Mike Ruppert leaves the US for good

Bozzio · Post by **Bozzio** » 18 Aug 2006, 12:08

Mike Ruppert, major peak oil activist, writes at length about his exit from the US at the age of 55 in this latest FTW article,

BY THE LIGHT OF A BURNING BRIDGE

As the human race enters the first stages of inevitable collapse resulting from Peak Oil, it does so ass-backwards, in complete denial, and in the one way most certain to guarantee the greatest amount of suffering and death for future generations. It does so because, for a time at least, U.S. foreign, military, and economic policy holds the steering wheel of human destiny through dollar hegemony, military force, technology and globalization.

This control is inevitably weakening, and other hands in other countries are successfully struggling for an ever-increasing measure of influence. The Empire is dying from within, and like all wounded beasts, it is becoming more vicious and dangerous in the process; its lies more transparent.

MacG · Post by **MacG** » 18 Aug 2006, 12:12

He's a bloody drama-queen. A clever entrepreneur who found a dissident nische to exploit, but that's about it.

Bozzio · Post by **Bozzio** » 18 Aug 2006, 12:18

MacG,

Is that like Richard Heinberg and Colin Campbell?

Why are you on this forum MacG if you are not exploiting PO for your own interest and entertainment.

I shouldn't expect anything less from you though, whatever anyone says you have to counter attack it. Does this always make you feel better?

MacG · Post by **MacG** » 18 Aug 2006, 13:18

Bozzio wrote:MacG,

Is that like Richard Heinberg and Colin Campbell?

Why are you on this forum MacG if you are not exploiting PO for your own interest and entertainment.

I shouldn't expect anything less from you though, whatever anyone says you have to counter attack it. Does this always make you feel better?

Tell me one thing Ruppert has done on his own? He's just taking other peoples work and spin it (and ask for money to keep on).

I think your comments on my person are way out of line by the way.

Bozzio · Post by **Bozzio** » 18 Aug 2006, 14:04

MacG wrote:Tell me one thing Ruppert has done on his own? He's just taking other peoples work and spin it (and ask for money to keep on).

One could say that about any of the peak oil gurus, each of whom take their cue from Hubbert and are being paid for their books and pay per view articles (Heinberg's Museletter & LATOCS Post-Oil Bulletins).

Ruppert did of course write a 675 page book on the seedier side of American politics and peak oil. I assume he didn't get his mother to write it for him or ask Campbell whether his experience of the secret services would be better than his own whilst doing research for the book.

alternative-energy · Post by **alternative-energy** » 18 Aug 2006, 14:48

Extract from the article

The burglary followed on the heels of my humiliation of the perpetrator of a feeble and stupidly executed sexual blackmail plot that began when a newly-hired staff writer (with a clean record and a Master?s degree in English) began a torrid (and not very discrete) sexual affair with my long-term IT manager. The IT manager was, at the time, involved in a committed relationship with a woman in Los Angeles. The same female employee also made simultaneous direct sexual advances to my Operations Manager who is married. These included her showing naked photographs of herself to both men in our offices, something which they kept from me until later.

Eventually the sexual intrigue resulted in an altercation between the three which wound up on my doorstep late on a Sunday night in April. It seems no one involved in the altercation was capable of telling the whole truth. It was also clear that my IT manager ? who was known for his appetites ? had fallen hopelessly in the grasp of an attractive sexual smorgasbord that was fulfilling his every wish. This is what he said to people in phone conversations who later told me about them. He reportedly described her as a ?sexual demon?. He lied to his girlfriend. He lied to me when he told me that he had ended the relationship. Then he lied to his friend, the Operations Manager, about it. I could no longer trust him, and this was of enormous concern to me.

After all of the previous attempts to sink FTW over the years I was well-prepared when the same woman started making advances to me. How dumb did they think I was? I concealed a tape recorder in my office as she directed me, after regular office hours, to pornographic web sites and continually tried to tempt me with scanty outfits, G-strings and hints of sexual delights including descriptions of her private parts. She was doing all this at a time when she made 103 cell phone calls in one month to my IT Manager on a cell phone that FTW was paying for. I got the bills. Most of the calls were made during business hours. The second month?s bill was just as bad when it arrived after she had been fired.

My IT Manager had been my most trusted employee and a close friend. I may never be able to forgive his betrayal even if the Siren?s song had overwhelmed him. In previous years FTW computers had been sabotaged, our web site had been hacked, and several attempts had been made to financially sabotage our operations. Being fully aware that he was likely revealing our most sensitive proprietary information, including account access codes, I had but two choices.

I could fire the young woman. But if I did so she would be angry outside the company and still have the IT Manager as helpless as Ulysses? crew in her vindictive grasp. Or, I could keep her close, play along with her games, prepare myself against the blackmail I knew would come, and try to find out what kind of damage she was intent on doing and head it off. When she could not compromise me sexually, she turned the IT Manager against me, and he gave sudden notice. That was damaging enough. His last day of work was to be June 1st. I decided immediately that that would be her last day of work too, and so it was.

Is this the seedier side of American Politics? He does seem a bit paranoid.

rs · Post by rs » 18 Aug 2006, 17:35

I think it's easy to find Ruppert's stories sensational as what he appears to have been through is just so far-out compared to our relatively 'mundane' lives.

I'm keeping an open-mind on him.

DamianB · Post by **DamianB** » 18 Aug 2006, 23:56

How does this topic or any of the posts made in reply support the aims of the Powerswitch?

alternative-energy · Post by **alternative-energy** » 19 Aug 2006, 10:23

How does this topic or any of the posts made in reply support the aims of the Powerswitch?

That's quite comment, who do you think you are?
Peak oil posting police.

'I promise, from now on, to post comments that support the aims of Powerswitch' Ridiculous... and goodbye

RogerCO · Post by **RogerCO** » 19 Aug 2006, 23:32

DamianB wrote:How does this topic or any of the posts made in reply support the aims of the Powerswitch?

Strange question. The original post is about a fairly high profile person in the US Doomsday Wing of the Peak Oil community announcing a significant personal change of direction, and the following posts comment on the sanity, level of paranoia, credibility and motivation of the individual - seems reasonable to me.

If James suddenly announced that he had seen the light and now believed that we will all be saved by the imminent release of zero-point energy devices so was closing down powerswitch as it was no longer necessary then you'd probably want to comment on that...

If the aims of powerswitch are to do with the dissemination of information and awareness about peak oil and the development of policy and action to enable (uk) society to meet the challenge, then information about the closure or change of direction of FTW and the US doompeaknik movement seems pretty relevant.

Or was you post just a moment of madness Damian

MacG · Post by **MacG** » 19 Aug 2006, 23:45

alternative-energy wrote:
How does this topic or any of the posts made in reply support the aims of the Powerswitch?
That's quite comment, who do you think you are?
Peak oil posting police.

'I promise, from now on, to post comments that support the aims of Powerswitch' Ridiculous... and goodbye

Err... Actually he IS the Posting Police. Love it or hate it, but this site is maintained trough private initiatives, and if you dont like the taste of it you are free to start your own site.

But Ruppert IS a bloody drama queen! If he just wanted to save his life from evildoers, why not just shut down FTW and get a job as a cleaner or janitor or something? How come that Collin Campbell, Matt Savinar or Richard Heineberg are not victims of such a series of evil plots?

Bozzio · Post by **Bozzio** » 20 Aug 2006, 08:13

DamianB wrote:How does this topic or any of the posts made in reply support the aims of the Powerswitch?

Yes Damian, could you please explain why this topic should not be posted on this peak oil open discussion forum?

Could I also ask why you haven't made the same comment on the 'Air Travel and Security', 'Saudi Arabia buys 72 Eurofighters' or indeed PowerSwitchJames' 'Camping' thread?

hatchelt · Post by **hatchelt** » 20 Aug 2006, 09:37

Threads like these are an awesome snap-shot into the difficulties of communities....

mocara · Post by **mocara** » 20 Aug 2006, 18:05

I do believe that there are many conspiracies out there. I'm even prepared to believe that the American government had some hand (be it only to let it happen) in 9/11. However, what this man puts down to conspiracy just sounds like incompetence. I was going to look at the rest of his site, but having read this I'm doubtful that there is anything of worth to read. Frankly, he comes across as an idiot. If that is outside the realms of allowable on these forums then please feel free to delete.

Post by **mikepepler** » 20 Aug 2006, 19:19

I'd like to add my 2p worth to this debate, seeing as I'm a site admin too.

One of the challenges being site admin on this forum is that when I make a post disagreeing with someone, I'm often worried that they're going to think they have to agree or else I'll delete their posts, kick them out of the forum, whatever. This is of course not the case, and even though it says "site admin" next to my name on the posts, most of the time I'm just a normal forum user, like everyone else. I can only think of maybe two occasions in the past two years where I've actually had to "do" something as admin on the forum, other than getting rid of spammers and clearing up accidental double-posts.

So, consider that when DamianB asked "How does this topic or any of the posts made in reply support the aims of the Powerswitch?", maybe he wasn't wearing his admin "hat", perhaps he was just asking a question? If it didn't say "site admin" next to his name, would people still get upset by his question, or would they simply respond to it as part of a discussion?

[/end lecture]

Now for my personal opinion - I think Ruppert is a bit of a "drama queen", but I also think he has some good stuff to say, and has done well at uncovering some of the things that go on behind the scenes in the USA. As a well-known person on the Peak Oil "circuit" it is certainly of interest to me that he has left the USA, as to me it looks like him putting his money where his mouth is.