Rice Farmer

-- Israeli raid crisis --
At least 16 dead as Israeli troops storm Gaza aid flotilla

China Real Estate Bubble Bursts in Bond Market: Credit Markets
Another downgrade for Spanish debt

Lake in Pakistan begins to overflow
US mulls unilateral Pakistan raids

How the Exxon Valdez Spill Created the Credit Default Swap

Greek Scramble For Physical Brings Gold Price To $1,700 Per Ounce

The new feudal overlords of Europe will be the bankers of the ECB

Not just their Big Fat Greek Funeral

I’ve written twice about what could well become a catastrophic problem for technological society: the fast-growing power consumption of the many data centers that house our precious data. By way of an update on this matter, I turn the reader’s attention to an article titled Despite Green Diet, Data Centers Still Gobble Power.

One expert is quoted as saying, “There is a freight train coming that most people do not see, and it is that you are going to run out of power and you will not be able to keep your data center cool enough.” If that isn’t warning enough, consider that the increase in data center power consumption is on track to approximately double between 2006 and 2011. Although we can see from this article that many efforts are being made to save energy, the proliferation of data and data centers virtually guarantees that any savings will be more than offset by the need for more and more capacity.

Now, imagine what happens when power outages force data centers to shut down.

It's Total Debt, Not Only Public Debt, That Matters

The Mexican state continues to deteriorate and gradually turn into a shell, and it seems that with each passing day we can find more signs of this transformation. A couple of recent news items illustrate how this change is proceeding, and it’s not pretty. Organized gangs are now robbing trains and hijacking trucks to get their cargo, often at gunpoint. And as piracy worsens on both the eastern and western sides of Africa, it has made its appearance in Mexico, with armed groups preying on boaters who stray onto the Mexican side of Falcon Lake, on the Texas border. At this rate, it’s only a matter of time until pirates start operating in the Gulf of Mexico and on the Pacific side. As the Mexican state apparatus continues to weaken, it will face growing challenges from drug cartels and other organized crime, and the military — already engaged in a desperate contest with well-armed drug cartels on land — will be unable to fend them off completely.

In Greek debt crisis, collapse is better than bailout (Bill Bonner)

Michael Ruppert answered this question succinctly in this recent talk. Here I want to recommend watching or listening (there are both video and audio versions) to his talk, and expand on his prescription.

Basically he said you should be wherever you are comfortable. Sage advice, as many people are no doubt getting ready to run for the hills without knowing concretely what they’re going to do once they get there. And that, my friends, could well end in tragedy.

Take my situation. I've been in this mountain village for over 14 years now. I have a network, I know where to find what I need, I know who has what skills and what resources, I know how to grow rice (obviously), I have my own skills and resources, and — this is most important — I have built relationships of trust and interdependence with the people around me. We have a community.

Many of you probably live in cities. And you are (rightly) worried about how you’re going to get along when all hell breaks loose. Where will you get food? What about staying warm in winter? Suddenly these very mundane things, which until now have been taken care of by the fossil fuel-powered market economy, will become desperate concerns. If you have lived in your present location for a number of years, you know your neighbors. You know whom you can trust, whom to ask for help in getting something, and where to find things. You have something to go on and something to build on. That’s a lot better than nothing, which is what you might well have if you panic and bolt. Let’s say you find a house in the country and move there. Now what do you do? Do you know how to grow and preserve food? Do you know where to look for the resources you need? And most of all, do you have a community? Very likely the answer is no for all of these. You are helpless and alone, and you cannot ride out the storm on your own.

As such, just running for the hills may well put you in a worse situation than you’d have by staying put in familiar surroundings. Certainly the situation is going to get bad in the cities. But it won’t be peaches and cream here in the sticks, either. And we’ll also have to cope with hordes of desperate, starving city people who try to steal our food. Unless you are in a really remote location, expect hungry visitors.

If you have made preparations and have a rural community that you can join, then it’s likely a good idea to get out of the city and relocate. The more people we can get back on the land, the better. But if you have no clear idea of what to do when you leave the city, and no community to join, it is perhaps better to stay put in familiar surroundings, especially if you feel comfortable and have a community and network. Individuals and families should all carefully assess their situations and options, and then take decisive action based on their findings.

Geithner Plans to Press Germany on European Rescue

The new order is chaos
Global Meltdown: Chapter Two (Forbes)

US markets plummet amid eurozone debt crisis fears, Dow drops 376

Thailand protests: crackdown against redshirts

S.Korea concludes N.Korea torpedo 'sank ship'