A Small Fan

A small fan in my solar electric system died.  It kept a major part of the system from overheating and is necessary for continuous operation.  To manufacture that small fan a massive industrial infrastructure is necessary to provide the components.

The fan motor is wound with copper wire that comes from newly mined copper because of the need for purity.  “Wire supply is produced predominantly from newly refined copper .  .  .”

http://recycling.about.com/od/Recycling/a/Facts-About-Copper-Recycling.htm

k Joseph, Günter, 1999, “Copper: Its Trade, Manufacture, Use, and Environmental Status”, edited by Kundig, Konrad J.A., ASM International Vol. 2.03, Electrical Conductors

Copper mining is done in huge pits using massive machines.  The refining of the ore is a series of processes, chemicals and along with the mining, intensive energy use.  You can see a DVD of this process on “Modern Marvels: Copper”.  You can also see a diagram and pictures of the equipment and process at:

http://www.mine-engineer.com/mining/copperm.htm

A fascinating recent documentary on PBS – “Raw to Ready” - showed the development of the massive Komatsu 930-E: 

“to extract precious metals found beneath the earth requires a massive 232-ton, two-story-tall dump truck with a load capacity of 320 tons — a giant earth-mover like the Komatsu 930E. This amazing engineering achievement is made possible by five essential raw ingredients: coal, chromium, mineral oil, latex rubber and sulphuric acid, an electron superhighway that generates massive power.”

http://video.pbs.org/video/2365097595/

http://www.wgte.org/wgte/item.asp?item_id=15847

The manufacture of my solar electric system, in its use of copper, is tied into an international infrastructure of machines, equipment and energy. Aluminum, rare metals, coal, plastics, glass, rubber, multiple chemicals and many other material components are also a necessary additional part of this global material complex. 

Furthermore, it is dependent on this far ranging system for replacement parts.

Where are the motors in your world? – water pump, air conditioner, windshield wiper, and on and on and on.

Being aware of where things come from and what is involved in obtaining them is a major step in being responsible.  

There are many who will in private admit we are trashing the earth. 

Mindlessly!

Copper Mining Info

http://www.mine-engineer.com/mining/copperm.htm

The above flowsheet shows a basic copper mine process, from mine to metal. There are two distinct types of copper ore, the sulfide ore and the oxide ore. The sulfide ores are beneficiated in flotation cells, while the oxide ores are generally leached. First the copper ore from a open pit mine is blasted, loaded and transported to the primary crushers. Then the ore is crushed and screened, with the fine sulfide ore (~-0.5 mm) going to froth flotation cells for recovery of copper. The coarser ore goes to the heap leach, where the copper is subjected to a dilute sulfuric acid solution to dissolve the copper. Then the leach solution containing the dissolved copper is subjected to a process called solvent extraction (SX). The SX process concentrates and purifies the copper leach solution so the copper can be recovered at a high electrical current efficiency by the electrowinning cells. It does this by adding a chemical reagent to the SX tanks which selectively binds with and extracts the copper, is easily separated from the copper (stripped), recovering as much of the reagent as possible for re-use. The concentrated copper solution is dissolved in sulfuric acid and sent to the electrolytic cells for recovery as copper plates (cathodes). From the copper cathodes, it is manufactured into wire, appliances, etc. that are used in every day life. Below are some photos of the process:

The primary crusher at a copper mine. The truck dumps ore into the crusher which crushes the ore. Screens size and distribute the classified ore to a series of conveyors, like those above, for transportation to the mill for further processing.

Conveyors and trucks deposit coarse ore on a heap leach pad, which has a series of pipes and hoses dispensing a diluted sulfuric acid solution to the ore. Copper is dissolved and flows to a pond at the bottom of the pad. This process can take several months. The leached solution is pumped to the SX (Solvent Extraction) circuit, which looks like a series of agitation tanks or cells. The fine sulfide ore is sent to froth flotation cells like those below for recovery.

The concentrates from the flotation cells are sent to the smelter for processing to a copper plate. The copper plate is then dissolved in sulfuric acid and sent to the electrowinning cells for plating onto cathodes, along with the concentrated copper from the SX circuits. The copper leach solution typically consists of 40 gm of copper and 200 gm sulfuric acid per liter. Current densities on the electrowinning cells can be 300 amperes per square foot, or more.

Banks of electrowinning cells with cathodes. Copper on the annodes ranges from 99.0 to 99.5 percent pure. Power consumed in electroplating copper ranges from 0.08 to 0.20 KWH per pound of copper. Any gold or silver in the copper does not plate out and drops to the bottom of the cell with the sludge to be recovered later.

Machine transporting and handling the copper cathodes that were removed from the electrowinning cells. That's it, the rest is manufacturing products from the pure copper!

Our Potatoes

We grew 800 pounds of potatoes this year (2013).  They are specialty potatoes - adirondack blues, adirondack reds, all blue, fingerlings and a couple other types.  Here is a picture of half of them curing on the floor of our new building.

Here is our logo.  In Northern Minnesota there are many rocks, bigggg rocks and they are always slowly coming to the surface.  The red containers we got for free and adapted them to hold our potatoes.  They are about a bushel.   The plastic buckets we get from a local bakery.

This is the sign we have hanging from our mailbox.

 When we built the root cellar, we screwed the roof down with torque screws.  This august we took the roof off, went up a level and put it back on.  There are 6 inches of insulation in the walls and 12 inches in the ceiling.  Right now we are using it as a work house but other possibilities exist.  Below we still have a root cellar wall off so that will also be a basement below.  This last year our potatoes lasted before setting eyes until the first of July in the root cellar.  Even then they remained firm and edible.   Below is the before and after of the building.

Just Wait! Who's predicting now?

This is well done.

Just Wait! Who's predicting now?

http://peakoil.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=68250

Postby Pops » Wed 22 May 2013, 18:21:08

It dawns on me that Peakers are no longer the one's saying "Just wait!"

Once upon a time the idea of peak oil was all speculation. Around here it was a crystal ball prediction with a bunch of charts put together to show that some time in the future the easily extracted oil would become scarce and the world would need to turn to harder and more expensive sources. Then, went the prediction, production would not only stop increasing no matter how high the price but would eventually begin to fall. "Just wait" cried the Peak Oilers.

But those who believe desire creates resources said peak oil prediction was as old as oil production itself and that the day oil production can no longer grow would never come. Just look at the facts they said, production always increases, prices always fall, newer, easier oil is always found. PO Doom is just "fate" and Peakers have no faith that humans can cheat the inevitable, like the old saw: "The Stone Age didn't end for lack of stones."

But now, that whole situation has been turned on it's head. Now the basic events predicted by Peakers; stalled global production growth, even in the face of high prices, is the reality and no longer in the realm of speculation or "fear mongering". Now it's the cornucopians forced to say a return to the good old days of oil abundance is just around the corner; "Just Wait!" say the frackers.

The old argument against peak oil was, "Look, oil production is increasing". Now production of actual oil has been treading water for going on 8 years even at the highest average prices since oil production began. The only way to continue the illusion of increasing production has been to change the definition of oil to include stuff never counted as oil previously and even to quit calling it oil altogether. Now the stock line is "Look, All Liquids are increasing!" I guess the new saw will be the Oil Age didn't end for lack of oil, it was replaced with "Liquids".

But back out all the things counted in All Liquids that aren't oil and the reason to stop calling them "oil" becomes clear. Counting biofuels as oil for example double counts the oil used to make them, once when oil is produced and then again when the biofuels are produced using oil.

Then there is Refinery Gain, which aren't really gains at all in energy terms, the are simply volume increases that happen as oil is split into various finished products, it isn't an increase of energy and in fact it also ignores the energy used to split oil into finished product.

The biggest non-oil counted in All Liquids is "natural gas plant liquids" which counts things that never were counted as oil until true oil production ceased growing. They were never a part of the crude oil stream to begin with and for the most part never go into the crude oil stream now. And in any event, they contain significantly less energy than oil by volume so counting them as oil equivalent on a volume basis is like counting the buzz in Budweiser as equivalent to Wild Turkey on a volume basis.

So now that peak oil is all but in the history books (except for some shale bound oil that was not profitable until the plateau) we are in the funny situation that it's no longer Peak Oil that is the unbelievable forecast but the idea that somehow all the overcooked, undercooked, deep, arctic, extra heavy, tight, etc, etc, will be able to provide not only the same flow rate and net energy to replace the old continuous pressurized reservoirs but that they will continue growing forever more! The funnier part is that even after 7 or 8 years 80% of all tight oil in the world comes from just 2 fields and the CEO of one of the biggest frackers said the growth rate has already peaked.

But we see press releases, OilCo financed papers from prestigious institutions and ad campaigns all touting the new oil that is going to make America the next Saudi Arabia (if we can manage to cut our use in half). People here post every imaginable excuse and convoluted bit of logic trying to convince someone that they shouldn't believe their lying eyes, that the economy is in great shape, that oil prices are (variously) not that high or not a record or not a problem for consumers or if they are high it's because of [insert whatever non-supply-related excuse] and that the oil is (variously) perfectly matched to demand, no longer required to operate the economy, and above all that tight oil production is set to explode, any minute now.

"Just Wait!" they holler, frantically attaching wheels to the goalposts, "The good old days will be right back!"

ET TU BRUTE

A couple of months ago I ended up in a conversation about conspiracies.  Some of what I heard seemed possible, some unadulterated BS.  So I went a lookin’.  I fell into a morass ranging from true conspiracies to suspicious behaviors to utter nonsense and silliness.  Distinctions between it all were not always clear because they often mixed together.

“A conspiracy theory explains an important social, political, or economic event as being caused or covered up by a covert group or organization.”

“The political scientist Michael Barkun discussing the usage of this term in contemporary American culture holds that a conspiracy theory is a belief which explains an event as the result of a secret plot by exceptionally powerful and cunning conspirators to achieve a malevolent end.[8][9] According to Barkun, the appeal of conspiracism is threefold: First, conspiracy theories claim to explain what institutional analysis cannot. They appear to make sense out of a world that is otherwise confusing. Second, they do so in an appealingly simple way, by dividing the world sharply between the forces of light, and the forces of darkness. They trace all evil back to a single source, the conspirators and their agents. Third, conspiracy theories are often presented as special, secret knowledge unknown or unappreciated by others. For conspiracy theorists, the masses are a brainwashed herd, while the conspiracy theorists in the know can congratulate themselves on penetrating the plotters' deceptions.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conspiracy_theory

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“In colloquial language, ‘conspiracy theory’ is not a neutral label used merely to describe a certain type of explanation.  It is an evaluative term with significant pejorative connotations.  .  .  . it is a way of branding an explanation untrue or insinuating that it is based on insufficient evidence, superstition or prejudice.

.  .  . positioning an explanation as a ‘conspiracy theory’ serves to legitimize the competing one as rational, reasonable and evidence-based.” Byford, Jovan.  2011.  Conspiracy Theories: A Critical Introduction.  Palgrave Macmillan. N.Y. Pg 21.

“.  .  . Furthermore, conspiracy theorizing is perceived not just as crazy, paranoid or absurd but also as politically suspect and antithetical to ‘proper’ democratic politics.   It is believed to be the sanctuary for kooks and extremists and therefore beyond the limits of respectable enquiry and legitimate political dissent.

Conspiracy theory operates as a resource for delegitimation not only at the individual level  .  .  .  Whole societies, communities or religions can be presented as ‘paranoid’ or as subscribing to absurd or politically discredited beliefs” Byford, Jovan.  2011.  Conspiracy Theories: A Critical Introduction.  Palgrave Macmillan. N.Y. pg. 23

“.  .  . Those who feel dispossessed, alienated and disenchanted with politics are believed to be attracted to conspiracy theories because such beliefs confirm the person’s sense that the world is beyond their control, while also protecting self-esteem by offering a simple explanation for existential and status-related problems.  It has also been found that susceptibility to conspiracy theorizing is not related to gender, education level or occupation, but is linked to minority status: members of minority groups tend to be more susceptible to conspiracy theorizing. .  .  .” Pg. 129-130

Byford, Jovan.  2011.  Conspiracy Theories: A Critical Introduction.  Palgrave Macmillan. N.Y.

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The Illuminati, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Bilderberg Group, The Trilateral Commission and the Masons are some of the “offending” groups.  John Kennedy’s assassination, Robert Kennedy’s assassination, Martin Luther King’s assassination, and Paul Wellstone’s death, are just a small number of the possibilities.  There are nasty fakes like “Protocols of the Elders of Zion”; this is a known fiction yet still believed by the die-hard conspiratists.  Unberto Eco wrote a wonderful fictional account - The Prague Cemetery, 2011).

The big three are the Council on Foreign Relations, the Bilderberg Group and The Trilateral Commission.  These are groups of the ultra-wealthy along with media people (who also aren’t hurting for money) and politicians (who also aren’t hurting) who meet in secret to thrash out ideas of how to create a one-world government with “them” in control.  After their secret conclaves they then ostensibly put out papers and make it known what their overt designs are.  They usually don’t reveal how all of their designs will be accomplished.

Let’s have a quick segue:

With conspiracy theorists, they see nested boxes of manipulation that can never be resolved.  Even with hard evidence or a confession by a conspiracy participant, theorists see this as a diversion, manufactured to protect the many underlying participants and manipulation.  With this approach, a conspiracy theory is a quasi-living thing.  I would guess that they would be sure that the Cain and Abel story was a front for a deeper conspiracy.

For real conspiracy theorists the Illuminati is behind many if not most things.

The Illuminati (plural of Latin illuminatus, "enlightened") is a name given to several groups, both real and fictitious. Historically the name refers to the Bavarian Illuminati, an Enlightenment-era secret society founded on May 1, 1776, to oppose superstition, prejudice, religious influence over public life, abuses of state power, and to support women's education and gender equality. Adam Weishaupt (1748–1830) was the founder of the Bavarian Illuminati. The Illuminati were outlawed along with other secret societies by the Bavarian government leadership with the encouragement of the Roman Catholic Church, and permanently disbanded in 1785.  In the several years following, the group was vilified by conservative and religious critics who claimed they had regrouped and were responsible for the French Revolution.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illuminati

The nested boxes and the Illuminati are so ubiquitous that they probably wouldn’t buy the aforementioned Cain and Abel story.  They just know that underlying this, the Illuminati have pulled a quick one.

One more little seque

So we have a group of people with money and power that want to impose their beliefs on the world.  They use various methods of influence to accomplish this.  They have undermined existing cultures, societies, power structures and ultimately influence the economics of the places they invaded.  They were imposing their beliefs and ultimately gained access to resources and cheap labor.  No, this isn’t necessarily about the Council on Foreign Relations.  This about many hundreds of years of Christianity in South America, Mexico, the Pacific, Africa and all points east-west, north-south.  This is about crusades, witch burnings, book burnings and generalized war to impose “democracy”, their way of life by supposed Christian nations.  The difference????

Back to the “big boys”

The Bilderberg 2005 meeting spoke about the depletion of petroleum and skyrocketing costs.  Of course, they had top oil people there so this was not a ‘what if’ but a happening now. 

Estulin, Daniel.  2009.  The Bilderberg Group.  Trine Day.  Oregon. Pgs. 346-348.

The Bilderberg meeting was at odds over the 2003 invasion of Iraq.  The point here is that this is not necessarily a unified front although the invasion, of course, did take place.  Given the multiple public misinformation and the ultimate miscalculations of the results, I think this points to evidence that this group is not infallible in its decisions.

In reading about different takes on conspiracy, I found:

*  There are overt manipulations politically and economically

*  Lies of commission spread in mainstream media

*  Lies of omission “spread” in mainstream media

*  There are actions not directly linked to any group but suspicious like fortuitous deaths     (Paul Wellstone – highly vocal opponent to the second Gulf War)

*  There are cloaked actions that come to light (Iran-Contra)

*  There are actions outside the public awareness (so-called black ops).  

These ranges of activities make conspiracies possibly rife in the world and conspiracy theorists wallow in self-congratulations.  This suspicion and doubt can lead to a jaundiced eye observing the world.

Here are two examples of manipulative behaviors that are real happenings.

Example1.  From:  Shoup, Laurence and Minter, William.  1977.  Imperial Brain Trust: the Council on Foreign Relations and United States Foreign Policy.  Authors Choice Press.  N.Y.

“The Council groups, meeting jointly in Mid-January 1941, produced memorandum E-B26, which recommended to the State Department that it was in the national interest of the United States to check Japan’s advance into Southeast Asia.  Not only were the raw materials of that area very important to the United States in peace and war , but a Japanese takeover would greatly weaken the whole British position in Asia.” pg. 142      

“President Roosevelt agreed with the State Department-Council on Foreign Relations view, stressing the danger to British and American raw material supplies which Japanese expansion posed.  The president stated during the second half of 1941 that a Japanese attack on British and Dutch possession in the Far East would immediately threaten the vital interests of the nation and ‘should result in war with Japan.’”  pg. 142

“In late July 1941 Japanese leaders decided to move into southern Indochina as a first step toward control of Southeast Asia.  The American reaction was forceful: Japanese assets in the United States were frozen and a total economic embargo, including oil, was imposed.  Britain and the Netherlands government-in-exile followed suit.  The Council had recommended this policy in January 1941.  The seriousness of this action was well known at the time.  Many people had previously warned that it would provoke Japan into war, since it cut off many raw and finished materials, including oil, which that country had to have to survive as great power.” pg 144.

Example 2. From: Yant, Martin.  1991.  Desert Mirage.  Prometheus Books.  N.Y. and other sources; all verifiable. 

See:

http://www.truthaboutwar.org/claim4.shtml

U.S. Conspiracy to Initiate the War Against Iraq   http://deoxy.org/wc/wc-consp.htm

How Reagan Armed Saddam with Chemical Weapons          http://www.counterpunch.org/2004/06/17/how-reagan-armed-saddam-with-chemical-weapons/

* 1980: The incoming Reagan administration, seeing the Islamic revolution in Iran as a threat, encourages the subsequent Iraqi invasion of Iran, with promises of arms, money and intelligence.

*  In addition to billions of dollars in arms, the Reagan Administration provides the Iraqi Regime with chemical and biological weapons.

One year after Iraq uses US-supplied chemical weapons against Iranian troops, the Reagan Administration resumes normal diplomatic relations with Iraq, and removes it from the list of countries that support terrorism.

* The Iran/Iraq War stretches on for 8 years, claims over a million lives and bankrupts     Iraq.

* 1988: After the war ends, Iraq's erstwhile ally, Kuwait, floods the world oil market, lowering oil  prices, worldwide.

* This undercuts Iraq's efforts to rebuild its war-ravaged economy and infrastructure.

After Hussein's pleas fall on deaf ears, he begins to consider military action against Kuwait.

* When he informs the US about his plans to invade Kuwait, US

Ambassador, April Glaspie tells him: "We  (The United States) have no opinion on your border dispute with Kuwait. James Baker (then Secretary of State) has instructed our spokesmen to EMPHASIZE this instruction."

* Given this green light to invade Kuwait, Saddam Hussein does so.

* The Bush Administration immediately renegs on its assurances, and begins preparations for war.

* Iraqi offers to withdraw from Kuwait, in exchange for convening a Middle East peace summit are ignored.

These two - provoking Japan and manipulating Iraq – are examples of overt methods that could be called conspiracies and led to riches for war industries and deaths of millions of people.

Before moving on to a wet dream for conspiracy theorist’s, let me note that John Hancock, (yes, our John Hancock) signer of the Declaration of Independence, was a smuggler and rum runner extraordinaire.

Andreas, Peter. 2013.  Smuggler Nation: how Illicit Trade Made America.  Oxford.  N.Y. pg. 239.

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A happy Conspiracy Theorist

Parts from: http://vigilantcitizen.com/sinistersites/sinister-sites-the-georgia-guidestones/

The Georgia Guidestones is a mysterious monument on which are carved ten  commandments  for a New Age of Reason.   The Georgia Guidestones is an enigmatic granite monument situated in Elbert County, Georgia. Also known as the American Stonehedge, the gigantic structure is almost 20 feet high and is made of six granite slabs, weighing in total 240,000 pounds. The most astonishing detail  of the monument is, however, not its size but the message engraved into it: Ten rules for an Age of Reason . These guides touch upon subjects that are associated with the New World Order, including massive depopulation, a single world government, the introduction of a new type of spirituality, etc. The authors of those rules have requested to remain totally anonymous and, until now, their anonymity has been duly preserved. However, this mysterious group left a text explaining the reasoning behind the rules, a text that was not discussed online before. With this new information, the purpose behind the Guidestones become very clear, leaving little room for hypotheses. The Guidestones describe the ideal world, as envisioned by occult Secret Societies. The monument is therefore proof of an existing link between secret societies, the world elite and the push for a New World Order.

Made of Pyramid blue granite, the Georgia Guidestones are meant to withstand the test of time and to communicate knowledge on several levels: philosophically, politically, astronomically, etc. It consists of four major stone blocks, which contain ten guides for living in eight languages: English, Spanish, Swahili, Hindi, Hebrew, Arabic, Chinese, and Russian. A shorter message is inscribed at the top of the structure in four ancient languages  scripts: Babylonian, Classical Greek, Sanskrit, and Egyptian hieroglyphs. It is important to note that those last four ancient languages are of a great importance in the teachings of occult mystery schools, such as the Freemasons and the Rosicrucians.

The four major stones are arranged in a giant paddlewheel configuration which are oriented to the limits of the migration of the sun during the course of the year and also show the extreme positions of the rising and setting of the sun in its 18.6 year cycle. The center stone has two special features: first, the North Star is always visible through a special hole drilled from the South to the North side of the center stone; second, another slot aligns with the positions of the rising sun at the time of the summer and winter solstices and at the equinox.

The ten guides for a new Age of Reason are as follows:

    1. Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature.

    2. Guide reproduction wisely improving fitness and diversity.

    3. Unite humanity with a living new language.

    4. Rule passion, faith, tradition and all things with tempered reason.

    5. Protect people and nations with fair laws and just courts.

    6. Let all nations rule internally resolving external disputes in a world court.

    7. Avoid petty laws and useless officials.

    8. Balance personal rights with social duties.

    9. Prize truth, beauty, love, seeking harmony with the infinite.

    10. Be not a cancer on the earth, Leave room for nature, Leave room for nature.

The first guide of population reduction is called elitist by the various conspiracy websites.  This number of 5 hundred million is the low estimate of how many people the earth could feed without the fossil fuel endowment running machinery, providing fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, electrical irrigation, transportation, food processing and preservation.  This is the approximate global population prior to the beginning of the industrial age - 500 million between years 1500 and 1650 AD.   The upper limit that has been suggested is 2 billion - the world population around 1930.  This is near the transition to industrial agriculture.

Most of these guides are wishful thinking.  They seem reasonable to me, even wonderful. I am not sure what the threat is.  I don’t believe they can take place because of the nature of being human.

See: http://sunweber.blogspot.com/2011/05/we-are-here.html

What is interesting is the claim of the monument being occult.  What is occult?

http://www.crossroad.to/ask-peter/def-occult.htm

Occult

1. of or pertaining to magic, astrology, or any system claiming use or knowledge of secret or supernatural powers or agencies.

2. beyond the range of ordinary knowledge or understanding; mysterious.

3. secret; disclosed or communicated only to the initiated.

4. hidden from view.

5. a. not apparent on mere inspection but discoverable by experimentation.

    b. of a nature not understood, as physical qualities.

    c. dealing with such qualities; experimental: occult science.

At Monte Alban near Oaxaca, Mexico, on a tall mesa is a beautiful structure.  The wall and tiers are oriented to the lie of the mesa.  The stones are positioned so well that you can sight down from one end to the other.  In the middle of the courtyard is another building.  It is oriented astronomically.

http://www.akaworld.net/monte.htm

Is this the occult? 

I am a skeptic.  Show me evidence of actual occult behavior that cannot by explained by natural psychological influences/suggestions.  Is walking on water occult?  Rising from the dead after three days?  Is virgin birth (a myth found in the Near East for 1000 of years before the present believed one)?  Is talking to someone miles away on a little box?

It would seem that one person’s occult is another person’s religious belief.  Or science. 

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A couple of leaving thoughts

After spending so much time trying to make heads of tails of this conspiracy theory stuff, I am curious the psychological history of some of the die-hards.  

*************

The fear of dissolving nations for a new world order has several reactions from me. There seems to be a belief that the nation state is the natural order of the world.  It would be more reasonable to see it as one step of adjustment along humanities’ path of large populations and high amounts of fossil fuel energy use.  From the gatherer/hunter band to tribes to chiefdoms to city-states to kingships to nations seems to be the unfolding.  This may well be hitting a roadblock. It would take massive amounts of energy and non-fuel minerals to maintain a global order.  Even the wishful wealthy ones are recognizing these limitations via resources.  We are in overshoot as a species, having used the environmental resources to multiply as all life does.  See: Catton, William. 1980.  Overshoot..  University of Illinois Press.  Chicago.

*************

Through history there seems to be a distribution of wealth and privilege that looks something like:

0.1%             Dynastic Oligarchs

1%               Administrators (in today’s world - CEOs, Presidents, Fed chairman, etc.)

10 to 15%     Functionary Workers (this would be most who are reading this now)

80 to 90%     Peasants  (Wage Slaves in debt-bondage)

[I had presented something like this to one of my mailing lists and it was modified close to what I am presenting by someone on the list.  I did not keep their name.  I thank them.]

From:  http://sunweber.blogspot.com/2011/05/new-middle-ages.html

If you are reading this you are most likely in the administrator or functionary worker groups. Whatever we think about conspiracies, there have been a goodly number of us that have inadvertently benefited.

*************

Wanting to frame and influence the world from your point of view seems like a natural inclination.  It is not a new one (Alexander the Great, Ghengis Khan, Ronald Reagan, Lenin, Mao).   If you had the money and power, what would you do?

*************

Is there stuff going on right now?  Where did the Libyan revolutionaries get their weapons?

Their continual need for ammunition?  Or the present Syrian civil war?  Is there a weapons tree, an ammo garden?  Are there huge monies trying to block science information that goes against beliefs or investments? 

*************

Are there conspiracies?  Without a doubt.  Nasty ones that enrich and give power to a few, enslave some and kill others. 

*************

First they came for the communists,

    and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.

    Then they came for the socialists,

    and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a socialist.

    Then they came for the trade unionists,

    and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.

    Then they came for the Jews,

    and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.

    Then they came for the Catholics,

    and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Catholic.

    Then they came for me,

    and there was no one left to speak for me.

Martin Niemöller (1892–1984)

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Andreas, Peter. 2013.  Smuggler Nation: how Illicit Trade Made America.  Oxford.  N.Y.

Byford, Jovan.  2011.  Conspiracy Theories: A Critical Introduction.  Palgrave Macmillan. N.Y.

Catton, William. 1980.  Overshoot..  University of Illinois Press.  Chicago.

Eco, Umberto.  2011. The Prague Cemetery. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Boston.

Estulin, Daniel.  2009.  The Bilderberg Group.  Trine Day.  Oregon.

Estulin, Daniel.  2010.  Shadow Masters.  IPG. Chicago.

Feinstein, Andrew.  2011.  The Shadow World. Farrar, Straus. Giroux.  N.Y.

Fonseca, Eduardo Giannetti da.  2000. Lies we live by : the art of self-deception. St. Martin’s Press. New York.

Grose, Peter.  1996.  Continuing the Inquiry: The Council on Foreign Relations from  1921 to 1996. A Council on Foreign Relations Book.  N.Y.

Hayden, Brian.  2007.  “Richman, Poorman, Beggarman, Chief: The Dynamics of Social Inequality.”  In Archaeology at the Millennium: A source book.  Edited by Feinman, Gary and Price, T. Douglas.  Springer. N.Y.

Hirstein, William.  2005.   Brain fiction : self-deception and the riddle of confabulation. MIT Press. Cambridge, Mass. Keyes, Ralph.  2004.  The Post-truth Era.  St. Martin’s Press. N.Y.

Horowitz, Mitch.  2009,  Occult America.  Bantam. N.Y.

Jeffers, H. Paul.  2009.  the Bilderberg Conspiracy.  Citadel Press.  Kensington. Almost true.

Kay, Jonathan.  2011. Among the Truthers.  Harper. N.Y.

Keyes, Ralph.  2004.  The Post-truth Era.  St. Martin’s Press. N.Y.

Kurzban, Robert.   2010.  Why everybody (else) is a hypocrite.   Princeton.

Lockard, Joan S. and Paulhus, Delroy L. Editors.   1988.  Self-Deception: An Adaptive Mechanism.  Prentice Hall.  New Jersey.

Makow, Henry.  2010.  Illuminati 2.  Silas Green.  Winnepeg

Mele, Alfred R.  2001. Self-deception unmasked.        Princeton University Press. Princeton, N.J.

Morey, Robert.  1993.  The Truth About Masons.  Harvest.  Eugene, OR.

Perloff, James.  1989.  The Shadows of Power.  Western Island.  WI.

Reinhart, Carmen and Rogoff, Kenneth.  2009.  This Time is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly.  Princeton U. Princeton.

Shoup, Laurence and Minter, William.  1977.  Imperial Brain Trust: the Council on Foreign Relations and United States Foreign Policy.  Authors Choice Press.  N.Y.

Tavris, Carol and Aronson, Elliot.  2007.   Mistakes Were Made (but not by me).  Harcourt. N.Y.

Yant, Martin.  1991.  Desert Mirage.  Prometheus Books.  N.Y.

Industrial Gardening - High Tunnels

Being my normal curmudgeon self.

Industrial Gardening

High tunnels are extensions of the fossil fuel supply line.  The plastic covering requires barrels of petroleum and therms of natural gas for feed stock and the energy to manufacture.  The support structure, whether plastic, aluminum or steel, requiring energy for manufacture and energy for mining in the cases of aluminum and steel.   All require transportation and auxillary energy for storage and installation.

High tunnels are industrial gardening.  They are not sustainable, they are not green, they are not environmentally safe.

“Polyethylene covers on high tunnels and greenhouses make a significant contribution to the growing problem of waste plastics.   .  .  . Most of these plastic films are produced from low-density polyethylene (LDPE #4) resins.”

www.uvm.edu/sustainableagriculture/.../HighTunnels_SelectingStructure.pdf

For a round style high tunnel – 20’ wide x 12’ high x 48’ long – it takes approximately 50 ft of 40 ft wide of 6 mil, 4 year plastic.

Email quote from Kenneth A. Erha

E-Commerce Sales Specialist, Engineering Services & Products Company for FarmTek.com, TekSupply.com, GrowersSupply.com, and ClearSpan.com
This weighs approximately 56 pounds.  From data at Plastics Europe this can be figured to be at least a couple of barrels of crude oil every four years.

www.plasticseurope.org/.../20100312112214-FINAL_LDPE_270409-20081215-018-EN-v1.pdf

It is important to understand that high tunnels do not offer a sustainable alternative in a world where access to oil and natural gas are requiring more and more energy to extract.  In a world where obtaining fossil fuels requires more and more environmentally dangerous practices; coal included with the removal of mountain tops.  This does not even consider the carbon and other greenhouse gas emission required for the materials, manufacture, transportation and installation of high tunnels.

My point is not to negate the use of high tunnels as much to require honesty in the promotion of them.

High tunnels as industrial gardening is not a sustainable answer to our food needs.  It is a side ways move to business as usual.

VIOLENCE

It's about violence.  Guns are an excellent tool for violence.  It is violence that needs to be on the national agenda. 

Most male kids when I was young had a holster and a “play” gun and if we were lucky we had caps.  We had cowboys shooting at cowboys and the good guys always won.  We had cowboys shooting at Indians and the “good” guys always won.  We had Saturday morning cartoons with brutality.

Now we have such gore in movies, on television and in video games of such realism that it is all a big show.  Our culture and society than and now was and is infused with maiming and killing.  The violence today has tools undreamed of when I was a kid.

We are a warrior nation.

“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. The world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children… This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron.”   — Former U.S. President, Dwight D. Eisenhower, in a speech on April 16, 1953

Violence has been our way of life since at least the beginning of the nation.  “. . . since the United States was founded in 1776, she has been at war during 214 out of her 235 calendar years of existence.  In other words, there were only 21 calendar years in which the U.S. did not wage any wars.

To put this in perspective:

* Pick any year since 1776 and there is about a 91% chance that America was involved in some war during that calendar year.

* No U.S. president truly qualifies as a peacetime president.  Instead, all U.S. presidents can technically be considered “war presidents.”

* The U.S. has never gone a decade without war.

* The only time the U.S. went five years without war (1935-40) was during the isolationist period of the Great Depression.

For a Year-by-year Timeline of America’s Major Wars (1776-2011) see:

http://www.loonwatch.com/2011/12/we-re-at-war-and-we-have-been-since-1776/

or

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars_involving_the_United_States

or

http://americanhistory.about.com/library/timelines/bltimelineuswars.htm

Not only do we have a long and constant history of violence, we are annually the top or among the top arms sellers in the world.   

U.S. Arms Sales Make Up Most of Global Market

By THOM SHANKER

WASHINGTON — Weapons sales by the United States tripled in 2011 to a record high, driven by major arms sales to Persian Gulf allies concerned about Iran’s regional ambitions, according to a new study for Congress.

Overseas weapons sales by the United States totaled $66.3 billion last year, or more than three-quarters of the global arms market, valued at $85.3 billion in 2011. Russia was a distant second, with $4.8 billion in deals.

The American weapons sales total was an “extraordinary increase” over the $21.4 billion in deals for 2010, the study found, and was the largest single-year sales total in the history of United States arms exports. The previous high was in fiscal year 2009, when American weapons sales overseas totaled nearly $31 billion.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/27/world/middleeast/us-foreign-arms-sales-reach-66-3-billion-in-2011.html?_r=0

“Last year [2000] the U.S. controlled half of the developing world’s arms market…. This dominance of the global arms market is not something in which the American public or policy makers should take pride in. The U.S. routinely sells weapons to undemocratic regimes and gross human rights abusers.”—   Uncle Sam World’s Arms Merchant Again; In 2000 U.S. Sells $18.6 Billion Worldwide, $12.6 Billion to Developing Countries, Arms Trade Insider—#53, Arms Trade Oversight Project, Council for a Livable World, August 20, 2001From: http://www.globalissues.org/article/74/the-arms-trade-is-big-business - Itdoesnotseemtomatterwhoarmsaresoldto

It doesn’t matter who wants to buy our weapons. Money is money. The United States arms most dictatorships. See:  http://sciencenordic.com/united-states-arms-most-dictatorships

The mantra – Guns don’t kill people, people kill people – is true.  We can be proud that we supply a massive amount of guns and other weapons to help that along.  The Shadow World: Inside the Global Arms Trade.  Feinstein, Andrew. 2011.  Farrar, Straus, Giroux. N.Y.

Then there is the argument, that only the unbalanced are guilty of these mass slayings and that the mental health system is broken.  That calls into question the mental balance of many national and international leaders. How many of both the sellers of weapons and the buyers of weapons actually have psychological assessments.  It also would be interesting to see the psychological profiles of the people who our weapons are distributed to around the world.

There is another rationalization away from the reality of the situation – violence has always been with us.  That is also true.  A rock, a club, even an arrow is far different than long range semi-automatic weapons, hand grenades, mines, bunker bombs, and drones.

There are multiple articles on the sale of arms by the United States of America to whomever, whenever.

See also: http://www.globalissues.org/article/74/the-arms-trade-is-big-business#Itdoesnotseemtomatterwhoarmsaresoldto

Do your own search.

UPDATE

  

The Obama years have been a boom time for America's weapons makers. Since 2009, the United States has approved arms deals worth some $200 billion—more than under any other presidency. The deals include sending Apache helicopters to Qatar, "bunker buster" bombs and cluster munitions to Saudi Arabia, and Hellfire missiles all over the place. Predicting an increase in weapons sales fueled by the war against ISIS, an unnamed American weapons manufacturing executive told Reuters last year: "Everyone in the region is talking about building up supplies for 5 to 10 years. This is going to be a long fight. It's a huge growth area for us."

The United States currently controls more than half of the global arms market. Its top five customers are Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Australia, Iraq, and Israel. By comparison, Russia, the next biggest global weapons supplier, controls just 14 percent of the market.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/05/obama-international-arms-weapons-deals

We are a warrior society and culture.  Our history is one of aggression.  In saying this I realize I may be angering and alienating many men and women who with honor, integrity and dignity served our country in battle.  (I did not experience war because I was in the military between Korea and Viet Nam.)  It is not my intention to demean their service, for many this was the defining experience of their lives.  The question remains for all of our military “adventures” – who benefits?

Cui Bono - Commonly the phrase is used to suggest that the person or people guilty of committing a crime may be found among those who have something to gain, chiefly with an eye toward financial gain. The party that benefits may not always be obvious or may have successfully diverted attention to a scapegoat.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cui_bono

Of the 100 companies on the list, 44 are based in the U.S., including Boeing, Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin. The American companies account for more than 60% of arms sales revenue of the 100 manufacturers. Seven of SIPRI’s (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute) top 10 are American, one is British, one is Italian and one is a multinational EU conglomerate. The U.S. federal government has contract deals with all seven American companies. These seven are among the top 10 U.S. federal contractors by amount procured, according to the government’s Federal Procurement Data System                                See: http://247wallst.com/2012/02/28/ten-companies-profiting-most-from-war/print/

The question is not simply who benefits from the end result of the war but from the total action of the war.  The bottom line is the bottom line.   Our men and women have lined the coffers of big business and the very wealthy.  And often the result of the conflict also lines the coffers of big business and the very wealthy while the common people live with wounds physical, psychological and spiritual.

Blinding ourselves, some of us gain employment, some gain access to materials and goodies from the low paying labor and natural resources purloined as a results of our bullying, aggressions and our arms sales.  Dulled by inertia, seduced by promises of "trickle down", conned by propaganda, we are numbed by the narcotic of things.  Grabbing the coat tails and gladly distracted by the "red carpet glitter", we aspire to emulate the merchants and bankers of war.  And we keep silent.

The issue of our culture and society of violence is one of honest self-appraisal.   We have a large sector of our society/culture that espouses Christian morals and ethics.  The United States and the world are shocked and mourn the deaths at the Sandy Hook Elementary School and grieve with the families and friends of the murdered.  Where is the outrage by ministers, pastors, priests and their congregations at the 1000s, hundreds of thousand of children, women, and men non-combatants from our aggression worldwide and/or our arm sales globally?  Many in this sector seem to be more concerned with what happens in the privacy of the bedroom than the murder of innocents by weapons we use and provide to the world.  I don’t believe Jesus is at the head of the parade with an AR15 singing “Onward Christian Soldiers.”

It is time we addressed our violence.

Year-by-year Timeline of America’s Major Wars (1776-2011)

1776 – American Revolutionary War, Chickamagua Wars, Second Cherokee War, Pennamite-Yankee War

1777 – American Revolutionary War, Chickamauga Wars, Second Cherokee War, Pennamite-Yankee War

1778 – American Revolutionary War, Chickamauga Wars, Pennamite-Yankee War

1779 – American Revolutionary War, Chickamauga Wars, Pennamite-Yankee War

1780 – American Revolutionary War, Chickamauga Wars, Pennamite-Yankee War

1781 – American Revolutionary War, Chickamauga Wars, Pennamite-Yankee War

1782 – American Revolutionary War, Chickamauga Wars, Pennamite-Yankee War

1783 – American Revolutionary War, Chickamauga Wars, Pennamite-Yankee War

1784 – Chickamauga Wars, Pennamite-Yankee War, Oconee War

1785 – Chickamauga Wars, Northwest Indian War

1786 – Chickamauga Wars, Northwest Indian War

1787 – Chickamauga Wars, Northwest Indian War

1788 – Chickamauga Wars, Northwest Indian War

1789 – Chickamauga Wars, Northwest Indian War

1790 – Chickamauga Wars, Northwest Indian War

1791 – Chickamauga Wars, Northwest Indian War

1792 – Chickamauga Wars, Northwest Indian War

1793 – Chickamauga Wars, Northwest Indian War

1794 – Chickamauga Wars, Northwest Indian War

1795 – Northwest Indian War

1796 – No major war

1797 – No major war

1798 – Quasi-War

1799 – Quasi-War

1800 – Quasi-War

1801 – First Barbary War

1802 – First Barbary War

1803 – First Barbary War

1804 – First Barbary War

1805 – First Barbary War

1806 – Sabine Expedition

1807 – No major war

1808 – No major war

1809 – No major war

1810 – U.S. occupies Spanish-held West Florida

1811 – Tecumseh’s War

1812 – War of 1812, Tecumseh’s War, Seminole Wars, U.S. occupies Spanish-held Amelia Island and other parts of East Florida

1813 – War of 1812, Tecumseh’s War, Peoria War, Creek War, U.S. expands its territory in West Florida

1814 – War of 1812, Creek War, U.S. expands its territory in Florida, Anti-piracy war

1815 – War of 1812, Second Barbary War, Anti-piracy war

1816 - First Seminole War, Anti-piracy war

1817 - First Seminole War, Anti-piracy war

1818 – First Seminole War, Anti-piracy war

1819 – Yellowstone Expedition, Anti-piracy war

1820 – Yellowstone Expedition, Anti-piracy war

1821 – Anti-piracy war (see note above)

1822 – Anti-piracy war (see note above)

1823 – Anti-piracy war, Arikara War

1824 – Anti-piracy war

1825 – Yellowstone Expedition, Anti-piracy war

1826 – No major war

1827 – Winnebago War

1828 – No major war

1829 – No major war

1830 – No major war 

1831 - Sac and Fox Indian War

1832 – Black Hawk War

1833 – Cherokee Indian War

1834 – Cherokee Indian War, Pawnee Indian Territory Campaign

1835 – Cherokee Indian War, Seminole Wars, Second Creek War

1836 – Cherokee Indian War, Seminole Wars, Second Creek War, Missouri-Iowa Border War

1837 – Cherokee Indian War, Seminole Wars, Second Creek War, Osage Indian War, Buckshot War

1838 – Cherokee Indian War, Seminole Wars, Buckshot War, Heatherly Indian War

1839 – Cherokee Indian War, Seminole Wars

1840 – Seminole Wars, U.S. naval forces invade Fiji Islands

1841 – Seminole Wars, U.S. naval forces invade McKean Island, Gilbert Islands, and Samoa

1842 – Seminole Wars

1843 – U.S. forces clash with Chinese, U.S. troops invade African coast

1844 – Texas-Indian Wars

1845 – Texas-Indian Wars

1846 – Mexican-American War, Texas-Indian Wars

1847 – Mexican-American War, Texas-Indian Wars

1848 – Mexican-American War, Texas-Indian Wars, Cayuse War

1849 – Texas-Indian Wars, Cayuse War, Southwest Indian Wars, Navajo Wars, Skirmish between 1st Cavalry and Indians

1850 – Texas-Indian Wars, Cayuse War, Southwest Indian Wars, Navajo Wars, Yuma War, California Indian Wars, Pitt River Expedition

1851 – Texas-Indian Wars, Cayuse War, Southwest Indian Wars, Navajo Wars, Apache Wars, Yuma War, Utah Indian Wars, California Indian Wars

1852 – Texas-Indian Wars, Cayuse War, Southwest Indian Wars, Navajo Wars, Yuma War, Utah Indian Wars, California Indian Wars

1853 – Texas-Indian Wars, Cayuse War, Southwest Indian Wars, Navajo Wars, Yuma War, Utah Indian Wars, Walker War, California Indian Wars

1854 – Texas-Indian Wars, Cayuse War, Southwest Indian Wars, Navajo Wars, Apache Wars, California Indian Wars, Skirmish between 1st Cavalry and Indians

1855 – Seminole Wars, Texas-Indian Wars, Cayuse War, Southwest Indian Wars, Navajo Wars, Apache Wars, California Indian Wars, Yakima War, Winnas Expedition, Klickitat War, Puget Sound War, Rogue River Wars, U.S. forces invade Fiji Islands and Uruguay

1856 – Seminole Wars, Texas-Indian Wars, Southwest Indian Wars, Navajo Wars, California Indian Wars, Puget Sound War, Rogue River Wars, Tintic War

1857 – Seminole Wars, Texas-Indian Wars, Southwest Indian Wars, Navajo Wars, California Indian Wars, Utah War, Conflict in Nicaragua

1858 – Seminole Wars, Texas-Indian Wars, Southwest Indian Wars, Navajo Wars, Mohave War, California Indian Wars, Spokane-Coeur d’Alene-Paloos War, Utah War, U.S. forces invade Fiji Islands and Uruguay

1859 Texas-Indian Wars, Southwest Indian Wars, Navajo Wars, California Indian Wars, Pecos Expedition, Antelope Hills Expedition, Bear River Expedition, John Brown’s raid, U.S. forces launch attack against Paraguay, U.S. forces invade Mexico

1860 – Texas-Indian Wars, Southwest Indian Wars, Navajo Wars, Apache Wars, California Indian Wars, Paiute War, Kiowa-Comanche War

1861 – American Civil War, Texas-Indian Wars, Southwest Indian Wars, Navajo Wars, Apache Wars, California Indian Wars, Cheyenne Campaign

1862 – American Civil War, Texas-Indian Wars, Southwest Indian Wars, Navajo Wars, Apache Wars, California Indian Wars, Cheyenne Campaign, Dakota War of 1862,

1863 – American Civil War, Texas-Indian Wars, Southwest Indian Wars, Navajo Wars, Apache Wars, California Indian Wars, Cheyenne Campaign, Colorado War, Goshute War

1864 – American Civil War, Texas-Indian Wars, Navajo Wars, Apache Wars, California Indian Wars, Cheyenne Campaign, Colorado War, Snake War

1865 – American Civil War, Texas-Indian Wars, Navajo Wars, Apache Wars, California Indian Wars, Colorado War, Snake War, Utah’s Black Hawk War

1866 – Texas-Indian Wars, Navajo Wars, Apache Wars, California Indian Wars, Skirmish between 1st Cavalry and Indians, Snake War, Utah’s Black Hawk War, Red Cloud’s War, Franklin County War, U.S. invades Mexico, Conflict with China

1867 – Texas-Indian Wars, Long Walk of the Navajo, Apache Wars, Skirmish between 1st Cavalry and Indians, Snake War, Utah’s Black Hawk War, Red Cloud’s War, Comanche Wars, Franklin County War, U.S. troops occupy Nicaragua and attack Taiwan

1868 – Texas-Indian Wars, Long Walk of the Navajo, Apache Wars, Skirmish between 1st Cavalry and Indians, Snake War, Utah’s Black Hawk War, Red Cloud’s War, Comanche Wars, Battle of Washita River, Franklin County War

1869 – Texas-Indian Wars, Apache Wars, Skirmish between 1st Cavalry and Indians, Utah’s Black Hawk War, Comanche Wars, Franklin County War

1870 – Texas-Indian Wars, Apache Wars, Skirmish between 1st Cavalry and Indians, Utah’s Black Hawk War, Comanche Wars, Franklin County War

1871 – Texas-Indian Wars, Apache Wars, Skirmish between 1st Cavalry and Indians, Utah’s Black Hawk War, Comanche Wars, Franklin County War, Kingsley Cave Massacre, U.S. forces invade Korea

1872 – Texas-Indian Wars, Apache Wars, Utah’s Black Hawk War, Comanche Wars, Modoc War, Franklin County War

1873 – Texas-Indian Wars, Comanche Wars, Modoc War, Apache Wars, Cypress Hills Massacre, U.S. forces invade Mexico

1874 – Texas-Indian Wars, Comanche Wars, Red River War, Mason County War, U.S. forces invade Mexico

1875 – Conflict in Mexico, Texas-Indian Wars, Comanche Wars, Eastern Nevada, Mason County War, Colfax County War, U.S. forces invade Mexico

1876 – Texas-Indian Wars, Black Hills War, Mason County War, U.S. forces invade Mexico

1877 – Texas-Indian Wars, Skirmish between 1st Cavalry and Indians, Black Hills War, Nez Perce War, Mason County War, Lincoln County War, San Elizario Salt War, U.S. forces invade Mexico

1878 – Paiute Indian conflict, Bannock War, Cheyenne War, Lincoln County War, U.S. forces invade Mexico

1879 – Cheyenne War, Sheepeater Indian War, White River War, U.S. forces invade Mexico

1880 – U.S. forces invade Mexico

1881 – U.S. forces invade Mexico

1882 – U.S. forces invade Mexico

1883 – U.S. forces invade Mexico

1884 – U.S. forces invade Mexico

1885 – Apache Wars, Eastern Nevada Expedition, U.S. forces invade Mexico

1886 – Apache Wars, Pleasant Valley War, U.S. forces invade Mexico

1887 – U.S. forces invade Mexico

1888 – U.S. show of force against Haiti, U.S. forces invade Mexico

1889 – U.S. forces invade Mexico

1890 – Sioux Indian War, Skirmish between 1st Cavalry and Indians, Ghost Dance War, Wounded Knee, U.S. forces invade Mexico

1891 – Sioux Indian War, Ghost Dance War, U.S. forces invade Mexico

1892 – Johnson County War, U.S. forces invade Mexico

1893 – U.S. forces invade Mexico and Hawaii

1894 – U.S. forces invade Mexico

1895 - U.S. forces invade Mexico, Bannock Indian Disturbances

1896 – U.S. forces invade Mexico

1897 – No major war

1898 – Spanish-American War, Battle of Leech Lake, Chippewa Indian Disturbances

1899 – Philippine-American War, Banana Wars

1900 – Philippine-American War, Banana Wars

1901 – Philippine-American War, Banana Wars

1902 – Philippine-American War, Banana Wars

1903 – Philippine-American War, Banana Wars

1904 – Philippine-American War, Banana Wars

1905 – Philippine-American War, Banana Wars

1906 – Philippine-American War, Banana Wars

1907 – Philippine-American War, Banana Wars

1908 – Philippine-American War, Banana Wars

1909 – Philippine-American War, Banana Wars

1910 – Philippine-American War, Banana Wars

1911 – Philippine-American War, Banana Wars

1912 – Philippine-American War, Banana Wars

1913 – Philippine-American War, Banana Wars, New Mexico Navajo War

1914 – Banana Wars, U.S. invades Mexico

1915 – Banana Wars, U.S. invades Mexico, Colorado Paiute War

1916 – Banana Wars, U.S. invades Mexico

1917 – Banana Wars, World War I, U.S. invades Mexico

1918 – Banana Wars, World War I, U.S invades Mexico

1919 – Banana Wars, U.S. invades Mexico

1920 – Banana Wars

1921 – Banana Wars

1922 – Banana Wars

1923 – Banana Wars, Posey War

1924 – Banana Wars

1925 – Banana Wars

1926 – Banana Wars

1927 – Banana Wars

1928 – Banana Wars

1930 – Banana Wars

1931 – Banana Wars

1932 – Banana Wars

1933 – Banana Wars

1934 – Banana Wars

1935 – No major war

1936 – No major war

1937 – No major war

1938 – No major war

1939 – No major war

1940 – No major war

1941 – World War II

1942 – World War II

1943 – Wold War II

1944 – World War II

1945 – World War II

1946 – Cold War (U.S. occupies the Philippines and South Korea)

1947 – Cold War (U.S. occupies South Korea, U.S. forces land in Greece to fight Communists)

1948 – Cold War (U.S. forces aid Chinese Nationalist Party against Communists)

1949 - Cold War (U.S. forces aid Chinese Nationalist Party against Communists)

1950 – Korean War, Jayuga Uprising

1951 – Korean War

1952 – Korean War

1953 – Korean War

1954 – Covert War in Guatemala

1955 – Vietnam War

1956 – Vietnam War

1957 – Vietnam War

1958 – Vietnam War

1959 – Vietnam War, Conflict in Haiti

1960 – Vietnam War

1961 – Vietnam War

1962 – Vietnam War, Cold War (Cuban Missile Crisis; U.S. marines fight Communists in Thailand)

1963 – Vietnam War

1964 – Vietnam War

1965 – Vietnam War, U.S. occupation of Dominican Republic

1966 – Vietnam War, U.S. occupation of Dominican Republic

1967 – Vietnam War

1968 – Vietnam War

1969 – Vietnam War

1970 – Vietnam War

1971 – Vietnam War

1972 – Vietnam War

1973 – Vietnam War, U.S. aids Israel in Yom Kippur War

1974 – Vietnam War

1975 – Vietnam War

1976 – No major war

1977 – No major war

1978 – No major war

1979 – Cold War (CIA proxy war in Afghanistan)

1980 – Cold War (CIA proxy war in Afghanistan)

1981 – Cold War (CIA proxy war in Afghanistan and Nicaragua), First Gulf of Sidra Incident

1982 – Cold War (CIA proxy war in Afghanistan and Nicaragua), Conflict in Lebanon

1983 – Cold War (Invasion of Grenada, CIA proxy war in Afghanistan and Nicaragua), Conflict in Lebanon

1984 – Cold War (CIA proxy war in Afghanistan and Nicaragua), Conflict in Persian Gulf

1985 - Cold War (CIA proxy war in Afghanistan and Nicaragua)

1986 – Cold War (CIA proxy war in Afghanistan and Nicaragua)

1987 – Conflict in Persian Gulf

1988 – Conflict in Persian Gulf, U.S. occupation of Panama

1989 – Second Gulf of Sidra Incident, U.S. occupation of Panama, Conflict in Philippines

1990 – First Gulf War, U.S. occupation of Panama

1991 – First Gulf War

1992 – Conflict in Iraq

1993 – Conflict in Iraq

1994 – Conflict in Iraq, U.S. invades Haiti

1995 – Conflict in Iraq, U.S. invades Haiti, NATO bombing of Bosnia and Herzegovina

1996 – Conflict in Iraq

1997 – No major war

1998 – Bombing of Iraq, Missile strikes against Afghanistan and Sudan

1999 – Kosovo War

2000 – No major war

2001 – War on Terror in Afghanistan

2002 – War on Terror in Afghanistan and Yemen

2003 – War on Terror in Afghanistan, and Iraq

2004 – War on Terror in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, and Yemen

2005 – War on Terror in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, and Yemen

2006 – War on Terror in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, and Yemen

2007 – War on Terror in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Somalia, and Yemen

2008 – War on Terror in

Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, and Yemen

2009 – War on Terror in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, and Yemen

2010 – War on Terror in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, and Yemen

2011 – War on Terror in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Somalia, and Yemen; Conflict in Libya (Libyan Civil War)