The Calm Before The Storm

Lately I've been filled with an eerie, sickening feeling that I can only remember feeling once before. Once, a few years ago I had this feeling for only a few moments, and I remember it distinctly. It was the evening before hurricaine Charley passed over my house. As a native of Seattle, I had never experienced a hurricaine before. Part of me looked forward to it, while the other part of me was afraid as I knew it was dangerous. It was in the early evening, and the first feeder bands had just passed over. It was getting dark, but the sky was clear. I remember walking out into the backyard, and that's when it hit me. I didn't hear anything. There were none of the usual sounds of birds or squirrels, nor any other creature out that evening. I looked up to the sky, and it was as though it were any other evening, except for the strange silence. Day was turning to dusk, and had I not heard the news, I'd have never known what was coming. But the birds and squirrels knew.

Today that same feeling exists in me every moment of every day. For the last month or so, since the US Dollar began it's nosedive, I've known that the storm is coming. I first realized this storm was headed our way more than ten years ago, but back then we had leadership that was working toward diverting it. Over the past six years, our leadership has done the opposite, and the storm has been encouraged, strengthened, and emboldened to become the monster it is today. And now the monster is upon us. Events of the past week make it clear that the storm is just over the horizon. We have begun to see the feeder bands, with events like the Fed's rate cut, and Hugo Chavez's announcement that Venezuela will now trade for their oil in currencies other than the dollar. There were even indications of something similar from Saudi Arabia. Each day the entities holding massive numbers of dollars overseas take enormous losses as their dollars decline in value. Every day the value of the dollar falls, every day more dollars are pumped into the system, and every day the prices on everything rise. People are becoming more and more desperate, but slowly enough for most people not to notice. Like before, you wouldn't know the storm was coming - unless you'd heard the news. Most people haven't heard - certainly not those who only get their news from the mainstream media, and that actually is relatively fortunate, as their blissful ignorance is the only thing holding our economy together. But as the storm approaches, and people begin to see the lightning and hear the thunder, it will become clear to them what we are facing. People will begin to panic when they realize the storm has arrived and they haven't prepared. Their windows won't be boarded, and their patio furniture will begin flying right into their living rooms. Once that happens, nobody can predict what we will face from this monster storm, our panic stricken and desperate countrymen, or from our outlaw government. A few things are certain though. This storm is worse than any hurricane, and it won't be something that will pass overnight. It will be a very long time before we can begin to come out of our shelters and survey the damage.

I can't say exactly when the storm will strike, as I don't have the most advanced satellite imaging equipment, but it isn't far away. If you go outside right now and look just over the horizon, you can feel it. The birds and the squirrels know it too.

is going to be something we haven't seen in my lifetime. I actually pity the poor person who gets elected as president - can't imagine trying to clean up such a mess - and you have to wonder about people who would even want the job. I just wish I could wake up one morning and hear something that would give me hope for our future, but so far it's only doom and gloom. It's hard to keep up with all the bad news.

The cabal is pushing us toward economic collapse and yet another war. I don't even like to think what will happen if Russia and China ally themselves militarily with Iran. :scared:

We've seen much in our lifetime, and I've never felt so pessimistic about current events.

war with Iran, you just get the feeling everything is so out of control and Americans just don't seem to care - well, that's not entirely fair - they care, just don't know what to do.

You see, I'm at the point where I think elections are a thing of the past.

Why would the people who stole power for the last decade give up their power in '08? Democrats should have won by a bigger margin in '06. By right, we should've had veto power against Bush.

I fear whoever gets "elected" in '08 will be a member of corporate loving BushCo; Dem or repuke.

fears... and then double em.

God, I'm a depressing old sot. And so are you Francis! :)

I have no money for gas to drive away, and no boards or nails to protect my home.

Still, this storm is overdue. FAR overdue. Without the storm, there would only be slavery.

the Youngster Bush has certainly revealed this true fact- the wealthy, the powerful, ie the upper class(es) just aint too bright, the 100 greatest books of western civilization, shakespeare, aristotle, francis bacon and all those dudes notwithstanding! The upper classes are twits! And it's THEY, not we, who crowned junyer king, and it's they who are in for the great fall, at least in part because junyer couldn't run a popsickle stand, much less something which kept Bill Clinton up for 18 hour a day! And the media was against Bill, while it's been junyer's only real asset...talk about hoisted on your own petard...lol
The great storm you mention; does anyone think that's why the Democrats are defying the will of the people? They're scared as bush etc is, though the Dems are afraid for the 'birds and squirrels' while bush etc is terrified for their own necks?

live your life day by day and don't be surprised on the eventual collapse, be prepared and keep your wits about you. civilization has always been a facade and has in fact only held up a thin gauze strip away from the dog eat dog world.

I've given thought to the ramifications of the dollar going bust, and it's overwhelming. When people say "just invest in the stock market" I think that's not going to last. I may be an alarmist, but I fear there will be run on the banks. And even if we hoard our cash, I think of the cartoon in my grade school history book that shows a German man after the War, pushing a wheelbarrow of cash down the street to buy a loaf of bread.

We think of the haves and have nots -- but even those with mega millions in dollars would be affected to a large extent. It's terrifying, but on the other hand, hopeful because I believe this country has spun so far out of control that we're beyond fixing it. We need to be brought to our knees and start all over. It just is heartbreaking for those who will have to do the rebuilding.

I'm a Seattle native, too, and although we didn't know when a quake would hit, we knew there'd be one and we had an underlying awareness. I think the underlying awareness of knowing we're in a financial disaster is coming to the fore, as your hurricane metaphor indicates.

And I have a question which I might as well insert here: A friend told me she'd heard that the reason we went into Iraq was that Saddam was going to convert his oil currency to Euros. Any truth to that does anybody know?

K&R'd. This is important.

" October 31: The United Nations Sanctions Committee approves an Iraqi request to be paid in Euros, rather than United States dollars, for oil exported under the "oil for food" program, which is part of the sanctions regime stemming from Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait. (DJ)" from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_world_oil_market_chronology

" In its economical war Iran is treading the same path Saddam Hussein had started when he, in 2000, converted all his reserve from the Dollar to the Euro, and demanded payments in Euro for Iraqi oil. Many economists then mocked Saddam because he had lost a lot of money in this conversion. Yet they were very surprised when he recuperated his losses within less than a year period due to the valuation of the Euro. The American administration became aware of the threat when central banks of many countries started keeping Euros along side of Dollars as their monetary reserve and as an exchange fund for oil (Russian and Chinese central banks in 2003). To avoid economical collapse the Bush administration hastened to invade and to destroy Iraq under false excuses to make it an example to any country who may contemplate dropping the Dollar, and to manipulate OPEC’s decisions by controlling the second largest oil resource. Iraqi oil sale was reverted back to the petrodollar standard. "

from here http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8354.htm

to this when it was transpiring -- so THAT'S what pissed off Bush so much. I've always believed it was about oil (what isn't?), just not about the currency of oil revenue. If Bush would have told us that, it would be an indication of what deep trouble we're in economically. Thanks again.

Thus my experience, in late fall '02 - I was on a flight to Tampa. The gentleman sitting next to me, perhaps noting my white knuckles as we lifted off the runway (I'm always nervous on takeoff and landing, reasonably enough) struck up a conversation.

He said he was US Army (he was not wearing a uniform). Said he was a mechanic, and everthing was fine, blah blah. He said he was going to Tampa to "visit an elderly aunt". At the time I didn't think about Centcom being in Tampa.

We got into a lengthy discussion about the likelihood that Bush was going to invade Iraq. Our discussion was about the WMDs issue, as that was almost exclusively Bush's focus at the time.

Into this conversation he dropped, out of the clear blue, "We've got to protect our economy." I was puzzled and perplexed by this seeming non sequiter, as I wasn't aware of the facts that have come to light since then. At that point, we were preparing to land, and the conversation came to an end.

Just my gut feeling, but I don't think he was a mechanic. And not going to see an "elderly aunt", either. Probably MI. Seemed to know an awful lot about some things. :shrug:

Having lived on the Gulf Coast and Portland Or.
if you experienced a Hurricane in Seattle.
You truly have lived a fulfilled life,
to witness such a rare event, your going out in style.

Currently residing in Florida. I have lived a fulfilled life, but I thought I'd point out Charley didn't hit Seattle.

I was like, "hurricane in seattle", wild.
Ya know, I get down alot, just heard that by 2030 will have no Northern ice cap in the summer.
But, hey, it's not everyday ya get to see the end of a civilization.
Live for today, for tomorrow, is 20$ gas and mosquitoes the size of artichokes.

of hurricanes -- wasn't here for Fran.

And you're so right -- live for today. What else can we do? Actually, it's how life was meant to be lived, we just got off track.

I'll think of you next time a hurricane is heading your way. Hang in there!

Seattle -- a couple of them whoppers. As you're standing there totally helpless, waiting for it to end, you have the overpowering understanding that this mighty earth is the boss. I imagine it's the same when experiencing a hurricane.

So I do have hope for our planet to recover from our abuse. Just not sure about us.

this way comes"

others will steal some marbles. We all know the real problem is we are running out of oil. 10 yrs at best. So start building rickshaws and you will have a lots of marbles to trade down the road.

No big storm just a change of seasons.

And eating isn't a "concept", as you so lackadaisically proclaimed.

So if you missed that part of the storm metaphor, process it a little more.

And although I usually see the glass half empty, lately I've been so on edge about hearing the other shoe drop, I have trouble concentrating. I can't watch the news--seeing all those republicans yapping in indignation over MoveOn, delusional in their belief that they'll win the presidency makes me nervous as hell. They will not give up the power--EVER.

And the dem candidates, along with congress, don't seem to get it that we want them to take a strong stand against these people. No playing nice anymore. They ain't getting it. They seem terrified.

I don't know what I will do if another republican gets elected, selected, appointed--whatever. The past 7 years has been unbelievably horrible. The next year with that asshole still running the country is going to be agony. I always knew I was an angry person, but I never realized I could despise a group of people so much. I must be a racist toward republicans.

we know the outcome is NOT going to be good. Look no further than Katrina and it's aftermath.

Two, TWO FULL pages of foreclosure notices. Usually they take up a half a page at the most.

TWO FULL pages in the Winston-Salem Journal. Hard times are here :scared:

The nuts and bolts of the coming calamity is that there will be a massive transfer of wealth in the form of 'hard assets' from the lower classes to the elites.

That is why they oppose helping families facing imminent foreclosure.

The above comment explains the motives.

along with hamm radios and wood boilers.

The feeling is real and I'm hoping to make it through the collapse - with no federal surplus (thanks W), the government will be nearly powerless to uphold infrastructure.

Researching self sufficiency might be a good idea.

ways to live through the coming economic disaster. I lived through Andrew and learned how to prepare and then pick up the pieces, but the coming economic flood is not so tangible. I'm not sure how to prepare, except to live very frugally and learn more about how others have survived.

For a glimpse about what happened in Argentina after the collapse of their economy, read FerFAL's account....

http://www.buildanark.net/survival_stories/ferfal1_1.html

if you had a couple of thousand, would you use it all to pay credit cards, or switch a portion to euro's, pay some larger payments to the card and keep a small amount in the bank? I always thought saving it was a waste, when you owed money that charged interest.. but that would wipe everything out. No savings then, sort of like everything in one basket.

Scary times.