The truth is out there.

A serendipitous discovery. Reminds me of Zen (ZMM). Very helpful for me today. Go well.

Have a read of this (HT Energy Bulletin) which I tend to agree with. However, having read Alison, it is difficult to see apocalypse as the specifically Christian genre, as opposed to eschatology. (More on this after the weekend, when I am doing a talk on it!)

See also his ‘Apocalypse Not’ on his sidebar.

Very interesting article (from one of the people I’m trying to emulate – in a much smaller way) about Peak Oil Pessimism here.

I think his ‘Transition Town Totnes’ initiative is precisely what Mersea should be doing – and Totnes is really rather similar to Mersea in many ways.

The Independent has an interesting collection of questions to Richard Dawkins from readers, with answers from him, here.

It is a reprise of an exercise that they did six or seven years ago (and which I quote from in the beginning of my book).

I would want to ask a different type of question. Dawkins has a daughter, to whom he writes some advice at the end of his ‘Devil’s Chaplain’ book. I would want to ask something along the lines of: if your daughter was unhappily in love, is there anything that you would want to say to her as a scientist? In other words, is there anything in science which could be drawn from in order to be of human use to someone loved?

I don’t believe that there is. All scientific knowledge is ultimately trivial and useless (that is – what is of interest is how to use the knowledge – the knowledge itself is, by definition, meaningless). The widespread acceptance of the opposite is the tragedy of our time, and the doom of our civilisation.

“We feel that even when all possible scientific questions have been answered, the problems of life remain completely untouched.” (Wittgenstein, Tractatus 6.52)

The Ranter tagged me.

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot Chocolate

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Puts them under the tree.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? Coloured lights on tree.

4. Do you hang mistletoe on house? Yes.

5. When do you put your decorations up? about 10 days prior to the day.

6. What is your favorite holiday meal (excluding dessert)? Turkey with everything.

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child? Lots. Probably making a huge snowman when I was about 11.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? When I was about 5, courtesy of my cynical elder brother.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? No.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? Tinsel, baubles, angels.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? Love it.

12. Can you ice skate? Yes.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? No.

14. What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Family.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Don’t really have one (as in, I like them all).

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? The family meal.

17. What tops your tree? An angel.

18. Which do you prefer: giving or receiving? Giving

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? O come all ye faithful.

20. Candy Canes! Yuck or yummy? yuck

21. Favorite Christmas Movie? Gremlins.

22. What would you most like to find under your tree this year? A new form of energy.

23. Favorite Holiday memory as an adult? Tobogganing in Wales with some friends.

Tag:
Psybertron (because I know he hates them 😉
MadPriest
Andrew
Byron

This might seem strange, but I actually consider myself to be an optimist when considering all the issues thrown up by the energy tsunami now approaching our shores. For confirmation of this, please have a read of this article, which describes a scenario 100 years from now. The Archdruid (he really is an Archdruid, and his site is very interesting) hints at one of the things which I see as most important, viz the capacity to retain our understandings, and scientific and technical knowledge, and implies that we will lose much of our accumulated capacity. In my view this is unlikely. There is far too much inertia in the scientific and technical system for even a rapid and sudden economic crash to remove what has been achieved. This does assume, however, that the desire to retain scientific and technical expertise remains. It comes back to St Benedict, and Alasdair MacIntyre’s prophetic words once again. I do see one of the essential Christian tasks of the coming century as – once again – taking up the burden of preserving western civilisation from all those forces, within and without, that are lining up to destroy it. It is one of the great ironies that science will be saved by those with religious faith.

However, none of this is to dispute the gravity of the crisis that is bearing down upon us more and more quickly. One of the heroes of the Peak Oil community, Stuart Staniford, has just broken his purdah, and posted this graph at The Oil Drum:

All of the official pronouncements for future energy supply, over the next thirty years or so, are predicated on there being a) lots of easy oil left to find (see this for a debunking) and b) production from Saudi Arabia doubling. What the graph shows rather strong evidence for is Saudi Arabia’s complete incapacity to do any such thing. They have vastly increased the number of wells deployed to drill for oil, and their production of oil is decreasing. Almost certainly, Saudi Arabia has passed peak production; they know it; and they are lying about it for as long as possible, because of the political consequences that will follow.

What I am most convinced of is that we have begun the descent into the great dislocation, that our world is about to be broken apart. I am very pessimistic about the short-to-medium term (ie from now to about 15/20 years hence – all I can see is war, famine, pestilence and disaster) but the longer term I am much more optimistic about. As I have said many times in my talks – the post Peak world will be a very good one, for those who live to see it.

Then the LORD said to me, “Do not pray for the well-being of this people. Although they fast, I will not listen to their cry; though they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Instead, I will destroy them with the sword, famine and plague.” But I said, “Ah, Sovereign LORD, the prophets keep telling them, ‘You will not see the sword or suffer famine. Indeed, I will give you lasting peace in this place.’ “

Then the LORD said to me, “The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I have not sent them or appointed them or spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions, divinations, idolatries and the delusions of their own minds. Therefore, this is what the LORD says about the prophets who are prophesying in my name: I did not send them, yet they are saying, ‘No sword or famine will touch this land.’ Those same prophets will perish by sword and famine. And the people they are prophesying to will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and sword. There will be no one to bury them or their wives, their sons or their daughters. I will pour out on them the calamity they deserve.

“The 46-year-old schoolteacher tried to reassure his family that he would return safely. But his life was over, he was part-disembowelled and then torn apart with his arms and legs tied to motorbikes, the remains put on display as a warning to others against defying Taliban orders to stop educating girls.”

Things I’ve done in my time. No particular order.

Waiter (in lots of places, some for extended periods of time)
Barman (ditto, but most memorably in the Chapel, Coggeshall)
Run a video store.
Sold suits in Hoopers, Colchester (did that for three months).
Worked in Argos (Saturday job through Uni)
Programmed databases (dBase IV, again, 3 months).
Cleaned industrial spray-paint booths (two weeks – worst job ever).
Petrol pump attendant (on and off for several years).
Civil Servant (four years).
Customer services dept of Anglian Water (three months).
Financial dept of Anglian Water (two months)
Caretaker (janitor) of primary school (one year).
General building work (on and off through my teens).
Of course, I’m now a priest, full time since ’99.

Nothing too exciting, but reasonably diverse. I have certainly met an awful lot of people.