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https://www.truthdig.com/articles/goodbye-to-the-dollar/
The inept and corrupt presidency of Donald Trump has unwittingly triggered the fatal blow to the American empire—the abandonment of the dollar as the world’s principal reserve currency. Nations around the globe, especially in Europe, have lost confidence in the United States to act rationally, much less lead, in issues of international finance, trade, diplomacy and war. These nations are quietly dismantling the seven-decade-old alliance with the United States and building alternative systems of bilateral trade. This reconfiguring of the world’s financial system will be fatal to the American empire, as the historian Alfred McCoy and the economist Michael Hudson have long pointed out. It will trigger an economic death spiral, including high inflation, which will necessitate a massive military contraction overseas and plunge the United States into a prolonged depression. Trump, rather than make America great again, has turned out, unwittingly, to be the empire’s most aggressive gravedigger.
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Tuesday February 05 2019, @04:37AM (27 children)
Goldman Sachs predicted the historically high levels of personal studen corporate and government debt will trigger a ren year depression that will put the Great Depression completely to shame
I started stockpiling food and water at first to prepare for power outages but when I read about our upcoming depression I redoubled my food effort. Now my freezer is packed solid with meat; it will last for a while as I only use it for soup or beans
This because we had a rough time during the Dot Com Crash.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 4, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 05 2019, @05:20AM (4 children)
Foolish MDC, I only stockpile guns and amo 100% non-perishable with proper lubrication... where did you say your stockpile is again?
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 05 2019, @08:24AM (3 children)
You know, if you got a holster for your gun, you wouldn't need "proper lubrication" to store it. You'd be lots more comfortable too, especially if the gun is large or has sharp parts, and your gun wouldn't smell like poo.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 05 2019, @11:04AM (2 children)
If you had stopped after "...comfortable too." it would have been funny. But you had to push it too far.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 06 2019, @12:30AM (1 child)
"But you had to push it too far"
I see what you did there
(Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday February 06 2019, @04:56AM
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday February 05 2019, @05:45AM (9 children)
I trust you rigged the freezer to your exercise bike already.
If you haven't, the meat won't last long without power.
If you have, the meat won't last long at the level of exercise you need to put in to keep it frozen.
(grin)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Tuesday February 05 2019, @05:51AM (8 children)
This because the freezer really is packed solid, so it would take quite a long time for the ColdOns to leak out if I don't open the door.
But seriously: somehow, some way I'll come up with the cash to buy a large deep freeze - properly they're denoted as "Chest Freezers" - that I'll keep in my garage; its lid will be on the top.
As for ammo... I hope to rotate your stock of bullets. At least once per month, take all your oldest bullets to the range then fire them, hopefully in your rifle. I mean fire your rifle - don't shoot into it, as that would lead your barrel to splinter.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 3, Interesting) by c0lo on Tuesday February 05 2019, @06:09AM
I don't. I'm using TNT.
This one [youtube.com] to be more specific - I hope you like it when blasted day and night for weeks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Tuesday February 05 2019, @01:31PM (5 children)
You're better off drying the meat as jerky. It will last forever if you protect it from moisture, and will take up less room and weigh less. You can dry fruits and veg too; if you've ever made ramen with those little packets of dried veg that's the idea.
Additionally learn how to forage the flora and fauna where you are. While others are killing each other over the canned aisle at the walmart you can gather a meal in the neighborhood park unperturbed.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by dry on Tuesday February 05 2019, @07:19PM (2 children)
Mmm, dandelion roots and tree bark with squirrel.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Tuesday February 05 2019, @10:35PM (1 child)
Dandelion roots are more a coffee substitute. With squirrel I'd use sumac and wild berries to mask the gaminess and wild onion or garlic to round out the flavor. Cattail shoots, purslane, and sorrel make a good salad accompaniment. Some people like dandelion leaves (they sell commercially grown ones in my supermarket) but they're a bit bitter for my taste, unless you use a sweet dressing.
I'm more familiar with tree bark as a cordage source, but if you have edible varieties to recommend, more to the good.
I've always wanted to learn wild mushrooms, but the consequences of incorrectly identifying one have scared me off trying to DIY that entire category.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by dry on Wednesday February 06 2019, @04:54AM
I'm thinking of what is available in the neighbourhood park in desperate times, in particular at this time of year. Dandelion root, while bitter, is a source of carbs. The leaves at this time of year are pretty tough and bitter. They can be parboiled but not much nutrition left. No wild sumac here and have to go aways to find cattails. There is sorrel around though most parks seem too alkaline. have to watch sorrel as well as it contains enough oxatilyc (sp?) acid (think rhubarb leaves) to poison someone if they pigged out too much. No wild alliums either.
As for tree bark, actually the cambium, true emergency food. The natives would eat pine bark in extreme emergencies, its possible to make something like flour out of it but I believe it's pretty labour intensive. Most trees are sorta edible, I like nibbling on maple flowers in the spring and for vitamin C, most conifers needles will make tea that'll keep you scurvy free.
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Tuesday February 05 2019, @09:56PM (1 child)
In fact I was preparing to make beef jerky when I ran out of food stamps. Can you recommend a marinade? The recipe I intended to use requires a very pricey marinade.
On a positive note, I've got a Jesus Big bottle of Soy Sauce. Could I use Soy Sauce but nothing else?
It happens that I've got quite a lot of frozen fish; humanity has been eating dried fish since the dawn of it.
Most of the beef I've got is way too fatty, but perhaps I can cut out lower-fat portions for drying, then fry up the fatty stuff.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Tuesday February 05 2019, @10:43PM
I have used soy sauce and worcestershire sauce with brown sugar (I like a bit of sweetness in the jerky), garlic powder and onion powder. Slice your meat thin when it's still half frozen (otherwise it's hard to slice consistently) and throw it into a ziplock bag in the fridge to marinate for a day. If you buy a roast in a supermarket with a deli counter you can often ask them to slice it for you.
To dry the meat I have always used a dehydrator but I read people use ovens on low heat too.
Personally I don't trim fat off the meat because the marbling makes it so much tastier than lean pieces. If you're making jerky as a survival food you might consider leaving it on, also, because calories in that situation are what you want to keep going.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Pslytely Psycho on Tuesday February 05 2019, @01:49PM
I have a re-branded (Black and Decker, no longer available) version of this. It added about five dollars a month to my electric bill so reasonable power consumption unlike the ones from the 70's and earlier that practically needed their own power plant (grin).
https://www.amazon.com/Haier-HF50CM23NW-Capacity-Chest-Freezer/dp/B0198ZXHEI/ref=sr_1_1?s=appliances&ie=UTF8&qid=1549373956&sr=1-1&keywords=chest+freezer&refinements=p_n_feature_keywords_two_browse-bin%3A7061735011 [amazon.com]
I've had it for just short of five years, unfortunately they are more expensive now, mine was $139 at the time.
5 cubic feet is quite a lot of storage, they do go higher, but much more expensive. I wouldn't waste money on a 3 cu. ft. the price difference isn't that much unless you absolutely can't afford it.
I did see the same one for $179 from a site called Jet, but I know nothing of that site.
Peace out man....
Alex Jones lawyer inspires new TV series: CSI Moron Division.
(Score: 3, Funny) by driverless on Tuesday February 05 2019, @05:50AM
Well, my pants are packed solid with meat [grabs crotch]... oh, sorry, wrong thread there.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 05 2019, @02:49PM (1 child)
About a year and a half, tops. By this time in 2020 you probably won't see but the inklings of a recession. By this time in 2022, you may start to see it -- but your meat will be so freezer burnt it'll be freezer-jerky with no flavoring. Once it starts it'll take some time to put into full-play, as it'll take a whole-world economic movement to put this country into the hurts (remember, the US lives on a lot of debt, and they won't buck the US all at once). By 2024 your meat will be hard as leather and tastes like a shoe. By the time things really get bad, 5 years out, you'll have no use for anything that you've put into your freezer. It'll just be in such a sorry state you can't use it.
Dried foods. Not frozen foods. Beans are hard and dry -- just add water and heat. Gardens replenish themselves -- just compost your scraps and keep them outside (you've got a fence, right?) Meat was never one of those non-perishable things. The old'timers (indians) used meats as clothes and bags and tools -- and you're suggesting eating it? Their prepared meat was only for trips of weeks, maybe, not years.
Dude..
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 05 2019, @05:52PM
Your critique of what MDC seems to be doing is spot-on, but diversity in food storage is smart. Yes, if you want to store food today for use five years from now, drying is the way to go. But it's also real good to have a big deep freeze and throw some poultry or your share of a hog or steer in from time to time. (Venison's good too, but medium-size game get poached up fast in any depression worth talking about, so don't count on that.) Some shelves full of canned food are also good.
Think of the freezer (and the shelves of canned goods) as a buffer. You take some meat out and you put some meat in, but no meat stays in the freezer over a year or so. In any economy, you get a significant benefit from buying meat in the times, quantities, and varieties that are cheap, instead of going to the store every week and buying a week's worth of meat at whatever price they're offering. And when times are hard, it's even more valuable -- if you can't afford to keep it full, you put a little less meat in every year than you take out, but having started with a freezer full, it'll be several years before you simultaneously have no money and no meat.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 05 2019, @02:53PM (6 children)
Get a pressure canner, can your food.
a) Done right, it lasts indefinitely
b) The cans don't require electricity to stay good
c) A suitably chosen pressure canner can also be used reliably on a wood stove
d) You can preserve meat, staples and vegetables this way
e) The cans are reusable, so cycling through your old stock isn't a dead loss (OK, the lids are really cheap but not free)
f) You can stock and stack way, way more cans than you are ever likely to be able to purchase freezer space
g) A pressure canner also makes a good field expedient sterilisation tool for medical equipment, if admittedly not as hot as a proper autoclave, but a hell of a lot better than nothing
(Score: 3, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday February 05 2019, @04:11PM
Be aware, canning meats is a slightly different ballgame than canning fruits, veggies, jams, jellies, etc. Animal fats prevent the lids from sealing. You have to be vigilant - check every single canned product with meat in it. If it doesn't seal, you can make an immediate second attempt, if that fails, just eat the stuff.
The sealing surfaces MUST stay dry and clean, or it will not seal.
When my stepdad was alive, we canned a lot of venison, so I got plenty of experience at this. Beef has more fat than venison, and pork has a helluva lot more than beef.
You have been warned - good luck!
(Score: 2) by ElizabethGreene on Tuesday February 05 2019, @08:56PM (4 children)
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Tuesday February 05 2019, @10:01PM
You can embalm a stiff in it.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 05 2019, @11:51PM
Crystalline sugar will also virtually last forever. Wheat in its whole form last long enough (hundreds of years). Brown sugar will last, but will become a brick that needs orange peels to break up and eventually the molasses will separate, but the flavor is generally ok. Extra virgin olive oil can make it a decade or more (cool/dark storage - and ONLY EXTRA VIRGIN). Vinegar and liquor are also way up there in years.
(Score: 2) by Muad'Dave on Wednesday February 06 2019, @02:26PM
Unpalatable does not equal inedible.
The USDA [usda.gov] even says that food (not infant formula) is safe well past the expiration date unless spoilage is evident.
(Score: 2) by etherscythe on Thursday February 07 2019, @03:56AM
Some brands of freeze dried food last a good quarter century, or longer. Freeze driers aren't cheap, but you can buy big batches of pre-canned stuff flushed with nitrogen that can outlive you in any realistic hardship scenario. It's not too much more than frozen or fresh, and honestly, some of it isn't bad eating.
"Fake News: anything reported outside of my own personally chosen echo chamber"
(Score: 3, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday February 05 2019, @03:41PM
Meanwhile, I bought a boat... I can catch more protein (fish) from a boat that costs less to purchase than a new econobox car than I can possibly grow on 5 acres of land.
No solution is perfect, but while waiting for the collapse the boat is much more enjoyable than a well stocked bomb shelter full of canned food, and thinking about responses to civil unrest is also more attractive with a boat than a hole in the ground with a limited supply of ammunition.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday February 06 2019, @05:07AM
Until you lose power for a few days. Then it'll become packed solid with a waste disposal problem. I don't think there's anything wrong with the idea of stockpiling food. But there's some serious questions you need to be asking here. How long are you going to live at your present residence? And are you going to move that food when you move?