Dear friends, I'm afraid, human nature and American corporate "bubble" culture being what it is, we can expect widespread denial to continue until people pull up to the pumps in their SUVs only to find, either that there is nothing to pump, or that the price per gallon has jumped from $24 to $38.00 per gallon in the last half-hour. And then, as they leave their abandoned SUVs and walk by the nearest big box Food Lion, they will see nothing but empty shelves and long lines of angry, desperate people like themselves waiting for the next shipment of vegetables from California (at $30.00 per tomato) that are actually rotting somewhere in Nebraska because the truck has run out of fuel... That being the case, let's quickly abandon any thought that anyone with a vested interest in the status quo--government leaders, corporations, municipal officials, the mainstream media, etc.--will do anything remotely intelligent or useful, or even tell us any truth, until it is far too late and the truth is all around us. We're on our own, no less than the desperate, stranded poor of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. That being the case, what should we be doing, starting today? * stockpile extra canned foods and fresh water NOW, before the food prices skyrocket and the panic buying starts, and keep it in a safe place under lock and key. *if, like me, you live in an area with long autumns and temperate winters, plant a winter veggie garden. Otherwise, build a greenhouse. If you don't know how, ask a friend to help you. Make it a community project. *get to know, and organize, your neighbors--arrange local showings of "End of Suburbia" or "Peak Oil: Imposed by Nature" and follow with a practical discussion of how localities everywhere can organize to grow and share food, construct solar energy grids, set up Community-Supported Agriculture networks, exchange skills and expertise, and provide mutual support networks for neighbors in crisis--i.e. those without food, heat, or jobs. *educate and mobilize your reference groups--your employers, your churches/synagogues/mosques, your volunteer organizations--to similarly create mutual support networks, starting with car pools, in whatever way they can. Start with a showing of either of the Peak Oil DVDs to raise the issue, and then generate pragmatic discussions on local organizing, mutual support, and networking with other groups/organizations/churches who are doing likewise. We are entering a chaotic future, where we will be able to predict very little. The old future has been canceled for lack of fuel. Therefore, we need to take advantage of one key aspect of chaotic regimes--"sensitivity to local conditions" (i.e. the Butterfly Effect)--that is, the creative, deliberate, and courageous projects that each of us undertakes NOW can, if they catch on, dramatically alter the shape of the future for all of us. So again, let us adhere to our Post Carbon mantra: Grow gardens. Grow communities. Grow a local, sustainable economy from the ground up. Forget all the rest...and ignore George W. Bush and his clueless cronies. They no longer matter. We're on our own. Best wishes, Thomas I. Ellis