the best value over time. Currently, its intrinsic value does not compare with your suggestions.

      The Nag Hammadi Library – On the Origin of the World
      “Next we shall consider our world so that we might complete the discussion of its structure and its government in a precise manner. Then it will be clear how belief in hidden things, which have been apparent from the foundation to the consummation of the age, came about.”

      • I just read The Mahabharata. Putin believes he is on the side of Right. And being Right equals Good. I like the analogy.
        I have been slowly reading the classics. It’s amazing how often they come up in everyday life.
        I also bought your book. Scary stuff. Thanks for your insight into current events.

    • Hmmm. I’m thinkin’ 5 silver dollars per yearling billy if you’re hungry. 8 silver dollars per breeding nanny and 12 for a “working” billy. It’s a good point to start. We’ve already got deer hunters so that angle is taken care of but I’ll probably have to educate them on “real” money.

  2. Just remember the chorus used to sing $100 bills are the playground of criminals – now it is shitcoin owners and if the cme takes over shitcoin – it will be shorted into a hole in the desert or you will flat out not be able to use it unless you go to Russia – nothing – nothing replaces the dollar in this ponzi game ………

    • Toss into it that our lingering suspicion is that – especially in the wake of widening war – that anyone who has a crypto wallet might be seen as an enemy of the state for using a non-domestic currency.
      Got to do something with all those irs new hires, right?

      • And that thing on the irs form asking if you used cryptos this year. Don’t lie, that’s a felony.

        • We have never done a “wallet” for presactly this reason. IRS put Al Capone away – tax evasion/
          Ditto the coinsters who think they are oh so smart.
          Give it time and some AI…we’ll see…

      • Damm! talk about waving a red cape in front of some seemingly intelligent but angry bulls/bullscheisserZ.

        Simple exercise in mental gymnastics – order from First to Last in terms perceived value..instead attack, attack, attack..like a pack progressive pricks..

        ? Would not EMP/grid killa – knock off all electronic commerce including dollars,bonds,bills, stocks, commodities ??? Youse never herd bout the “UreAsian Bridge”?

        * add Ammunition/Personal Weapons to alcohol/tobbaco/drugs category.
        ** I own No wallets, No cyrpto – it was all stolen, I was hacked, I swear.

        PSS. it is only a cold sore/check is in the mail/ I wont ___ in Ure mouth!

        Signed,
        Blu Kalki Lation

        • Nice theory
          However with most people in cruncho currency it all transits a bank ledger.
          I won’t wave the MBA, the forensic PhD people I know, or that I slept once in a Holiday Inn Express once.

          But if the incoming, and outgoing transiting an account do not come really, really damn close – can coinsters saty OFMe

      • George your statement could also apply to anyone using hard precious metal tangible assets???? why limit it to just cryptos?? The other reason to have the new IRS hires is to collect all the gold and silver in private possession?? Of course the know where it is , they just have to supeona the records of the precious metal companies that have been convincing americans to buy gold and silver as a hedge .

    • The Federal Government discontinued all high-denomination bills in July of 1969, including the $500 dollar bill, $1,000 dollar bill, $5,000 dollar bill, $10,000 dollar bill, and $100,000 dollar bill. They were then taken out of circulation. Surprisingly, $1000 bills were still seen in circulation until the early 1970s.

      • I used a $500 to [pay tuition in 1974, last time I saw one.
        Now $100s are the new $1s, you go to the atm and try to get gas money and they shoot a Franklin out at you!

      • “Surprisingly, $1000 bills were still seen in circulation until the early 1970s.”

        Mostly on the TV game show “The Price is Right.”

      • “Surprisingly, $1000 bills were still seen in circulation until the early 1970s.”
        Mostly on the TV game show “The Price is Right.”

        Heck.. we will see trillion dollar bills pretty soon @Ray from how they are handling every thing.. especially if we don’t go to war and we fold because of the mishandling of the eight years of budget they printed and didn’t do a thing to show for it.. .. .. oh hey you can get them already..

        https://www.amazon.com/American-Art-Classics-Pack-50/dp/B09L1NQNPQ

      • “Heck.. we will see trillion dollar bills pretty soon Ray from how they are handling every thing.. ”

        …And the bank teller will still have to fill out the forms for a withdrawal larger than $9999

  5. Time machine back knowing what we know now?

    It was different time. The best strategy would become a Federal Reserve board member like old, old man Bush. He didn’t squirrel rolls of dimes but instead designed the future. His family tree turned out to be good, rich Christian folk. They told us many times. His grandson became president. His great grandson too. What are the odds in a Representative Republic, yet there it is.

    Old man Ryder bought his first truck, used, on credit @ market bottom in 1933. Probably luck, whatever luck is supposed to be. Since Ryder bought his truck used it means the previous tuck company owner timed it wrong, bad luck. Ryder’s contribution was applying preventative maintenance to his fleet. Still around today.

    Some folks bought easements where the high tension corridors are going through or land where the Interstates will be. Starlink is in the air so that won’t work this time. The city to city EV corridors (Interstates) are existing.

    • Putin’s problem the way I see it…. is like a concealed pistol carrier. If someone starts something the pistol carrier must escalate from verbal to deadly force. Putin doesn’t have many tools available below nuke in the force continuum aganst other super powers.

      But maybe Putin is in on the reset.

      Consider the Great Famine of Ireland. People were starving. People were fleeing. We’ve all heard, “they only took take what they could carry”. So who got the stuff they left behind? Who bought their land and what did they get per lot? What about their old pots and pans?

      Maybe Biden is in on it. Hit the U.S. with several Cobalt bombs, buy all the radioactive land for nothing, rebuild after the 5 year wait period. Putin plays his role and he’s in the Book, “Vladimir the Great”.

      • The vast majority of the Irish people at that time did not own their home / property / farms. They ‘rented’ their existence. The land owners control it all.

      • OOWS you need to do some reading about CCW.
        If someone gives you some verbal abuse, and you are packing, you Walk Away.
        If they even imply physical force you put distance between you and they, and again , Walk Away.
        If they Pursue You (look at the kid in the riot, with the AR15) and physically attack you, then you can shoot.
        The kid got off because he was going the other way, and everyone else (What law calls a ‘disparity of force’) was behind him in pursuit.
        Escalating from verbal to gunfire will NOT make your day.

      • It’s gonna take more than five years after cobalt contamination to be habitable. Five years is the half-life. It is still plenty toxic at that level. Decades and decades will be the wait… with considerable cleanup and sequestration of isotopes in the process. Essentially, the land will be uninhabitable in a human lifetime.

      • Big Al,

        That’s the point.

        I think Poland just requested nukes. The conflict has escalated to deadly force for all of us. Nothing between verbal and dead.

  6. this is a two fer,, conspiracy theory is fact, ala NYT
    push the orange ‘cancel’ button to clear it off the page, to see side by side NYTs headlines
    https://t.me/Patri0tsareinContr0l/3342
    and election worker data information sent direct to Chyna via Konnech. This is bigger than most suspect
    “Today, Konnech CEO Eugene Yu was arrested in Michigan on charges of Theft of Personal Data.”
    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/10/backfire-2-days-new-york-times-hit-piece-conspiracy-theory-target-becomes-truth/

    4 years to the date Q asks are you ready for arrests?
    https://qaggregator.news/?q=%23%232344
    I AM sure it is just a coincidence,, I mean who really believes that someone knows/sees future events ;-)

    So much stuff habbening from every direction,, all wars are economic in nature,,, I want ure stuff at gun point. You will buy from me!!!. or I will blow up ure gas line,,, Vatican assests recall,,, WEF wants total control of the human herd,,, IMF attacks countries that do not borrow from them, and destroys, from internal cancer those that do borrow from them global bankers,,, see US and the Feral Reserve Theft

    What assets will be used for batter when the system collapses
    I got popcorn and 2 silver rounds,,, might need Lone Ranger silver rounds to kill the vampires that suck the adrenochrome blood of tortured children,,, these people are sick

  7. George,

    Read the first offering. You are spot on. Can’t wait for for the next rel;ease.

    Ken (The Wordspinner)

  8. The news about opec flipping pedo pete the bird was so good the market rose up and sang. No, the market is not manipulated.

  9. Amazing, for the last month in my down time, I’ve been thinking about my next project. It revolves around a family’s efforts to to build a remote refuge that is prepared to live isolated and off the grid, long-term.
    As always, I’m eagerly looking forward to the next chapter.

  10. “Such a craft would make some of its own food, a bit of power, have off grid communications, be warm in the winter, cool in summer. And most important of all, not cost an arm and a leg.”
    Food- check
    Power- check
    Comms- check
    Warm winters- check
    cool summers- check
    Paid-in-full… check. No more ‘check is in the mail’.

    Check, and mate!

      • I think defense(and early warning), both actively if necessary and passively if possible( you can’t raid what you don’t know exists) is a life system of its own, as is relationship(s). Perhaps there are nine major life systems.

    • Hmmmm. Look at all ‘dem solar panels. Betcha they got juice and a whole lot more! (Would Musk’s solar shingles be stealth enough?)

  13. Folks,

    Today while Mr. Biden reviewed the hurricane aftermath in Florida, Ms. Harris voyaged to New Britain, Ct., perhaps to oversee the installation of election storm shutters in “Little Poland”. The city’s famous son and proponent of world peace, Elihu Burritt, authored a visceral first hand account of Irish famine in 1847 Skibbereen (trans. a place to sail)
    https://archive.org/details/ajournalofavisit25115gut

  14. Today I was at the store and noticed fresh lobster tail is $76.00/lb.

    To a person pulling $15.00/hr lobster tail is more than 1/2 day gross pay. Could explain the credit card debt.

    Cricket flours and powders are in the future. I checked into growing crickets here in MI and there is a freeze so I would have to pay to heat the cricket shed. For folks who live in a moderate climate cricket farming could be a pursuit. Read G’s freebie on how to start a home remodel operation and line-up buyers before starting.

    Unfortunately, Hank is correct about the Cobalt bomb contamination. Local game will be dead or eaten to extinction by the other survivors. It might not be possible to put together a herd of steer.

    Again, cricket farming.

    Read up on America’s “Starving Time” or the Donner family.. Those are famous cases but cannibalism was probably wider spread and we just didn’t/don’t talk about it. Maybe that’s not the type of story one would pass down.

  17. I think the key to the Lifeboat and Earthship concept is making the most of what resources you have. A woodstove here, some moveable insulation there, and a little more food storage somewhere else will extend your Lifeboat’s operating zone immensely. Battery operated stuff, with rechargeable batteries and a way to recharge with the grid down or limping will improve your lifeboat’s livability. It is about extending your ability to live with unanticipated adversity. Do you have a mechanical can opener?
    Note I didn’t say “go buy guns and ammo”; you should have already put in a stock. If you haven’t, try to pay more attention to your surroundings. Given that your most likely longevity in any given firefight is probably about six rounds of ammo, fifty rounds should get you through a whole bunch of shootin’, unless of course, it doesn’t.
    Try to at least establish a truce with neighbors. Being too chummy means they know where to go when they get desperate. It’s OK to show-off your marksmanship to them with one civilian model weapon in a friendly neighborly sort of way. The man with only one gun …
    There are things that I really want, but I try to avoid spending large sums for things that will have little utility except in one particular low probability scenario. For most, it’s just ordinary economics which bury you. I wish I had more resources at this location, but sometimes you have to make do, or risk putting too many eggs in that one wrong basket. The egg basket is an overworked yet very applicable cliche. Dropping a lot of money on an obsession, only to make your overall condition decline is to be avoided. Prep Jonesing might be another way of looking at it. In my case, encroaching civilization has become the biggest threat.
    Depressions tend to liquidate debt the hard way, through universal forced default on all debt- the good, the bad, and the ugly. That’s the deflation that people scratch their head looking for, while consumer price inflation is rampant. If it is a depression, why aren’t prices falling? Because the deflation in a depression is about waving bye-bye to stuff obtained with Other People’s Money (OPM), not about getting a break at the pumps.

  18. Thoroughly enjoyed the first chapter of your new book. Thank you for sharing with your Peoplenomics subscribers.

    I particularly enjoyed one line.

    “People choose sides based on emotional appeals. Not data nor common sense, or their own beneficial self- interest.”

    When my kids were growing up they would make an “emotional decision” and I would always respond with “and then what?” Trying to force them to think through the consequences. I believe it did help them to develop some common sense thinking. Now to work on the grandkids!

    Look forward to reading the next chapters of your book.

  19. Mother always, always said. Use a good accountant, a good lawyer, an insurance agent , and a good Jewish Doctor.

  20. Folks,

    Times are getting tough in bankster land? My most recent visit to the atm bandit revealed a new negative marketing ploy. Selecting accounts, I expected to see my bank balance. No, it was greyed out followed by a helpful message. “If you would like to see your balance press ‘ok’. This time is free.” So, going forward in the future, one might have to pay a service fee to verify one’s balance at the ATM? Wowser…

    Another area of banking which appears to have been reworked is foreign currency. Since forever one could always walk into any bank branch and buy usd over the counter, and sometimes pounds sterling and euros depending on the branch. Now you have to pre-order and delivery to the branch takes up to 5 business days. What is this, Venezuela? Are foreign exchange controls lurking around the corner?

    • @Jester, Most of the time I just travel with my wife, but sometimes we have taken tours and hear stories about the currency travais of newbie travelers. In 28 years of serious foreign travel (2-3x/year) I have never bought a foreign currency from a U.S. bank. In the old days I would get ripped off at the currency exchange at foreign airports (typically rates would be 8 to 15% above the interbank rate) and get enough local currency to keep me going until I could get to a bank and make a withdrawal on an ATM card. Nowadays I travel with two ATM cards (primary and backup) but put almost all purchases on a VISA card with a 2% rebate but only a 1% foreign transaction fee. In a recent one month trip that included Sweden, the UK, and Ireland I made only two ATM transactions. The first was at the Dublin airport because I had read that bus fare into town required currency (it did not, in fact) and the second was to get cash for a tip for the tour guide. All the rest — hotels, restaurants, taxis buses, trains, admissions — were paid with cards. In Stockholm a store had a pay-to-pee restroom that didn’t take cash; had to use a card for the $1 fee! Some restaurants in Sweden will not take cash. Period. My Sweden-resident son went for 18 months without using cash. Only on a trip to Dubai did he find it necessary to get some cash.

      In short, pre-ordering currency and high markups are likely not about preparations for exchange controls. Rather, they are banking’s response to people who insist on using outmoded systems which are a nuisance for the banks. FWIW, we usually carry a few hundred USD, enough to get us to an airport in the event of a massive ATM/charge card system failure.

    • Jester, were you using a commercial bank? You might consider keeping your money in a credit union (caisse populaire in Québec).

      Here’s the deal. A commercial bank has to satisfy three sets of demands:
      1. To keep itself going (things like salaries, the rent/mortgage & upkeep of offices, utilities…);
      2. To satisfy the owners (whether stock-market share-owners or a few individuals);
      3. To satisfy the customers.

      Note that commercial banks use that priority.
      But, by their nature, for credit unions set 2 and set 3 are the same people — so they can satisfy their customers and owners at the same time (perhaps excepting a few pathological ‘edge cases’).

  21. HHS purchases drug for use in radiological and nuclear emergencies

    As part of long-standing, ongoing efforts to be better prepared to save lives following radiological and nuclear emergencies, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is purchasing a supply of the drug Nplate from Amgen USA Inc; Nplate is approved to treat blood cell injuries that accompany acute radiation syndrome in adult and pediatric patients (ARS).

    BARDA is using its authority provided under the 2004 Project Bioshield Act and $290 million in Project BioShield designated funding to purchase this supply of the drug.

    ARS, also known as radiation sickness, occurs when a person’s entire body is exposed to a high dose of penetrating radiation, reaching internal organs in a matter of seconds.

    https://aspr.hhs.gov/newsroom/Pages/ARS-Oct2022.aspx

    • @Ray, The press release was dated October 4. Be very interesting to see the contract’s delivery schedule!

      • They purchase Nplate on a regular basis, but in 20 million dollar blocks, not in multiple hundred million dollar blocks.

        I find both the size of the purchase and its timing, quite interesting…

  22. President Biden….“No one F***s with a Biden”

    President Biden appeared to share a lighthearted, R-rated exchange while caught on a hot mic as he met with Florida officials and residents affected by Hurricane Ian.

    “No one f—- with a Biden,” the president appeared to say with a laugh as he had a seemingly friendly conversation with Fort Myers Beach Mayor Ray Murphy on Wednesday.

    https://politicaldog101.com/2022/10/president-biden-no-one-fucks-with-a-biden/

    Somebody should’ve told the Saudis.

    Joe obviously needs lessons in fellatio. He strapped his kneepads on again, begged the Kingdom to open the spigots wider so the Prince gave the creeper the finger and backed ’em off by 2 million bbls/day…

    • …So, apparently Creepy Joe has decided to tap the Strategic Reserve again, put his kneepads back on, and crawl off to Venezuela…

      Biden turns to Venezuela as Europe commits economic ‘suicide by genuflecting to green utopia’

      As President Biden reportedly seeks a weakening in oil sanctions on Communist autocrat Nicolas Maduro’s Venezuela while opposing fossil fuel speculation at home, Fox Business host Charles Payne warned the U.S. could follow in Europe’s footsteps as they “genuflect” to the green revolution at the expense of their own citizens.

      https://www.foxnews.com/media/biden-turns-venezuela-europe-committing-economic-suicide-genuflecting-green-utopia

      BTW, I’m starting to hear noise regarding the clearcutting of Europe.

      The Urepeein PTB are so scared their vassals will freeze, then rise up and burn the Hague to keep warm that they are contemplating deforesting vast swaths of Ureup (or is that Ure-time-is-up?) to supply heat for the unwashed.

      I can hardly wait to see how the Greenuts react when EU governments start cutting trees down by the 10000s per day…

      • I’m still at a loss as to how deforestation, and burning wood, are more green and economical than homeowners burning hard anthracite coal. Power plants, who are in a better position to deal with emission issues, can burn the soft lignite.
        I will say this, if the Europeans must level forests to keep their children happy and half-witted green, let it be their own forests, and not the forests of North America.

      • Also, mouthy green teenagers and their manipulators are not engineers; engineers are forged by real world successes and failures, not born to a position. I’ve noticed that Europeans and Commonwealth countries have problems comprehending that. In those regions, engineers are part of their social and political caste systems, and not always held accountable like in this harsh country. I spend a large portion of my day dealing with pretend engineers, so this isn’t a theoretical opinion.

      • lookey loo intrepid travelers, there are 4 pipes in NS1 &2.

        geniuses only punctured 3, small punctures at that.

        1 pipe in NS 2 is perfectly intact and ready to transit Gaz to the Euro sheep..

        Snarf!

      • Yo Ray,! Sorry to be a bit late. Just seeing your incredibly ironic and down right laughable attempted *language* take down of one of my posts in George’s column of the 4th. And here you are decocting meaning from the scent of your own ordure again. Some things just cannot go unanswered. Such as your misguided attempt to school me on language. Not sure how far back in time George allows posts to be added to a thread. And I would hate for you to go laboring under a misapprehension. So let me help…There is a famous legal saying and *LATIN* maxim (that the lefties invoked in the attempted Kavanaugh lynching). It goes something like this: “Falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus”. You could even Google it…which I recall suggesting. In vain it appears. Here, I’ll do it for you. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falsus_in_uno,_falsus_in_omnibus. I was making a play on that LATIN Maxim in my post that you took issue with. Guess you missed that. So, Just who’s tutoring who? BTW so sorry to hear (in your misguided take down of the 4th) about your apparent loss of *color* and all (You know your [sic] “Pallor”.) Maybe instead of owning yourself with risibly wrong language lessons, you should just go outside and get some sun. That will put you in the pink for sure. As for me, I am inconsolable. Hearing that my post on the 4th has caused you to become *pale* has put me under a pall of sorts. Get it? If not, let me be more direct, *dense* language boy…you are hoist on the petard of your own ignorance.

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