[eastbay]

It's been quite amazing to see the large number of new names appearing here over the past month or two, and in particular over the past few days and weeks.

To those who have recently joined, I was wondering what exactly brought you to this incredible website? Was it recent media attention to peak oil? Was it the recent run-up in oil prices? Was it the AP article? Many of us who have been here for years have periodically discussed what brought us here, but that was (in many cases) way back a few years ago. But that was when gas was still $1.50 a gallon and, to a casual observer, things seemed just fine in the house and few believed oil production was about to peak. Now it seems everyone is suddenly talking about the prospect of much higher oil prices and the concept of worldwide oil (and energy) depletion is becoming increasingly mainstream.

It would be nice for some of us to read why you joined and why you decided to explore this Terrible Geologic Phenomenon called Peak Oil.

Thanks for your input. Thanks for offering a refreshing perspective and becoming part of the discussion!

[TheDude]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('eastbay', 'W')as it the AP article?

[JohnLudi]

I had to check in and see what the effect of the Yahoo News item was...

Wow!

I think there were 4000+ viewers when I looked earlier today.

Been away for a while as the server was so boggy, but a few people have mentioned that the server issues were fixed a while ago, so you may be seeing my scowling face here a bit more.

[PenultimateManStanding]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('JohnLudi', 'I') had to check in and see what the effect of the Yahoo News item was...
Wow!
I think there were 4000+ viewers when I looked earlier today.
Been away for a while as the server was so boggy, but a few people have mentioned that the server issues were fixed a while ago, so you may be seeing my scowling face here a bit more.

[Milret2]

I have been lurking on these boards as a non member for several years. I have posted at another board having to do with a medical problem quite a lot (nothing like a past history of both a medical occupation and having personally dealt with the disease in my own life to make one feel qualified to try to help others dealing with the same problem;-). Although I had been lurking for many years here I felt I did not have expertise/experience to offer much or the personality/urge to get into squabbles.

A poster wrote a post about a singularity event that caused me to want to respond about a novel I had just finished and I joined.

My own views on peak oil tend to be very doomerish. I have no children, my wife finds my mentions of peak oil stuff to be not much to her liking. She tends towards optimism .. librarian/archivist with another degree in history and I think her thought patterns are affected by this. She is a pessimist about personal things and optimistic about life in general .. I am the opposite. Both of us had difficult family lives and I think that has something to do with our attraction to each other and the fact that we have done very well as our own family unit ourselves now for over a decade.

I think that these peak oil and climate change problems can only be answered, if at all, by governments and pretty totalitarian actions by such at this point. I perceive nothing happening on activities to address either peak oil or climate change and I see no way to influence such myself. I still tend to get blank stares and "oh .. kinda crazy" responses when I try to address such issues with friends and acquaintances so I just sit back with my popcorn and biggie drink and live life one day at a time.

[Specop_007]

Lets hope the new members dont come here, surely they will leave when they see the level of WTF.

I mean seriously, 90% of the shit posted in this section is so fucking far out there it'd drive away 99% of the people who saw it. I mean really. They start reading about Hopi and Swastikas and the Pope being the devil....

[Pamule-a]

Hello everyone, I am from the US, but choose to live outside it...just don't think I like the direction things are going. When I voice my concerns people say I am not thinking clearly (9/11, gas prices, etc)...but now I see others also think like I do. I found your web site when I www.ixquicked (I never use google or yahoo due to their policies).

An article was originally published in a Canadian newspaper and then appeared in the Springfield, IL State Journal Reg. I have tried to find it, but haven't been successful...it dealt with all the changes Bush has made to the laws regarding use of military for Martial Law. It was alarming to read how Bush could inforce ML without much trouble from Congress. I am ex-Army and did my time in Desert Storm...the way the US is going to "hell in a handbasket" is shocking.

If anyone knows where I can find this article, please let me know. It was out in August of '07.

[mercurygirl]

Welcome to the new members.

Registered members are entitled to browse any forum they wish to. Spec, if you don't like it, then bust a move out of here.

Pam, I don't know how to find the article, but I do know that the subject has been explored here. I recommend the search function at the top of the page.

[sarabi]

My boyfriend told me about the peak oil phenomenon just a few days ago, and then today sent me a link to the AP article. The speculations about oil are new to me, so I'm partly here to learn more, but also because of my own recent concerns about how the food crises will affect global politics. I am curious (and nervous) to see what people who have been paying more attention are thinking about our future.

I live in Denmark, where the welfare state is strong, and although economic liberalism and consumerism have been on the rise during the past decade, I never used to doubt that the relatively high degree of social security would persist. I was worried that world hunger or natural disasters might lead (Northwestern) Europe to 'build fortresses' to keep out immigrants, but not that social politics within these societies would change drastically. Now, for the first time in my life, I am genuinely concerned about the direction of both the exploitation of natural resources and social/cultural politics.

So, again, I'm partly here to learn more, and partly because these worries are followed by ever more frequent daydreams about moving to the countryside, growing the land, riding horses etc., and this site, respectfully, seems like a good place to indulge in half-paranoid escape fantasies and pick up tips for when it might become serious : )

[Pamule-a]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mercurygirl', 'W')elcome to the new members.
Registered members are entitled to browse any forum they wish to. Spec, if you don't like it, then bust a move out of here.
Pam, I don't know how to find the article, but I do know that the subject has been explored here. I recommend the search function at the top of the page.

[WildRose]

Welcome to all of the visitors and new members to PO.com! I have certainly noticed all of the new names here recently.
In addition to the very informative PO.com, which I visit almost daily and have learned so much from , I'd like to recommend the site below for beginners as well. The oil map is very helpful, and the information very accessible for newbies to the subject of peak oil.

http://wolf.readinglitho.co.uk/

[eastbay]

As you new members can see, a few of the older members here have turned a bit 'surly' and soured over time probably due to immersing themselves too deeply in pessimism and doom. Please don't let them drive you away with their lack of kindness and foul language (you might want to keep the younger kids away). If you've been on other chat rooms or boards you know by now that this sort of thing pops up everywhere. We tolerate it here as one would a beloved crazy friend or relative. You will learn to skip and ignore some of what's posted, but it's generally like that everywhere, it seems.

Keep in mind most people here are really cool and friendly and they're helpful offering neat and useful tidbits of very sound advice to assist us all as we progress through this Common Coming Storm.

Very, very nice to see you all here. I can't wait to read more about what brings all of you newer people all here. I'm sure the regulars and 'old timers' are eager to read about it too!

Great to see you!!

[katkinkate]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('eastbay', '.')....Keep in mind most people here are really cool and friendly and they're helpful offering neat and useful tidbits of very sound advice .......

[Cog]

I've been a member of a survivalist board for over a year due to some weather events which shut down the electrical grid. I am working on self-sufficient living and gardening. About 2 weeks ago I was doing some research about the high gasoline prices and came across the Hubbert peak oil curve . Since I was a geology major in college, I read through the science of it and became convinced he was onto something real. Further googling for more information brought me here.

[patience]

I only found this forum a few months ago, but got interested like you Cog, from my own searching after the Oil Embargo way back in the 70's. No internet then, and scant info. But Marks' Mechanical Engineering Handbook at the time had a section on fuel reserves, which a friend and I found, and discovered the predictions of the time. A real eye opener! I've been living differently since then.

[jasonraymondson]

As the official village idiot and PO's sexiest man , I welcome you all to Peakoil.com

Just remember that most of the people on this forum are pretty well the outlier of the human population. This does not make us wrong nor does it necessarily make us right either. There are a lot of insightful people posting here and as long as you can avoid Golem you should be able to learn quite a bit. You can probably learn a lot from golem as well, but most likely he will just drive you insane.

So welcome all and try not to scare yourself to much from the information you gleam from these pages.

[eastbay]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('katkinkate', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('eastbay', '.')....Keep in mind most people here are really cool and friendly and they're helpful offering neat and useful tidbits of very sound advice .......

[davep]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('eastbay', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('katkinkate', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('eastbay', '.')....Keep in mind most people here are really cool and friendly and they're helpful offering neat and useful tidbits of very sound advice .......

[Bella]

Excellent forum, I came here from Drudge. I grew up Mormon, and while I rejoice to be free of that cult; It inculated me with apocalytptic teachings from my early years and this tends to color my musings. I have found myself to be a sort of reluctant prophet, in the 80's I prophesied that America would find itself in a war where we (despite our high ideals) are the BAD guys. To my deep regret this came true in spades as an irresponsible cabal made war to enrich themselves on taxpayer dollars and stolen resources. I have also made the grim prognostication that when Deisel hits $8 per gallon all the folks who get every calorie they eat from the supermarket are gonna be getting HUNGRY. Perhaps we can throw the bums outa Washington, but it is already too late for gasoline. (I am resigned to the fact that my 1993 jeep is likely the last internal combustion vehicle I will own.)
I personally ain't the type to make prophecies of doom and gloom then go back to sittin' on me rump. Me and mine are struggling to a goal of sustainability and have been for the last decade, but a lot of the resources we'd like to access just ain't accessable. Yet Hope is about just muddlin' through. I've already lived thru some hard times, so I got some experience in the notion of "root hog or die", but I know most Americans are soft as overcooked noodles. Brace yourselves... It's coming. Bella

[Aaron]

Hey guys,

Just swooping in and out saying hello to everyone.

Welcome.

543 new members... yesterday.