Early Retirement Extreme Forums

That sucks. My birthday is 9/29. Unlike many people my age I like my birthdays, as I can retire at 56. I'll be 52 next month. But I often figure that a SHTF scenario is my best option for early retirement.

jennypenny wrote:Even a lot of my Catholic acquaintances will admit that they've entertained the possibility that Pope Francis really is the last Pope and wonder if this is it.

At least I won't have to wait long to see if the second one is true.

That Pope thing is sad. Finally they get a Pope that I like (except for all that stuff about God and saints and miracles) and what do the Catholics do? They call him the anti-Pope. Sheesh!

If I were conspiratorially minded (and a believer) I'd wonder if God wasn't setting us up for the old bait-and-switch.

Oh, you have seen nothing of the full-on craziness. There was an alleged seer named "Maria Divine Mercy" who ran a website called "The Warning Second Coming" (now taken down) for years who had a huge following and all kinds of conspiracy theories: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdY0zUe8Dwo

Turns out she was just a fraudster trying to make a buck: https://midwaystreet.wordpress.com/updates/

I think there's a very good business in conspiracies on the internet these days.

A dreadlocked German boomer-hippie moved into the cottage next door. When I told him I'm American he immediately steered the conversation to the Yellowstone super-volcano that has apparently become very active. According to him, people who are in tune with the earth's energy flows believe it is going to blow in September. There was also something about Russian ships off the west coast, but I had stopped listening by then. Add that to the list of things to look forward to next month.

I was in Yellowstone in July. I have to say that Old Faithful was not nearly as faithful as the geyser of my youth.

There did not appear to be any increased volcanic activity. But there was a really dumb tourist who tried to take a selfie with a bison and got gored.

Dragline wrote:I There did not appear to be any increased volcanic activity. But there was a really dumb tourist who tried to take a selfie with a bison and got gored.

I'll mention that to my neighbor. I'm sure the bison incident was a manufactured diversion. '

Russian ships

https://medium.com/war-is-boring/the-ru ... ce344ebf96

A riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma;



but perhaps there is a key.

Makes sense.

More fuel for the the-world-is-going-to-end-this-week fire. The world is wonky because Mercury is in retrograde.

I have to admit, this end-of-the-world scenario is much more fun than the Mayan one. So many different groups jumping into the fray with so many different theories. If the world does end, how will we know which group was right?

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I had to do a bit of research on Malaysia this weekend (don't ask), and I read that they intercepted several cell phone signals and communications from people on the missing flight for days after the supposed crash. In all seriousness, I wonder if the plane was taken somewhere and then scuttled later.

It seems like end-of-the-world ideas always seem to crop up in Sept-Oct-Nov. I wonder if it has to do with the fact that it is fall in the northern hemisphere when leaves are changing and gardens are dying. That everyday reminder of the inevitable leads to fear...

jennypenny wrote:You wouldn't believe what else is in the mix that I didn't list because I don't want to offend anyone or derail the thread. A prepper friend and I have been watching all of this with fascination and a giant bowl of popcorn. That said, there's no denying that the last 10 days of September are chock-a-block with political events, and an incident during any one of them could ignite the hysteria you mentioned.

It's amazing what "abstinence from culture" can do....I had no idea the world was going to end this week!

When it comes down to it, I often wonder what being informed about anything really does for us on an individual level. If you lived your life in complete vacuum from culture and what's going on around you and focused on your direct life and things that bring you joy and happiness....what would happen? {unless of course following these things brings you joy}

I hope to find out (more than I already have) in the coming years.

I spoke with an ex-girlfriend last week. Her husband is going camping for the Oct 1 period in case the world ends, because he truly believes it will, LOL [his favorite conspiracy theory is that Obama will declare martial law due to all the other crises so he can server a third term]. She, on the other hand, said, "Well if chaos is coming, then my role is to help folks. That's what emergency management is all about!"

Opinion: Currency, debt, the economy, etc., is being manipulated not only to enrich the elite, but to destroy any "middle class".

jacob wrote:http://livingstingy.blogspot.com/2015/0 ... nergy.html

What an awesome piece! I'd love to quote the whole thing, but redundancy. My favorite piece of snark was:

The premise of these discussion groups is that the government is all-powerful and evil and of course wants to suppress technology because they are in debt to the oil companies. And of course, the folks who think this, never worked for the government and don't realize how poorly it is run. Our government, on a good day, can barely conspire to make a cup of coffee, much less orchestrate a new world order.

That entire blog is pretty much awesome.

Well, it's sundown here, so it's officially the start of Yom Kippur. I'm heading out to sit in a beach chair in the yard with my Mossberg and my tin foil hat to wait for TEOTWAWKI. It's been nice knowing y'all.

And the Pope has landed and drove off in a suspicious looking Fiat after taking instructions from Obama on the tarmac at Andrews AFB.

Now where is that lunar eclipse?

GandK wrote:

The premise of these discussion groups is that the government is all-powerful and evil and of course wants to suppress technology because they are in debt to the oil companies.

The funny thing is that the people who think this turn right around and complain about the ineptness of the government concerning programs they are against. So, is the government all powerful/omniscient or is it inept? In reality, the government takes on very difficult and very grey problems with a massive number of variables that change often and aren't always measurable. This increases the perception of the actual ineptness that exists in government. Of course, private industry would not have any better luck with the majority of the problems government tries to solve, but it sounds good. It's much easier to sell shirts or put together computers than it is to tackle poverty, healthcare, patents, drug testing, foreign policy, etc.