Thxs for responding.  Not so much 'evil men in purple robes' as the unstoppable economic and political growth paradigm; the Tragedy of the Commons.  Longtime readers of my postings on Yahoo:AlasBabylon understand my concept of the detritus-driven 'Humanimal Ecosystem' that overlies the Natural Ecosystem.  We could classify all detritovores from keystone predators all the way down to gnats and slugs.

Once the fossil fuel detritus is burned up, us humans will be remelded into intimate contact with the forces of Nature again; just as we were before the discovery of coal, natgas, and oil.  How many have thought as they open a longneck of beer that the energy required could have saved a life elsewhere?  Very few.  Economics, by its inherent design, creates an infinite spectrum of elites. My examples of wolfpack vs reindeer is a vast oversimplification of what is actually a worldwide energy competition to determine dominance.

It is better if one visualizes a entire 'humanimal taxonomy'; lions, wolves, bears, eagles, badgers, elk, deer, antelope, sparrows, trout, pigeons, gnats, etc.  Those who have no access to anything detritus-derived; their lifestyle is strictly bio-solar driven could be considered 'Human plants'-- maybe a primitive tribe could be found in New Guinea to fit this humanimal description.

At the other end of the spectrum are the very powerful and rich who essentially are the keystone predators: their natural inclination is to make choices that impact through the entire humanimal foodchain, just as Yellowstone wolves culling elk increases beaver habitat and sapling regrowth along streambanks.

The IMF, WTO, CIA, and other 3-letter orgs is nothing more than the exosomatic extension of humanimal fangs.  Wolves can only grasp what their fangs can reach-- Humanimal fangs can extend worldwide due to detritus-derived exosomatic guns, bombs, propaganda, interest financing, and political streamlining of resource flows.

Bob Shaw in Phx,Az  Are Humans Smarter than Yeast?

The electroplating process must be painful.

Do you use a central ground rod or alligator clips?

Hello JD,

Thxs for responding.  I drive 'old blue', my 1995 4.3 liter v-6 GMC shortbed standard cab pickup with approx. 120,000 miles on it.  I have never had sufficient funds to own a new vehicle.  I am a 'dead ringer' for Osama Bin Laden: 6'5" and 185 lbs, scraggly beard, and even more ugly-- don't try to kidnap me trying to get the $50 million in reward money, my friends jokingly claim first dibs if they ever find me passed out drunk--LOL!  My long legs preclude me from comfortably fitting in many cars, but a pickup allows sufficient room so my knees are not hitting the dash, or my left leg is not pinned between the steering wheel and door.

I did not get my first vehicle until I was nearly 20 years old [nearly 51 now]--  had no problem with my long legs of pedaling over forty miles a day to work and school here in Phx [had a 175 customer paper-route for five years from 11-16].  It would probably kill me now if I had to do that again.

Got my first used pickup [1969 GMC v-6] just in time for the '73 energy crunch a short time later.  Remember waiting hours in a gas-line to fillup my tank.  That night some bastard took a pipewrench to my locking gascap and siphoned out my tank.  No fun driving around a potentially huge Molotov cocktail with a rag stuffed into my gastank fillerneck, a mere couple of feet from my head, until I could get scrape up the cash to get it repaired.

Ever since the 70s energy crunch, I have been a gas-conserving turtledriver--not a rabbit-racer.  In fact, I am so good at hitting intersections in the 'green' that my pickup is still on the original brakes!

I first found out about Peakoil and Dieoff in summer of '03, so I consider myself a relative newbie.  Changed my Life, as I am sure you will all agree.  Fortunately, Phx is an easy place to conserve home energy-- we never turn on the heat, but lightly bundle up.  During the summer, we run a swamp cooler, which uses a fraction of the energy of an air-conditioning unit.  My neighbors think I am nuts when I bring up Peakoil and Dieoff--they burn all the energy they can afford, porch lights burning all night and that sort of thing.

Spend a lot of time emailing govt orgs and influential others energy saving ideas and appeals for them to study Dieoff.com-- never get a reply-- I think they have a preferential agenda to make sure they survive.  Kunstler, among others luminaries, predicts the Southwest to become mostly ghost towns postPeak--I am inclined to agree-- present drought is 120+ days without rain.  I often wonder how Oregon and Washington will handle a thirty million people migration influx when Phx, Tucson, LA, San Diego, and hundreds of smaller cities start heading north.  My guess is a postPeak civil war. Time will tell.  I am the primary caregiver for my ailing mother--cannot leave until she is gone, but I hope she lives forever.

Got a nice 18-speed bicycle set up with baskets all around if a sudden energy crunch hits and I have to pedal-- people call it the Pee-Wee Herman bike, but hopefully it is so funky that no kid will want to steal it postPeak.  It is an oversize frame and the seat is really high [I am tall, remember?]-- most kids will bust their balls on the crossframe trying to steal it.  Pedaling can be done year round in Phx if you really tank up on water during the summer to prevent dehydration.

Bob Shaw in Phx,AZ  Are Humans Smarter than Yeast?