All About M.E.O.W

Hi, I’m Bart. Welcome to my little corner of the internets. This blog covers news and opinion related to the following topics:

  • Peak Oil (I’m a believer)
  • Climate Change (I think we are doing things to help alter the pace at which our climate changes naturally. How much, I don’t know.)
  • Resource Shortages (Things like grain,freshwater, farmland, industrial metals, etc.)
  • Economic Crises (Experiments with fiat money always end badly)

I also like to write about current events and my introductory forays into a more sustainable pattern of living. I wouldn’t call it truly ‘sustainable’ for I don’t believe that’s possible in today’s suburbia, but by taking some first steps now, I’ll be better-prepared for whatever mother nature throws at all of us over the next few decades.

New commenters are moderated to try and keep the spammers out of the threads. I currently get around 3 -5 spam comments for each legitimate one that comes in. Once one of your comments has been approved, you should be good to go unless you post a comment with more than 2 URL’s in it, in which case it goes back in the penalty box until I can take a look at it.

A couple of other things about me that end up shaping the articles I write:

  • I grew up in a Republican suburb, have flip-flopped between thinking I’m a Republican or a Democrat several times, and finally have decided that both parties are beholden to big money and corporate interests, and as such support neither. I’ll vote for the best candidate in most elections, which recently has meant mostly Democrats, but I also have a strong independent streak, having voted for both Perot and Jesse Ventura in the past. The Green party is a non-factor in my area, though they have an enclave in South Minneapolis.
  • I found out about peak oil back in the late 1990’s while researching overpopulation and environmentalism. I probably tend towards the ‘doomer’ side of things, but I’m not a survivalist. Our way of life will change radically, and the timeframe for said change is long enough that you can’t hide and/or stockpile your way out of it. I was born in Minnesota, my family is all here, and here I will stay for the foreseeable future. Some folks have pulled up stakes and moved to various remote places to try and ride out the storm, but that’s not something I choose to do, since we have no way of knowing how bad things will get, nor how fast it will happen. In the meantime, I’m close to work, close to family, and that’s what matters most to me.
  • Matters of faith are important to me, but my current theology is a muddle, to say the least. I was raised Methodist, converted to Lutheranism several years back, and am dissatisfied with what passes for mainstream Christianity in any of it’s forms. I read a lot on the subject, and right now I’m tending to get more confused rather than less. In general I would classify myself as a ‘liberal’ Christian, favoring equal rights for everyone, regardless of color, gender, sexual preference, etc. I view fundamentalism in any religious body as dangerous.
  • My main goals right now are to learn the skills necessary to keep my family alive during the coming times of change that will be visiting us soon. I’m becoming a sort-of Luddite, learning how to garden, cook, and preserve food by hand. I’m also reading up on sustainable building methods, though I’ve so far done very little on this front. Living in Minnesota, I’m mostly interested in ways to keep warm in the winter that don’t rely on electricity and/or natural gas.
  • In case anyone was wondering, I’m not the Bart that runs Energy Bulletin.

I consider myself to be a semi-educated amateur with regards to most of the topics I write about here. Feel free to leave comments if you think I’m off-base or simply full of crap. In the latter case, at least, you and my wife will have something in common.

(Updated 2/12/2007)

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