Hemp and our future.

The governments of the world are gathering to talk about serious ways of cutting greenhouse gas emissions and dealing with climate change in general. Any time a carbon tax comes up, somebody veto's it because it is not set up fairly. Once they do(if they ever do) set some plan up. I would be the first in line with a proposal of hiring unemployed people to work and live on large farms that grow tons of hemp. So many acres of hemp growing = $ in credits. The land could be bought by large oil companies and large energy interests, which would not have to make any money for them, which could be a write off, but it could also morph into the way the big businesses will get in to biomass fuels. Hemp is by far the best plant to absorb co2 and then turn the plant in to 1001 things, fuel being one of them. The potential is huge. The obstacles are still huge but crumbling.

Dealing with Fear.

I have some novel ideas as to why our society is so crazy. Part of the reason is we have been born into an environment of fear and corruption that has spread around most of the world. The reason for this environment of fear is due to the prohibition of Cannabis in all it's forms. Some reckless people have even tried to irradicate the plant from ever existing! Hemp was never talked about in my school. The only "information" we ever got was mis-information from the reefer mad.

From a survival viewpoint, knowing how you got into a situation may provide clues on how to get yourself out. Ending the "War on Drugs" and using that money to save and educate lives rather than just lock them up, sounds like a good first plan.

If we are busy finding out what the plant can do for us rather than what we can do against it, we just may find out that our survival chances as a species just went up.

Hi folks.

I have just finished a small experiment with a new alcohol stove. I was not

measuring, just looking by eye and I would say that I used about 150-200 ml

of Methyl alcohol. The fuel is the blue stuff you get for fondues. Since it does

not say what the percentage of the fuel is alcohol, I have no way of knowing if

it lasts as long as the 99% Iso alcohol so I may set up a more measured

experiment. I have one of the windows open just a bit and I have a CO2

monitor operating. For safey sake I put the stove on top of my regular stove.If

you are going to use this method often I would suggest having a cookie sheet

or a pie pan under the stove. Since the fuel is a dangerous poison, you do not

want to spill it or use the pans for food use. Even a tinfoil pie plate or a bit of

tinfoil would be better than risking a spill on your stove. The amount I put in is

not the most I could get into the body of the stove, but it was close. If I forced

it, I think I could put 250 ml into the stove. I will have to test that. his was just a

test o see how well it burned. I did a small trial putting a few caps in first and it

is designed to get flame off of the fumes for the most efficient use of the fuel.

It ran for about an hour and a half. I may find that if I am not cooking or heating

a lot I could put in just enough to get the water boiling. If the water is unsafe, it

is good to get it to boiling for a few minutes. Some books suggest about 10

minutes.

Considering the cost for running a stove. I got the fondue fuel at the dollar

store so I was paying $2.28 a litre for the fuel. I am not sure what it would cost

if I bought it at a store like Canadian Tire? Buying the 99% Iso cost about

10.00 a litre if you buy it at the drug store in small amounts. The fondue fuel is

much cheaper by a factor of 4 or so. The Iso Alcohol is a better one to store

for medicine gear, since it does so many other things. It is also a good fuel. if

you have room to store both, than get both, but if you have room for only one

you will have to decide if you want fuel or medical gear. Everybodies needs

are different. The stove put out a good amount of heat. I did this while we are

have a few cool days here in Canada, so when the sun went down the temp

did too. I could feel the extra heat heat in my kitchen since I have the heater

turned off already.

If you do not have an alcohol stove, you can very easily make one out of a

pop can. Just look online for pepsi stove, penny stove and alcohol stove. You

will find many sites that give you the details on how to make your own. Another

site that may have that information is Instructables. Look them up too.

I hope you got some good information and go out and learn even more.
That is it for tonight.

Michael J. Kaer , Author of "What Money Can't Buy" part 1&2

Hi folks.

Some people know me as a Hemp advocate, others as "That Worm Guy", talking about organic gardening, not needing any chemiKills in my food. Some people know me as a professional Psychic and others as a Drummer or maybe as "Magicfingers" Mike ( I am a Reflexologist). Considering some of the things I do, many people are surprized when I talk about being a survivalist. Many of the things I now do do not have a high viability and high priority in the future. Yes there is always a need for music but in the future I will not expect to get paid money to perform, most likely a meal may be my fee. One day Hemp and Cannabis will be free to grow anywhere anytime and it will be cheap, but we are not there yet so I will continue my work there till things change. Because of the economic downturn, that may actually speed up the changes.There is no pay in being an advocate. I have to do something to make money while is has some worth. I read Tarot Cards. It is a gift I have that runs in my family. If/when the internet goes down I will have to go back to face to face readings. There is not a lot of call for a Tarot reading when all hell is breaking loose. Oddly enough people will still go to a psychic if the matter is important enough. Massage and Reflexology will also not be high on the list. It is a good skill if you want to trade favours and such. I can help out as a medic's assistant because I know my way around a body better than the average joe and I am comfortable touching people. I have helped perpare a friend of mine's body for burial. They will need people who can handle dead bodies in the future. Not many people know I practice Tai Chi. That is one of the things that will be very needed in the future. Not many know I am a bicycle mechanic. I could (if I had to) take a bicycle apart down to the bearings and put it back together again. I have most of the common tools I have need of; only 2 special ones that I have not got yet. I am working on that this summer. I also went to George Brown in Toronto and got my C.E.T. so I know electronics too. I know there will be a need for guys like me. The next trade I want to tackle is blacksmith. If I can make my own forge, I would be able to make my own tools and repair other tools. I would be able to make replacement parts for bikes.

I did not want to turn this into a long brag session, sorry about that. I am just good at a lot of thngs. My point is 85% of the people who still have jobs right now will have to learn completely new skills in order to still gain employment. The many who are out of work right this moment, think of this time as a time that you can work on new skills. I love camping. Some people hate it. I say to those who hate it, at the very least gain a couple of the basic skills of camping. We dod not know what is before us. There may be a time when you will be very glad you decided to learn some of the basics. If you had to "Bug - Out" and live in a tent for a month, could you? How about 3 months? Still with me, ok 1/2 a year in a tent- can you do it? Still with me? good How a bout a year? Do you know all that you need to know to survive in a tent in all four seasons? It would be a lot easier if that tent was off some white beach at Manuel Antonio in Costa Rica. Your diet would have a lot of fish and peepa's in it. I would pay to do something like that down then, but then again I have a thing for fresh mangoes--- mmmmmmmmmmm. Sorry food took my off topic. Actually food can get me right back on topic. Does one of your skillsets include the ability to grow a garden with out any chemiKills? if it does not, I would hop on that as my main priority. The only way to have food security is if everyone grows something. Even the First Lady down in the States is growing an organic garden. Good for her.

I want you to do your homework and look in to the recent past to see how things where done with a lot less machines to do the work, because that is where we are going back to. I am now going to wash up before going to bed. All I have to do is turn a tap and like magic, hot clean water will come out. think of how many hours you would have to gather wood,make a fire, haul water and get it up to hot.

I want you to really think about that!

Michael J. Kaer, author of "What Money Can't Buy" part 1 & 2

Hi folks.

You can now go to a group I joined to see the photos of my first 4X4. The site is at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=72414842758 . My friend Lance started this one. He helps out with the local community gardens project here in Chatham. The wood and the panel sides I got from my neighbour's garbage (with her permission). I like the fact that it is all recycled stuff and I did not have to pay anything for it. My biggest cost was for seed. I had spent a few bucks on a type of peatmoss substitute, but that was an experiment, so I do not add that to the costs here. I also paid for some of those small peat moss pellets. They did not work with what I was trying to grow so they got tossed in. Again I am not adding the cost of the pellets because that is not a real cost. I want to look at when I buy a few bags of soil and add those costs down the road. Down the road even farther I will not be able to get soil( assumming most of the stores have shut down). On a side note, I think stores like Canadian Tire will continue on but a much subdued store with less gadgets and more "real" tools. As the cheap imports turn into expensive imports our exports will have to increase. At somepoint all trade is going to come to a standstill and then a slow but steady trickle will start up from that point. The time could be coming soon where our money is not going to be worth toilet paper( not soft enough) and the only things that will have value is seeds, produce and fresh fish, tools, guns and ammo, bows and arrows, books, toilet paper,knives,needles and pins, sturdy and longlasting cookware (cast iron)... anything that has real value. A rookie card in any sport, even if it is signed by the player, is not worth anything intrinsically. It is only worth something in exchange for something else. Something "Priceless" could also be "Worthless" if no one is willing to trade you for it. Go around your house and see if there are any "Priceless" gems you are willing to let go of. I have a few trinkets that do not have value outside of certain circles. If I sold them, that money could get me some more batteries or a solar panel or several bike tire tubes. It could even buy one of those expense bicycle tools that helps you take off the gears from the back tire. There are a few special tools need, but I have most of the tools I need for right now. I can not buy those tools or special items when everything is shut down, so now is the time to get them. We can prosper our way out of this mess , but it will take time and a change in many thoughts. Good luck

Hello folks.

This is the time of year where seeds should be germinated to get seedlings to be planted sometime in May (in my neck of the woods many do it on the May 24 weekend.) and there are things to be done to the soil before planting. I have already applied organic fertilizer to the soil. Since I am expanding my garden to some 4x4's in the front yard, I am going to be setting them up. I have been saving my newspapers to be used as a weed barrier and mulch. I will be grabbing a few bags of soil to make it a lot easier to start the new plots. I have compost that will be good to use in another year; I could use it this year but I may get too many weeds to deal with.

If you have been paying attention to the news from around the world, you know this is affecting everywhere. After all the suicides in India from farmers who went in to debt that they could not pay off to companies that lied to them about the terminator seeds they sold them, Many farmers are going back to the old ways of doing things. Saving seed from one year to the next makes sense; creating a franken-food that does not allow you to save seed from year to year does not make sense. Only in a boardroom, divorced from the farmers who grow our food, could some idiot come up with the idea to force the farmer to buy new seed each year. Let me put a what if out to the world. What if something happened to mutate the seeds that have been tampered with? I know this is a wild long shot, but what happened if all seed got infected with the terminator "gene". We would die and become extinct. My question is Why even take the chance? For a few extra pennies for your seed and the power of control over everyone, that is the only reason to dream up this abomination. Playing god can come back to bite you in the backside. Speaking of control, the NAZI-like stance Monsanto takes against individual farmers is sickening. This same company and others like it are pouring money into the pockets of politicians so they can outlaw organic small farms. once the pesky small farmers are out of the way, it will only be large scale food factories that will be feeding everyone, you can't call the farms anymore. They don't care that the food they produce has little life or nutrients in them. They only care about how much more money they are going to make this year over the year before.

I would rather grow my own food and give it away than be forced to live off the crap monsanto is trying to sell me. I see growing my own food as a political act as much as an act of love for myself and the people I share my food with. It is a relaxing activity that many more people will be forced into this year and the years to come. In ten years we will have some great crops going. It is going to take 10 years to make many mistakes and learn from them. The next 10 years will be very hard on many. I hope you are not in that group. Good luck.

Michael J. Kaer, Author of "What Money Can't Buy"

Why I love my Trike!

I created a new blog. It is called Mike's Bikes and Trikes. I wanted to call it Mike's Bikes but that name was already taken. In that first blog post I talked about the value of a Trike. Mine is even more powerful due to it's unique modifications. It had a plate welded on to the back part of the frame to host a tow able trailer. I will include the first post here and you can read about it yourself. How this relates to survival s I did something that most people would never even attempt without a car. That is a lot of food to haul. The types of food should also get your attention. Have fun.

Why I love my Trike!

Hi folks.

If you have seen any of my other blogs, you would know I am a man of many talents and interests.
I have been reading articles and watching stuff on YouTube about the coming money collapse. Where I live, in my end of the city there are no grocery stores in walking distance. The one I like going to is about 10 blocks or more away, so I take my bike or my trike. I took a shopping cart in and got a lot of the basics and it ended up being close to $120.00 (Canadian). Lucky for me I know how to pack things in boxes and bags and I arranged all of it on my trike. It was touch and go and I though I may have to give away some of my food. I also had a couple of bungee cords that came in handy. It was so over loaded I thought I would have to walk all the way home pushing the trike, but I decided to give it a shot and see if I could ride it. I went very slowly but it got me and all my stuff home. After I took all the boxes inside, I was curious to see just how much weight it had just carried. I weigh about 175 pounds give or take and I did a calculation of the food. It came to at least 60 kilos ( since everything here in Canada is metric) which equals at least 132 pounds with me on the bike that means the trike was carrying over 300 pounds. I ave a modified frame that has a plate welded on the back to tow a heavy duty trailer. I have seen it at work towing a a huge load when the last owner used to transport recycled metals in the trailer. He was the one who modified it. That is one hell of a good transport system . The food, if you are interested , was mostly rice and beans and some canned goods as well as some cooking oil. The cashier was very curious as to why I got what I got and made the comment "you are going to be busy" a couple of times. She also wondered what I was going to do with all that rice.

First off I like rice, but it also happens to store extremely well if it is properly packed. The beans and chick peas means I will be able to make a lot of chillies and hummus and other good stuff. Beans and rice together is almost all you need to live off of. Lucky for me again, I will be expanding my garden once more. I have more than tripled it's size in the last few years and I am growing more herbs than I can now consume in a year. I hope my potatoes do well this year. The other great thing about the Trike is the fact that I am able to load a few bags of soil on it with no problem. That helps a lot when buying extra soil. Last but not least I got a very good work out in the process of getting a couple of months worth of groceries. As a basic out lay( not including stuff like milk and eggs) $60.00 a month for food is a great deal.

Have fun, stay safe and use your bikes and trikes well this year.
Michael J. Kaer, author of "What Money Can't Buy" part 1 & 2