Ah. The smell of tear gas in the air, the massing of the police, the struggles to avoid arrest. It's the Republican Convention! Let the beatings begin! Hell, without the protesters it is merely a staged event, void of any human interaction and subsequent meaning. Nothing will get settled because there is no conflict. I can remember a convention when the Mississippi delegation was met by another Mississippi delegation and it had to get settled as to whom the convention was going to let sit down and vote. People watched the conventions back in the day because you never knew what the hell would come along and blow the roof off the whole thing. That was when conventions were the places where things got ironed out. No such luck these days. The little wimps and sissies can't stand the competition from opposing ideas. There is a piece of scripture that says the sound of the grinding of the Mill stone will be heard no more in her. Well, the grinding of the Mill stones is disputation. That is when the guys all sit down and get it out on the table and decide what they are going to do about anything. When you have a staged convention, done by Hollywood types, you have no more disputation. And thus you have lost the blessing of God. So let them have their phoney conventions and their staged maneuvers and their 'cut and dried' little travesty and we out here in the ghetttos and the barrios and the back woods will just go on living as we have been and hope to in the future.
Got enough beans shelled out to fill a one gallon zip-loc bag and got it into the freezer for it's appropriate de-bugging. Mighty satisfying to stick one of those babies into the freezer. We'll stick some Bay Leaves in the bag when the freezing is done and the beans are put up for storage. I am getting a nice sized bag of seed for next year also. The seed wizards on the Internet say to save the biggest fattest beans for seed that you find and that is essentially what I am doing. I also try to put seed back that comes from well supplied pods. 6 or 7 or 8 beans in a pod will get a good look from me!
The Handmaiden has been sun drying herbs for tea this Winter and Onion bits and tomato slices. Pretty nifty. She uses the tomato and onion as it is, but try to go buy a Winter stash of that stuff. You will be shelling out the dollars! Tomorrow she is going to put her drying trays in her car while the heat is high. Some spots she visit on the web have advised her to do that. And hey, the cost of the extra drying is free. And last night she put a small jar of Plantain Salve in our first-aid bag. It is good for insect bites. It's made with all naatural ingredients.
I will cut this off for now and go watch the new CD's of the second year of Deadwood. I really like that show. I never got to watch it on TV but I have seen it a bunch on CD. I hope you all have a nice evening and that you all stay alive. Thank God there is not much damage from Gustav.
Michael
mboone@rtccom.net
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
BARTERING ON THE UPSWING
No cash? No problem, if you barter
Many Americans are bartering as a way to cope with tough economic times.
Bartering involves trading goods and services without exchanging money.
Researcher: Bartering activity rises dramatically during economic downturns.
"We trade for just about anything you can think of," barter network president says.
By A. Pawlowski CNN
(CNN) -- Miriam Brown has always wanted to visit Cape Cod, but when she recently began to plan a trip and found out she would have to pay $200 or more a night for lodging, her dream vacation seemed out of reach.
Brown, who lives in New Orleans, Louisiana, is an accountant. Her husband is a home renovations contractor.
Like many people dealing with a soft real estate market and high food and gas prices, they just don't have that kind of extra cash for a trip.
"I have traveled a lot in prior years, but after [Hurricane] Katrina, there's just no money for traveling," Brown said.
So she still plans to go, but she won't spend any cash at all on lodging.
Brown has joined the growing ranks of Americans who are bartering -- trading goods and services without exchanging money -- as a way to cope with tough economic times.
Brown posted an ad in the barter section of the online community Craigslist last month, offering to trade her accounting skills and her husband's knack for home repairs in exchange for room and board on Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
She has lots of company.
There were some 142,000 listings in the barter section of Craigslist in July, or almost double the number posted during the same month last year, according to Craigslist spokeswoman Susan MacTavish Best.
"When the economy turns unfriendly, Craigslist users become far more creative to get their everyday tasks done," Best said.
Swapping 'to get by'
Other Web sites that put Americans in touch with like-minded people who are willing to trade everything under the sun have also seen a boost in traffic. SwapThing, which lists almost 3.5 million "things" available for trade, reports its customers are bartering for different reasons than before.
"I think a few years ago it was more for fun," said Jessica Hardwick, SwapThing founder and CEO.
"But we've seen a real shift in the last year, and especially an increase in the last few months, where I think people are really doing it to get by."
Some of the most popular items to trade for late this summer were school uniforms, which some parents found they could not afford to buy for their children, Hardwick said.
Experts aren't surprised Americans are becoming more financially creative during an economic downturn.
"Historically, when times get tough, you see a 50 percent-plus increase in bartering as a way for people to be able to buy things or get things and do it economically," said C. Britt Beemer, chairman of America's Research Group.
The company talks with thousands of consumers every week to gauge their spending habits and attitudes.
A couple of years ago, many Americans had $500 to spend at the end of the month, but that money has evaporated because of rising prices, Beemer said.
"We've never had a time, at least in my lifetime, where you have food and fuel going up at the same time. So it isn't a question of buying things, it's a question of buying nothing," Beemer said.
Breast implants and a horse.
Businesses have long recognized the benefits of bartering, and there are hundreds of barter networks set up across the country to fill their needs.
They use barter credits as currency, so a plumber in need of a filling doesn't need to search for a dentist's office with plumbing problems to make a deal. He can fix a leaky pipe for one member of a network and use the credits he earned for that job at any other.
Since all kinds of companies are members, the trades can be all over the map, said Michael Krane, president of Green Apple Barter Services in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His company has brokered everything from breast implants to college tuition to a horse.
"Really, there are no limits to it. We trade for just about anything you can think of," Krane said.
Bartering on this scale is also robust in tough economic times. Krane said his exchange has seen a 20 percent rise in barter transaction volume in the first six months of this year.
A longtime client is Thomas Forrest, an orthodontist in suburban Pittsburgh who barters his services for everything from office improvements to stationery. His practice hasn't been affected by the economic downturn, Forrest said, but some of his patients seem glad to be able to visit him under the barter arrangement.
"I think if you have a business owner who has children in need of braces, I sense a gratitude that that's available," Forrest said.
Barter exchanges must carefully document all trades, since the Internal Revenue Service considers income from bartering as taxable. However, a barter exchange "does not include arrangements that provide solely for the informal exchange of similar services on a noncommercial basis," according to the IRS.
In New Orleans, Brown and her husband are getting ready to go to Cape Cod after finding a taker for her bartering offer on Craigslist. The couple will work five hours a day in exchange for staying in "a beautiful three-bedroom house right in the center of it all," Brown said.
"We can do a lot more if we don't have to pay for room and board," she added.
******
Michael sez: Yesterday I read an article about President Bush saying that the "preps" for Gustav were a lot better than what was in place for Katrina. Did you get that? "PREPS." And today CNN has a story on the joys of bartering. Is our message getting out to the smarter folks around the country? Could be!
Stay alive.
Michael
mboone@rtccom.net
Many Americans are bartering as a way to cope with tough economic times.
Bartering involves trading goods and services without exchanging money.
Researcher: Bartering activity rises dramatically during economic downturns.
"We trade for just about anything you can think of," barter network president says.
By A. Pawlowski CNN
(CNN) -- Miriam Brown has always wanted to visit Cape Cod, but when she recently began to plan a trip and found out she would have to pay $200 or more a night for lodging, her dream vacation seemed out of reach.
Brown, who lives in New Orleans, Louisiana, is an accountant. Her husband is a home renovations contractor.
Like many people dealing with a soft real estate market and high food and gas prices, they just don't have that kind of extra cash for a trip.
"I have traveled a lot in prior years, but after [Hurricane] Katrina, there's just no money for traveling," Brown said.
So she still plans to go, but she won't spend any cash at all on lodging.
Brown has joined the growing ranks of Americans who are bartering -- trading goods and services without exchanging money -- as a way to cope with tough economic times.
Brown posted an ad in the barter section of the online community Craigslist last month, offering to trade her accounting skills and her husband's knack for home repairs in exchange for room and board on Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
She has lots of company.
There were some 142,000 listings in the barter section of Craigslist in July, or almost double the number posted during the same month last year, according to Craigslist spokeswoman Susan MacTavish Best.
"When the economy turns unfriendly, Craigslist users become far more creative to get their everyday tasks done," Best said.
Swapping 'to get by'
Other Web sites that put Americans in touch with like-minded people who are willing to trade everything under the sun have also seen a boost in traffic. SwapThing, which lists almost 3.5 million "things" available for trade, reports its customers are bartering for different reasons than before.
"I think a few years ago it was more for fun," said Jessica Hardwick, SwapThing founder and CEO.
"But we've seen a real shift in the last year, and especially an increase in the last few months, where I think people are really doing it to get by."
Some of the most popular items to trade for late this summer were school uniforms, which some parents found they could not afford to buy for their children, Hardwick said.
Experts aren't surprised Americans are becoming more financially creative during an economic downturn.
"Historically, when times get tough, you see a 50 percent-plus increase in bartering as a way for people to be able to buy things or get things and do it economically," said C. Britt Beemer, chairman of America's Research Group.
The company talks with thousands of consumers every week to gauge their spending habits and attitudes.
A couple of years ago, many Americans had $500 to spend at the end of the month, but that money has evaporated because of rising prices, Beemer said.
"We've never had a time, at least in my lifetime, where you have food and fuel going up at the same time. So it isn't a question of buying things, it's a question of buying nothing," Beemer said.
Breast implants and a horse.
Businesses have long recognized the benefits of bartering, and there are hundreds of barter networks set up across the country to fill their needs.
They use barter credits as currency, so a plumber in need of a filling doesn't need to search for a dentist's office with plumbing problems to make a deal. He can fix a leaky pipe for one member of a network and use the credits he earned for that job at any other.
Since all kinds of companies are members, the trades can be all over the map, said Michael Krane, president of Green Apple Barter Services in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His company has brokered everything from breast implants to college tuition to a horse.
"Really, there are no limits to it. We trade for just about anything you can think of," Krane said.
Bartering on this scale is also robust in tough economic times. Krane said his exchange has seen a 20 percent rise in barter transaction volume in the first six months of this year.
A longtime client is Thomas Forrest, an orthodontist in suburban Pittsburgh who barters his services for everything from office improvements to stationery. His practice hasn't been affected by the economic downturn, Forrest said, but some of his patients seem glad to be able to visit him under the barter arrangement.
"I think if you have a business owner who has children in need of braces, I sense a gratitude that that's available," Forrest said.
Barter exchanges must carefully document all trades, since the Internal Revenue Service considers income from bartering as taxable. However, a barter exchange "does not include arrangements that provide solely for the informal exchange of similar services on a noncommercial basis," according to the IRS.
In New Orleans, Brown and her husband are getting ready to go to Cape Cod after finding a taker for her bartering offer on Craigslist. The couple will work five hours a day in exchange for staying in "a beautiful three-bedroom house right in the center of it all," Brown said.
"We can do a lot more if we don't have to pay for room and board," she added.
******
Michael sez: Yesterday I read an article about President Bush saying that the "preps" for Gustav were a lot better than what was in place for Katrina. Did you get that? "PREPS." And today CNN has a story on the joys of bartering. Is our message getting out to the smarter folks around the country? Could be!
Stay alive.
Michael
mboone@rtccom.net
Monday, September 1, 2008
ULTRA SECRET RIGHT WING GROUP OKAY'S PALIN
posted by Max Blumenthal on 09/01/2008 @ 08:37am
Last week, while the media focused almost obsessively on the DNC's spectacle in Denver, the country's most influential conservatives met quietly at a hotel in downtown Minneapolis to get to know Sarah Palin. The assembled were members of the Council for National Policy, an ultra-secretive cabal that networks wealthy right-wing donors together with top conservative operatives to plan long-term movement strategy.
CNP members have included Tony Perkins, James Dobson, Grover Norquist, Tim LaHaye and Paul Weyrich. At a secret 2000 meeting of the CNP, George W. Bush promised to nominate only pro-life judges; in 2004, then-Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist told the group, "The destiny of the nation is on the shoulders of the conservative movement." This year, thanks to Sarah Palin's selection, the movement may have finally aligned itself behind the campaign of John McCain.
Though Dobson and Perkins reportedly attended the recent CNP meeting in Minneapolis, a full roster of guests would be nearly impossible to require. The CNP deliberately operates below the radar, going to excessive lengths to obscure its activities. According to official CNP policy, "The media should not know when or where we meet or who takes part in our programs before or after a meeting." Thus the CNP's Minneapolis gathering was free of reporters.
I learned of the get-together only through an online commentary by one of its attendees, top Dobson/Focus on the Family flack Tom Minnery. (Watch it here) Minnery described the mood as CNP members watched Palin accept her selection as John McCain's Vice Presidential pick. "I was standing in the back of a ballroom filled with largely Republicans who were hoping against hope that something would put excitement back into this campaign," Minnery said. "And I have to tell you, that speech by Alaska Governor Sarah Palin -- people were on their seats applauding, cheering, yelling... That room in Minneapolis watching on the television screen was electrified. I have not seen anything like it in a long time."
Minnery added that his boss, Dobson, has yearned for a conservative female leader like Margaret Thatcher to emerge on the American scene. And while Palin is no Thatcher, "she has not rejected the feminine side of who she is, so for that reason, she will be attractive to conservative voters."
The members of the Council for National Policy are the hidden hand behind McCain's Palin pick. With her selection, the Republican nominee is suddenly -- and unexpectedly -- assured of the support of a movement that once opposed his candidacy with all its might. Case in point: while Dobson once said he could "never" vote for McCain, he issued a statement last week hailing Palin as an "outstanding" choice. If Dobson's enthusiasm for Palin is any indication, he may soon emerge from his bunker in Colorado Springs to endorse McCain, providing the Republican nominee with the backing of the Christian right's single most influential figure.
Last week, while the media focused almost obsessively on the DNC's spectacle in Denver, the country's most influential conservatives met quietly at a hotel in downtown Minneapolis to get to know Sarah Palin. The assembled were members of the Council for National Policy, an ultra-secretive cabal that networks wealthy right-wing donors together with top conservative operatives to plan long-term movement strategy.
CNP members have included Tony Perkins, James Dobson, Grover Norquist, Tim LaHaye and Paul Weyrich. At a secret 2000 meeting of the CNP, George W. Bush promised to nominate only pro-life judges; in 2004, then-Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist told the group, "The destiny of the nation is on the shoulders of the conservative movement." This year, thanks to Sarah Palin's selection, the movement may have finally aligned itself behind the campaign of John McCain.
Though Dobson and Perkins reportedly attended the recent CNP meeting in Minneapolis, a full roster of guests would be nearly impossible to require. The CNP deliberately operates below the radar, going to excessive lengths to obscure its activities. According to official CNP policy, "The media should not know when or where we meet or who takes part in our programs before or after a meeting." Thus the CNP's Minneapolis gathering was free of reporters.
I learned of the get-together only through an online commentary by one of its attendees, top Dobson/Focus on the Family flack Tom Minnery. (Watch it here) Minnery described the mood as CNP members watched Palin accept her selection as John McCain's Vice Presidential pick. "I was standing in the back of a ballroom filled with largely Republicans who were hoping against hope that something would put excitement back into this campaign," Minnery said. "And I have to tell you, that speech by Alaska Governor Sarah Palin -- people were on their seats applauding, cheering, yelling... That room in Minneapolis watching on the television screen was electrified. I have not seen anything like it in a long time."
Minnery added that his boss, Dobson, has yearned for a conservative female leader like Margaret Thatcher to emerge on the American scene. And while Palin is no Thatcher, "she has not rejected the feminine side of who she is, so for that reason, she will be attractive to conservative voters."
The members of the Council for National Policy are the hidden hand behind McCain's Palin pick. With her selection, the Republican nominee is suddenly -- and unexpectedly -- assured of the support of a movement that once opposed his candidacy with all its might. Case in point: while Dobson once said he could "never" vote for McCain, he issued a statement last week hailing Palin as an "outstanding" choice. If Dobson's enthusiasm for Palin is any indication, he may soon emerge from his bunker in Colorado Springs to endorse McCain, providing the Republican nominee with the backing of the Christian right's single most influential figure.
PREPS AND HILLBILLIES AND WHATNOT
Shelled more beans today. Love it. These Horticulture beans are so good and so good for you it is surprising that they are not eaten more than they are. But maybe it is not so surprising after all. The good stuff is generally held back from us masses. I am surprised they let Black Beans out on the market. I believe they are at the top of the bean chain as far as nutrition is concerned. But Hillbillies know about "Cranberry" Beans and have eaten them for decades. They just ain't made it to your local Kroger store as yet.
I ate something called Taboule for lunch. It is a Wheat salad. They use Bulgar Wheat to make it and it is loaded with Parsley flakes. It is a quick meal and the Handmaiden chopped up some of our tomatoes and made it extra special good. Not bad! I did notice that it is marketed by NEAR EAST and that company is owned by PepsiCo. Anything owned by PepsiCo is suspect in my book. It does have the right idea, just the wrong owner. Supposed to be natural ingredients and I did notice there is no MSG in the stuff. Could PepsiCo be getting the message? Naw... it must be a slip up somewhere in the corporate structure. It is pronounced Tah Boo Lee and I reckon it must be Asiatic Hillbilly food.
Hillbilly food is generally cheap and nutritious. A self respecting Hillbilly will know the market price of most of his diet and when the store gets to shoving it a little too high he will change his diet and go right on. A Hillbilly generally has a garden that produces good food and there are chickens and hogs and maybe a steer getting fat for family consumption. And these people live all over the world. Southeast Asians are eating forest rats right now. Other meat is too high and they have switched and gone to eating the rats. India is encouraging it. That might make you gag and choke but you better look up the squirrel family and see where it belongs. If you see the word rodentia that means it is a member of the rat family.
Hillbillies around the world are doing what they can to stay alive and eat their meals in a regular fashion. It doesn't matter where they live. What matters is the heart that is in them. They are people who don't like others messing around in their lives and they prize their privacy. Their family and friends matter to them. Outsiders don't carry as much weight. Sorta like some people around this country. People who just want to be left alone to pursue their lives.
Poor people are just used to getting by the best way they can and this is what surviving is all about. I was reading Commander Zero the other day and he said he had over 20,000 22LR shells in his stash. Wonderful! The person I really get a laugh out of is Comrade Simba. You can find him at http://www.comradesimba.com/blog/ and he is a hoot. He has a knack for telling the god-awful truth in a humorous way. But he is a stout hearted prepper and means to stay with it. A good read and worth your time.
I am thinking about Garlic. I have missed planting Fall Garlic for the last two years and I think it is time to remedy the situation. Garlic is great for what ails you. It is also great for cooking. And you can make a damn good bug spray out of the stuff. I used it and it worked. The stuff is fine with me! The Handmaiden treated her kitten's ear mites with Garlic and Mullein Oil and it seems to have worked. She treated it twice and the kitten shows no sign of scratching her ears anymore. The Handmaiden did not make the oil, she bought it. But she is on to it now and I would say it is only a matter of time before she moves into that arena.
The Handmaiden is daily processing tomato sauce using tomatoes from our garden. She makes a pot of the stuff and when it has finished she freezes it. The freezer depends on the electrical grid but while we are on it we will have tomato sauce. So be it. She is also sun drying tomato slices. She really likes the taste of sun dried tomatoes. She has her first batch of dried onion bits and it quite pleased with the results. All of this kind of stuff makes for good tasting meals on a poorly financed survival budget. If you are poor you just have to make do. We have purchased a lot of food and now it is time to make it instead of buying it. The satisfaction and the taste is so very edifying when it comes from your own seat off of your own ground. I guess what I am saying is get busy and MAKE your preps if you cannot afford to buy. The Handmaiden is freezing Lamb's Quarters about every weekend. They grow in abundance down at her Amish friend Lydia's farm and Lydia does not fool with them. Tells the Handmaiden to go pick all she wants. Can't beat the price!
I watched a great video today showing a guy making Elderberry syrup. Got my hunger up pretty good! But he was picking the berries in the hills of Washington and I was just watching to see a big bear come out of the scrub and eat his ass. It was wild country and here was this wild food guy picking Elderberries out on a lark. I could do that, as long as I had a friend with a 12 gauge slug gun watching over me. The interesting thing was the wild yeast that coats the berries. Find the right berries and you would have the makings of some great wine.
That is all for now. Stay alive!
Michael
mboone@rtccom.net
I ate something called Taboule for lunch. It is a Wheat salad. They use Bulgar Wheat to make it and it is loaded with Parsley flakes. It is a quick meal and the Handmaiden chopped up some of our tomatoes and made it extra special good. Not bad! I did notice that it is marketed by NEAR EAST and that company is owned by PepsiCo. Anything owned by PepsiCo is suspect in my book. It does have the right idea, just the wrong owner. Supposed to be natural ingredients and I did notice there is no MSG in the stuff. Could PepsiCo be getting the message? Naw... it must be a slip up somewhere in the corporate structure. It is pronounced Tah Boo Lee and I reckon it must be Asiatic Hillbilly food.
Hillbilly food is generally cheap and nutritious. A self respecting Hillbilly will know the market price of most of his diet and when the store gets to shoving it a little too high he will change his diet and go right on. A Hillbilly generally has a garden that produces good food and there are chickens and hogs and maybe a steer getting fat for family consumption. And these people live all over the world. Southeast Asians are eating forest rats right now. Other meat is too high and they have switched and gone to eating the rats. India is encouraging it. That might make you gag and choke but you better look up the squirrel family and see where it belongs. If you see the word rodentia that means it is a member of the rat family.
Hillbillies around the world are doing what they can to stay alive and eat their meals in a regular fashion. It doesn't matter where they live. What matters is the heart that is in them. They are people who don't like others messing around in their lives and they prize their privacy. Their family and friends matter to them. Outsiders don't carry as much weight. Sorta like some people around this country. People who just want to be left alone to pursue their lives.
Poor people are just used to getting by the best way they can and this is what surviving is all about. I was reading Commander Zero the other day and he said he had over 20,000 22LR shells in his stash. Wonderful! The person I really get a laugh out of is Comrade Simba. You can find him at http://www.comradesimba.com/blog/ and he is a hoot. He has a knack for telling the god-awful truth in a humorous way. But he is a stout hearted prepper and means to stay with it. A good read and worth your time.
I am thinking about Garlic. I have missed planting Fall Garlic for the last two years and I think it is time to remedy the situation. Garlic is great for what ails you. It is also great for cooking. And you can make a damn good bug spray out of the stuff. I used it and it worked. The stuff is fine with me! The Handmaiden treated her kitten's ear mites with Garlic and Mullein Oil and it seems to have worked. She treated it twice and the kitten shows no sign of scratching her ears anymore. The Handmaiden did not make the oil, she bought it. But she is on to it now and I would say it is only a matter of time before she moves into that arena.
The Handmaiden is daily processing tomato sauce using tomatoes from our garden. She makes a pot of the stuff and when it has finished she freezes it. The freezer depends on the electrical grid but while we are on it we will have tomato sauce. So be it. She is also sun drying tomato slices. She really likes the taste of sun dried tomatoes. She has her first batch of dried onion bits and it quite pleased with the results. All of this kind of stuff makes for good tasting meals on a poorly financed survival budget. If you are poor you just have to make do. We have purchased a lot of food and now it is time to make it instead of buying it. The satisfaction and the taste is so very edifying when it comes from your own seat off of your own ground. I guess what I am saying is get busy and MAKE your preps if you cannot afford to buy. The Handmaiden is freezing Lamb's Quarters about every weekend. They grow in abundance down at her Amish friend Lydia's farm and Lydia does not fool with them. Tells the Handmaiden to go pick all she wants. Can't beat the price!
I watched a great video today showing a guy making Elderberry syrup. Got my hunger up pretty good! But he was picking the berries in the hills of Washington and I was just watching to see a big bear come out of the scrub and eat his ass. It was wild country and here was this wild food guy picking Elderberries out on a lark. I could do that, as long as I had a friend with a 12 gauge slug gun watching over me. The interesting thing was the wild yeast that coats the berries. Find the right berries and you would have the makings of some great wine.
That is all for now. Stay alive!
Michael
mboone@rtccom.net
MILLET-AN ALTERNATIVE GRAIN
What is Millet? When did people first begin to eat Millet? Where did Millet come from?
Millet is a kind of grain that grows wild in Africa and all across Asia. It grows about fifteen feet tall, like corn on the cob (it looks kind of like corn when it is growing, too). Millet grows fast, and doesn’t need very much rain, so it’s a good crop for dry or cold climates. It will grow in places where wheat and barley will not grow. Also, millet is easy to store. You can keep it up to five years. So it’s good for places that have long winters or often have droughts.
There are two main different kinds of millet, and people may have begun farming the two kinds independently. Broomyard millet grew wild in China, and hunters and gatherers in early China probably ate millet. People have been farming broomyard millet in Northern China since about 4500 BC. Northern China was dry and cold, so it was a good place to grow millet. The sign for millet is common in Chinese writing, where the signs for "millet" and "mouth" put together mean "good", and the signs for "millet" and "man" together mean "harvest" or "year".
The other important kind of millet is pearl millet. It grows wild in the Sudan (south of the Sahara Desert) in Africa. By 4000 BC, people in the Sudan were farming pearl millet, and from there pearl millet spread to East Africa and then to Egypt by around 3000 BC. The Egyptians made a flat bread like pita bread out of millet, and they made their bread in the same room where they brewed beer. The brewing process grew a lot of wild yeasts, and the yeasts got into the millet and made the earliest raised millet bread. When the Egyptians noticed this, they began mixing beer with their flour instead of water, to make light fluffy bread like we eat today.. Some people still make beer bread today. Around the same time, lake-dwelling Europeans were also using millet.
From East Africa millet also spread to India, where people were farming it by about 2500 BC. The Harappans used millet to make roti, a kind of flatbread like pita bread. About the same time, Sumerians in West Asia were also growing millet. Bible tells us that millet was growing in Israel around 600 BC. The Greek historian Herodotus, writing in the 400's BC, described millet growing very tall in the Persian Empire, but he also knew that people farmed millet in Greece. Millet in Europe about this time was usually eaten boiled in water or milk like oatmeal or polenta. In Northern Italy and Rome, this millet porridge was called puls, and it was the most common food of really poor people in the time of the Roman Republic.
About the same time, pearl millet spread from Eastern Africa south down the coast and became more and more common in southern Africa as well.
By the Han Dynasty, about 200 BC, a lot of people in China were making wine out of millet. In Africa, people made beer out of it.
Medieval Europeans continued to rely on millet porridge for an important part of their food (they called it groats). And millet continued to be very important in northern China as well.
Marco Polo, a man from Venice who visited China during the reign of Kublai Khan, in the 1200's AD, said that most Chinese people ate millet cooked in milk into porridge.
*
Not so much one thing as a blanket term applied to various grass seeds with similar qualities. The five major millet varieties are proso, foxtail, barnyard, browntop and pearl. All are rich in B vitamins, calcium, iron and zinc. Millet flour can only make flatbread on its own because it is gluten free. But, as it’s almost identical to wheat in nutritional value, millet is the go-to alternative for people with wheat allergies or celiac disease.
Though wheat has stolen the spotlight from millet in the baking world, millet has a great history as food for the masses. The production of millet has been traced back as far as 7000 BC in China.
*
Millet is very small grain and would take some doing to harvest it efficiently. The holes in the screens on your combine would be pretty tiny. But somebody is getting it done and they have for about 9000 years, give or take a few centuries. It would be interesting to know how a homesteader could raise his own 50 square feet of Millet for his Winter sustenance.
Vlad Strelok is the driver behind this post but he didn't get me the data on harvesting. And harvesting is part of the system we need to incorporate into our lives. Stay alive!
Michael
mboone@rtccom.net
Millet is a kind of grain that grows wild in Africa and all across Asia. It grows about fifteen feet tall, like corn on the cob (it looks kind of like corn when it is growing, too). Millet grows fast, and doesn’t need very much rain, so it’s a good crop for dry or cold climates. It will grow in places where wheat and barley will not grow. Also, millet is easy to store. You can keep it up to five years. So it’s good for places that have long winters or often have droughts.
There are two main different kinds of millet, and people may have begun farming the two kinds independently. Broomyard millet grew wild in China, and hunters and gatherers in early China probably ate millet. People have been farming broomyard millet in Northern China since about 4500 BC. Northern China was dry and cold, so it was a good place to grow millet. The sign for millet is common in Chinese writing, where the signs for "millet" and "mouth" put together mean "good", and the signs for "millet" and "man" together mean "harvest" or "year".
The other important kind of millet is pearl millet. It grows wild in the Sudan (south of the Sahara Desert) in Africa. By 4000 BC, people in the Sudan were farming pearl millet, and from there pearl millet spread to East Africa and then to Egypt by around 3000 BC. The Egyptians made a flat bread like pita bread out of millet, and they made their bread in the same room where they brewed beer. The brewing process grew a lot of wild yeasts, and the yeasts got into the millet and made the earliest raised millet bread. When the Egyptians noticed this, they began mixing beer with their flour instead of water, to make light fluffy bread like we eat today.. Some people still make beer bread today. Around the same time, lake-dwelling Europeans were also using millet.
From East Africa millet also spread to India, where people were farming it by about 2500 BC. The Harappans used millet to make roti, a kind of flatbread like pita bread. About the same time, Sumerians in West Asia were also growing millet. Bible tells us that millet was growing in Israel around 600 BC. The Greek historian Herodotus, writing in the 400's BC, described millet growing very tall in the Persian Empire, but he also knew that people farmed millet in Greece. Millet in Europe about this time was usually eaten boiled in water or milk like oatmeal or polenta. In Northern Italy and Rome, this millet porridge was called puls, and it was the most common food of really poor people in the time of the Roman Republic.
About the same time, pearl millet spread from Eastern Africa south down the coast and became more and more common in southern Africa as well.
By the Han Dynasty, about 200 BC, a lot of people in China were making wine out of millet. In Africa, people made beer out of it.
Medieval Europeans continued to rely on millet porridge for an important part of their food (they called it groats). And millet continued to be very important in northern China as well.
Marco Polo, a man from Venice who visited China during the reign of Kublai Khan, in the 1200's AD, said that most Chinese people ate millet cooked in milk into porridge.
*
Not so much one thing as a blanket term applied to various grass seeds with similar qualities. The five major millet varieties are proso, foxtail, barnyard, browntop and pearl. All are rich in B vitamins, calcium, iron and zinc. Millet flour can only make flatbread on its own because it is gluten free. But, as it’s almost identical to wheat in nutritional value, millet is the go-to alternative for people with wheat allergies or celiac disease.
Though wheat has stolen the spotlight from millet in the baking world, millet has a great history as food for the masses. The production of millet has been traced back as far as 7000 BC in China.
*
Millet is very small grain and would take some doing to harvest it efficiently. The holes in the screens on your combine would be pretty tiny. But somebody is getting it done and they have for about 9000 years, give or take a few centuries. It would be interesting to know how a homesteader could raise his own 50 square feet of Millet for his Winter sustenance.
Vlad Strelok is the driver behind this post but he didn't get me the data on harvesting. And harvesting is part of the system we need to incorporate into our lives. Stay alive!
Michael
mboone@rtccom.net
NO SUNSPOTS FOR A MONTH!
Michael sez: I got this off of Drudge. Dragon and I keep telling people that it is going to get cold for a few years but no one wants to believe it. Well, you better start paying attention!
*
The record-setting surface of the sun. A full month has gone by without a single spot
(Source: Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO))
Sunspot activity of the past decade. Over the past year, SIDC has continually revised its predictions downward (Source: Solar Influences Data Center)
Geomagnetic solar activity for the past two decades. The recent drop corresponds to the decline in sunspots. (Source: Anthony Watts)
A chart of sunspot activity showing two prior solar minima, along with heightened activity during the 20th century (Source: Wikimedia Commons)Drop in solar activity has potential effect for climate on earth.
The sun has reached a milestone not seen for nearly 100 years: an entire month has passed without a single visible sunspot being noted.
The event is significant as many climatologists now believe solar magnetic activity – which determines the number of sunspots -- is an influencing factor for climate on earth.
According to data from the Solar Influences Data Center (SIDC), the last time such an event occurred was June of 1913. Sunspot data has been collected since 1749.
When the sun is active, it' p begins.<>
But this year -- which corresponds to the start of Solar Cycle 24 -- has been extraordinarily long and quiet, with the first seven months averaging a sunspot number of only 3. August followed with none at all. The astonishing rapid drop of the past year has defied predictions, and caught nearly all astronomers by surprise.
In 2005, a pair of astronomers from the National Solar Observatory (NSO) in Tucson attempted to publish a paper in the journal Science. The pair looked at minute spectroscopic and magnetic changes in the sun. By extrapolating forward, they reached the startling result that, within 10 years, sunspots would vanish entirely. At the time, the sun was very active. Most of their peers laughed at what they considered an unsubstantiated conclusion.
The journal ultimately rejected the paper as being too controversial.
The paper's lead author, William Livingston, tells DailyTech that, while the refusal may have been justified at the time, recent data fits his theory well. He says he will be "secretly pleased" if his predictions come to pass.
But will the rest of us? In the past 1000 years, three previous such events -- the Dalton, Maunder, and Spörer Minimums, have all led to rapid cooling. On was large enough to be called a "mini ice age". For a society dependent on agriculture, cold is more damaging than heat. The growing season shortens, yields drop, and the occurrence of crop-destroying frosts increases.
Meteorologist Anthony Watts, who runs a climate data auditing site, tells DailyTech the sunspot numbers are another indication the "sun's dynamo" is idling. According to Watts, the effect of sunspots on TSI (total solar irradiance) is negligible, but the reduction in the solar magnetosphere affects cloud formation here on Earth, which in turn modulates climate.
This theory was originally proposed by physicist Henrik Svensmark, who has published a number of scientific papers on the subject. Last year Svensmark's "SKY" experiment claimed to have proven that galactic cosmic rays -- which the sun's magnetic field partially shields the Earth from -- increase the formation of molecular clusters that promote cloud growth. Svensmark, who recently published a book on the theory, says the relationship is a larger factor in climate change than greenhouse gases.
Solar physicist Ilya Usoskin of the University of Oulu, Finland, tells DailyTech the correlation between cosmic rays and terrestrial cloud cover is more complex than "more rays equals more clouds". Usoskin, who notes the sun has been more active since 1940 than at any point in the past 11 centuries, says the effects are most important at certain latitudes and altitudes which control climate. He says the relationship needs more study before we can understand it fully.
Other researchers have proposed solar effects on other terrestrial processes besides cloud formation. The sunspot cycle has strong effects on irradiance in certain wavelengths such as the far ultraviolet, which affects ozone production. Natural production of isotopes such as C-14 is also tied to solar activity. The overall effects on climate are still poorly understood.
What is incontrovertible, though, is that ice ages have occurred before. And no scientist, even the most skeptical, is prepared to say it won't happen again.
*
The record-setting surface of the sun. A full month has gone by without a single spot
(Source: Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO))
Sunspot activity of the past decade. Over the past year, SIDC has continually revised its predictions downward (Source: Solar Influences Data Center)
Geomagnetic solar activity for the past two decades. The recent drop corresponds to the decline in sunspots. (Source: Anthony Watts)
A chart of sunspot activity showing two prior solar minima, along with heightened activity during the 20th century (Source: Wikimedia Commons)Drop in solar activity has potential effect for climate on earth.
The sun has reached a milestone not seen for nearly 100 years: an entire month has passed without a single visible sunspot being noted.
The event is significant as many climatologists now believe solar magnetic activity – which determines the number of sunspots -- is an influencing factor for climate on earth.
According to data from the Solar Influences Data Center (SIDC), the last time such an event occurred was June of 1913. Sunspot data has been collected since 1749.
When the sun is active, it' p begins.<>
But this year -- which corresponds to the start of Solar Cycle 24 -- has been extraordinarily long and quiet, with the first seven months averaging a sunspot number of only 3. August followed with none at all. The astonishing rapid drop of the past year has defied predictions, and caught nearly all astronomers by surprise.
In 2005, a pair of astronomers from the National Solar Observatory (NSO) in Tucson attempted to publish a paper in the journal Science. The pair looked at minute spectroscopic and magnetic changes in the sun. By extrapolating forward, they reached the startling result that, within 10 years, sunspots would vanish entirely. At the time, the sun was very active. Most of their peers laughed at what they considered an unsubstantiated conclusion.
The journal ultimately rejected the paper as being too controversial.
The paper's lead author, William Livingston, tells DailyTech that, while the refusal may have been justified at the time, recent data fits his theory well. He says he will be "secretly pleased" if his predictions come to pass.
But will the rest of us? In the past 1000 years, three previous such events -- the Dalton, Maunder, and Spörer Minimums, have all led to rapid cooling. On was large enough to be called a "mini ice age". For a society dependent on agriculture, cold is more damaging than heat. The growing season shortens, yields drop, and the occurrence of crop-destroying frosts increases.
Meteorologist Anthony Watts, who runs a climate data auditing site, tells DailyTech the sunspot numbers are another indication the "sun's dynamo" is idling. According to Watts, the effect of sunspots on TSI (total solar irradiance) is negligible, but the reduction in the solar magnetosphere affects cloud formation here on Earth, which in turn modulates climate.
This theory was originally proposed by physicist Henrik Svensmark, who has published a number of scientific papers on the subject. Last year Svensmark's "SKY" experiment claimed to have proven that galactic cosmic rays -- which the sun's magnetic field partially shields the Earth from -- increase the formation of molecular clusters that promote cloud growth. Svensmark, who recently published a book on the theory, says the relationship is a larger factor in climate change than greenhouse gases.
Solar physicist Ilya Usoskin of the University of Oulu, Finland, tells DailyTech the correlation between cosmic rays and terrestrial cloud cover is more complex than "more rays equals more clouds". Usoskin, who notes the sun has been more active since 1940 than at any point in the past 11 centuries, says the effects are most important at certain latitudes and altitudes which control climate. He says the relationship needs more study before we can understand it fully.
Other researchers have proposed solar effects on other terrestrial processes besides cloud formation. The sunspot cycle has strong effects on irradiance in certain wavelengths such as the far ultraviolet, which affects ozone production. Natural production of isotopes such as C-14 is also tied to solar activity. The overall effects on climate are still poorly understood.
What is incontrovertible, though, is that ice ages have occurred before. And no scientist, even the most skeptical, is prepared to say it won't happen again.
PREPS AND WATER, ETC.
Ahhh....the 1st of September and the morning is a little chilly. I like the Fall and Spring the best. A little warmth during the day and coolness at night. The garden has startedt to dry up from lack of water. Someone tampered with the water pipe from the spring and the guy who went to fix it couldn't get the job done. But my beans made it just fine. They are nice and dry and done. And the Handmaiden is going to pick some today and I will be snapping beans like a mad man, God willing. I gave away two pounds of the beans yesterday to a man who I hope to persuade to prep. A little personal project. It has to be handled just right.
It looks like Hurricane Gustav is about to go ashore and head West in Louisiana, with most of the force missing New Orleans. But New Orleans is gonna get some wind. Oh yeah. Probably gonna get some rain too. Lots of rain. But the tracking cone looks like it will miss southern Mississippi looks like it will escape the brunt of the force. Mike Kemp, lately of the SCOPE CUT post, is hanging in down there as best he can. And if you haven't read the post on SCOPE CUT and the comments that come with it, you have missed the show. Highly educational and more than a little bit emotional. Try it.
The Handmaiden and I are very happy with the amount of food we have in storage. To amass what we have on our low income is amazing the hell out of us. She has been drying tomatoes and mint leaves, so we will have good tea and good nutrition this Winter. Sun dried tomatoes are funny in that they are so light but so strong in tomato taste. Sun drying them really concentrates the flavor. I'll try to get her to type us an article on the how-to-do of drying the little red beauties. I need to go check my corn and see if it has "made" yet. There is not a whole lot of it but it is non-hybrid and can be used for seed next Spring. Saving seed is such a great thing when you are poor. Ten dollars worth of seed this year can easily produce a few hundred dollars worth of seed for next year. We will have to get up a care package for Mike Kemp and send him some bean and corn seed for next year. I'll be sure to send him detailed instructions as to how to deal with this seed. Hah!
Mayberry and Dragon seem to be getting along just fine. Dragon is working and Mayberry is cooking outside for his family. Both are into planning things in a positive manner. Love it.
The wife is getting my breakfast ready on this fine morning. I love breakfast. It is my favorite meal of the day. And for years I never ate it. Lots of coffee in the morning and then about lunch time I was ready to eat. But somewhere in my 40's I started to eat breakfast and that has not changed.
I am reading articles by various bloggers about shooting and keeping in practice. My thoughts on this are "if you can afford the ammo, do it." I learned a long time ago that shooting was a deteriorating skill and if you don't keep up with it you lose your edge. Oh, and don't go hunting with Dick Cheney!
There is so much stuff about water these days. People living way out in the country are on what they call MUD. That means Municipal Utilities Department. And that means they are hooked into the system for their water and I think that is horseshit. Get land with a spring on it or a shallow well that you can easily pump by hand. To hell with buying water. If you can't see what this system is trying to do with the necessities of life then you are not paying attention. We are in a slow slide toward oblivion. Our options are being cut every day. Let us call this situation "get less and pay more." As the working class and the middle class get reduced to peons, we will get charged more and more money for what we have to have to live and we will get less and less of it as time goes by. Then you will find yourself a peon, subject to the will of the state and it's minion the corporation. This will tend to keep the populace docile and subservient, which is exactly what the state wishes you to be. Get a grip on this concept! Don't forget that a bill was introduced in the Pennsylvania state legislature in the 90's to start putting meters on farmers wells and charging them for the water they used. There is nothing beneath the dignity of our politicians. They will do everything and anything to keep power and control. And if it means keeping you on short rations concerning water use, then they will do just that. There are a few places in this country that charge for the amount of rainfall that falls on peoples years. They justify this on the cost of storm sewers that have to be built.
Although I am not a big fan of cisterns, if you can collect rainwater from your roof and hold it until you want to use it, then you will be ahead of the game, as far as I am concerned. Of course, this could all come down to a shooing war but you know the American public does not have the guts for anything like that. Sissies! We shall just have to see what happens. Since I am a firm believer in error being it's own reward, something will probably happen and the various governments will be caught up in another area and let us little guys escape. Wouldn't that be just too bad.
Stay alive!
Michael
mboone@rtccom.net
It looks like Hurricane Gustav is about to go ashore and head West in Louisiana, with most of the force missing New Orleans. But New Orleans is gonna get some wind. Oh yeah. Probably gonna get some rain too. Lots of rain. But the tracking cone looks like it will miss southern Mississippi looks like it will escape the brunt of the force. Mike Kemp, lately of the SCOPE CUT post, is hanging in down there as best he can. And if you haven't read the post on SCOPE CUT and the comments that come with it, you have missed the show. Highly educational and more than a little bit emotional. Try it.
The Handmaiden and I are very happy with the amount of food we have in storage. To amass what we have on our low income is amazing the hell out of us. She has been drying tomatoes and mint leaves, so we will have good tea and good nutrition this Winter. Sun dried tomatoes are funny in that they are so light but so strong in tomato taste. Sun drying them really concentrates the flavor. I'll try to get her to type us an article on the how-to-do of drying the little red beauties. I need to go check my corn and see if it has "made" yet. There is not a whole lot of it but it is non-hybrid and can be used for seed next Spring. Saving seed is such a great thing when you are poor. Ten dollars worth of seed this year can easily produce a few hundred dollars worth of seed for next year. We will have to get up a care package for Mike Kemp and send him some bean and corn seed for next year. I'll be sure to send him detailed instructions as to how to deal with this seed. Hah!
Mayberry and Dragon seem to be getting along just fine. Dragon is working and Mayberry is cooking outside for his family. Both are into planning things in a positive manner. Love it.
The wife is getting my breakfast ready on this fine morning. I love breakfast. It is my favorite meal of the day. And for years I never ate it. Lots of coffee in the morning and then about lunch time I was ready to eat. But somewhere in my 40's I started to eat breakfast and that has not changed.
I am reading articles by various bloggers about shooting and keeping in practice. My thoughts on this are "if you can afford the ammo, do it." I learned a long time ago that shooting was a deteriorating skill and if you don't keep up with it you lose your edge. Oh, and don't go hunting with Dick Cheney!
There is so much stuff about water these days. People living way out in the country are on what they call MUD. That means Municipal Utilities Department. And that means they are hooked into the system for their water and I think that is horseshit. Get land with a spring on it or a shallow well that you can easily pump by hand. To hell with buying water. If you can't see what this system is trying to do with the necessities of life then you are not paying attention. We are in a slow slide toward oblivion. Our options are being cut every day. Let us call this situation "get less and pay more." As the working class and the middle class get reduced to peons, we will get charged more and more money for what we have to have to live and we will get less and less of it as time goes by. Then you will find yourself a peon, subject to the will of the state and it's minion the corporation. This will tend to keep the populace docile and subservient, which is exactly what the state wishes you to be. Get a grip on this concept! Don't forget that a bill was introduced in the Pennsylvania state legislature in the 90's to start putting meters on farmers wells and charging them for the water they used. There is nothing beneath the dignity of our politicians. They will do everything and anything to keep power and control. And if it means keeping you on short rations concerning water use, then they will do just that. There are a few places in this country that charge for the amount of rainfall that falls on peoples years. They justify this on the cost of storm sewers that have to be built.
Although I am not a big fan of cisterns, if you can collect rainwater from your roof and hold it until you want to use it, then you will be ahead of the game, as far as I am concerned. Of course, this could all come down to a shooing war but you know the American public does not have the guts for anything like that. Sissies! We shall just have to see what happens. Since I am a firm believer in error being it's own reward, something will probably happen and the various governments will be caught up in another area and let us little guys escape. Wouldn't that be just too bad.
Stay alive!
Michael
mboone@rtccom.net
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