Freedom Farmer

Questions

2008-04-19T17:46:26Z

Why does it seem there is someone for everyone? Why does it seem that I'm all alone? I know its not the truth, but in a way it is. I see couples walking down the street. Dressed alike, a perfect match. And I ask myself, "Why not me?" I'm a good person, I'm self-confident, I love myself, I'm a good listener, I'm a good provider. Why not me? Why do I find it so diificult to make friends? Why do I run at the first sign of attraction? Why do I feel so alone when I am surrounded by so many people who love me? I look inside myself for the answer. I'm not having fun. I'm driving myself crazy with unanswerable questions. Its time to stop searching and to start playing.

bad news bears

2008-03-28T20:44:06Z

Friends,

A few years ago the Fed stopped publishing the M3, which is the measure of how much money is in circulation. Before that inflation was between 3-5%, but since the Fed stopped reporting the data, private companies who follow this sort of thing have reported that inflation has shot up to around 13% annually. This means that every year your 1 dollar loses 13 cents of its value. Recently the Fed also changed the laws governing banks. It used to be that banks were required to keep a certain amount of cash in reserves in their vaults, but the Fed changed that rule so that banks could keep their reserves in credit on loan from the fed. This means that every bank in the country is technically bankrupt. These indicators, coupled with a dying housing market (which has been America's economic engine of the past few years), and $100/barrel oil in an economy dependent on cheap fossil fuels means that we are in for hard times.

Lately Bush has been talking about giving Americans an economic stimulus check with their tax return. This is nothing more than Disney Fun Bucks or Monopoly money created out of thin air with no backing and no intrinsic value except for the good faith of investors, and I believe it will be the straw that breaks the camel's back. I say this for the reasons stated above, and additionally for knowing Bush to use words like "Freedom" when he means "Fascism," and "Democracy" when he means "Corporate Rule." Why would anyone expect him to use a term like "Economic Stimulus" and have it mean anything other than "Economic Destruction?"

I don't mean to be an alarmist or to scare anyone, but it is for these reasons that I believe that the American economy is six months or less away from crashing. I tell you these things only in hopes that it will help you to help yourself. Personally, I have spoken with both my Accountant and my Financial Adviser, sharing with them my concerns and both of them agreed with me. This morning my Financial Adviser encouraged me to sell all of my stock (which was up in dollar terms, but when I measured it in terms of silver everything was rapidly losing value). Now I am in the process of hastily paying off debt and converting it into cash and other hard assets such as silver bullion (which is set to explode), tools, seeds, tractor implements, books, good quality clothing, and livestock. I strongly encourage all of you to take your money out of the bank, before we see bank runs, and take similar actions as are appropriate for your situation. I hope this helps.

Your Loving and Loyal Friend,

Joe

P.S. Here's a graph of the h3 (the measure of bank reserves), plus a few others to illustrate my point. http://www.greenrushcapital.com/greenrush_dr_strangemath.pdf

It's Official

2007-10-25T21:06:34Z

The Guardian reports that oil production peaked in 2006.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/oil/story/0,,2196435,00.html

New Blog

2007-07-31T04:40:43Z

I started a new website/blog for my farm. It's here: http://www.geocities.com/the_opium_cowboy/

It came to be through the book I was writing when I realized that it would be a hell of a lot easier to use as a website. So, voila!

Here's a good article

2007-07-16T21:38:51Z

Growing Food in the Post-Carbon Age
http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/Archives2006/HeinbergFiftyMillion.html

coalcreek @ 2007-07-07T21:58:00

2007-07-08T05:00:24Z

http://scienceblogs.com/islandofdoubt/2007/05/be_afraid_be_very_very_afraid_1.php?utm_source=mostemailed&utm_medium=link

According to this guy, I will be 35 when the north pole is out of ice.

Here's a sneak peak at the book I'm writing:

2007-07-08T01:56:05Z

Live Earth, and the Corporate Conspiracy to Profit from Global Warming

It’s no secret that humanity needs to take some drastic actions to mitigate the damages that global warming will bring about tomorrow. But nothing pisses me off more than people and organizations who use it as a way to profit and gain power. There is an international concert going on today called Live Earth whose purpose it is to raise awareness and solutions for global warming. It is an admirable cause, and with the 2 billion people who will listen to some part of that concert today, its effect is wide reaching. With that kind of outcome it is so important that what is said today is done from a position of knowledge and responsibility. That’s why it scares me when people like Al Gore and the organizers and supporters of Live Earth tell me and the rest of the world that the way to solve global warming is to buy stuff. Buy a hybrid car. Buy a compact fluorescent light bulb. I’ll tell you right now that CFL’s are not going to save humanity, nor is buying stuff. This consumer ideology is only killing us. Sure CFL’s and hybrids save energy when they are used, but what people forget to think about is how much energy is used to manufacture and ship these things. I heard a statistic once that three-quarters of all the energy used in a car’s lifetime is used in its manufacture. That doesn’t include all of the energy used to get the workers to the factory, or to ship the food the workers eat to their homes, or to refine the oil that was used to grow and ship that food, or to pump and ship the oil, or the energy that fed and transported the workers that maintained the rigs and ships, or the lives of the soldiers that died to acquire that oil, or the energy used build and move the tanks they drove, or the energy required to manufacture the bullets they shot, or the sorrow caused to the families and loved ones of the people who died.

My purpose in writing this is not to belittle efforts to mitigate climate change, or the unspoken problems: peak oil, peak water, and peak arable land. Every little bit counts. However, I’m concerned that people buy into these pro-corporate-growth “solutions” and waste precious money, time and effort that could be used on long-lasting solutions. I have to give Al Gore credit in one way, he hit the nail on the head when he gave planting trees as a solution in his movie. Better yet, why not plant an orchard? Not only is carbon offset by the tree’s growth, but it also provides a local source of food. No one ever talks about food in their solutions to climate change. Here’s my advice for anyone interested in saving the planet. Get connected to your food!! Buy it from a farmer you know personally, preferably one who grows organically. Better yet, grow it yourself! Even better than that, learn to forage. There is no higher quality food on this green earth than food that is free and natural.

The solutions to climate change and the other disasters facing humanity are not hard to overcome. Most of them are very cheap, if not free. The catch? You have to learn a few new skills, and do things that are considered not normal by the mainstream. Things like riding a bike and maintaining a garden. These are not particularly hard things to do, but I’ll be damned if they ever crossed the minds of the sponsors of Live Earth.

Los Angeles

2007-07-05T02:38:57Z

Try to wrap your head around this one:

http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/postoilbulletin/mapoflosangeles.html

Everything in gray used to be farmland, now it is cement.

Post-apocalyptic prediction: Los Angeles will someday be a ghost town.

In lighter news, I got paid $120 today to hang out in a forest and work on my book. It was great.

Coolest. Game. Ever.

2007-05-20T07:00:13Z

http://www.ugoplayer.com/games/punk-o-matic.html

To hear the song I wrote copy and paste the following data into the box that pops up when you click on "Load."

0---1---0---6-880---1---0---1-6-0---1-----6-3---1---0---1---6-889--------------------1---7---3---3---1---2---0---2---1---0-----6-3-7-0---8---a---1---c--------------------0-----2---3-1---0-----4-6-2-4-6-0---3-6-1---2-4-1---2-4-6-4-8-9-a--------------------

WWO - Week 18 - Breaking Bread With Neighbors

2007-05-17T16:50:55Z

It's no secret any more that food is getting scarce. I'm losing weight, Trooper is losing weight, my neighbors are losing weight. Everyone is getting skinny. All of my neighbors with horses have begun selling and trading them. Others have been butchered and eatten. House pets are next. Pasture land has begun to take on a value other than as pasture. Several people have approached me about helping them establish new gardens in their former pasture. I have a tractor, and I have seeds. These facts have given me a position of power in my neighborhood. However, I use that power to enrich my neighbors' lives rather than to profit from them. We are in this together.

Locally the food situation has consolidated into a few main items. Aside from horse meat, milk and cheese are plentiful and cheap. A number of people have taken up new careers transporting Enumclaw cheese to Seattle and Tacoma and selling it there.

The best thing to come out of all of this has been my new relationship with my neighbors. Aside from working together we are also sharing food. Every Sunday the whole community comes together to break bread potluck-style at someone's home. The atmosphere is both jovial and serious. We laugh at life's small mishaps and discuss how we can use our collective resources to everyone's advantage. Right now plans are being laid for a community garden to be set up on some of my unused land. The situation seems grim, for now, but my neighbors have really come together.

WWO Week 11

2007-05-12T04:15:46Z

DISCLAIMER: The Following post is based on the game World Without Oil (www.worldwithoutoil.org).

With gasoline at $5.81/gallon I'm thinking of dropping out of school. It's getting harder and harder to afford the commute. I'm grateful to my girlfriend, who lives in Shelton, she's been letting me stay at her place Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday so I can still go to school. I've been helping her expand her garden. I'm also thinking of offering to let her move in with me.

Speaking of gardening, diesel fuel has begun not to meet demand, forcing prices up; the price of food has gone up exponentially. Needless to say I'm planting a lot more vegetables than I have in the past. I'm going to sell them to my neighbors and have some HUGE seed crops, so I can give them away. I'm very concerned about a famine.

coalcreek @ 2007-05-05T21:57:00

2007-05-06T04:58:01Z

WooT!!!!!!!

I've got a fine-ass date tomorrow.

YIPPIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

World Without Oil - Day 1

2007-04-30T13:45:33Z

DISCLAIMER: The Following post is based on the game World Without Oil (www.worldwithoutoil.org).

Fuel prices jumped up to $4.12/gallon today. That's nearly a dollar's gain. I don't know how I'm going to be able to afford this. Apparently I'm not alone, the DJ's on the talk stations are railing against the oil company CEO's. I've believed in peak oil for a long time, but right now I don't know who or what to believe. I really need to get a job. There is no way I can afford to continue driving if oil prices keep moving up.

World Without Oil

2007-04-29T03:20:06Z

It's been a while since I wrote anything in this blog, especially anything oil/end of the world as we know it related. And it's not because I've stopped believing in that stuff. In fact the more I look at it the more resolute I become in my beliefs. The reason I stopped writing about it was because I was scaring the people who I was trying to help. Clearly that doesn't work.

I've been inspired by a new website: http://www.worldwithoutoil.org/ The purpose of this site is to share information and ideas and to treat the peak oil crisis as if it were affecting people today like it will be tomorrow. Someday we will look back at $3.00/gallon gasoline and think fondly of "the good ole days."

To prepare for the future I am doing everything I can to get my bases covered. I have been truly blessed in this way. Water is the most crucial, and barring a power outage in the middle of August, I'm covered there. I have a well on my farm and water rights, though I'd like to get a hand pump attached to it. Food, shelter and money are my main focuses now. For food I grow as much as possible. I'm building a forest garden, and a have a HUGE vegetable garden in front of my house. Also, I dumpster dive which makes it possible for me to feed my dog a pound of meat every night, and I go to the food bank. At first I felt bad about doing this, but now I just donate my excess dumpster food to the food bank, it comes out about even. Also I've been foraging a couple meals every week. This means eating a lot of dandelion this time of year.

For shelter I'm partially taken care of. I live in a solid 100 year old house, I just need to get it fixed up. A contracter's apprentice I met is supposed to come out tomorrow to see if he can help me. Once I get my house fixed I will be getting one or two roomates which will mostly alleviate my need for an income. Also I'm working on getting a job on a farm somewhere. My first choice is to work at Rockridge Orchards which is an orchard/cidery not far from me. I think a job there, or on any farm, would be a secure one. People will always need to eat.

Money is the measure I am using to determine my success. I figure that the less money I spend every month the less I am dependent on the economy, which in turn means the less I am dependent on oil. So far my lowest month has been $500, but my average is twice that.

In addition to all this stuff I'm working on maintaining good relationships with all of my neighbors. I even helped one of them put in a large garden in front of their house this month. Yay for local food security.

Emptiness is loneliness, loneliness is cleanliness

2007-01-22T04:31:07Z

I've learned a lot in the past week. Mainly, I've learned that my biggest fear is to be alone. Which is interesing to me because so much of my time is spent alone, well, except in the last week.

I'm currently in Pai, Thailand. I'm travelling with Tim, my best friend. We've been inseperable, except those first few nights here when I was completely focused on getting laid. This inseperability probably has more to do with my own insecurity than anything else. When Tim has a book, he's happy any where.

I wrote to Becca. I told her that I was foolish to tell her I wanted to marry her. I told her that I love her and that my attraction to her is deeper than any I've known. She responded, saying that she still doesn't want to date me, but that that doesn't mean no forever.

I went to a tarot reader and got a reading. I don't know that I believe in that stuff, but she gave me good advice. She told me to stop focusing on having a girlfriend, to start focusing on being happy and that that would make me irresistible to women. I think she's right. When I think about women, and about not having one in my life, I feel like a loser, like there's something wrong with me. And someone who thinks himself a loser can't be attractive to women.

The key for me seems to be to focus on my own happiness in each given moment. This is no easy task for someone who is used to navigating on auto-pilot. Meditation would help.

coalcreek @ 2006-12-31T11:44:00

2006-12-31T19:52:52Z

Oh man, I have the stock opportunity of a lifetime. I'll begin by reiterating that I'm VERY VERY bullish on precious metals. There is a company called Energold Drilling (EGDFF) that I think has the potential to explode over the coming years. They have a drill that can be carried by four men, a mule, or in a pickup truck. It has a miniscule ecological footprint and as a result is very easy to have permitted. On top of this there is so much demand for drilling now that they are turning away customers. Also, the corporations that are hiring them are the creme de la creme of the mining industry. Finally, this company can be bought by anyone, as it only costs $1.28/share right now.

During the Gold Rush it wasn't the miners who made the most money, it was the people selling picks and shovels.

Here is something that creeps me out....

2006-12-27T07:15:50Z

If you type "Joe Barber-Siskar" into Google, you have instant access to my address, home phone number, and my lj.

PLEASE DON'T EXPLOIT ME!!!!!!!!

Hilarious!

2006-12-24T07:02:31Z

It's a Wonderful Life in 30 seconds, re-enacted by bunnies.
http://www.angryalien.com/1204/wonderful_lifebuns.asp

coalcreek @ 2006-12-13T21:03:00

2006-12-14T05:05:54Z

Dear Universe, and every loving, generous soul that occupies it,

I need your help!

I talked to Becca again today, and told her that I had been a jerk. I lied to her when I said I was okay with not being friends with her. Then I told her that I love her and want to marry her. She told me she needed coaching about what to say and would call me back at 8:00.

One hour ago, at approximately 7:50, she called me back to tell me that we are friends, but that she has chosen "no."

So, I will not give up, but am at a loss for what to do next. Will I give her small, thoughtful gifts? Will ask her out every time I see her? Will I serenade her under the stars and the moon? I don't know! But any thoughts/advice/opinions/suggestions would be greatly, Greatly, GREATLY appreciated.

Love, light, soil and water,

Joe Barber

P.S. PLEASE RESPOND TO THIS!!!!!!!!!!

coalcreek @ 2006-12-13T03:04:00

2006-12-13T11:04:08Z

I'm in love.

After discussing it with a number of happily married friends, I realized I needed to ask Becca what she meant when she told me that I'm too young for her. So I did. Her response was that it was an excuse she used to avoid dating me. Then, she told me that she had come to a decision. That's when the dagger was thrust into my heart. She has chosen not to be my friend. Then, she apologized for hurting me. This was my moment to shine. "This is the second time you've hurt me, and I love you just the same." I could tell that took her by surprise by the way she reacted. I also told her not to be sorry and that I would respect the decision she had made. We hugged and parted.

This is the woman I want to spend my life with. I know it's crazy, but no one else can compare. So I'm taking a stand: I will do what ever it takes to be the man that Becca wants to marry.

Bob Marley put it well:

I'm willing and able
So I throw my cards on your table
See I wanna love you, I wanna love and treat you right
I wanna love you, every day and every night
We'll be together, with a roof right over our heads
We'll share the shelter, of my single bed
We'll share the same room, JAH provide the bread

Transformation

2006-12-11T09:34:25Z

This weekend has been life changing for me. I spent all day Friday, Saturday and Sunday in the Advanced Course for Landmark Education, where so much came to light to me that I'm having difficulty deciding where to begin. I put a lot of energy into resolving a story I've been living with since I was five.

When I was five, I was at daycare when an older bully named Kyle coerced me into performing oral sex on a little girl. I then spent the proceding 17 years punishing myself for not having the courage to stand up to him, and regretting the damage that caused that girl. To deal with it I decided to become independent so that no one could get close to me and manipulate me or hurt me. Once I understood that I got that it is okay to be vulnerable. This has been amazing for me because now i'm able to just sit down and converse with people openly, rather than putting all of that energy into protecting myself.

I also decided to make a stand for that little girl. I will protect anyone who can't protect themselves, no matter the danger or the cost.

Today I had my heart broken, and learned a great deal about love. I thought I had met the woman of my dreams, Becca. I asked her to support me by being with me while I made a difficult phone call to my mom. After I finished the conversation and hung up, she looked at me and asked me a question, I forget what it was, but I told her that I like her (a huge understatement!) The conversation followed suit and she told me that I was too young for her (she's 31). My response was, "You're not too old for me." And then I told her the truth, that she was the first woman I had ever been attracted to based primarily on personality, that's not to say I don't think she's beautful, and that that was a big deal for me. Then I told her, holding back tears, that I was on a quest to find the woman of my dreams and that I had thought she was her. Then I told her I had to go, and I left the Course and went and hid in my car.

I didn't come back at the end of our break. I just lay in the back seat of my car wallowing in self-pity. But soon I got tired of it and knew that the people in my group would want to know where I had gone. So, I returned and was met at the door by Gordon, one of the staff members in charge of making sure our class went smoothly. I spilled my guts to him, sobbing and telling him that I had just had my heart broken by the woman who I thought was "the one," and that I felt so alone. I told him about the quest quest that I was on to find that woman and he said something to me that I'll never forget. He said, "Maybe the person you need to find is yourself." With that my quest changed. Then he asked me if I was ready to go back into the classroom, I was, and when I got back in something amazing happened. Everyone in the room, about 100 people, stood up and clapped and cheered for my having returned. Talk about feeling loved.

Later Becca and I talked about what had happened between us and agreed to continue being friends. Despite my hurt feelings we became closer. And I've also gained a lot of clarity on who the woman I will spend my life with is, she's a lot like Becca.

A few hours later in class we got back on the weekend-long subject of the acts we play. An act is a statement that prevents a person from living to her/his full potential. I distinguished mine to be "I can't do it and I don't care," which relates back to my inability to stand up to my molester. Since each person identified an act they play, we all took turns in front of the group sharing what our act is, to create a clearing in which to replace it with a new possibility. I felt called to replace that statement with the possiblity of being powerful, strong and determined. Everyone got it when I said that in front of the group, because i got my second standing ovation of the day.

I gave Becca a ride home. On that journey I became present to a persistent complaint I have which is "anyone who is acting interested in being my friend is really interested in me romantically." Needless to say, this complaint is really making it difficult for me to create meaningful friendships and is probably preventing me from seeing when someone really is interested in me romantically. I've come along way this weekend, but there will always be further to go.

coalcreek @ 2006-12-07T20:41:00

2006-12-08T04:41:48Z

http://www.bullnotbull.com/archive/stocks-11.html

I love the way this article ends:

A soft housing market, soft manufacturing, a falling dollar, rising inflation, recession on the way, negative savings rate, increasing debts, an aging baby boom population, peak oil and, the granddaddy of them all, global warming? Clearly, none of this matters or the Dow wouldn't be at a record high.

Confidence, friends! Don't think about these things. Just believe.

Just believe.

In other news, I've decided I want to have a relationship with a french woman. I've found them to be an alluring people for a long time, so why not commit to one?

coalcreek @ 2006-12-06T09:44:00

2006-12-06T17:44:08Z

Post-peak pessimism: Looking for new tools
by Alan Wartes
http://www.energybulletin.net/23335.html

This is a good article

2006-12-01T20:00:16Z

http://www.safehaven.com/article-6400.htm

Beliefs

2006-11-29T20:38:49Z

Today I made $500 in the stock market. Peak oil and the end of the world as we know it have been the most socially ostrasizing, alienating and profitable beliefs I've ever held. Who can say that about religion? Maybe L. Ron Hubbard.

Most of my energy lately has been focused on making friends and finding the woman of my dreams. Yesterday was interesting in that way. The local schools were closed on account of the snow. I went to QFC with my neighbor and the place was crawling with beautiful women! Albeit highschool women, but still, I was happy to have my belief that their are no young, beautiful, single women in Enumclaw proven wrong.

I went back to town again that night with Tonita. We walked her dog passed one of the many barber shops in town and inside were three drop dead gorgeous twenty-something year old women. So, after Tonita dropped me off back at home, I hopped in my car and went back to town to have my hair cut by one of the most beautiful women I have seen in a long time.

She told me that she lived in Enumclaw her whole life. So, I told her I was pretty new in town and was having a hard time meeting people my age. After the hair cut was finished, I paid her and then asked if she would be friends with me. She said no one had ever asked her that before, then she asked me what we would do. I didn't know what to say, so I stumbled on my words and then suggested we get coffee or something. Instantly she took that as me asking her on a date, understandably. "Not interested." was her reply. Then I practically screamed, "I'm not asking you out on a date!" It must have been convincing, because she gave me her number.

I've been patting myself on the back for this one, because I don't think I could have played it any better. I really am interested in being friends with her, and a gorgeous woman is bound to have other, same age, gorgeous friends. Go me!

So, I guess it would be fair to say that I'm learning a lot about my own beliefs. Some times they are really powerful, life changing forces, and sometimes they will stop you from seeing the one and only thing you want to see. Does this mean it is better to live life without beliefs or expectations? Perhaps, but I wouldn't bet money on it.