Aw, man, I hate this

Boston Zoo is running out of money, may have to euthanize hundreds of animals:

The Franklin Park Zoo, a Boston landmark for nearly a century, may be forced to close and euthanize up to a fifth of the animals in its care due to devastating budget cuts.

Bronx Zoo already announced they are cutting back: "The institution is closing four exhibits and shipping hundreds of creatures to zoos and aquariums around the country..."


Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?

Doom: what's your apocalypse tolerance?

A comedy show, taking a madcap look at what we are facing these days

...McKeag isn't just kidding when he tells us the end of the world is nigh, our days are numbered and that we'd better get ready. But he's also gone a step further by asking how bad things have to get before we individually decide we've got no choice but to pack up and leave. Think stuff like SARS, the Kelowna forest fires, Iraq and Iran, solar flares and their connection to hurricanes and tsunamis, looming pandemics, drug-resistant bugs, terrorism, climate change, impending economic collapse, water shortages,... you name it -- and you begin to get the picture, McKeag says."

Bees dying, bats dropping, oceans gasping, ice melting, jellyfish exploding, food shortaging, hospitals filling, satellites falling, dollar devaluing, people shooting, seeds banking, earth drying...I could go on here. But I think it's obvious...things are bad.

chart caption: "But for systemic intervention and manipulations by the Federal Reserve, it appears we might be contemplating a collapsed U.S. banking system and a looming deflationary great depression that could have dwarfed the bad times of the 1930s." Pardon me, but isn't it a good idea for the Federal Reserve to actually have some cash...on reserve? Living on borrowed money means the economy is living on borrowed time. What's the FDIC response? Post new rules on
"Processing Deposit Accounts in a Bank Failure." Have you stuffed your mattress yet?

And what's with food lately? Hmmm, glad they thought ahead and created the Svalbard Seed Bank, so at least some folks will have food. Later. When there isn't any.

Food prices spiraling upward
Bulgaria faces massive grain shortage
Food shortage in Venezuela
Nepal: Household Food Stocks Down to Half in 38 Districts
Food inflation surges by 18 percent in January
China scrambles to ensure food supplies after snow
Vietnam: Severe cold affects rice crops, cattle in the north
Food is an issue worldwide
And in Haiti...they are eating mud

So what's a happy-go-lucky Georgia gal to do? First, accept Jesus as payment for our sins, the only hope for this life and for eternity. Then, being a pragmatic doomsayer, use the rapidly devaluing dollar to buy real items. Commodities Now! Things that will be useful in the short term and in the mid-term. Things I would likely buy anyway, but would be more expensive later because the dollar will not be worth much: a kerosene lamp or two (with extra wicks,) a new two burner propane Coleman InstaStart stove, thanks to ebay, food in cans, bulk grains, and dried food thanks to the Dollar Store, a sturdy used mountain bike needing no repairs, a pump, and a lock thanks to the local thrift shop, draw water, get the first aid kit ready.

Christians will be saved from the day of wrath but goodness, things are already pretty bad and likely to get worse, and we haven't been raptured yet. Remember how fast society crumbled after Katrina? How cold 46,000 folks got in Grand Junction last night? Or the 80,000 total in Maine? The end times are happening now. So here we go:

Repent! The end is near.

Elders reminiscing at Thanksgiving

We were sitting around the living room after a great Pre-Thanksgiving meal on Wednesday night. Two guests were ladies were in their mid and upper 80s. They were remembering how poor they were here in rural GA in the 1930s. They had one pair of shoes for the year. Around now was the time of year they would get the new pair, in time for the cold weather and Christmas.

The elder of the two told us one of her jobs way back along when she lived in Atlanta during the week (and came home on weekends). She used to work at Sears & Roebuck in Atlanta. People used to get the catalog, pick out their shoes, and trace their feet and send that in with their order. Her job was to match the selected shoe to the tracing and pick out the right size.

The second of the two ladies said that it used to be so cold she remembers Thanksgiving weekend was always the weekend they killed the hog and boiled the lard down and processed the meat...and it was cold enough to keep it frozen in the ice house with no electricity.
(Note: above link is a reminiscence from an unknown man describing his memories in Arkansas).

And Thanksgiving week has been so warm we sleep with the windows open and hear the birdsong all night...it's warmer these days.