Working my way through a book called "The Great Reset -- how new ways of living and working drive post-crash prosperity" by Richard Florida.

Think I found the book at St. Vincents de Paul (or Vinnies, as the local store calls itself) for a couple bucks. I like this book because it is not complete doom and gloom, it's more about the evolution of society, recognizing trends and changes, and preparing for that transition.

In as much as I like to read it takes me ages to get through a book. The bus ride to work is hardly long enough to pull a book out of my bag to read, at home I'm reading off the internet. My favourite time is to sit in a coffee shop for an hour and read, but just haven't had the time. I have SO many new-to-me books to read, never mind the books I'd like to re-read.

Anyway, I also have a video to share that was posted on "shtfplan" that I thought was brilliant. "The One Hundred Million Dollar Penny"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dl1y-zBAFg

Recently finished "A brief history of: 1917 -- Russia's Year of Revolution" by Roy Bainton. Printed in 2005.

I've not read about the Russian revolution to any great extent and this book is a good primer. Lots of eye witness accounts from very old people. As I read I kept thinking that this is what is in store for us (particularly the Americans) at some in the future as the 99% get fed up with the excesses of the 1%.

Also just this minute finished watching a dvd that I borrowed: "A Crude Awakening -- the oil crash." Made in 2006. I highly recommend this video. Here is the Internet Movie Database page for info:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0776794/

Just finished a really good book that I bought for $2 at the Coles sidewalk sale. It's called Blank Spots on the Map -- the dark geography of the Pentagon's secret world by Trevor Paglen.

From the inside of the dust cover: "This is the adventurous, insightful, and often chilling story of a young geographer's road trip through the underworld of U.S. military and CIA "black ops" sites. It is a world of state secrets: clandestine military bases, ultrasecret black sites, classified factories, hidden laboratories, and top-secret agencies making up what defense and intelligence insiders themselves call the "black world." Run by an amorphous group of government agencies and private companies, this empire's ever-expanding budget dwarfs that of many good-size countries, yet it denies its own existence."

His writing style is easy to read. But the subject matter will make you crazy with anger.

Just finished reading "Rushing to Armageddon" -- The shocking truth about Canada, missile defence, and Star Wars by Mel Hurtig. Printed in 2004.

A must-read for all Canadians in my opinion. You'll break out in a cold sweat.

Okay, doing some research on the recent situation with Canada, the USA, and NMD.

According to this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Missile_Defense_in_Canada
we declined to participate. Whew!
However, there is a running theme throughout the book, people lie.
This issue or something like it will arise again.

This week's reading is the Forgotten skills of cooking by Darina Allen and The River Cottage Meat Book, otherwise, I am re-reading my pig raising book.

http://www.cd3wd.com/cd3wd_40/cd3wd/index.htm

The link contains http://www.cd3wd.com/cd3wd_40/cd3wd/index.htm many gooks and info sources, there are some cute little drawings for kids as well, many recipies and real world info, such as how to care for donkeys and cows, and so much more.
To coin a phrase it is a Motherload of Information, most is Catagorized, I have had the link for sometime, have downloaded and saved some of the info in the past and came across the link in another website again, so thought of passing it along.
Cheers ~ WildE

Re-Read and reading two of my all time favourite books, both Canadian Authors and situations;
The Last Canadian by William C. Heine
Three Against the Wilderness by Eric Collier

The Third book I can not find is the 'Cabin at Singing River' Author Turner
all of them are real accounts of Canadians living in the Wilderness and carving out a living for themselves along with the trials and tribulations of those lives. Inspiration for me.

Just got finished reading One Second After by William r. Forstchen.
The book is based on a small mountain town and the after affects of an EMP.
It really opens your eyes to the many differennt things that would occurr if shtf.
People with diabetes die, ciggarettes become a hot commodity, one women tries to sell herself for simple shelter.
If you can bear with his poor timelines and writing style ( not that mines any better ) the basic premise of the book makes for an interesting read.
I am looking forward to getting ahold of a few books written by James Rawles, if any one has any info on his stuff post it.

How does everyone store their books? I mean for long term.
I've been keeping them in rubbermaid totes but I'm worried that long term they could be damaged by moisture or pests.
Also, I don't like using mothballs unless necessary because the smells gives me headaches.

Cheers

I just published a novel using peak oil and economic collapse as the backdrop. It's available at http://www.amazon.com/Blinding-White-Flash-Richard-Wakefield/dp/1935991353/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1322662258&sr=1-1 I'm in the process of writing a second on the same events. Kinda a what-if-far-fetched possible future. It was fun to write, and I explain quite a bit about peak oil, the effects of peak oil on society. Something fun to read with a serious backdrop.

Hi, Oxfordian:
Excellent question about how to store books! I got looking and came up with this site: http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/explore/conservation-guides/packing-storing-books
Very informative. Among other things, they suggest a moderate, constant temperature, dry and well-ventilated. They don't advise mothballs or insecticides for the very reason you don't use them, the harmful effects on human health.

Hi, JRWakefield:
Looks like a very interesting book. I am interested in the Canadian-American dynamic as I am currently reading Mel Hurtig's The Vanishing Country. They are just one big vampire, sucking us dry and we don't stand a chance. 🙁

People in China have been doing this for thousands of years, and don't forget we consume a great deal of Chinese imports, especially food.
http://humanurehandbook.com/downloads/H2_all.pdf

Just started to read "The Day of St. Anthony's Fire - the suspenseful, true account of a medieval plague in modern times, and of the scientific detective work that traced it to a surprising cause." It's an older book, published in 1968.

This is the true story of a small French village in 1951 that was struck with ergot poisoning, which is a fungus that can grow on rye.

The symptoms are horrendous. Everyone should be aware of what to look for in their rye supply. See photos in link below.

http://www.botany.hawaii.edu/faculty/wong/bot135/lect12.htm

Just discovered a new and interesting wrinkle to this story, could it have been a CIA experiment with LSD?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/7415082/French-bread-spiked-with-LSD-in-CIA-experiment.html

Vanislemom - you must devour books! (I'm impressed)