[Arktwo] Odd bits of news:

[Bruce Beach]

I hear lots of things -
for which I am not sure of their significance -
or even what they mean.

Here are two such things from the last week -

First -
House Congressional Resolution 362
from the Library of Congress site:

	http://tinyurl.com/3vk9zb

This supposedly proposes
what may be considered U.S. acts of war
against Iran.
Just how far along this bill is -
and what it really implies -
you will have to determine for yourself.

Secondly -
two days ago
on June 26, 2008
President Bush signed an Executive Order
stating that the US is in a state
of NATIONAL EMERGENCY.

You can look at that
at the White House site at:

	http://tinyurl.com/5v77wa

Supposedly the 'national emergency'
has to do with the North Korea -
which all the MSM says is going swimmingly.

The concern of some rather paranoid folks
is that whenever the United States
is in a state of NATIONAL EMERGENCY -
that automatically bestows upon the US President -
certain other extensive powers
already established in previous Executive Orders.

About a century and a half ago
there was a "Know-Nothing-Party".
Yep - that's me.
I know nothing about
what they were all about -
and I know nothing about
what these things are about.

I may be more of the
Alfred E. Neuman "No-Worry-Party",
because no matter how the deck chairs are shuffled -
I think it is all going down anyway.

A year ago -
when they had the big gay march in Jerusalem -
I thought God would strike us dead
with a lightening bolt for sure.

Goes to show you that maybe-
	a. the gays are right
	b. God doesn't care
	c. Jonah is right about how forgiving God is
	d. I haven't a clue as to what is going on

Anyway - the gays were out marching in Jerusalem again this week -
with ever greater ease than before -
and we are still here -
until the 28th
(he says with all seriousness).

Some things, however, aren't still here.
BIG plant closings going on.
Mainly in the auto industry around here.
But other things also.

When a big plant closes -
lots of little plants that supplied components to it -
also close.
And when little plants close -
the truck drivers that shuffled things
to the big plants get laid off.
And when the drivers get laid off -
some service stations get closed down.

We have only had one or two in our area -
but with some areas
it is much worse.
I would say more than geographically -
it is sectors of the economy.

Jean and I had to go on an errand
(certainly not to buy anything)
into what is billed as a
Factory Outlet Mall.
Big place.
Had never been in there before.
Dozens and dozens of shops.
(Also lots of papered over places -
that are now empty).

Big empty place.
The proverbial saying that
you could have fired a cannon ball
down the aisles
without hitting anyone.
We were there when I would have thought
it would have been a normally busy time.

Stores open -
but clerks just standing in there
at the service counter -
talking to each other.
Most stores - zero customers.

Got me to thinking -
and I looked up and
put together the following
from some different sources -
so you won't find everything -
or everything the same way in the following link -
but the link does give you a more primary source:

	http://tinyurl.com/2nwb3x

Store closings:

(01) 84 Lumber is closing 12 stores

(02) Ann Taylor is closing 117 stores.

(03) Big Dollar is closing 10 stores after having been around for 21 years -
so even dollar stores are closing.

(04) Bombay Company is closing all 384 U.S. stores.

(05) Cache, the women's retailer, is closing 20 to 23 stores.

(06) CompUSA is closing 128 stores.

(07) Dell is closing 140 stores.

(08) Dillard's is closing under-performing stores

(09) Disney Stores is possibly closing 98 stores.

(10) Eddie Bauer has closed 27 shops and is going to close more.

(11) Ethan Allen Interiors closing 12 stores.

(12) Foot Locker is closing 140 stores

(13) Friedman's Jewellers is closing 120 stores according to one report and
473 stores according to another as it goes through bankruptcy proceedings.

(14) Gap Inc. is closing 85 stores including Old Navy and Banana Republic
stores.

(15) Home Depot is closing 15 stores.

(16) Jasmine Sola is closing 23 stores

(17) J. C. Penney is scaling back

(18) KB Toys is closing 356 stores as part of its bankruptcy

(19) Kirkland's is closing 30 to 130 stores

(20) Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug, and Catherines, members of a consortium, are
closing 150 stores.

(21) Levitz Furniture is closing all 76 stores and going out of business

(22) Lillian Vernon the Internet Marketer is closing down and filing for
bankruptcy - so don't think that area is impervious.

(23) Linens 'n Things is closing 120 stores

(24) Lonestar Steakhouse is closing 27 stores

(25) Lowe's is scaling back.

(26) Macy's is closing 9 stores. They say they plan to open other stores -
but a lot of those closing try to put on an optimistic face for stock and
other reasons.

(27) Movie Gallery is closing 160 stores

(28) Office Depot is scaling back

(29) Pacific Sunwear is closing 154 stores

(30) Pep Boys is closing 33 stores

(31) Pier 1 Imports has closed 79 stores and is closing another 25

(32) Piercing Pagoda is closing 82 stores

(33) Rite Aid is closing 28 stores

(34) Saks is closing 1 store

(35) Sofa Express is closing 44 stores

(36) Sharper Image is filing for bankruptcy and is closing 90 stores.

(37) Sprint Nextel Corp. is closing 125 stores. This will mean 4000 more job
losses on top of the 5,000 last year.

(38) Talbot's & Sigrid Olsen is closing all 78 of its kids and men's stores
plus another 22 of its female stores.

(39) Urban Interiors is closing 2 stores.

(40) Wickes Furniture is closing all 38 stores. They have been around for 37
years. Called the canary in the cave for this recession. They are in
bankruptcy.

(41) Wilsons the Leather Experts is closing 160 stores

(42) Zales is closing 105 stores

That is what I found.
Do you think that I found them all?
Hah!
The Mom and Pop's that didn't make the list -
would outnumber them all by far.

But store closings don't involve
that great a number of people.
Its the big plants that knock a bunch out
in a single area
all at once.

And even more than the big plants -
it is particular industries.
The number of people who have been laid off -
or who have simply ceased making a living -
in the house building -
house marketing -
house financing -
areas are phenomenal.

Airlines,
Cruise Lines,
Trucking Companies,
and many others
are getting similar hits.

I can't really see the overall picture -
and government statistics -
MSM -
nor anyone else -
is really helping me.

Just bits and pieces of news.
Citi is laying off 6,000 people.
Bank of America is going to get rid of 8,000
when it takes over Century.

I even hear of school boards
that are not renewing a lot of teacher's contracts.
Some whole neighborhoods
have gotten foreclosed on
as big factories have closed.
People couldn't sell the homes -
because no new people needed to live there.

Foreclosed properties -
mean no taxes for the school district.
One might think the children still have to go to school -
but like I said -
I don't know how all this works out.

I don't think anyone knows
how it works out.
For the moment -
as things get poorer for the poorer -
they get better for the well off.
Bargains, bargains, bargains everywhere -
if you have the money to buy them.

No one can imagine
money disappearing.
But -
that can happen too.

People talk about the best place
to invest their money.
Buy government bonds?
Buy real estate?
Buy gold?

In the short-term
I don't think anything will work
except following the suggestion of Orlov
and getting yourself associated
with a small sustainable community.

People of course feel trapped -
in their jobs in the cities.
But that may just be the way that it goes.

Those who think that they are
sitting on the top of the world -
in their fancy high-rise condominiums -
may find that it is a very different world
if they power goes off
that runs their elevators.

They live in a sort of topsy turvy world -
opposite of the old saying -
that everything that goes up must come down.
Their world says -
everything must come up.
Water, food, heat -
you name it.
Nope -
I don't think it is going to happen.

Even living on the ground floor
in the suburbs will be a problem.
Jean's Kairos group is going to have
a 'hundred mile dinner' -
where everything has to be grown
within a hundred miles.

Come the reality -
a 'twenty-mile dinner'
will be more like it -
and that may be way overstating
the practical distance.

Jean asked me to tell you about
'carpet planting'.
She thinks that what people will need to do
is to take-up the wall-to-wall carpet
in their living rooms and the rest of the house
and to lay it out on their lawns.
Upside down and cut in strips.
(Hope that it has a jute back -
instead of a rubber back.)

You will have to do this because
there won't be any commercial herbicides
and you need the carpet to keep down the weeds.

Be sure to save all your two-litre
(or quart - or what-ever-you call them)
plastic bottles.

You will need these for drip irrigation.
No telling how far you may have to bring the water -
and you cant' just,
pour / spray / sprinkle it onto the plants.

What you do is cut off the top of the bottle
and put the teeniest tiniest pin hole -
down toward the bottom -
planted facing the plant -
and then fill the bottle with water.

If I hadn't run out of space -
I would tell you about a neat system
that I have developed
for filling the bottles.

I have to throw away all my first bottle experiments.
Still haven't ever gotten a hole small enough.

Peace and love,
Bruce
DawnSayer@webpal.org