I’m posting this link to this story at the bottom not because I’m Conservative. Heck, I’m so Conservative that I think Trump is a Liberal. Think of me as somewhat to the right of Atilla the Hun.

The point made in the article that a new Dark Age is coming is true regardless of your political persuasion. It’s hard to argue that a new Dark Age ISN’T coming with the surge of tyrannical governments through much of the Western World and the rise of various forms of Barbarism being imported into most Western countries to make up for declining birth rates. Yesterday I watched a British man arrested by an Armed Response of 6 Officers because of a Facebook post criticizing uncontrolled immigration. Ultimately the uneducated and clearly barbarian populations will within a generation or two at the most seize control as the majority. South Africa was once a 1st World Nuclear Power with a 1st rate economy, military, standard of living and top of the line industrial infrastructure.

Today it is a 3rd world country on par with Haiti and Zimbabwe. It’s not a Racial thing. It’s a Culture and Civilizational thing and wont be reversed as long as Tribalism is the governing culture in Africa.

Which brings me to the gist of it. In the first Dark Age the world climbed out of it by discovering new ways of thinking leading to new ways to use resources and eventually break into the Industrial Age from which grew our modern world.

That depended on easy access to coal, metals, power and eventually to oil which powers and moves the modern world.

Even today finding and extracting oil requires advanced technology which in turn relies on a a broad and deep technological infrastructure. When a new Dark Age tries to climb out the darkness and back into the light those resources won’t BE easily accessible.

About the only one that will is coal and that is not energy dense enough to take the world much beyond the late 1800s. Many metals require mining techniqes and technology that won’t be available. Oil is pretty much out of the question.

So when the next Dark Age come… the Human Race is unlikely to climb fully back out of it. 500 years from now about the best that can be expected is something like the mid to late 1800s and even that is optimistic.

The Librarian

https://townhall.com/columnists/marklewis/2026/03/17/the-world-better-get-ready-for-the-new-dark-ages-n2672920

I’ve added a permanent link on the Right side of the Page that links to a page containing all the Information I have available on Kwik/zim Installations and the problems folks encounter with them.

The Librarian

I have added a page which, in hindsight, it was incredibly stupid not to have added long ago.

I replaced the page in the Main Index that was showing Books Added In Last 180 Days with a page that lists all .ZIP files from the Categories with download links on that page.

As you know every Category Index Page lists a .ZIP file that contains all of the books in that Category and that .ZIP file gets updated whenever I add books to a Category. Downloading that single file is easier than downloading the individual books. But it is so much easier if I just put them all in a single page where you can just consecutively download them.

Should make life a lot easier. All I can do is apologize for my amazing blindness in NOT thinking of that before now.

The Librarian

Had a bit of lag this morning between getting up and getting fully awake. Spent a little time mindlessly browsing videos while imbibing enough caffeine to get this old body jumpstarted.

I was somewhat impressed with the HUGE number of videos of young couples (and some not so young) buying up old, sometimes crumbling, buildings and then getting by making videos of renovating them to live in and on which to build a life. Makes me think that just maybe these newer generations aren’t completely lost souls.

When I was young the things we protested about and fought over in the 60s weren’t anything of which to be particularly proud. The legacy much of it left was destructive and did more harm than good. Most of what we built was nonsensical and doomed to failure like Communes and Violent Political Movements. Tearing things down is easy. Building something to leave behind you is a lot harder. Many of the more cynical got comfortably rich on the naivete of young idealists providing free money and free labor in Communes or being the useful idiots sacrificed in political violence or the unwed mothers left with children to raise alone by “Free Love” or the lives shattered by drugs.

So it’s comforting to know that a lot of the young folks do see value in getting their hands dirty building, creating, taking something old and making it new again. Learning how to once again do the things we’ve forgotten or discarded. Give me at least some glimmer of hope for the future… not much… but some.

The Librarian

I’ve just added a new book (Old Dr Carlin’s Recipes 1881) into the Formulas Category. You can find it by sorting on date on that Index Page.

It’s a pretty well known book from 1881 and is the one out of the various books of it’s type that I decided to clean up and format for printing. I have a print set built and will be printing and binding a bunch of them next week when I’m spending a few days in the print shop to also print and bind some more Books of the Farm sets.

The printed and bound copy will be significantly less expensive than those available in Amazon and elsewhere.

In the printed and bound copies I have removed the chapter on “Medicine and Surgery” because the remedies in it are truly frightening often being comprised of things like Acetate of Lead, Mercury, Strychnine, Arsenic, Hemlock, Opium and a number of other substances and materials that are extremely dangerous and potentially fatal. As such that section of the book is a completely useless waste of paper. That section is still in the digital copy in the Library if you want to look through it for entertainment.

Seriously… don even think of using any of THAT information!

The rest of the book has a lot of interesting and potentially practical formulas and recipes comprising methods for making many things we now normally buy and have no idea how to make ourselves. Even there though caution is advised.

Many folks in the 1880 were familiar with things like making soap using Lye and it was common knowledge that Lye could cause serious burns if left in contact with the skin. It doesn’t even have to be mentioned in the book because EVERYONE already knew that. Many people in the 2000s DON’T know that never having had any experience handling or producing Lye. It BURNS!!! Wear gloves! Wear goggles! It is seriously nasty stuff to work with if you get careless.

So before actually using any of the formulas/recipes in this book, as interesting as many of them are, take some time to research the materials and substances mentioned and make sure you understand any risks associated with them.

I should have the new books added to the store sometime next week for anyone interested.

The Librarian

Did a little more research on the Flash Drive prices and probably should have already known this but I’ve been a bit sidelined taking care of Family here.

The large and accelerating growth in AI Data Centers is sucking up the entire world production of memory circuits which is leading to a shortage in the consumer market and higher prices due to to demand. So far Consumer Flash drives have about doubled in price from just a month or so ago. Projections are that could last through this year and possibly next year as well.

So at least for now I’m not buying any more Flash Drives for the Library copies. The good news is that the price of the smaller capacity hard drives like the 2.5″ 320gb drives I use have not dramatically increased in price and can still be found at reasonable prices.

Only tricky part is at this point the U.S. supply is drying up and you have to order them to be shipped from manufacturing centers in China where Toshiba expanded much of their production over the last year or two. That of course comes with about a 3-4 week delivery time.

So for now I’ll continue to make Library copies available in Hard drive only since I sent out my last Flash Drive this morning. I removed the Book of the Farm/Flash Drive combo but will be reposting it later today as a Book of the Farm/Hard Drive combination.

Also working on a new book to print and bind. It’s the Old Doctor Carlin’s Recipes 1881. The digitized copies I’ve been able to find are reasonable quality but the backgrounds of the pages are so discolored as to make direct printing really difficult to read. I’m dumping it to image format then doing what I did with Book of the Farm and cleaning it up page by page as I have the time. Since it’s not as big nor quite as bad as some of the BotF copies it shouldn’t take too long to get it cleaned and ready to print.

The Librarian

I am down to just a couple more Flash Drives on the shelf so as usual I went online to order some more to avoid running out. I was shocked to see that Flash drive prices have basically doubled since the last time I ordered some just a few weeks ago.

I know some Hard Drive companies are running 24/7 shifts and are essentially sold out through 2027 due to the massive increase in demand driven by the expansion of AI data centers. I’m not sure if that has affected Flash Drives prices or whether there is some other factor at play.

But bottom line is once these Flash Drives I have on the shelf are gone I won’t be buying anymore until the prices go back to a normal level. Hard Drives I’m able to find at normal prices and I ordered some more of those this morning.

Once the existing stock of Flash Drives is gone I’ll be limited to the Hard Drive copies of the Library until the Flash Drive market stabilizes.

The Librarian

Thanks to Michael P. who suggested I add a file with a full list of books in it. He emailed me a week or so ago and suggested it and I said I’d look into doing that then forgot when I got distracted by tasks around home.

He kindly took it upon himself to compile the list and send it to me. I added it to the Library and added a link to it on the Main Index Page which lists all the Categories.

It’s a simple CSV file with Category, Title and Size columns that should load into any spreadsheet program. It’s currently sorted by Category and then Title.

Thanks Michael.

The Librarian

I enjoy reading Ward Clark’s writings and I especially liked this one. He’s writing about new Science making it more likely to be able to predict a serious Solar Storm and CME.

He reports that the main period of vulnerability is mid-2025 through mid-2026 and early 2027.

He mentions the possible effects of a Carrington Event level storm and it’s destruction of the power grid. What I particularly liked is his characterization of it as taking the world back to the 1850s and then saying:

“The problem is that we’d still have our 2026 population, most of whom lack the necessary skills to survive in a world set at 1850. You’re talking about a major societal collapse, mass starvation, and deaths possibly in the billions.”

https://redstate.com/wardclark/2026/02/18/can-we-now-predict-dangerous-solar-storms-n2199312

The Librarian

This is actually kind of a good article. Not good in the sense that it once more points out the appalling fragility of the U.S. Power Grid and just how easily it can be damaged or even destroyed. potentially killing Millions.

But good in the sense that this is a fairly mainstream source and that the subject is becoming more and more commonly mentioned in the News and other discussions.

Maybe one of these days someone will take it seriously and actually DO SOMETHING about it. Not holding my breath though.

https://townhall.com/columnists/pauldriessen/2026/02/14/can-the-us-grid-handle-the-next-winter-storm-fern-or-major-solar-flares-n2671313

The Librarian

Hefty X-8.1 Class Flare yesterday evening. Caused some radio blackouts in South America and the Southern Atlantic. There has been a bunch of CME ejections but NOAA is still not sure where they’re headed. Might be toward Earth but still unknown.

An X8 is not really strong enough to do any significant damage. Could possibly trip a few grid breakers if it hits Earth squarely but even that is just a possibility.

Still this one huge sunspot  threw off 20+ M Class Flares and 4 X Class Flares yesterday. It’s almost guaranteed to keep showing off today. Since it’s just starting to swing across the face of the Sun to face us it bears watching. I suggest checking spaceweather.com periodically during the day to see what it’s going to produce today (Monday).

The Librarian

Ran across another story on just how fragile the national power grid is and thought I’d post it. Folks like these keep on warning the government and the utilities and no one seems to be making even a pretense of dealing with it.

They have, finally, started abandoning the Green Energy Scam and stopping the shut down of Actual power plants using Gas and Coal so the SUPPLY issue at least is being address. There is even a significant push for a renewal of the Nuclear Power Industry though that is measured in decades where as coal and gas plants can be built in a year or two.

But even if they do significantly increase real power generation capability the grid itself won’t handle the increase in demand. Certainly not with all the Data Center Power Black Holes they want to build.

All we can do it hope. But as an instructor once told me “Hope is not a Strategy.”

https://townhall.com/columnists/sarah-montalbano/2026/02/01/grid-monitor-warns-of-blackouts-that-utilities-can-still-prevent-n2670441

The Librarian

Woke up this morning to over a foot of snow outside. Looks like about 13-14 inches on flat surface away from the house.

I am officially Impressed. Cat traipsed all over the porch in 3-4 inch snow looking for a way to get down to go chase and kill things. Instead he’s walking around the house yelling his head off to express his disapproval and demand that someone FIX it.

So not going anywhere anytime soon. If it’s this deep here I can imagine further inland. Now for the Deer and Crows

Stay Safe.

The Librarian

Surprisingly we actually did get about 4 inches of snow here in Hampstead. Usually this close to the shore the warmth from the Gulf Stream just off shore keeps it inland a ways. But by dusk today when it seems to have stopped coming down we got a nice little 3-4 inches. It’s all going to melt off over the next day or two.

The dogs are not amused. The cat is VERY not amused. Going to hate getting up in the morning and trudging out to clear off the crow feeder to put out the Purina Crow Chow and their Peanuts. Also have to sweep an area for the deer’s corn too. My wife can’t make the walk out there anymore but she enjoys watching them on the camera mounted out there.

Been spending more time helping her this past week since she’s feeling a bit poorly. But she seems to be pepping up a little today with some new medication. You do what you can and wish you could do more… but have to accept that you can’t.

Hope everyone is staying safe and warm because I know this is a lot worse in other areas than it is here.

The Librarian

I have small dogs one of which has trouble with stairs. So I have a ramp attached to the stairs on which they can run up and down as needed.

This morning I let them out to do their morning business. They hit the ramp and had quite a surprised look on their faces when they hit the glare ice and slid all the way down. They went ahead and took care of business then tried to come back in out of the cold.

I wish I had taken the opportunity to grab my phone and video them trying to get up the ramp. Walking failed so they backed up and ran at it which also failed. So they backed WAY up and hit it a a full out run… The best they could do was make it about half way running as hard as they could while slipping on the ice.

After they tried a couple times I went ahead and carried them up the stairs to the deck so they could run inside where they ran back to a small space heater blowing warm air that we turn on for them for a while on cold mornings.

And we’ll be staying inside most of the day as well. No snow but glare ice covering everything.

I put food out for a local crow flock on a flat feeder raised up where squirrels can’t get to it. Even the crows were having a hard time. They landed on the feeder then slid right across it until they hit the raised edge. They quickly learned to land ON the raised edge and walk slowly towards the food in the middle.

The Librarian

I hope everyone is dug in and ready for the Winter Storm that has the media in such a state of panic and frenzy. When I was young we used to call this “Weather” and looked forward to snow days from school and getting to go play in the snow then sit down later with hot chocolate and movies on TV (when they still made movies worth watching).

Nowadays I’m all for staying inside and letting others play in that crap. Nowadays to the media it’s the latest “OMG! YOU’RE ALL GOING TO DIE!” story.

Here in Coastal NC we’re just a tad below the storm path. Even a hundred miles or so north they’re looking at snow and ice. I guess this close the Gulf Stream the Ocean can tell the land storm to bugger off and get it’s way. Most we’re looking at here is some cold and maybe some rain tomorrow.

But a lot of you are well north in the path of it. So stay warm and inside and let the kids play in the snow.

On another note the nice silicon hard drive sleeves I’ve used for many years and which I use on the hard drive copies of the library are getting REALLY hard to find. I ordered some more hard drives today and after a serious search found a few people selling some of them so I was able to order enough from two of them. They used to be all over Amazon and Ebay but perhaps the Chinese manufacturer decided to make something else instead. So looks like I’m going to have to start looking for an alternative.

And no I’m not looking seriously at small portable drives. Far too many of them come with a nice case but a seriously low quality hard drive. I actually ran across a few that came with used drives in a new case. I’ve cracked open the case on some of the really cheap ones and the drives were so poorly soldered to a cheap interface that a hard thump would break them. Beauty really IS on skin deep in the case of a lot of electronics. So I’ll stick to name brand, new drives thank you.

Stay Warm.

The Librarian

Second Post today.

I got 39 new books added to the Brewing and Distilling Category.

Mixed collection of stuff… historical, technical, how-to and various others.

They will show up in the Last 30 Days Page or in the Category Page if you sort by date and the ZIP file in that category has been updated.

The Librarian

I’ve written about Disease in the past and how it could easily devastate, if not completely destroy, a community trying to rebuild and having to conserve energy and cut corners as much as possible out of sheer necessity.

Disease prevention AIN’T one of the corners that can be cut. Ward’s article is about the increasingly spread of pretty serious diseases even in modern cities where the infrastructure is still relatively intact. Even California with it’s homeless, Illegal Alien invasion, feces filled streets, poverty and crime out of control still dos have an intact Medical, Law Enforcement, Electricity/Water/Sewage and Sanitation Department intact.

And yet even these technologically advanced cites are falling prey to disease. That’s a phenomenon relatively new. In years prior to a decade or so ago that simply didn’t happen. That’s because their Sanitation rules were enforced fairly stringently because the people doing so KNEW that a failure on their part could result in….oh…rampant outbreaks of disease.

So the enforcement of Disease Prevention, Sewage Control, Vermin Control, Water Purification, Garbage Disposal, Cleanliness, Soap, Laundry and the entire panoply of Sanitation is NOT an option if you want to survive.

If this can happen in “Modern” cities imagine what it could do to a small community living at a much lower technological level and with essentially ZERO Medical Infrastructure.

https://redstate.com/wardclark/2026/01/15/the-downfall-of-americas-cities-plague-plague-and-more-plague-n2198186

The Librarian

I read this story this morning about San Francisco handing out booze to alcoholics on the street along with plenty of other freebies and laughed at first since I assumed it was Satire from the Babylon Bee.

I would say I was “shocked” when I realized it was NOT satire but an actual News Story but I won’t. That’s because it was not shocking at all or even that surprising. I’m kind of leaning these days towards believing that an EMP that destroys the grid and thus Western Civilization is not our primary concern. If an EMP hits it will simply be the final blows in the destruction we are already doing.

The Librarian

p.s. Have some new books to add to the Brewing Category. I’ll try to get them added before the weekend.

Globe Grievance: San Francisco Health Agency Gives Free Booze to Homeless Alcoholics

Just a little follow up on yesterday’s Post about the Drug problem in the U.S. and how so many enable it and essentially subsidize it rather than Treating it.

https://pjmedia.com/victoria-taft/2026/01/05/seattles-new-socialist-regime-at-city-hall-misses-the-downtown-fentanyl-folds-n4947935

The Librarian

I was happy to see Maduro of Venezuela taken down for the sake of the People of Venezuela. Hopefully (and it’s a toss up) they can now elect someone rational rather than another Socialist. Not holding my breath…

Having been in law Enforcement and earlier doing some work in Drug Treatment I have to express my thoughts on this.

As a success in the “War on Drugs”… no. Total waste or time and money. My ex-Brother in Law was a highly respect PhD Economist and led a team of Economists and Law Enforcement folks many years ago in a deep study for the Feds on the Drug Trade. One of the most important conclusions reached that was unanimous was that Drug Interdiction, seizing drugs being transported, did nothing whatsoever to hurt the Cartels, that Demand was the issue. That study was read and then dropped in a file cabinet. No political gains, votes or money in treating drug addicts.

When you seize drugs in shipment the price immediately adjusts for all other drugs and the Cartels make pretty much the SAME AMOUNT OF MONEY. At the same time the amount being seized is such a small percentage of the drugs being moved that there is not a single city in the U.S. where there is even the most minimal shortage of drugs.

Destroy one Cartel and either a new rises to take it’s place or another Cartel expands to fill the market opening. They are Businesses competing for market share and not adverse to using violence rather than advertising.

The foundation of the situation is that there is a fixed (and some say growing) DEMAND for drugs in the U.S. Just as during Prohibition when there is a Demand someone will Supply that Demand and get rich doing so especially if you have the government helping destroy your competition. Unlike other products drug shortages do NOT reduce Demand. Shortages, when they do occur, which is rare, simply drive up the price because Users WILL satisfy their Demand at ANY price.

Until the U.S. gets serious and puts some percentage of that money towards Treatment to DECREASE the Demand we will continue wasting Money and Lives in a fruitless effort to drain the sea with a teaspoon.

Tragically there are far too many who address the problem by providing drug users with food, money, clothing, housing, medical care and in some places drug paraphernalia and even drugs themselves… essentially subsidizing and enabling Drug Abuse. This is the kind of sick, twisted “compassion” that serves only to make the givers feel virtuous while dooming those they are purportedly “helping”. That’s one of the reasons the Demand is growing.

Another problem is that the “War of Drugs” is politically sexy. It makes for great TV. It makes for great movies with heroes eradicating Cartels and evil doers. Makes for great sound bites at Press Conferences. Sadly it does nothing to help the country. I’m 74 and I expect that when I die the “War on Drugs” will still be going on with the same waste of lives and money.

So Maduro’s capture will probably help Venezuela. As far as Drugs though the other Cartels are already rushing to fill the gap left by his early retirement.

The Librarian

I have had a couple discussions with several people recently about the consequences of an EMP on the world and some interesting issues arose.

In many parts of the world… Central America, South American, Asia, Africa… if a Carrington Event level EMP occurred and destroyed the Power Grid and the Industrial/Technological infrastructure a significant percentage of people in those regions would be relatively unaffected. People practicing subsistence level farming in South America or much of Africa or Asia would likely not even be aware that such an even had taken place until and unless they travelled to areas where technology and a power grid was common.

In many of what we call 3rd world countries a much larger percentage of the population knows and uses what we would call “primitive” skills than is true in say the U.S. or Europe.

In much of the world outside the major industrialized nations if you are poor you either find a way to survive or you perish. The poor of Central America survive as they do in Africa, Asia and elsewhere. They do so because there is no other option and no “safety net”.

In most of the Western, Industrialized nations the poor are “taken care of”. In the U.S. and Europe most of the poor are fed and housed and provided for in ways that to much of the world seems like Wealth. Few poor in the U.S. lack cell phones or cars or TVs or at least basic medical care.  At the same time those poor have virtually ZERO skills or knowledge that would help them survive a societal collapse. For many their “survival skills” consist of knowing how to work the “System”.

In Western Industrialized nations it is only the economically well off who have the leisure to learn “primitive” skills and they do it more as a hobby than something they have to rely on daily. Even those who choose to live “off-grid” do so with the knowledge that there is still a social “safety net” available if they fail.

Which leads to an interesting demographic consequence. In much of the 3rd world it is the poor who will survive since they already possess many of the skills and the knowledge of how to live in a non-electrical, no-technological world. In the Western Nations it is more likely to be the well off since the poor of these nations have virtually no skills or knowledge.

One of the results is that a much larger percentage of the population of 3rd world nations and regions will survive whereas in the Western, Industrialized nations the majority of the population will NOT survive due simply to lack of skills needed for even a subsistence existence.

Obviously there are exceptions and special cases. But the basic paradigm still exists and from it grow a lot of other corollary issues.

The Librarian

Merry Christmas to all and no AIs have nothing to do with it.

I mention AI because I watched a talking head on Television yesterday talking about AI and children. I don’t normally watch TV but had a news program on my leftmost monitor while I was working on a spreadsheet and what he was saying captured my attention for a few minutes.

He was promoting the idea that children in schools should spend less time learning knowledge and skills other than reading and more time learning how to interact more efficiently with AI systems. Since AIs have all of the world’s knowledge on call as needed there is no longer any need for children to actually learn anything. They can simply ask an AI when they require knowledge or information.

We’ve already reached a point where the majority of people in Western Civilization have few if any skills that would keep them alive in the absence of Electricity. It’s kind of sad to think that there are people promoting the idea of learning even LESS.

Fortunately there is a growing movement of people wanting to relearn old skills, to reacquire the knowledge that got lost through Convenience. I hope it continues to grow.

The Librarian

I’ve just added a new Category named Sulphuric Acid. In modern English that’s more commonly spelled Sulfuric and a couple of the books in the Category use the modern spelling but I chose to use the one predominant among the books in the group.

Sulfuric Acid is probably one of the most important chemicals used in the development of the Industrial Age and it’s not exaggeration to say that without it’s doubtful the Industrial Age would have proceeded at the speed it did. It’s an essential part of most metal production, fertilizer production, chemical synthesis, industrial cleaning. There is hardly an aspect of Industry that does not either use or is dependent on Sulfuric Acid.

There are a few references to its production in some of the other books in various categories but none specifically devoted to it’s Production as a primary goal.

Hope you find them as interesting as I do.

The Librarian

Just ran across this article this morning and thought I’d post it.

As AI booms, U.S. ignores one threat that could turn off everything

Nothing new but interesting to see the threat of an EMP discussed in the context of the AI boom.

The Librarian

I’ve just added a new Category named Soap. That would seem to be one of the more obvious and essential subjects for a rebuilding Society but early on I had a lot of problems finding books on the subject.

There are, of course, a number of chapters and sections in other books like ones on Homemaking and Home Economics and similar areas but I really had a hard time finding books on the specific subject when I looked a few years ago. Fortunately since that time there have been a number of them digitized and showing up in various collections.

There are about a dozen and a half and most lean toward that manufacturing side rather than making a few bars in your kitchen or utility room. But the information is much the same on formulas, ingredients, chemistry and includes a lot of processing information that would be just as useful to someone making large batches by hand.

The .ZIP file is included of course and they can be found in either the Category page or on the Last 30 Days page.

The Librarian

I’ve just added about two dozen files to the Wind and Water Category. They are all directly Water related. I’ve also updated the ZIP file to include the new files.

I have considered splitting that Category into two separate Categories and had that suggested many time but always decide against it.

A lot of folks bring up the subject of Wind Power for Electrical Generation. As recent history has demonstrated, rather conclusively, to anyone who really bothers to look Wind Power as a primary electrical source is a complete and truly epic failure.

For an off-grid cabin with a battery room? Sure. For a sailboat in mid-Ocean? Fine.

As a source of RELIABLE and predictable power on land able to power an industrial economy… not so much. A lot of countries have spent hundreds of billions of dollar building truly awesome windmills only to discover that they still had to keep conventional power generation facilities operating to provide reliable and constant power to their industrial economy not to mention to People’s homes in winter. Some were foolish enough to shut down those conventional sources resulting in blackouts and brownouts across many of their countries. You can shut a factory down when power fails. Not so much heating in People’s homes in mid winter in northern Europe.

I’ve also been highly entertainer by the way ardent Environmentalists who push Wind Power always suddenly go silent and look distinctly uncomfortable when asked about the elephant in the room of disposing of the several hundred feet long, up to 26 tons blades made of fiberglass when they wear out. As of now they just continue piling up in fields all across the world and everyone just pretends the problem doesn’t exist and looks the other way.

So I’m not wasting time looking for Wind Power books related to Electrical generation. Most Wind Power use in pre-electrical days was used for pumping water. That’s what I look for. Most of the materials, supplies and electronics needed for wind generated electricity won’t be available after an EMP or some other event that takes down the Grid.

I’m currently working on some additional files for Soap, Brewing and Sulphuric Acid and should have those cataloged and added sometime during the next week.

I have a pretty large backlog of files I’ve found here and there and had sent to me by folks. Now that the winter is here and weather is not great for outside work I have more indoor time to work on the files. I’m going to try to work on them regularly until I get caught up. Life has a way of messing up plans but I’ll do the best I can.

The Librarian

As someone who has built airplane models since I was a kid (and still do when I can) I am always fascinated and intrigued by books on the early days of airplane technology.

The people who built and flew these early rickety and fragile machines were either incredibly courageous or incredibly foolhardy and insane… perhaps a combination of all three.

I’ve just added a few more books on building aeroplanes as they were called early on. These are specific books on the construction and design of aeroplanes that pretty much encompass everything that was known in the first decade or so of the 1900s.

I’ve updated the Category ZIP file and finally found the code that was excluding the .ZIP files. WHY I excluded them originally I have NO IDEA but it’s now fixed

The Librarian

I just added 20 new Sliderule books to the Sliderules Category. Nothing major just some more instruction manuals I have run across for various makes and models of sliderules.

To me one of basic essential supply for long term survival are some sliderules tucked away. Keep any eye out at yard sales and estate sales. They can often be picked up for a couple dollars. Alternately you can print out some of the Slide Rule Images in the Category and make your own.

Truth is pretty much any manual for any sliderule can teach you the basics of how to use one. Some makes and models have unique tables on them for particular functions that another might not but once you grasp the basic functions of one you can use pretty much any other.

The circular sliderules are a bit different than a standard straight one since the tables wrap around and allow some functionality that a straight line one doesn’t. That is quite specialized however and if you look at any of the thousands of pictures of NASA Engineers working on getting man to the Moon it’s rare to see a circular rule.

As to what sliderules have to do with anything… there won’t be any calculators after an EMP or other collapse that takes out the grid. Sliderules however got us to the Moon. They built Hoover Dam and the Interstates and pretty much every airplane and automobile prior to the 80s. They are simple, robust and basically just a couple pieces of wood with printing on them… yet powerful enough to design spaceships and airplanes and massive industrial infrastructure. They were really only abandoned in the 70s and 80s as they were replaced by Electronic Calculators.

The Librarian

p.s. The Zip file in the Category has been updated too though for some reason it doesn’t show up in the Last 30 Days pages. Looking into that.

We had to travel up to Duke University yesterday to consult with a Doctor there. It’s about a 2.5 hour trip, Interstate to within a couple miles of the destination and no big deal except navigating the narrow, twisty streets around Duke itself. I used the map app on my phone which is something I actually only started doing about a year or so ago. Prior to that I plotted out routes and printed paper maps as I have my whole life.

We stopped at a Rest Stop on the way and I noticed that the only map there was on a wall behind plexiglass. I remembered so many trips over the years when I’d always grab a State map when at a Rest Stop. Every Gas station had a map display with local State maps and maps of surrounding States. My car ALWAYS had multiple maps in a pouch and I remember many episodes of sitting in a parking lot or on the side of the road poring over the unfolded Map to plan the next route or to get back to where I SHOULD have been before the wrong turn (which of course was ALWAYS my wife’s or kid’s fault).

We laughed about the fact that without the Internet and Google Maps most People today would be totally lost and unable to get ANYWHERE outside their local neighborhood. Then it struck me that since starting to use that app I too no longer had any Maps in the car. It actually sent a chill up my spine to realize I was over 100 miles from home and had NO paper maps in my possession or readily available even though I knew the rest of the way home on Interstate 40.

So I’m ordering paper maps of North Carolina and neighboring States today. In the short term I’m printing out the North Caroline Map on Ledger Paper on my wide format printer and taping the pages together so that I once again have at least ONE paper map of the region in which I live.

After looking only a few minutes I did find this site where you can order Free Paper Maps of most States.

Free State Maps & Travel Guides

Get some!!!

The Librarian

I got into a discussion a couple days ago with someone who firmly and sincerely believes that a Carrington Event level EMP (or something else that collapses our current civilization) will  finally usher in the advent of PERMANENT, TRUE, AUTHENTIC Socialism among the survivors.

I has to disagree with him but he remains fixed in his belief. I freely admit that within a Nuclear Family there is often a sort of Socialism as there is among some small tribes and other small groups.

Most American “Communes” from the 60s eventually transformed into Corporations if they developed a marketable product or service. They ones that didn’t almost all ultimately failed.

Israel’s Kibbutzim often practiced a sort of “Socialism/Communism” and some maintained that system for a long, long time. However… most abandoned it as it became clear that the standard of living they produced came no where near what those outside enjoyed. They also had the special advantage of being able to expel anyone who failed to contribute sufficiently and members could choose to leave that any time. Both benefited from there being an “outside” to which members could move or to which members could be expelled.

The Kibbutzim model of “Socialism/Communism” just like the Amish model of simplicity and disengagement from modern Society is only possible in the context of a larger industrial society which provides the infrastructure and services upon which both depend.

The ultimate flaw inherent in Socialism is quite clear and obvious… Human Nature. At the Family Level the main Provider (I’ll say HE… feel free to substitute HER if you like) quickly discovers that no matter how hard he works he cannot better his family’s standard of living. His priority will ALWAYS be the wellbeing of his Family and not the “Common Good”. Few Fathers or Mothers will sacrifice the wellbeing of their children for the good of others. That fact of Human Nature has not changed in millennia.

Every individual discovers that doing the minimum amount of work required produces the same results as working hard. In most larger Socialist Societies like the Asian and European Countries mired in it during the 20th Century workers indeed discovered that they could and WOULD usually be punished by co-workers if they worked harder than necessary as it often resulted in everyone being expected to work harder.

The biggest flaw of all was when the concept of “according to one’s Needs” was interpreted by those with the power to manage what people receive… they ALWAYS determined that those with that power deserved more.

So yea… Socialism DOES work… in small groups where the goal is simple survival and no one actually expects to receive more than minimal subsistence. Once a society grows beyond that simple subsistence level it begins to fail… and usually brutally and violently.

After a collapse I suspect most of the people who survive will be nuclear Families as they have the best chance. If not Nuclear Families by blood then small Tribal groups that trust and support one another. Once a number of those small groups begin to coalesce into villages and towns Capitalism and Self Interest will reemerge as the driving economic model…. again… HUMAN NATURE.

Feel free to disagree with me but study History before you do.

The Librarian

Now that I have the Print Shop a bit better organized I’m wondering if there is any interest in bound copies of the 1901 McGuffey Reader 1-5 and the Ray’s Arithmetic 1-8? (I’ll be adding the Ray’s Arithmetic books soon.)

I looked on Amazon and the prices on each set is over $100 which strikes me as a bit extreme. I think I can print and bind them for significantly less than that. If there is any interest please let me know since it means spending a few days sitting at the computer formatting and cleaning up the image files for printing.

I could also make the print sets available to those interested though I would have to do some tinkering and experimentation because while the Book of the Farm prints well on 8.5″x11″ paper the McGuffeys and Rays are really formatted for about a 5.5″x6.8″ though I imagine 5.5″x8.5″ would work.

The Librarian

Sorry about that. I added the new Category but forgot to create and add the zip file for it. It’s there now.

The Librarian

Our schedule has calmed down a bit and become more predictable over the long term so I have more time to spend on the site now that our time is more settled. I’ll be active again and working on the site as time is available.

I’ve added a new Category named History_World. These are some files I have been working on now and again and I realized that I had them complete except for one. There is one more but it needs some serious reformatting. I’ll get to that one as I have time too.

The modern “Histories” of the world that I’ve looked at have little or no resemblance to the history we were taught back in the 50s and 60s. Most modern “Histories” have been rewritten to support and promote specific Political and Ideological Agendas. Sometimes  reading modern Histories is like reading a SciFi novel of an alternate world like Phillip K. Dick’s “The Man in the High Castle”.

Some of them are so far out there as to be ludicrous like Zinn’s “People’s History of America” which borders on the intellectually obscene. There are some seriously sick people out there rewriting our history. It’s no wonder so many people hate the country and our entire culture.

Regardless the New Category is there or you can just use the Last 30 Days search to see them.

The Librarian

p.s. I have about 20 new SlideRule Manuals to add after a bit of cleanup.

And most of you probably saw in various news reports there was an X-5 Flare yesterday which produced a significant CME that arrived at Earth last night just as two other, smaller, CMEs arrived.

The result was a some rather spectacular Northern Lights that were seen as far south as here in North Carolina. We personally couldn’t view them as we live in the woods and would have had to drive to the beach late at night to get a clear view of the Northern sky. Plenty of people are posting images of them in every Social Media network.

I ran across this article this morning while drinking my tea and thought I’d post it. What’s notable about it, at least to my mind, is the lack of real understanding of that which he is writing about. Sort of in line with “Oh look a two headed calf!” It has a decent write up of what flares and CME are and even references the Carrington Event so the writer did so his research.

What really struck me though was the line…”We are, quite literally, one severe solar storm away from living off-grid.”

“Living off-grid”?… Not… a Total Collapse of Technological Civilization? Not… the death of 95% of the the Human Race? Not… a worldwide collapse into barbarism and anarchy?

“…living off-grid.” Sounds almost…. Romantic.

Still, all in all it’s a decent article, which does address the issue well up to that point.

https://pjmedia.com/david-manney/2025/11/11/solar-fury-what-the-suns-x51-flare-means-for-earth-n4945887

The Librarian

I haven’t been posting much of anything recently due to my Wife’s medical issues. But I saw this article this morning and had to post the link.

I made a post a year or two ago about the growing rat problem in LA and how nothing was being done to address it. Apparently they are STILL doing nothing about it and it has gotten even worse.

Heck, there are over two dozen books in the Library here going back as far as the 1700s on Pest Control. What kind of civilized society allows it’s city to be overrun with disease parrying rodents and does NOTHING?

https://redstate.com/wardclark/2025/10/28/the-downfall-of-americas-cities-city-of-rats-n2195589

The Librarian

No major change in the health situation here but I did run across this article this morning and thought I’d post a link to it.

It concerns the growing strain on the U.S. Power Grid caused now by the rapid spread of AI Data Centers which create black holes for electrical power.

https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Americas-Grid-is-Nearing-Its-Breaking-Point.html

The Librarian

As some of you know we have an ongoing family medical issue to which I am devoting most of my time and attention. Because of that I’m going to be taking a Hiatus or Sabbatical from the Library site for the foreseeable future.

I will of course be maintining the server and keeping the software updated as needed but will not be posting anything or actively adding to the Library for the time being. Copies of the Library and the Book of the Farm will still be available as well.

I’ll still be available to chat and/or answer questions at my normal email address which is on the Contact Page on the site.

The Librarian

Okay that’s not good. Someone sent me the link this this article which I read before I had even started drinking my tea this morning.

https://www.zerohedge.com/weather/now-coronal-hole-whoa-momma

Whether it will amount to anything I guess we’ll find out this weekend. I will say that have read Zerohedge for many years I always take anything he says with a grain of salt. He LOVES him some doom and gloom.

I looked at Space Weather and NOAA and don’t see any panic or worry/ Not being a physicist I may be missing something of course.

The LIBRARIAN

p.s.Sorry I’ve been non-present so long recently. Wife starts chemo next week for Stage 4 condition. Been somewhat preoccupied. Probably wll be for some time yet. Please keep her in your prayers.

Ran across this article this morning and thought I’d pass it on. Actually a fairly mainstream source too.

It addresses the dangers of a Nuclear EMP and the potential consequences. Fairly well written and not full of panic and “OMG WE’RE ALL GOING TO DIE” hyperbole.

Well… in the event of a Nuclear EMP most of the population IS going to die but he at least didn’t make a big deal of it.

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/jeff-charles/2025/06/11/this-expert-says-80-percent-of-americans-could-die-in-a-year-if-this-happens-n2658614

The Librarian

Saw this story about a “Grid Down, Power Up” series on Newsmax Sunday night (Jun 8) at 9PM.

https://griddownpowerup.com/

It is, supposedly, about the fragility of the nation’s power grid and the ways it could fail. Considering this is television I tend to be suspicious since Bait and Switch is more common than not so it could easily be some Political or Ideological screed in sheep’s clothing.

Hopefully it will be what it appears to be.

If you don’t have access to Newsmax as a TV channel it appears there are some other options.

The Librarian

There was a pretty good sized flare/cme yesterday (May 31). It was an M8.2 but it lasted longer than normal which produces a larger CME headed towards Earth.

We’re expecting a significant Geostorm today (Sunday). It might even cause some localized power problems on the grid but nothing on a national scale. We’ll likely see some auroras here in the South tonight as well.

June and July are the peak months of Solar Cycle 25. It’s reched the point where I get half dozen to a dozen solar flare notifications a DAY some days. Most of them are small but the sheer number is stunning.

With God’s mercy we’ll make it through this Solar Peak summer and the Solar activity will start to diminish over the next couple of years.

The Librarian

I’m mailing out my boxed up set of Book of the Farm this morning.

I’m spending the first couple days of this week printing and binding more. I’ll have more available by midweek.

The Librarian

Sir Edward Grey once said (in relation to WWI) “The lamps are going out all over Europe. We shall not see them lit again in our lifetime.” (God help them if Europe succeeds in starting WWIII with Russia… the largest nuclear power inthe world.)

Fortunately the folks in Europe WILL get their lights back fairly soon… most likley. But the failure of much of the European Grid yesterday highlights the utter fragility of the modern power grid (especially when relying on “renewables” and the extreme impact that failure has on society.

People can’t even buy food in those reiopns which have gone cashless. You would think people would learn…. but they won’t.

https://pjmedia.com/vodkapundit/2025/04/28/the-lamps-are-literally-going-out-all-over-europe-n4939304

The Librarian

I watched an interesting video yesterday about a fellow learning how to smelt tin so he could alloy it with copper (which he also learned how to smelt) so that he could make Bronze which was a revolutionary metal in it’s time which allowed mankind to emerge from the stone age. He’s also the author of a book on “How to Rebuild Civilization”.

The problem is that should a total Earth catastrophe occur people are NOT going to be making Bronze.

There is a quite good Sci-Fi/Fantasy book series by S.M. Stirling called “Dies the Fire” or the “Emberverse”. In it the characters are caught in what at first seems to be a worldwide EMP in which all modern technology fails. They survive the initial chaos and then start trying to rebuild. Almost the first thing they try to do is build steam engines to provide traction power for machine tools and electricity. But none of it works. Steam engines simply do not work. Gunpowder doesn’t explode but simply burns slowly. Batteries do no generate electricity. Nor does any other industrial age technology. They are FORCED back to medieval technology like swords and bows. It proceeds from there.

The point is that they had KNOWLEDGE of industrial age technology like steam engines, steel, gunpowder, electricity, telegraph but the author invokes a deus ex machina to prevent them from building such technology. Otherwise they would certainly have skipped the medieval age and jumped straight to the early industrial age. Thus they are forced into a medieval society.

And that is the issue I have with the focus on more primitive technology. I applaud this fellows efforts to learn smelting and alloying of Bronze. I LOVE learning old skills like that simply out of fascination. But it is NOT what will be needed after a collapse.

We KNOW about gunpowder and steam engines. We KNOW about electricity. We KNOW about the telegraph. We KNOW about railroads. We KNOW about refining petroleum. We know of the EXISTENCE of industrial age technologies even if we don’t know exactly how to make them ourselves. We KNOW they are possible and have at least theoretical knowledge of how they work.

So if/when there is an imposed collapse of our modern technology we are not going to be sitting around the fire trying to think of how to make Bronze swords.

We are going to be figuring out how to making gunpowder (milled or corned) until we can perfect gun cotton (smokeless), how to make primers in order to make more ammunition for our modern weapons (as long as they last), how to get an old (non-computerized) diesel engine running until we can build a steam engines, how to build gang plows out of old car steel, etc.

We’ll skip right over the swords and bows and armor medieval age (however great it is for fantasy books) and go right to the 18th and 19th century industrial age.

To illustrate the validity of the point even further, in Stirling’s companion series called “Island in the Sea of Time” the same event which destroyed technology in the former series transports the island of Nantucket to the Bronze Age. The characters in that series do just what you’d expect. They immediately start building an 18th and 19th century industrial base from which they manufacture modern technology to give them a massive edge over other societies. The story proceeds apace as they accomplish that and then interact with the Bronze Age civilizations.

It is a common theme. In Rally Cry by William Forstchen a Civil War regiment is transported to another world in the midst of a medieval war. They recreate 1800s technology. In Destroymen by Taylor Anderson a Destroyer is transposed from early WWII to a Bronze Age world. They rebuild 1800s technology. In the Axis of Time by John Birmingham a Modern Carrier Group gets transposed to early WWII where they help build a modern technology base for the Allies.

The theme is consistent. When people have to rebuild they build the most modern technology of which they are aware and capable. If someone KNOW about steel they are going to work on making THAT and not Bronze.

Reality will be the same. If one community builds bows and swords and another manufactures gunpowder and steam engine… history tells us how that ends.

The Librarian

Ran across this story today and thought it was worth posting. Seems Zuckerbeg is expanding his Hawaii home into a self sustaining, underground, well stocked bunker with steel and concrete security features and trying to keep it secret.

This isn’t the first of the billionaires doing this though many of them seem to prefer New Zealand. I guess it’s remoteness is a key feature.

Problem for all of them is that you can assume that pretty much EVERYONE in the area knows about his (and other’s) bunker since after all it’s locals building it. And if everything falls apart then the entire local community is going to be at the door and one thing Military Science and History tells us is that fixed fortification always fall.

https://www.khon2.com/local-news/14-facts-zuckerbergs-secret-270m-hawai%ca%bbi-compound/

The Librarian

With all the talk these days about the fragility of the Power grid I ran across an interesting story out of Cuba. Apparently the grid and electrical supply there has collapsed to the point that one city in Cuba has told visitors that they are welcome in the city ONLY if they bring their own electricity in the form of generators with fuel.

So… want to get married in the city? Bring a generator and fuel. Want to do business in the city? Bring a generator and fuel. Want to go to the bank? Bring a generator and fuel.

https://www.breitbart.com/latin-america/2025/03/12/report-cuban-public-offices-tell-visitors-bring-their-own-electricity/

The Librarian

I remember discussing this a year or two ago but I have to say I’m surprised at the acceleration of the problem.

California has banned the most effective Rat Poison that is used pretty much worldwide. Even the Europeans who are like the ultimate Environmental NAZIs have restricted it’s use to licensed professionals but not banned it entirely.

Chicago is #1 in Rat Population in the U.S. with LA following as a close #2.

The result is both cities are being overrun with Rats. Even in the 1700s Rat Control became commonplace and acknowledged as a necessary function to keep cities disease and vermin free.

The modern world has regressed to the extent that Rat Control is no longer a priority.

If we ever end up in a situation where we are having to rebuild with 1800s technology the moment someone says the word “environment” in a discussion about Rat Control either hang them immediately or expel them from the community as a Public Danger.

https://ktla.com/news/local-news/could-los-angeles-become-the-rattiest-city-in-the-united-states/

The Librarian

When I was growing up my Mother made a lot of our clothes. After learning how to use Mom’s sewing machine I made good money in school making and selling Barbie clothes to all the local girls. My best friend through much of my childhood was a girl up the street who gave me the idea. She told me what I should make and she always got hers free. (We only had two sexes back then and for the most part it was the girls who played with dolls.)

I remember going to the fabric store with Mom many times where she bought yards of cloth, patterns (some of which are still in the drawer of Mom’s old Necchi sewing which Dad bought for her in Germany and I inherited after she died) and visiting with all the other Mothers there for the same thing. I would buy fabric remnants for pennies for my little business.

I occasionally still go the local Joann for fabric for book covers, models and other odds and ends though I do little sewing anymore except to occasionally hem a pair of pants. I have noticed that there are a lot fewer people there and they started carrying a lot of other “craft” items. Then I saw this story this morning.

https://www.wnd.com/2025/02/joann-to-close-500-of-its-800-fabric-and-craft-stores/

I have done a little looking into it and the bottom line seems to be that these days, with imports from China and elsewhere, it no longer makes sense to sew clothes. Between fabric and patterns and sewing machines and supplies it’s significantly cheaper to buy them than to make them. Besides few people learn the skill when they are young anymore so there is a steep learning curve.

While it’s good in a sense that clothes, like so many products, are much less expensive than they were when I was young in the mid-1900s there is also an undeniable and lamentable loss of what used to be a common skill… sewing and making clothes.

It’s just one more of the skills most folks took for granted 50-100 years ago that have been lost. Convenience is great but I’m not sure that trading knowledge and skill for it is.

The Librarian

One of my pet peeves has long been the sad and sorry state of the U.S. Power Grid… it’s fragility and complete inability to survive a significant Solar Flare. Indeed Something like the Carrington Event (an X-15+ Solar Flare) would destroy the U.S. Power Grid and most if not all of its transformers which could not be replaced in a world without power.

The results would be the death of 90%+ of the U.S. population and generations of struggle to rebuild. The same would be true in all of the Industrialized world.

There was some movement a few years ago towards the Electric companies hardening the grid to at least minimize that threat. Sadly it came to nothing. Even worse over the last decade more and more Energy companies have been acquired by Global Companies like Blackrock and Vanguard. THEIR priority is on immediate and short term profits and not the long term viability of the Grid or the countries in which they exist.

I fear that as things continue the U.S. (and the world’s) power grid is going to decline even further since investment and improvement does not enhance the quarterly bottom line or enhance stock valuation. Short of forcing a divestiture or simply shutting down these Global Corporation things are not going to improve. I used to put most of the blame for the situation on Politicians. Looks like it’s out of their hands now and they are much victims as the rest of us. Though it does beg the question… How many have significant holdings of Vanguard and Blackrock Stock?

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2025/02/high_electric_bills_are_the_tip_of_the_iceberg.html

The Librarian