tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-130680242012-02-07T23:29:56.728ZJamesnoreply@blogger.comBlogger10261100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-27928336976193300062012-02-07T15:49:00.001Z2012-02-07T15:49:35.886Z

Cut as in don't bother. When you go to the cheapest supermarkets in the country and never buy processed food then there is little point to cutting out coupons. I have talked about coupons in the past but will do so again seeing as the BBC is running a story on "Extreme Couponing", a fad over there (America) and therefore coming here (soon). But probably not. Everything I buy is the cheapest

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-5403864777373505322012-01-31T13:26:00.001Z2012-02-05T23:29:30.373Z

"Service with a Scowl" should be the motto of the US Customs and Border Protection. Any time I went to New York, to work for Reuters, I would be berated by the CBP staff in a manner that reminded me of any Western movie where someone is passing through town and is looked upon as a being from another planet. And now the CBP turns people back because of the content of their Twitter accounts.

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-8761635883931531142012-01-26T13:01:00.002Z2012-01-26T19:47:13.978Z

The not so great and the anything but good are meeting in Davos for their yearly get together. Rudderless and without ideas they bleat their perennial mantra of growth. One simpleton says, "By 2030, 4.8 billion people will be middle-class... And once people are in the middle class, they start to consume and drive economic growth." Notwithstanding my hatred of the word "middle-class", the

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-90799427748769977492012-01-20T12:13:00.001Z2012-01-27T15:21:01.838Z

I've just finished reading When China Rules the World by Martin Jacques. I'm glad I bought a refurbished Kindle reader (£10 discount from Amazon) as it means I read an awful lot more. Having sold off a few hundred books during my period of downsizing and not being surrounded by stacks of books, I found myself reading less. The Kindle has turned that around. Most books are free, you just have

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-34617468523285531572012-01-05T13:10:00.000Z2012-01-06T12:18:56.363Z

I popped into the supermarket this morning, after collecting a few Freecycle items. The supermarket was desperately getting people to spend by playing muzak with a consumption theme. An awful cover version of Depeche Mode's "Just Can't Get Enough" being one unsavoury example. I bought three tins of ASDA tomato soup for 72p and noticed someone else buying the same but of the Heinz variety, for

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-71723657664123245692012-01-03T19:32:00.003Z2012-01-03T19:32:53.856Z

When the shop is not going out of business and they are willing to sell something for a 90% discount. As I've mentioned before, I find it amazing that people are willing to pay for things that cost next to nothing to be made in China, shipped in containers to our shores and then have a couple of zeros added to the price tag. There is no such thing as a free lunch. If a shop can afford to

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-52541653716979916412011-12-31T15:03:00.001Z2012-01-01T21:32:58.386Z

That's another year negotiated, on the cheap. It's been a year of realisations. The main one being that I don't need to live in the middle of nowhere to live the way that I do. In fact, it is easier to live cheaply in an urban environment than it is in the countryside. When I lived in the countryside of County Kerry you had to drive everywhere and pay for an awful of petrol or you didn't drive

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-80090468935598141832011-12-20T22:16:00.003Z2011-12-21T09:18:55.642Z

I took the car out, on a rare journey, to collect some stuff on Freecycle. Driving is not easy when only one in four street lights is on. Such is life in the UK where councils are forced to switch off street lights to make ends meet. I don't ever expect things to get back to "normal". As other parts of the world develop, the west will regress until the west and the rest meet somewhere at a

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-68831617579284905212011-11-30T12:53:00.001Z2011-12-07T12:40:26.287Z

Plenty in the news to make one angry with the world. Particularly the so-called free and democratic west. I must admit, as a boy during the Cold War I was well and truly duped into the term, free and democratic west. You are only free so long as you keep your mouth shut, watch television and buy junk you don't really need. And on with the rant... I suppose the Occupy camps in North America

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-45928094268509560192011-11-18T22:15:00.001Z2011-11-19T12:51:14.865Z

I took all the scrap metals I collected during the year to a local dealer and earned £26. I took that money straight to a supermarket and stocked up with a month's worth of food to supplement what I grew in the garden this year. With copper at over £3000 per tonne, brass at £2200, aluminium at £500 and motors/transformers at £300 there is money to be made from even a modest amount of scrap.

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-15296460485777063492011-11-01T12:24:00.000Z2011-11-01T12:25:25.446Z

Nokia is opening up free Wifi in central London. This is the sort of thing I want to see throughout the country. The Internet is empowering, as we have seen throughout the Arab world this year. Along with food, water, and a roof over your head, the Internet should be a basic necessity for all. Now I won't have to wardrive (warwalk) for free Internet access when I am next in London. The

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-22272522057716226032011-11-01T11:17:00.000Z2011-11-01T11:17:35.466Z

So, the population surpasses 7 billion. Time for celebration. Well, the earth only has a carrying capacity for 1 billion, if we all live to the standard the west enjoys. And, as our "betters" in positions of "leadership" believe that they are going to drag everyone in the world out of poverty, I shan't be celebrating, just preparing for population collapse. The scenes that we saw in our cities

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-69927952063006218952011-10-30T18:54:00.001Z2011-10-30T18:54:53.219Z

It was always my intention to use my recently purchased (on eBay) Nokia E63 as a WiFi phone rather than paying the extortionate fees for using a 3G mobile network when there are plenty of WiFi networks that cost nothing. As soon as my parcel arrived from the eBay seller, I went to Skype website's Symbian download page for Nokia phones. The installation was simple enough. I called Skype's test

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-47922001071795242922011-10-26T10:25:00.001+01:002011-10-26T10:25:34.989+01:00

During the recent looting in London and the rest of the UK, the media kept us "up to date" but above all frightened whilst never doing the same about the bankers, corporations and politicians that loot from us daily. Now, "Occupy" protesters throughout the world are being harried by the media. The media reports on the (anything but) poor church losing £20,000 a day because it had to close for

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-75343976656345396382011-10-25T10:43:00.000+01:002011-10-25T11:20:35.787+01:00

Not a new one. Not one on contract. Not even one that I am going to use as a Pay As You Go phone. I was impressed with the Nokia E63 when it came out, a number of years ago. In particular, the option to use WiFi rather than the latest Pay Through The Nose generation of mobile telephony. I also liked the full qwerty keyboard rather than a greasy touchscreen that will fail to work after a year

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-23780234996832174832011-10-23T15:02:00.000+01:002011-10-23T15:03:24.382+01:00

The Libyan people are free... to watch, as western countries trip over each other in the mad scramble to buy oil with worthless bits of paper and, before the Libyans know what has happened to them, forced to buy weapons and other bits of rubbish they don't need, with the same bits of paper that have devalued in their hands. When I spent time in México, I was told of a saying, "México is so far

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-8261210456374262692011-10-21T18:37:00.000+01:002011-10-23T20:02:10.245+01:00

So, the Occupy London Stock Exchange protesters have, through their actions, closed St Paul's Cathedral. What nonsense! Obviously, a corporate donor to the Church of England has leaned on the church. Of course, the first corporations were created by the church. Huge money making organisations centred around monasteries. Indulgences, relics and control over the people. It's like the French

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-2244723771433608242011-10-19T11:44:00.002+01:002011-10-19T11:46:45.401+01:00

It seems to be an odd question. How on Earth can 1% control 99%? After all, we are supposed to be in a democracy. We are many. They are few. In reality, we do not live in a democracy. We live in a plutocracy where the 1% with real wealth use their wealth to divide and conquer the nation. Admiral Nelson was greeted by a superior force at the Battle of Trafalgar. He divided the Spanish and

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-62436411869424238832011-10-15T12:42:00.000+01:002011-10-21T18:40:47.783+01:00

It's good to see people in cities all over the world demonstrating against the 1%-ers. As expected, the 1%-ers are pretending to be sympathetic whilst turning the screws to get people off the streets. Expect a street sanitation squad near you, followed up by Corporate Security (fka the police) to stop you from returning. This is a movement that I can support, unlike the Something for Nothing

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-33648474935952390142011-10-11T09:02:00.000+01:002011-10-11T09:03:09.144+01:00

The latest Keiser Report touches on some things I have written about in recent weeks. The first half of the show is the usual delve into the news with Stacy Herbert. In the second half, Max interviews Charles Hugh Smith and they discuss who the real looters in society are, ownership of real wealth rather than paper IOUs and the myth of being middle class. Enjoy!

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-34793084106287373192011-10-10T15:02:00.002+01:002011-10-10T16:01:09.913+01:00

How wealthy do you think you are? Do you have lots of the above bank notes stashed away in a bank? Did you take £10,000 worth out of the bank and buy a fancy kitchen for yourself? Does your food taste any better? Money or to be more precise "fiat money" is not wealth. Fiat money is an agreement whereby something, in this case bits of paper, is deemed to represent wealth. But in no way is fiat

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-52978849609345907142011-10-07T09:29:00.000+01:002011-10-10T15:03:14.977+01:00

And what will it achieve for the ordinary person in the street? Nothing! As the Governor of the Bank of England (BoE) Mervyn King says, the BoE will buy back government debt from banks who will then use the money as they please. And that is the problem, the money will be gambled away in the financial casinos (formerly known as stock and derivative markets) or used to pay the fat cats their

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-2848231588546800082011-10-06T18:53:00.000+01:002011-10-06T18:53:09.855+01:00

A simple solution for those who made a casino out of a financial system.

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-23518378587416327072011-09-30T08:30:00.001+01:002011-09-30T08:30:58.061+01:00

The speed limit in the UK is to increase to 80mph. Of course, the show-offs in Audis, Mercs and BMWs already travel at that speed and will probably be doing 90mph and above come the change. I will still be in the slow lane, behind the lorries, doing 55mph. Why? Because the faster you go the more fuel you use per mile. Yes, the lovers of German technological endeavour will get to their

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-69556652131089167262011-09-29T10:52:00.000+01:002011-09-29T22:41:27.397+01:00

I didn't notice that I had surpassed my 1000th post. Thanks to all who read and comment on my rants, interspersed with a sprinkling of eco stuff. Blogger is getting to be quite sophisticated these days. As I was idly flicking through a few features, I noticed a mobile phone template that can be enabled for those reading ecopunk on one of those mobile things. If you are reading this blog on a

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-52941075273300043612011-09-28T14:11:00.000+01:002011-11-01T12:39:44.836Z

because people come and help themselves to your metals. The writing was on the wall for the Aztecs when Cortez appeared outside Tenochtitlan looking to loot all the gold he could get his hands on. Today, it is the same for the west with metals, of all types, being stripped out of the country and sent to our future conquistadores, ie. the Chinese. While you are at it, you can sell off all our

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-79523064495426011022011-09-27T18:34:00.001+01:002011-09-27T18:46:33.318+01:00

and BBC viewers (aka middle class liberal idiots) can't handle it. 'My mistaken view of the world has collapsed around me. BBC, please tell me this was a hoax.' When your current mode of existence is all you have then someone telling you that mode has no future will make you do one of two things. 1) Deny that your current mode of existence has no future and look for excuses to back it up. 2)

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-73446977661092071602011-09-24T12:12:00.000+01:002011-09-25T18:47:27.620+01:00

It's been four years since I started downsizing and I'm still going. First, I started on my books. I had amassed a few thousand books since childhood, through university and into my working life. Most of the books were sold through Amazon. I now find myself with just a few hundred books that I keep for sentimental reasons, that are still of use, or cannot yet be sold or Freecycled. Next, I sold

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-74816956301826682902011-09-23T20:01:00.003+01:002011-09-24T12:15:15.411+01:00

not an ordinary farm. I am not aware of any crops being grown or animal husbandry. Instead, Dale Farm is the name of a plot of land populated by 'travellers'. Also called Romany or Gypsies or just plane Gypos, if you are not keen on them. These travellers consist of extended families, one of which is the McCarthy family. I've actually met some relatives of theirs from Cork. Known for their

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-17930404944684634242011-09-20T13:03:00.000+01:002011-09-20T13:03:38.833+01:00

The first public hydrogen refueling station opened in the UK today. I don't see hydrogen fueled cars queuing up for a refill but maybe that is yet to come. The battle is underway to build the cars of tomorrow. They will be electric but wll they be battery powered or fuel cell powered? That is the reason for today's opening of a hydrogen station in Swindon, close to Honda, which is developing

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-58239456075513394882011-09-15T13:51:00.000+01:002011-09-15T13:51:10.129+01:00

Today's children are marketed to from the moment they are born. They are made to feel inadequate if they do not own top brands. That puts pressure on parents to to buy top brands so their children don't feel inferior at school. In turn the children learn only to want and kick up a fuss if they do not get everything they desire. No wonder youths rioted and stole as many top brands as they could

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-73838584184936417352011-09-12T12:02:00.002+01:002011-09-12T12:02:41.440+01:00

I have been attempting to grow tomatoes for about six years. Onions, potatoes, lettuces and carrots, no problem. Tomatoes I just can't seem to grow with any success. I perform the usual tasks of nipping off suckers, general pruning, promoting pollen transfer with a brush, watering and feeding. Every year, I get one or two ripe tomatoes from the five or six bushes I grow. The rest of the crop

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-16590227166290821952011-09-09T12:32:00.000+01:002011-09-09T12:44:46.210+01:00

I am not keen on politicians. The self-styled middle class. Looters of public wealth. I am not keen on any political party and that includes the Green Party. More middle class hypocritical idiots. However, at least the Green Party's one and only MP has more grasp of the situation when she compares those who '"grabbed what they could from JJB Sports and TK Maxx" to bankers and traders who took "

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-76966857359081968232011-08-19T14:46:00.000+01:002011-08-19T14:46:25.174+01:00

Earlier this year our government praised middle eastern people for using the Internet in its fight against middle-eastern dictators. Whenever possible the dictators would switch off the Internet to stop access, by the people, to websites such as Twitter and Facebook where they could organise themselves. Now, the UK government wants to copy the dictators and switch off access to certain parts of

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-63166347872795669932011-08-18T14:48:00.000+01:002011-08-18T14:48:12.541+01:00

Once again, Max and Stacy are on the money in the latest Keiser Report.

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-41830724965302598772011-08-16T14:52:00.001+01:002011-08-16T15:32:24.977+01:00

That's an average of about £34 a month or just over £1.10p per day. My vegetable garden didn't start producing vegetables until the beginning of June and since then I have been eating a lettuce a day. Onions, potatoes and tomatoes are still growing. The rest of my diet consists mainly of apples, bran flakes, yoghurt, rice, a roast chicken that lasts a week and some baking. My weight has

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-90748064280991902332011-08-16T09:00:00.003+01:002011-08-16T10:33:23.652+01:00

The latest episode of the Keiser Report discusses the looting in England. Correctly, Max and Stacy identify that we live in a two-tier society where bankers are free to loot the economy, corporations are free to loot the environment and politicians are free to loot the people but the rest of us are hunted down. Ignore the BBC propaganda machine laying down daily smoke screens.

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-90906575665077654252011-08-12T22:47:00.000+01:002011-08-12T22:47:03.599+01:00

of the rioting. The shape of things to come. Financial meltdown, increasing population, decreasing resources. Soon enough we will all be rioting for the last loaf in the supermarket and the last litre at the petrol station. 16,000 police still in London. There are only 6000 London police officers so there are now 10,000 police not protecting other parts of the UK. As usual London sucks the life

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-53178110611056099552011-08-08T23:04:00.001+01:002011-08-09T09:12:06.325+01:00

draw nearer, fill your rucksack. I am bemused by the news channels showing confused "middle class" (we aint not working class types are we not) people discussing the "senselessness" of the riots and looting going on across London. One "Confused of Clapham" chappy went into the street to interview a girl. "We're getting our taxes back," she said. Now, I don't expect she actually has a job but

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-43602642209959156562011-08-01T09:10:00.000+01:002011-08-01T09:10:00.462+01:00

I have been showing my parents how to compost the small amount of organic waste they produce. Usually, they throw food scraps in the bin but as it is only collected once every two weeks they have odour and maggot problems. The small amount of grass clippings and weeds they put in their garden waste bin sits around for weeks, also with odour problems. Unbeknownst to my parents they are also

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-30999334425511789272011-07-08T11:20:00.002+01:002011-07-08T14:00:30.374+01:00

I am constantly surprised with my infinite attic (loft, whatever) and the amount of stuff I can bring down from it and sell on eBay or at car boot sales. Last year, I thought I had sold just about everything that I no longer needed and drove off to Spain and later, Ireland, for five months of touring. But no, this year I have found yet more stuff. Old computers, bits of lawnmowers and microwave

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-36976159322648229512011-06-06T10:49:00.000+01:002011-06-06T10:49:46.590+01:00

Netto's acquisition by Asda is probably common knowledge for most people but for those like me, who drop out of circulation for long periods of time, then it is news. I have a Netto and an Asda close by and shop at both. I mostly shop at Asda, which is the cheapest supermarket but occasionally go to Netto if there is the odd cheaper item. Currently, I can get tinned tomatoes (until mine have

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-87663641772097266052011-05-27T12:16:00.000+01:002011-05-27T12:16:07.623+01:00

The engine rebuild is now complete. The paint arrived yesterday. Not only is Northern Ireland trapped in a time 300 years ago but so is its postal service. This is how the engine looked after I prised it off the lawnmower; gummed up, rusty and peeling paint . In all, I spent about £5 on the rebuild. That is considering the fractions of the paints I bought and only using one of the set of new

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-57366055330615452442011-05-25T13:03:00.000+01:002011-05-25T13:03:59.902+01:00

Almost there. It all looks a lot better than it did in the photos below. From left to right we see the parts laid out. The cowling was stripped of its paint, a few dents hammered out, rust removed and metal treated. A rust hole was filled. Finally, two coats of red oxide primer were painted on. I am still waiting for the light green brunswick paint to arrive for the top coat. Only now have I

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-69950683928625275822011-05-10T15:26:00.000+01:002011-05-10T15:26:30.454+01:00

I am very much a dabbler. Getting a bright idea, having a dabble and then putting it on the back burner. One of my dabbles is wood gasification. I have built a wood gas stove and space heater but have only gotten so far with using wood gas as an engine fuel. Of course, not having an engine to power with wood gas isn't going to help me complete the task. Luckily, I saw advertisement for an old

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-41187824771397623442011-03-28T23:43:00.002+01:002011-03-29T00:34:35.534+01:00

I won't write paragraphs, I don't feel like writing blogs these days. I will just quickly type whatever comes to mind... 1) Riots by the "Black Bloc" Black Bloc members are mostly middle class (so-called) Labour Party supporters. They are angry because Labour were booted out of office in the last general election. Angry that the Liberal Party that they supplanted, after World War One, would

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-37421200768246204172011-03-04T22:06:00.000Z2011-03-04T22:06:38.167Z

I received a lot of ignorant comments following my recent post "Off the top of my head...". As usual middleclass buffoons prefer to read whatever they want into what I write and not what I actually mean. Putting my post more simply... What is the point of demanding freedom if the first thing you do is leave the country rather than staying to build a better country. What if British people left

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-75697746536445378162011-02-20T16:06:00.000Z2011-02-20T16:06:11.101Z

I am busily ripping my CD collection to hard drives. After that is done, I can sell my CDs to a company called Music Magpie. I am sure there are other companies in the UK and beyond that will buy your collection. If any readers have alternatives then post them as comments and I will build up a list to publish. Of course, quality matters so don't expect to be paid much for that awful racket young

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-67175907124586077782011-02-18T16:56:00.002Z2011-02-18T21:48:15.744Z

I went on a rare visit to the local rubbish tip to dump some old computer cases that I have no use for. A rare visit because I recycle a lot and don't produce much waste. All the components were stripped out of the computer cases and were used to build other machines for friends or used in other electronics projects. Whilst at the tip I had a look in the shop where the workers at the tip sell on

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-80312570482369103862011-02-16T11:54:00.000Z2011-02-16T11:54:58.740Z

Today, the Governor of the Bank of England says that inflation will get a lot worse before falling back to just being bad. Will the governor increase the interest rate to help savers? No. The intention being to drain every last penny from the population to support the bankers through high prices and low deposit interest rates. First, the government robbed us to prop up the banks. The people are

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-4773429579249789002011-02-15T15:38:00.000Z2011-02-15T15:38:26.830Z

(or maybe just "off my head") I sometimes wonder if democracy is all that great. After all, we ousted Saddam Hussein and lost count of the number of Iraqis who moved over here. Now, Tunisia and Egypt have their revolutions and immediately boat loads land in Italy. I think we should all fly to Africa for a holiday and claim asylum the moment we get there. Of course, we would all be chucked out

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-57124421196165261472011-02-03T19:06:00.000Z2011-02-03T19:06:12.848Z

Glad to see that at least the UN agrees that human population growth is out of control and something must be done about it. However, governments won't do anything about it because growth is good and we need an infinite population to buy an infinite number of rubbish in an infinite number of shops with our infinitely worthless Pounds, Dollars and Euros. BBC - UN 'concerned' by world population

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-26300502941702240542011-02-03T10:43:00.001Z2011-02-03T11:22:14.812Z

1) Why do people go into politics? To get into a position of power and influence so they can make the world comfortable for them. 2) What is comfort? For many people comfort = money 3) Why do people vote in elections? To vote for a political party that they feel will make them comfortable. 4) Why do people want to feel comfortable? For many people comfort = money 5) Why do people cling to

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-82257644150167264312011-02-02T12:22:00.003Z2011-02-02T13:33:33.802Z

Yes, common sense has won. Mubarak's corporate dictatorship has realised the game is up. There are better ways of keeping the money men happy. Just look at the United States. Every four years, there is a sham election, in which the money men hand-pick zombies in suits for the Republicans and Democrats. They make the population of the US believe they are making a democratic change but no real

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-91159126883047627702011-01-29T14:34:00.000Z2011-01-29T14:34:18.164Z

Every year the skiing resort of Davos attracts people with no interest in skiing. These people are the rich and powerful élites who come to worship at the temple of Mammon. Davos is where dinosaurs go for one last roar. All the suits talk about is growth. But we are on a finite planet with finite resources so the talk of growth has to end sometime. Maybe that time has already come. This year's

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-9641890426267829902011-01-24T11:55:00.002Z2011-01-25T14:23:34.341Z

I had a few items to hand back to a friend and so into the lion's den I went. How was I to get to London cheaply? My car was too expensive an idea. Fuel costs are at a record high and then there would have a charge to park the car. Maybe as much as £50 for fuel and parking. Taking the train was the only option. Instead of going to the station and buying a ticket for the next train to arrive, I

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-11228836702438141582011-01-19T12:56:00.000Z2011-01-19T12:56:22.068Z

Having lived in parts of southern Europe I can see why those countries in the south are failing to keep their economies afloat. They don't do second hand. You see Spaniards, Italians, Greeks going for a stroll on Sunday dressed in newly bought clothes so as to show off the wealth they never earned. Towing along squealing children who expect a new toy every five minutes. Always "Spend! Spend!

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-6653993023075267572011-01-08T16:15:00.001Z2011-01-08T16:21:30.815Z

(but you will have to do a little work in return) Ever wanted to live "The Good Life" but are not sure if it is for you? You can give it a try by being a volunteer worker on small-holdings throughout the world. WWOOF (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms) Many organic farms are small, family run and calling out for help. They can't pay you a wage but can offer you free food,

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-50933914048292574572010-12-17T14:17:00.001Z2011-01-09T00:11:04.321Z

I apologise to my American readers who, in the face of external criticism, always jump to the United States' defence. However, face facts, the US is now a corporate fascist state. Don't get me wrong, so too is the European Union. Recent weeks have seen WikiLeaks publish US diplomatic cables and student protesters in London battling with the police. Too little and too late. Agents of the United

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-65528329018268828642010-12-09T19:36:00.000Z2010-12-09T19:36:07.657Z

No matter how much governments and businesses try to corral the Internet for their own uses, the people find ways of fighting back. The evil triumvirate of politicians, bankers and corporations try to control us but the public find new ways of resisting. The bankers try to whittle away at our wealth but through the Internet people like Max Keiser spur people on to put their spare wealth into

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-66486678724741919692010-12-07T23:22:00.000Z2010-12-07T23:22:32.992Z

If anything, the US government's reaction to WikiLeaks activities just confirms what I thought the moment Barack Obama was elected president. Mr Obama is just another corporate suit, employed by corporations and bankers to continue US dominance over the rest of the world. The US government is carrying out denial of service attacks upon WikiLeaks servers, putting pressure on any company that does

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-22327892931542225072010-12-01T11:39:00.000Z2010-12-01T11:39:36.833Z

All savers of Euros should convert to silver or gold. Why? The Euro WILL fail, one way or another. Countries (like Ireland and Greece) will jump first or the whole lot will go. Now, imagine you are told that your Euros will be converted to another currency sometime in the near future. There will be a flight from those Euros to some other reserve (be it dollars, sterling or bullion) thus

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-51109792257621922232010-08-22T12:17:00.000+01:002010-08-22T12:17:18.599+01:00

and has the possibility of buying a 50 acre farm. No easy Internet access other than the occasional war drive to the nearest village. Will probably write and post pictures after returning to the UK for the winter and to collect tools.

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-59099022747081129642010-07-29T13:15:00.002+01:002010-08-01T15:56:03.932+01:00

As I am about to go back on the road, have no intention of paying for accommodation, and camping in a rain soaked tent is not to my liking, I thought I would put a bed in my car. The front passenger seat was easily removed by loosening four bolts. The bed frame was made from redwood and the surface from 9mm plywood. The bed is wide enough for me to put a self-inflating mattress on top of and

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-73558241987970692362010-07-23T14:09:00.000+01:002010-07-23T14:09:00.537+01:00

Brother, the printer maker, has made a battery that gathers energy from vibrations. The Vibrating Energy Cell is energised merely by shaking the cell, which makes a magnet pass repeatedly through a coil to generate a current. The Vibrating Energy Cell can be left inside the device it is powering (a TV remote, for example) and energised by shaking the device. The current is stored within the

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-70086943157287147002010-07-15T21:07:00.000+01:002010-07-15T21:07:32.876+01:00

If you really want to know what is going on in the economy. If you know that your government tells lies and prints lies in the form of fiat money then Max Keiser will put you right. The half hour show can be seen on RT (Russia Today, as was), which is broadcast terrestrially in the UK on Freeview or can be seen in most of western Europe on FreeSat (Astra 28.2°E). The show can also be seen

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-9653812017085051732010-07-13T13:24:00.001+01:002010-07-14T11:37:44.823+01:00

If you, like I, have gigabytes (if not terabytes) of video files then you are probably worried about the need for backing up those files. A simple web search tells me that 10 writeable DVDs holding a total of 43GB of data will cost me £10. That works out at £238 to store 1 TB of data on DVDs. However, a 1TB external hard disk can be picked up for about £60. This begs the question, "Why bother

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-27074952269455682802010-07-02T15:49:00.001+01:002010-07-02T17:07:14.323+01:00

Recently, I ran an advert for an organisation protesting oil company BP's activities in the Gulf of Mexico, following the recent oil rig explosion. I deplore corporations that will do anything for money regardless of the harm it does to people and the environment. However, I had a feeling in the back of my mind that if the oil company in question was American rather than British owned then maybe

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-71399781991213382482010-06-16T15:48:00.008+01:002010-12-30T10:38:23.154Z

Necessity is the mother of invention so I've been a busy bee. With no Internet of my own, I have to sniff out spare bandwidth on the passing ether. I built a cantenna a few months ago. While it did give me a good directional wifi antenna the improvement in signal strength was not always that good. During my daily Internet research for a better and/or cheaper life I happened upon the bi-quad

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-74269734146382281772010-06-03T20:18:00.002+01:002010-06-03T20:24:16.967+01:00

After bland, brown central Spain, Asturias has perked me up. It is Kerry, only ten times bigger, if not more. Farmland sandwiched between mountains and coastline. I visited many farms for sale. There are plenty to chose from. Each one takes you back in time. Even though many houses are now used as weekender retreats for people living in the cities, most of the dwellings are still used for their

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-67765711680140630622010-05-17T20:03:00.002+01:002010-05-17T20:19:44.777+01:00

The biggest environmental news story of recent weeks has been the BP Deepwater Horizon oil rig disaster. Not only did 11 people die on April 20th from the explosion but an estimated 70,000 barrels of oil per day are leaking into the sea and threatening ecosystems in the Gulf and its coastline. Spill the Truth is campaigning for a halt to drilling from the BP Atlantis rig until it is proven to be

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-81970000489275436002010-05-17T20:02:00.002+01:002010-05-20T21:22:11.620+01:00

Why do so many people have consumerism engrained so deeply inside them? Industrialisation and mass-marketing have only been around for 150 or so years. And yet, in this short period of human history far too many people have become used to saying, "I want that yesterday!" and reach into their pocket for the money to buy it. Instant gratification minus any rational thought. I like to keep an eye

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-31648211665639857622010-05-17T19:01:00.000+01:002010-05-20T21:24:44.137+01:00

We all know about peak oil. That oil is a finite source (unless you are an abiotic oil believing whacko) and that we have either passed or are about to pass the peak production of economically attainable oil. Well, the earth is only so big so all of mother nature's bounty is going to be finite. The rare earth metal neodymium is used in the manufacture of powerful magnets, used to make electric

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-35790512629656905302010-05-17T18:49:00.004+01:002010-05-17T18:53:51.708+01:00

A fascinating video of a wind powered knitting machine, right in the centre of London, churning out woollen scarves. Makes you wonder what other things could be produced with wind power in our urban areas. Not to mention electricity, of course. Cities need to be more self-reliant like this and not drag in resources from outside all the time. Maybe a few sheep on the roof tops, supplying the

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-84884995293086591602010-05-16T15:56:00.000+01:002010-05-16T15:56:10.161+01:00

My usual curry sauce recipe is a little on the hot side, to say the least. People I cook for are often a little over powered by its taste or the lack thereof. I have a cupboard full of spices and with a bit of experimentation I came up with this basic curry sauce, which can be eaten as is or made hotter with chile powder and garam masala. Ingredients Chopped onion 1/2 tsp each of cumin,

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-66016747911092709832010-05-15T20:41:00.015+01:002010-05-16T12:46:01.006+01:00

Whilst living in Ireland I knew a retired couple who visited the supermarket once a week. I never once saw them inside the supermarket, they were always at the back, rummaging around the bins. Food they found that was past it's best before date was given to their animals. Anything that was only past the sell by date, they would consume themselves. Dumpster diving is all about looking for free

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-70029977290348014262010-05-14T12:07:00.006+01:002010-05-17T20:40:14.531+01:00

You may now be recharging your gadget's battery cells with a simple solar charger but want to step up and power larger devices. A good way to start a larger system is take one room in your house off-grid. Maybe you have a home office with a computer, a lamp and a few other things. Taking this room off-grid will give you an insight as to what you will need to take your whole house off-grid. In

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-16796634017465599522010-05-13T09:37:00.008+01:002010-05-14T14:06:35.503+01:00

The easiest way to start going off-grid is by taking your battery powered gadgets off-grid (those that you really need and haven't already downsized into oblivion!). By charging batteries with the sun you will reduce the need for grid electricity to run battery chargers. You will then get an appreciation of the power available from the sun and also any limitations with solar charging. In A

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-21535469334213912152010-05-12T09:02:00.013+01:002010-05-13T13:12:53.232+01:00

The process of taking your home off-grid is never easy. Reasons for going off-grid include; not having a grid-supply in the first place, using so little electricity that you pay more in standing charges than for the units of electricity used or wanting electricity to be from an ethical source.Most of us in the western world take electricity for granted and have electrical gadgets for almost

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-74712980566808809702010-05-12T09:01:00.009+01:002010-05-14T14:04:59.377+01:00

To downsize your electricity usage you need to be able to pinpoint where you are wasting electricity and for that, you will need a power meter to determine your daily usage. Plug the meter into the wall and then plug whichever device you want to measure power usage for, into the meter. The meter will give you an appreciation of how much power you are using. Soon enough, you will be turning

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-57753493608167587142010-05-11T11:34:00.003+01:002010-05-11T14:10:16.815+01:00

I have often said that I'm against eating too much processed food. For a start, the processing adds to the cost of manufacture. The marketing too. Finally, and most importantly, the preservatives, colourants and fillers are doing you no good at all. For emergencies, a tin of something can help out. However, packets and tins have to be paid for in addition to the chemical cocktail inside. A good

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-42620602143105642462010-05-10T07:41:00.008+01:002010-05-12T23:35:49.925+01:00

No, I haven't gone barking mad. WWOOFing is a way of travelling the world, meeting new people and doing a little organic growing. In return, you get free accommodation and food.Whilst living in Ireland, we met many WWOOFers. WWOOF stands for World-Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (also known as Willing Workers On Organic Farms).The WWOOFing organisation has a website advertising opportunities

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-77033028916319154522010-05-08T16:12:00.010+01:002010-05-09T17:36:21.241+01:00

Magic words that we all like to hear. Especially during the current situation with financial cut backs. We have to do what we can to save a few pennies. You might notice a new link on the link bar above. Clicking the "free stuff" link will take you to our list of freebies you can find on the Internet.The page is by no means complete as we are still sorting through our bookmarks. Please check the

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-28255190200322893402010-05-06T16:33:00.009+01:002010-05-07T18:30:38.596+01:00

There is nothing I like more than a glass of orange juice. For breakfast, lunch or any other time when I'm eating.However, orange juice gets more expensive by the year. A crop failure can reduce supplies and send prices rocketing.When I was a child I would often drink orange squash, a cocktail of chemicals with a bit of orange in there, somewhere. You added some water to the squash and there was

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-63179302594489571062010-05-06T15:31:00.004+01:002010-05-10T07:57:11.989+01:00

Having emigrated to Spain, communicating cheaply is a must. If you are not in the same country as the person you wish to communicate with then contacting that person can be very expensive. I need to contact people in the UK, Ireland and Spain and so some ecopunkery is required.Gone are the days when we were limited to long distance communication via letters and telephone lines. As with many

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-21424581299246248882010-05-05T14:30:00.002+01:002010-05-08T22:07:17.820+01:00

"There is no such thing as a free lunch." And that is true when it comes to coupons.How generous of those supermarkets to give us free stuff. Yes, if it were true. If like the ecopunk your aim is to pare spending to the minimum then coupons would appear to be ideal. You buy whatever is mentioned on the coupon for the discount being offered. What could be simpler?But why don't supermarkets just

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-18100704789167410142010-05-04T14:00:00.003+01:002010-05-10T08:03:34.618+01:00

My car (pictured) is not the most energy efficient although I made alterations to give it an extra 7 mpg. The car is a 1997 4x4 jeep, there are four seats, the rear ones fold down and leave a nice big carrying space. It's not a monster, it only has a 1.1 litre engine.We are told to cash in our old cars for newer "greener" cars. We are given financial incentives to do so but what is the real

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-73153153227953756682010-05-04T08:57:00.005+01:002010-05-10T08:03:53.254+01:00

When I lived in London the thing that really got me down was the lack of greenery. Whenever I left London by train or plane, my face was pressed up against the window soaking in the green view. Instantly, I felt reinvigorated.A study in the Environmental Science and Technology journal shows improvements in mood and self-esteem when activities are performed in the countryside and/or on water.And

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-35707900872091039142010-05-03T12:24:00.002+01:002010-05-10T08:04:27.409+01:00

No, I don't mean nipping down to your local McDonalds for a burger. I refer to the sourcing of raw ingredients from as close to your home as possible (if not already growing them yourself) and preparing meals for yourself.Producing your own meals is far cheaper than eating out. When the credit crunch began, the oddest thing I heard reported was that people would eat takeaway food more often as it

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-20723576457922007812010-05-02T12:33:00.009+01:002010-05-12T23:48:36.697+01:00

It's that time of year, when the sun is out and summer is approaching, that ecopunk switches from baking chocolate muffins to scones.Ingredients8 oz of flour (plus extra flour for kneading)2 tsp of baking powder (not needed if using self-raising flour)pinch of salt1 oz sugar2 oz of butter5 fl oz milkProcessPut flour, baking powder (if using it) and salt into a bowl and mix with a fork.Cut butter

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-24399922654526955992010-05-01T11:53:00.015+01:002010-05-11T16:31:30.137+01:00

A day doesn't pass when an ecopunk isn't trying to save a little money here or there. Today's task is to repair a set of diy headphones.During ecopunk's days of consumption, headphones were regularly bought, seen to fall apart and new pairs bought as replacements.Not any more. An old pair of ear defenders, speakers from an old walkman headset, some wire, a 3.5mm stereo jack, the use of a

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-7230099448070889192010-05-01T01:12:00.005+01:002010-05-10T08:04:48.355+01:00

To be honest, this recipe is not that different from my chicken curry recipe. Just choose whichever five vegetables you have available, anything that isn't leafy.In the example above, I am using half an onion, three tomatoes, two carrots, a sweet pepper and handful of green beans.Chop and fry the onions and chuck in some sliced sweet pepper. When the onion goes transparent, in with chopped

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-25576996148535636212010-04-30T12:16:00.005+01:002010-04-30T12:45:51.472+01:00

It is always easy to do something in a particular way because that is the way you have always seen it done. You don't want to feel left out or not part of the crowd. If that is the way others do it then that is the way it should be done.As a child, whenever I saw my mother washing clothes, she always added fabric softener. When I left home to study at university, I had to wash my own clothes. I

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-3895771521876187502010-04-28T16:43:00.014+01:002010-04-29T14:06:06.874+01:00

The Saturn H2O, boating lake, dim sum island and grass clinging to sprinkler life support system (note idle cranes, top left)Well, Spain certainly knows how to turn the heat up. A little over a week ago, I was shivering on the outskirts of rain soaked Madrid. The rain stopped and a day later, the temperature soared into the high twenties centigrade with not a drop of rain since.In the UK, you can

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-23586019182093987442010-04-26T11:18:00.009+01:002010-04-26T22:21:27.554+01:00

The title of this post was a question put to me, today. I thought about it and came up with the following, if somewhat vulgar, reasoning...If I fart in a small room then you are going to know about it soon enough.If I fart in say a theatre or concert hall then a few people in my locale might get to know of it but I could hide the fact from most of the people in the hall.However, if everyone in

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-12833597457768194102010-04-24T21:44:00.013+01:002010-05-13T14:41:00.326+01:00

Here is a video of some cider we racked for both sparkling and still cider.Turbo cider is usually fermented in a week from supermarket apple juice, which accounts for its name. However, the process is little different from making cider with apples that you have pressed yourself.After a week the cider can be drunk as a still cider or it can be racked into bottles with a little yeast and sugar to

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-18663617015790734962010-04-22T21:22:00.009+01:002011-10-18T09:20:49.721+01:00

The new ecopunk site is now pretty much as planned. There are a few teething problems with Twitterfeed not updating Twitter but I have support working on that. For Facebook users there are fan and group pages for fellow ecopunkers. To keep up to date on what the ecopunk is up to log on to Twitter and Facebook. Currently, I am going through all 900+ posts and organising their labels so they are

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-71703759144909235812010-04-21T19:10:00.016+01:002010-05-10T08:35:56.381+01:00

Spain is not just sea and sun. Indeed, it has been raining pretty much everyday since ecopunk set up temporary headquarters outside Madrid.Spain is a region of micro-climates, which permits Spain to grow a wide range of foodstuffs and allows for a healthy, locally sourced diet.The distinct climatic areas of Spain can be classified thus,Continental Mediterranean, inland areas of the peninsula,

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-82612937630411971662010-04-20T09:11:00.005+01:002010-05-10T08:36:23.121+01:00

The UK is to have a general election on May 6th. The top two policies on everyone's mind are the economy and immigration. In other words, everyone is worried about money and who is entering the country to take it off them.The environment is the least of everyone's worries, at present. Of course, it is impossible for any government to have a credible policy on the environment if its main election

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13068024.post-8137723810700821592010-04-16T19:57:00.005+01:002010-05-01T22:10:54.495+01:00

You may have noticed a change to the blog. I have been sitting on ecopunk for two years and have only just gotten round to using it. In time, the look of the blog will change but for now I have just put a new banner up.The name represents my attitude to the eco movement. I am not liberal, middleclass, socialist or anything else come to think of it. Simply, I am green because it allows me to live

Jamesnoreply@blogger.com4