REVIEWS
CELL by Steven King. When I first noticed the newest Steven King in hardback at Wal-Mart I got quite excited. An end of the world novel!! Perhaps one I can actually get through unlike The Stand. Cell phones drive their users crazy, and they die. Too awesome, Yuppie bastard scum and their vile offspring struck down by their toys. I of course hemmed and hawed and delayed purchasing the book as his last one I got in Wal-Mart at the clearance table, Buick Eight, was a bit of a dud and bogged down half way through. Don’t get me wrong, a bad Steven King novel is still better than most other novels, and at least he didn’t stop writing like certain others that saw their great books turned into Hollywood turds and then started turning out formulized serial garbage rather than the normal huge door stopper thrillers we had all come to expect. At least King is still trying and half his books are good and about half his movies turn out pretty good.
Finely I summed up the courage and decided to spend the $20 on it. I went back to Wal-Mart and picked up the book and gave it a more serious preview. It started to look a bit sucky, so I didn’t get it. I just kept watch at the library and waited for it to become available. Eventually those cheap tight bastards that won’t buy a darn book stopped checking it out and it was available. I quickly grabbed it from the shelf and clutched it protectively under my arm, glancing around in a confrontational sneer, Mine!, All Mine! Alas, no one was around to challenge me for possession and I could only conclude I was the last one in line for it.
I took home my treasure and read it with mounting enthusiasm. It certainly was not a good post-apocalypse read. Your standard cop out where everyone is dead so there is plenty of food laying around for the survivors. No scenes of food looting, no hints of cannibalism. But it was a good suspense novel. Not what I wanted but not a bad book in its own right.
MOONDUST by some British author dude. Due to my small living space I donate any paperback book I finish to the Friends Of The Library so I was unable to find out the authors name but if you must have this one just look it up by name. This is one of those boring “hard science” novels where the guy is so happy to be spreading his knowledge of science that it’s hard to read. I mean, it was good enough to read all the way through and it was a free book so I didn’t just read it to get my monies worth. It just wasn’t as good as it could have been. Moondust is some alien evil force that actually eats rock. It is accidentally introduced on Earth and everyone screams and panics and runs around in confusion and dying as the rock under, say, nuclear power plants gives way.
And this is where it was disappointing. He could have done a much better job describing the process of society crumbling but instead stuck with some scientists trying to build a moon base to put some survivors. Or maybe it was Mars after a quick Terra-forming. I just read “Red Mars” so the two are kind of interchanging. But little to no description on society breaking down. He had one character in a shelter as the first occurrence happened in Scotland. The standard “out of date civil defense measures don’t work” shtick. And then a new firefighter trainee get irradiated at a nuclear power plant fire. But after that it just ignores the calamity of Earth ending. And it’s a slow ending, plenty could be happening. I basically just felt cheated with this one.
THE SHAVER SAVER product by China. After I wrote about straight razors in Bison newsletter I was informed of a nifty product called the Shaver Saver by some readers. It is basically a piece of mirror glued to a plastic holder. The mirror is cut to the correct width so that the plastic sides of the disposable razor you are sharpening are on the outside of the mirror and the blade(s) are on the mirror. You can’t just put a razor on a large size mirror as the only part touching it would be the plastic instead of the blades. So you are spending a lot of money for a piece of mirror cut exactly the correct width. I paid $10 for mine at Lehmans, but they charge a $6 minimum shipping fee so it was $16 total.
It will take me several years to get a pay back on this device as it extends the life of my razors from one week to four. At a minimum of twenty cents a razor for a double blade ( it sharpens one to three blade razors ) I save sixty cents a month with it. I could actually get almost a month and a half with it but by then the blade is starting to really get painful. Plus by changing it at the beginning of the month I keep on a schedule. But in a pinch, if razors become unavailable, you could shave every other day for three months with the same blade. The device is advertised to deliver a minimum of 39 sharpenings. I have a heavy beard and shave six times a week so my mileage isn’t as good.
So, while pricey to begin with, this device will last forever and extend the life of your disposable razors at least for times if not more. If you change blades every other day or use more expensive razors than I do this thing will pay for itself very quickly. If your expensive $2 triple blade razor can go from three days to a month it pays for itself in two months. I recommend this to anyone wanting to use safety razors but to save a ton of money. Or more importantly have a modest amount of razors last them for years after the end of civilization. The sharpened blades are not as comfortable as a new out of the bag razor but it is close enough.
END
Please, if you have any ideas for a post, let me know. Also, make sure to visit www.bisonpress.com for all your holiday shopping.
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Monday, October 30, 2006
lemmings
FOLLOWING THE OTHER LEMMINGS OFF THE CLIFF
Since I am so very often NOT right about much you would think this would make me humble. Alas, this just shows that you are also wrong. When I finally am correct I tend to gloat about it, doing little touchdown dances and acting the fool. I have never subscribed to the theory that your rifles must be in common calibers.
While it is nice to have a 308 caliber rifle so as to be able to find the ammo anywhere, it is not necessary as far as I’m concerned. A little while back I warned that there had been reports of common calibers in bulk becoming scarce. Supposedly the US is equipping its troops from civilian sources as their supply was inadequate. So the typical survivalist must suffer financially from Uncle Sam’s lack of planning. 223, 308, 9mm, 45, and 762x39 ( for the Iraqi Keystone Kops ) were getting harder to find and/or more expensive.
And now it has happened. A glorious moment for me, the one lone rational voice in the wilderness. The price for a box of new ammunition in 308 is now higher than 303 British!! HA! It used to be that it was cheaper to buy 308 and thus I should have switched to the Indian Enfield’s which fired that round if I had followed conventional wisdom. I never did since I don’t like the post and leaf sites and the price difference in ammo didn’t warrant buying new rifles ( remember my phobia of buying more than one rifle of the same model after I watched Robin Williams in “The Survivalist” when his expensive semi-auto suffered a bent barrel ). Not having current military rounds is now paying off. In your faces, super survival studs shooting semi auto’s.
This might be the only instance where my refusing to join the herd pays off. I shall enjoy. However, let’s also ponder a moment. What if ol’ Jim is actually right again? I mean, it could happen. Let’s just say that we enter a period of economic stagnation like the 1970’s. This would be great for me if I don’t starve from unemployment first as I might actually really start to sell my book “Frugal Survivalist”.
But perhaps not to great for survivalists following conventional advice. Everything associated with survivalism will experience a surge in demand, shortages and increased prices. MRE’s and freeze dried meals. Water filters. Semi-auto rifles and their ammunition. Mopeds and bicycle engines. PV panels. Okay, the moped might be a stretch since no self respecting macho survivalist is going to be seen in anything other than a 4x4 truck, but you get my point here.
Surely you can see the wisdom of not following the conventional path? One case of twelve meals of MRE’s cost the same as a years supply of whole wheat kernels. One freeze dried meal from Wal-Mart cost almost twice that of a weeks supply of rice and beans. And if there is a local population of Hispanics you would do better to stock up on canned baked beans in #10 cans and white flour in twenty five pound bags to beat that crowd. Water filters might double in cost as they did for Y2K. Buy a few rolls of clear and black plastic for a solar still. Stay away from semi-autos altogether and get bolt actions. They cost less, only need a tenth of the ammunition and that ammo costs less to boot.
You would do well to avoid a generator. They will be as scarce as in a Lowe’s in the path of a hurricane. Go buy a 110v wall plug in battery charger and a slew of marine batteries and charge them up ahead of time. While they work can or dry everything in your freezer after having a big BBQ. Buy at least one PV panel now, before the rush. Even a 15w panel will keep a battery topped off if your electrical needs are slight. Buy batteries every week at the dollar store, stocking up. Not when an emergency threatens.
Buy your bicycle before gas goes up to $4 a gallon. Buy extra pairs of cheap boots when Payless has a sale of Buy One Get One half off ( BOGO ). Visit thrift stores for wool. Avoid the synthetic shortages. Get a moped now or even a motor for your bike. Just beware mail order mopeds as regular motorcycle mechanics won’t work on them. Either buy from a dealer that works on his sales items or spend two grand on a Japanese moped or buy a motor that attaches to your bike and treat it as a throw away item if two cycle mechanics charge too much to repair them. Granted, some items can’t be substituted and must be stockpiled beforehand. You could do the same with conventional items such as that 308 ammo. Just keep in mind the coming shortages/price inflation in all survival gear. Either plan ahead and stock up or only buy what no one wants.
END
Since I am so very often NOT right about much you would think this would make me humble. Alas, this just shows that you are also wrong. When I finally am correct I tend to gloat about it, doing little touchdown dances and acting the fool. I have never subscribed to the theory that your rifles must be in common calibers.
While it is nice to have a 308 caliber rifle so as to be able to find the ammo anywhere, it is not necessary as far as I’m concerned. A little while back I warned that there had been reports of common calibers in bulk becoming scarce. Supposedly the US is equipping its troops from civilian sources as their supply was inadequate. So the typical survivalist must suffer financially from Uncle Sam’s lack of planning. 223, 308, 9mm, 45, and 762x39 ( for the Iraqi Keystone Kops ) were getting harder to find and/or more expensive.
And now it has happened. A glorious moment for me, the one lone rational voice in the wilderness. The price for a box of new ammunition in 308 is now higher than 303 British!! HA! It used to be that it was cheaper to buy 308 and thus I should have switched to the Indian Enfield’s which fired that round if I had followed conventional wisdom. I never did since I don’t like the post and leaf sites and the price difference in ammo didn’t warrant buying new rifles ( remember my phobia of buying more than one rifle of the same model after I watched Robin Williams in “The Survivalist” when his expensive semi-auto suffered a bent barrel ). Not having current military rounds is now paying off. In your faces, super survival studs shooting semi auto’s.
This might be the only instance where my refusing to join the herd pays off. I shall enjoy. However, let’s also ponder a moment. What if ol’ Jim is actually right again? I mean, it could happen. Let’s just say that we enter a period of economic stagnation like the 1970’s. This would be great for me if I don’t starve from unemployment first as I might actually really start to sell my book “Frugal Survivalist”.
But perhaps not to great for survivalists following conventional advice. Everything associated with survivalism will experience a surge in demand, shortages and increased prices. MRE’s and freeze dried meals. Water filters. Semi-auto rifles and their ammunition. Mopeds and bicycle engines. PV panels. Okay, the moped might be a stretch since no self respecting macho survivalist is going to be seen in anything other than a 4x4 truck, but you get my point here.
Surely you can see the wisdom of not following the conventional path? One case of twelve meals of MRE’s cost the same as a years supply of whole wheat kernels. One freeze dried meal from Wal-Mart cost almost twice that of a weeks supply of rice and beans. And if there is a local population of Hispanics you would do better to stock up on canned baked beans in #10 cans and white flour in twenty five pound bags to beat that crowd. Water filters might double in cost as they did for Y2K. Buy a few rolls of clear and black plastic for a solar still. Stay away from semi-autos altogether and get bolt actions. They cost less, only need a tenth of the ammunition and that ammo costs less to boot.
You would do well to avoid a generator. They will be as scarce as in a Lowe’s in the path of a hurricane. Go buy a 110v wall plug in battery charger and a slew of marine batteries and charge them up ahead of time. While they work can or dry everything in your freezer after having a big BBQ. Buy at least one PV panel now, before the rush. Even a 15w panel will keep a battery topped off if your electrical needs are slight. Buy batteries every week at the dollar store, stocking up. Not when an emergency threatens.
Buy your bicycle before gas goes up to $4 a gallon. Buy extra pairs of cheap boots when Payless has a sale of Buy One Get One half off ( BOGO ). Visit thrift stores for wool. Avoid the synthetic shortages. Get a moped now or even a motor for your bike. Just beware mail order mopeds as regular motorcycle mechanics won’t work on them. Either buy from a dealer that works on his sales items or spend two grand on a Japanese moped or buy a motor that attaches to your bike and treat it as a throw away item if two cycle mechanics charge too much to repair them. Granted, some items can’t be substituted and must be stockpiled beforehand. You could do the same with conventional items such as that 308 ammo. Just keep in mind the coming shortages/price inflation in all survival gear. Either plan ahead and stock up or only buy what no one wants.
END
Saturday, October 28, 2006
population density
AMERICAN POPULATION DENSITY
A “filler” story out on Friday was the projection that our population would go from 300 million now to 400 million in another forty years. The main focus was on how to shove double the numbers into existing cities. Gee, what a pleasant thought, the entire US made up of Los Angeles mega cities as we rely on immigrants to pay for our spoiled pampered seniors. And you think crime and traffic are bad now. The thing that interested me was the location of most of the population. Over fifty percent was within fifty miles of the water. East coast, West coast, Gulf and Great Lakes.
This tells us survivalists several things. One, most of the population is going to be displaced and a burden if global warming melts enough polar ice. Two, we would do well to stay away from all the worthless mouth breathers in these corridors of rat cage densities. I know humans are hard wired to seek each other out, no man is an island and our very survival depends on the skills of others. But I still hate most people. Well, I actually feared them before as potential enemies during a major calamity. Know I actually hate them as well. They are in my personal space. I want less and less contact with them as time goes on.
Friday’s USA Today is a better resource than most other papers. When it first came out most poo-pahed the illustrations and charts as an insult to intelligence. That was twenty years ago when papers were thick and provided a lot of articles at some length. Nowadays most papers are pure crap, short on stories and long on ads. Everything is treated superficially. No meat to any story. USA Today actually has most papers beat anymore. It usually is worth the extra twenty five cents. They show a map of the US with a red dot per five thousand population. This is much more illuminating than just saying half the population is fifty miles from water. It shows the location of the other half.
It shows that the other forty five percent of the population is mostly east of the half way line through Texas following a line north. East Texas, east Oklahoma, east Kansas and Nebraska, all are relatively densely populated. And then east of the Mississippi is crowded to near capacity. We always knew east of the Mighty Missisip was a zoo. But the eastern portion of the above states are really crowded enough to warrant caution. There are a few less populated zones on the East coast. Southern Florida away from the coast which makes sense as there is a big lake and swamp right there. The entire north end of Maine. The south end of Texas away from the Gulf or border.
The California mob is mostly packed in the LA to San Diego strip, San Francisco and the central farming region. The eastern south strip is mostly uninhabited if you like the desert. Most of the eastern Oregon region is sparsely populated. Washington state seems a write off. Only central Idaho lacks population. If you must pick a Dakota go with the north one. Montana has less population in its eastern half. Utah is okay outside the Salt Lake area. The western half of Arizona seems less built up. And of course Nevada only has population in the Reno and Las Vegas areas.
If you desire almost total isolation from surrounding mobs I would pick the center of Nevada, the southeast corner of Oregon, the eastern half of Montana, the southwest corner of Texas as about the most remote areas to live. There are other pockets of very low population density but they have very populated regions close by. For instance the ideal west portion of South Dakota is spoiled by being relatively close to the Denver area. And north Maine has a solid mass of people just to the south. Southeast Utah is hemmed in by the Salt Lake and Denver populations.
We are all forced to live in cities to work. I am near the Reno bastards in the north and the foul Sacramento masses to my immediate west. I feel crowded. And Carson City itself having sixty thousand mostly worthless oxygen wasters is not to my liking either. I can’t give very good advice about fleeing the city when I live in this cesspool. Could I move tomorrow to a smaller city, making the same wages I do now? Of course I could. Will I? No. I use the excuse that living in the Hippie Bread Van is bad enough so I don’t want to leave friends and family here that makes it more tolerable. Kind of a lame excuse, but we all have one as to why we live in the middle of too many people.
But if you are considering moving away from most of the population concentrations, get yourself the weekend edition of USA Today. The map will help you visualize your thinking.
END
BUY BISON BOOKS NOW www.bisonpress.com
A “filler” story out on Friday was the projection that our population would go from 300 million now to 400 million in another forty years. The main focus was on how to shove double the numbers into existing cities. Gee, what a pleasant thought, the entire US made up of Los Angeles mega cities as we rely on immigrants to pay for our spoiled pampered seniors. And you think crime and traffic are bad now. The thing that interested me was the location of most of the population. Over fifty percent was within fifty miles of the water. East coast, West coast, Gulf and Great Lakes.
This tells us survivalists several things. One, most of the population is going to be displaced and a burden if global warming melts enough polar ice. Two, we would do well to stay away from all the worthless mouth breathers in these corridors of rat cage densities. I know humans are hard wired to seek each other out, no man is an island and our very survival depends on the skills of others. But I still hate most people. Well, I actually feared them before as potential enemies during a major calamity. Know I actually hate them as well. They are in my personal space. I want less and less contact with them as time goes on.
Friday’s USA Today is a better resource than most other papers. When it first came out most poo-pahed the illustrations and charts as an insult to intelligence. That was twenty years ago when papers were thick and provided a lot of articles at some length. Nowadays most papers are pure crap, short on stories and long on ads. Everything is treated superficially. No meat to any story. USA Today actually has most papers beat anymore. It usually is worth the extra twenty five cents. They show a map of the US with a red dot per five thousand population. This is much more illuminating than just saying half the population is fifty miles from water. It shows the location of the other half.
It shows that the other forty five percent of the population is mostly east of the half way line through Texas following a line north. East Texas, east Oklahoma, east Kansas and Nebraska, all are relatively densely populated. And then east of the Mississippi is crowded to near capacity. We always knew east of the Mighty Missisip was a zoo. But the eastern portion of the above states are really crowded enough to warrant caution. There are a few less populated zones on the East coast. Southern Florida away from the coast which makes sense as there is a big lake and swamp right there. The entire north end of Maine. The south end of Texas away from the Gulf or border.
The California mob is mostly packed in the LA to San Diego strip, San Francisco and the central farming region. The eastern south strip is mostly uninhabited if you like the desert. Most of the eastern Oregon region is sparsely populated. Washington state seems a write off. Only central Idaho lacks population. If you must pick a Dakota go with the north one. Montana has less population in its eastern half. Utah is okay outside the Salt Lake area. The western half of Arizona seems less built up. And of course Nevada only has population in the Reno and Las Vegas areas.
If you desire almost total isolation from surrounding mobs I would pick the center of Nevada, the southeast corner of Oregon, the eastern half of Montana, the southwest corner of Texas as about the most remote areas to live. There are other pockets of very low population density but they have very populated regions close by. For instance the ideal west portion of South Dakota is spoiled by being relatively close to the Denver area. And north Maine has a solid mass of people just to the south. Southeast Utah is hemmed in by the Salt Lake and Denver populations.
We are all forced to live in cities to work. I am near the Reno bastards in the north and the foul Sacramento masses to my immediate west. I feel crowded. And Carson City itself having sixty thousand mostly worthless oxygen wasters is not to my liking either. I can’t give very good advice about fleeing the city when I live in this cesspool. Could I move tomorrow to a smaller city, making the same wages I do now? Of course I could. Will I? No. I use the excuse that living in the Hippie Bread Van is bad enough so I don’t want to leave friends and family here that makes it more tolerable. Kind of a lame excuse, but we all have one as to why we live in the middle of too many people.
But if you are considering moving away from most of the population concentrations, get yourself the weekend edition of USA Today. The map will help you visualize your thinking.
END
BUY BISON BOOKS NOW www.bisonpress.com
Friday, October 27, 2006
imported oil
VENEZUELAS OIL WEAPON
It used to be that we could smile a big sloppy grin and point out how imports from places such as Venezuela lessoned our dependence on middle east oil. Middle east oil dependence is yesterdays news, however. We don’t let anyone have a monopoly on foreign imports. Iraqi occupation might even have more to do with war time stimulus to keep the economy afloat than its oil supply. Our only problem with oil imports is that we are dependant on so many undependable countries for supplies.
Venezuela is the forth largest supplier to the US. And in the last half year it decreased our supply by 20%. This at the same time that Saudi Arabia is hitting Peak Oil. And Nigerian oil is anybodies guess week by week if the oil will keep pumping in between terrorist attacks. And the North Sea oil is running out fast. It is not any one event hurting oil supplies but a combination of little problems. Chavez selling China our oil is serious if it combines with other problems now. In the future it might be a major problem as China increases its refinery capacity for the high sulfur oil that Venezuela has. You know he would love to deny the US all of his oil. Tales of attempted CIA assassinations might be just that, tales. But it does sound credible ( especially with the example of his buddy Fidel ) and should be enough to keep him from sleeping soundly. I would get a little cranky also. So, assume that Chavez will sell all his oil to China as soon as they are ready.
China is serious about its future energy supplies. They are planning to build pebble bed nuclear reactors. They have the Three Gorge Dam. They have literally decades worth of uranium fuel. They aren’t afraid to burn coal. They are building more oil reserve storage facilities. They are out in force wooing African nations for their oil supplies. What are we doing besides allowing all the seven sisters to merge into just a few large companies? And invading Iraq? China is sure to have their new butt buddy Chavez bought and paid for. Heck, that’s what he wants. Allied with Commies instead of Capitalists enhances his political image.
Chavez has agreed to go from 40,000 barrels a day to China six months ago to 75,000 barells today to an estimated 200,000 by year end. Contracts have been signed to build almost twenty new oil tankers and a dozen new drilling rigs. True, this might be China buying equipment to keep an aging and less productive Venezuelan oil fields in production but they wouldn’t be doing it if it didn’t make sense either in an economic or strategic manner. Does China think that buying all of Venezuelan oil, even at an increased cost, will hurt the US. China and Russia both want to see us reigned in after our recent middle east rampage.
Saudi Arabia running down its reserves will not effect us directly. To some extent China, perhaps Europe but mostly Japan all depend on light sweet crude due to lack of high sulfur oil refining capacity. Indirectly, the increased demand by others for Saudi oil makes us more dependant on suppliers such as Venezuela sense we have those kind of refineries. So when the smaller suppliers start to implement policies that can increase our costs it bears paying attention to. Venezuela’s actions are not going to shoot up gas prices or cause us to run out of oil. But it is another indicator that things are going to get very interesting on the energy front soon enough.
History tells us that oil has always been available after each supply scare. History also points to collapsed civilizations that ignored the peril of resource depletion. Do we want to end up like Easter Island? Our government seems to be on a collision course with ignorance and problem avoidance. You could do the same and it might not harm you. There is no guarantee Peak Oil is a reality. There is only a good chance of it coming to pass. I prefer to play the odds on the side of caution. I’ll assume we will run out of oil and attempt to prepare accordingly. You might want to also.
END
old timey book source www.thelitterbox.org/librum/index.htm
It used to be that we could smile a big sloppy grin and point out how imports from places such as Venezuela lessoned our dependence on middle east oil. Middle east oil dependence is yesterdays news, however. We don’t let anyone have a monopoly on foreign imports. Iraqi occupation might even have more to do with war time stimulus to keep the economy afloat than its oil supply. Our only problem with oil imports is that we are dependant on so many undependable countries for supplies.
Venezuela is the forth largest supplier to the US. And in the last half year it decreased our supply by 20%. This at the same time that Saudi Arabia is hitting Peak Oil. And Nigerian oil is anybodies guess week by week if the oil will keep pumping in between terrorist attacks. And the North Sea oil is running out fast. It is not any one event hurting oil supplies but a combination of little problems. Chavez selling China our oil is serious if it combines with other problems now. In the future it might be a major problem as China increases its refinery capacity for the high sulfur oil that Venezuela has. You know he would love to deny the US all of his oil. Tales of attempted CIA assassinations might be just that, tales. But it does sound credible ( especially with the example of his buddy Fidel ) and should be enough to keep him from sleeping soundly. I would get a little cranky also. So, assume that Chavez will sell all his oil to China as soon as they are ready.
China is serious about its future energy supplies. They are planning to build pebble bed nuclear reactors. They have the Three Gorge Dam. They have literally decades worth of uranium fuel. They aren’t afraid to burn coal. They are building more oil reserve storage facilities. They are out in force wooing African nations for their oil supplies. What are we doing besides allowing all the seven sisters to merge into just a few large companies? And invading Iraq? China is sure to have their new butt buddy Chavez bought and paid for. Heck, that’s what he wants. Allied with Commies instead of Capitalists enhances his political image.
Chavez has agreed to go from 40,000 barrels a day to China six months ago to 75,000 barells today to an estimated 200,000 by year end. Contracts have been signed to build almost twenty new oil tankers and a dozen new drilling rigs. True, this might be China buying equipment to keep an aging and less productive Venezuelan oil fields in production but they wouldn’t be doing it if it didn’t make sense either in an economic or strategic manner. Does China think that buying all of Venezuelan oil, even at an increased cost, will hurt the US. China and Russia both want to see us reigned in after our recent middle east rampage.
Saudi Arabia running down its reserves will not effect us directly. To some extent China, perhaps Europe but mostly Japan all depend on light sweet crude due to lack of high sulfur oil refining capacity. Indirectly, the increased demand by others for Saudi oil makes us more dependant on suppliers such as Venezuela sense we have those kind of refineries. So when the smaller suppliers start to implement policies that can increase our costs it bears paying attention to. Venezuela’s actions are not going to shoot up gas prices or cause us to run out of oil. But it is another indicator that things are going to get very interesting on the energy front soon enough.
History tells us that oil has always been available after each supply scare. History also points to collapsed civilizations that ignored the peril of resource depletion. Do we want to end up like Easter Island? Our government seems to be on a collision course with ignorance and problem avoidance. You could do the same and it might not harm you. There is no guarantee Peak Oil is a reality. There is only a good chance of it coming to pass. I prefer to play the odds on the side of caution. I’ll assume we will run out of oil and attempt to prepare accordingly. You might want to also.
END
old timey book source www.thelitterbox.org/librum/index.htm
Thursday, October 26, 2006
survival junk
SURVIVING WITH JUNK
Jim Rawles and Boston T. Party are two survival writers. Rawles of course has the blog sit http://www.survivalblog.com/ and Boston has several books famous with preppers such as the Gun Bible. The problem with them is that they have money. And having money makes then unable to appreciate the frugal approach. More than once in his books BTP has stated something to the effect, “what price is your life worth?”. This inevitably when talking about a $1,200 semi-automatic battle rifle or a gun course or body armor. To me this is the wrong question. It assumes you value your life so much you will pull money out of your butt to buy this stuff. And Rawles, bless his heart for his great efforts, really only focuses on the expensive equipment and lifestyles.
We all value our lives very highly. If someone placed a gun to your head you would sign over your house to them if you had to. You would of course prefer to sign over the wife to them but chances are they wouldn’t be stupid enough to fall for it. We all want to survive until we die peacefully in our sleep at a ripe old age. The question should not be if we are willing to overspend to achieve survival. The question should be instead, “are you willing to make a place in your budget for survival preparations”. You can prepare on minimum wage or a retirement check. The difference between my advice and Kurt Saxon’s ( whom I got many of my ideas ) and the above mentioned authors is that we want you to survive on a budget where as they require you to have a middle class income before you even think about starting.
I hate that attitude. It is all I ever came across all through the seventies and eighties. With the exception of Kurt Saxon. “Only the real people with money deserve to survive.” That’s what it boils down to. Now don’t get me wrong. I read Rawles every day and enjoy it. I swear by several of Boston’s books. They are good at what they do. But they have a crappy attitude. It is class snobbery. And it limits people with bad advice. Poor people can survive, too. Poor is not a money condition, it is an attitude. The poorest folks in a trailer are an asset to society if they have a work ethic and are honest. The same healthy person living off a spouse because they are too lazy to work is not an asset. Income doesn’t define them but willingness to contribute to society. I know of plenty of parasites with big incomes. Most are called lawyers.
The quality of your equipment should not determine your chances of survival. Granted, well made items will last longer as a general rule. But if the choice is surviving because you bought cheap stuff and at least had the items versus not surviving because you couldn’t afford the best quality, which would you choose? A 98 cent folding knife from Wal-Mart will not cut as good nor last as long as a $30 brand name knife, but if you lost or broke it chances are the next day you would have a replacement in your pocket. If you had to replace the $30 item it would have to wait at least until payday or worse the spouses approval. Now multiple this by all your gear.
I can buy eight Lee-Enfield No.4 rifles for the price of one HK-91. Not that I would own that many but why have one good battle rifle that could malfunction when you can have two or three surplus rifles that will cost less and provide back-ups? Do I only own one super duper computer? No, I own several older used ones at a lesser cost ( but, alas, only one laptop- the others are desktops due to being cheaper ). Do I own one nice ink pen that has a superb ink flow and is correctly balanced? No, I own a pack of Bic’s that write most of the time even if not well. If I lose one I have another. Why own one expensive car? If you get two junkers one can break down and you have the other for transportation. Apply all this to your preparedness supplies. Two or three Wal-Mart scopes are better than one high dollar German optics. When you break it, not if but when, you will have a replacement on hand. If you can even afford multiples.
Those really feeling the pinch money wise are advised to really cut to the bone. A Russian bolt action at half the price of a Mauser, both the rifle and the ammo. Wheat only instead of canned goods or MRE’s. Etc. Better to have junk than nothing at all. Those people still living in a fantasy world about the economy can assume debt to prepare. Those on a cash and carry basis need to buy as cheap as possible to even get a chance to prepare.
Look, it is simple. By preparing for disaster you are being a good neighbor. You won’t become a burden on society. Who cares if you are a walking advertisement for duct tape. At least you can function semi-independently instead of being a charity case. Ignore the same old tired advice to buy quality. If you can’t afford it just buy its substitute. At least for a time it will work. Long term even the best made equipment in the world is going to wear out, degrade, rust or break. None of us are prepared to survive a truly long time. Another Better Than Nothing.
END
www.bisonpress.com for my books
Jim Rawles and Boston T. Party are two survival writers. Rawles of course has the blog sit http://www.survivalblog.com/ and Boston has several books famous with preppers such as the Gun Bible. The problem with them is that they have money. And having money makes then unable to appreciate the frugal approach. More than once in his books BTP has stated something to the effect, “what price is your life worth?”. This inevitably when talking about a $1,200 semi-automatic battle rifle or a gun course or body armor. To me this is the wrong question. It assumes you value your life so much you will pull money out of your butt to buy this stuff. And Rawles, bless his heart for his great efforts, really only focuses on the expensive equipment and lifestyles.
We all value our lives very highly. If someone placed a gun to your head you would sign over your house to them if you had to. You would of course prefer to sign over the wife to them but chances are they wouldn’t be stupid enough to fall for it. We all want to survive until we die peacefully in our sleep at a ripe old age. The question should not be if we are willing to overspend to achieve survival. The question should be instead, “are you willing to make a place in your budget for survival preparations”. You can prepare on minimum wage or a retirement check. The difference between my advice and Kurt Saxon’s ( whom I got many of my ideas ) and the above mentioned authors is that we want you to survive on a budget where as they require you to have a middle class income before you even think about starting.
I hate that attitude. It is all I ever came across all through the seventies and eighties. With the exception of Kurt Saxon. “Only the real people with money deserve to survive.” That’s what it boils down to. Now don’t get me wrong. I read Rawles every day and enjoy it. I swear by several of Boston’s books. They are good at what they do. But they have a crappy attitude. It is class snobbery. And it limits people with bad advice. Poor people can survive, too. Poor is not a money condition, it is an attitude. The poorest folks in a trailer are an asset to society if they have a work ethic and are honest. The same healthy person living off a spouse because they are too lazy to work is not an asset. Income doesn’t define them but willingness to contribute to society. I know of plenty of parasites with big incomes. Most are called lawyers.
The quality of your equipment should not determine your chances of survival. Granted, well made items will last longer as a general rule. But if the choice is surviving because you bought cheap stuff and at least had the items versus not surviving because you couldn’t afford the best quality, which would you choose? A 98 cent folding knife from Wal-Mart will not cut as good nor last as long as a $30 brand name knife, but if you lost or broke it chances are the next day you would have a replacement in your pocket. If you had to replace the $30 item it would have to wait at least until payday or worse the spouses approval. Now multiple this by all your gear.
I can buy eight Lee-Enfield No.4 rifles for the price of one HK-91. Not that I would own that many but why have one good battle rifle that could malfunction when you can have two or three surplus rifles that will cost less and provide back-ups? Do I only own one super duper computer? No, I own several older used ones at a lesser cost ( but, alas, only one laptop- the others are desktops due to being cheaper ). Do I own one nice ink pen that has a superb ink flow and is correctly balanced? No, I own a pack of Bic’s that write most of the time even if not well. If I lose one I have another. Why own one expensive car? If you get two junkers one can break down and you have the other for transportation. Apply all this to your preparedness supplies. Two or three Wal-Mart scopes are better than one high dollar German optics. When you break it, not if but when, you will have a replacement on hand. If you can even afford multiples.
Those really feeling the pinch money wise are advised to really cut to the bone. A Russian bolt action at half the price of a Mauser, both the rifle and the ammo. Wheat only instead of canned goods or MRE’s. Etc. Better to have junk than nothing at all. Those people still living in a fantasy world about the economy can assume debt to prepare. Those on a cash and carry basis need to buy as cheap as possible to even get a chance to prepare.
Look, it is simple. By preparing for disaster you are being a good neighbor. You won’t become a burden on society. Who cares if you are a walking advertisement for duct tape. At least you can function semi-independently instead of being a charity case. Ignore the same old tired advice to buy quality. If you can’t afford it just buy its substitute. At least for a time it will work. Long term even the best made equipment in the world is going to wear out, degrade, rust or break. None of us are prepared to survive a truly long time. Another Better Than Nothing.
END
www.bisonpress.com for my books
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
following rome
AS GOES ROME SO DOES WASHINGTON
If you compare the American Empire with that of the British you might mistakenly conclude we will slowly give up our world leadership position to another super power and slowly sink into a mire of economic stagnation. If you compare the coming Depression of America to that which Japan just had you might think we will emerge stronger than ever having corrected a real estate bubble gently through government stimulus. But if you compare the American Empire to that of ancient Rome you can only conclude that we are indeed royally screwed and we will enter a Dark ages after our collapse and the global economy will revert to feudalism after all modern technology is unsupportable. A recent article at www.financialsense.com compared the Romans and our empire and while the doom and gloom part is my own, the article made some good points about two similar economies.
Rome at its height had about 120 million population, about half the globes population. America has the third largest population on the globe but its policies and control effect over half the globe. Institutions put into place after World war II still rule the global economy even if they are less influential than before. The World Bank is largely under our control, the oil prices are still in dollars, our military dominates all others. The dollar is still a benchmark even if it won’t last much longer ( the only reason it still has clout is that the entire Western world was on a credit creation binge at the same time we were ).
Rome had excessive public building. At first as the wealth of the Empire was pouring in without other budgetary demands the buildings were elaborate and expensive, many of pure marble. Later as the money supply was corrupted and the taxes uncollectible only military formations were built. But public building played a large part in the economy. In the US we have been going bonkers over public building for the last fifty years. If it wasn’t government guarenteed loans to veterans stimulating the housing market it was auto road building on a massive scale. The governments role in building is massive. Granted, a VA loan doesn’t always cost more than bureaucratic red tape. With steady growth in the last century after the war any defaults could be resold. Even at a loss the benefits far exceeded the costs. But what has been the cost of road building. At several million dollars per mile it is hard to imagine the total.
Rome conducted several extensive campaigns in the middle east. They fought the Pathian Empire and today we try to occupy Iraq and tomorrow Iran. Back then it was for farmland and slaves, the pillars of the economy. Today it is for oil, the pillar of our economy. In both cases the costs were exceptionally high, but failure meant the economy could not grow to support the growing welfare class which had to be bought off to forestall revolution. It didn’t matter what the social or economic or military costs were, to not invade was to see an almost immediate collapse rather than one farther down the road.
Rome after a time became known for its burdensome taxes. At its start taxes were fair and reasonable. In time they became so heavy that descendants would refuse willed wealth since it would actually cost them money. In America taxes started out as almost nothing. Other than a few import taxes and a universal head tax there was no other drain on your wealth. Taxes were so reasonable there was no need to cheat on them or to enforce their collection. Today there is not one physical item or performed action that is not over regulated, taxed several different times and subject to litigation. In most instances if you are left property in someone’s will it will be necessary for you to sell it to try to cover the taxes which are quite high. If you can’t get a fair price on it you will end up owing money.
And if high taxes weren’t enough, consider inflation. The popular Denarius silver coin was 90% silver. Two hundred years later it contained a whopping .02% of silver. Two tenths of one percent. Wheat, the dietary staple, started out costing 8 Drachmas. One hundred years later it was priced at 120,000. That’s inflation. In the US we have seen a totally gold backed dollar in 1916 when the Federal Reserve bank was hatched into being. Now there is no gold backing of the dollar. None. I don’t even think there is anything in Fort Knox, an illusion of wealth given to public school children. A dollar is worth two to three cents compared to less than ninety years ago. That might not compare to Rome, but inflation has just started to pick up again. Remember, it is not just about printing more money. Credit creation is also inflationary. If it wasn’t for the financial market soaking up the excess cash and China putting downward pressure on manufactured goods inflation would have been painfully felt long ago. And hyperinflation is bound to come after the Baby Boomers start retiring in mass.
Following the rise and fall of the Roman Empire is painful, especially if you put yourself in the shoes of those effected. One day the same might be said about the American Empire, especially if we start using nuclear bombs to desperately try to worm ourselves out of the mess we have created. I don’t think it is that far fetched to contemplate. Already the administration is making noises about nukes to compensate for lack of spare troops. The Romans had a half a million man army and did just fine until they couldn’t be paid in the end. Our military is about the same strength per capita, and despite great pay is unable to defeat its foes. Through no fault of its own, we just live in a time where technology favors the decentralized. Nukes might very well be used. Be very afraid.
END
www.bisonpress.com for all your Christmas shopping.
If you compare the American Empire with that of the British you might mistakenly conclude we will slowly give up our world leadership position to another super power and slowly sink into a mire of economic stagnation. If you compare the coming Depression of America to that which Japan just had you might think we will emerge stronger than ever having corrected a real estate bubble gently through government stimulus. But if you compare the American Empire to that of ancient Rome you can only conclude that we are indeed royally screwed and we will enter a Dark ages after our collapse and the global economy will revert to feudalism after all modern technology is unsupportable. A recent article at www.financialsense.com compared the Romans and our empire and while the doom and gloom part is my own, the article made some good points about two similar economies.
Rome at its height had about 120 million population, about half the globes population. America has the third largest population on the globe but its policies and control effect over half the globe. Institutions put into place after World war II still rule the global economy even if they are less influential than before. The World Bank is largely under our control, the oil prices are still in dollars, our military dominates all others. The dollar is still a benchmark even if it won’t last much longer ( the only reason it still has clout is that the entire Western world was on a credit creation binge at the same time we were ).
Rome had excessive public building. At first as the wealth of the Empire was pouring in without other budgetary demands the buildings were elaborate and expensive, many of pure marble. Later as the money supply was corrupted and the taxes uncollectible only military formations were built. But public building played a large part in the economy. In the US we have been going bonkers over public building for the last fifty years. If it wasn’t government guarenteed loans to veterans stimulating the housing market it was auto road building on a massive scale. The governments role in building is massive. Granted, a VA loan doesn’t always cost more than bureaucratic red tape. With steady growth in the last century after the war any defaults could be resold. Even at a loss the benefits far exceeded the costs. But what has been the cost of road building. At several million dollars per mile it is hard to imagine the total.
Rome conducted several extensive campaigns in the middle east. They fought the Pathian Empire and today we try to occupy Iraq and tomorrow Iran. Back then it was for farmland and slaves, the pillars of the economy. Today it is for oil, the pillar of our economy. In both cases the costs were exceptionally high, but failure meant the economy could not grow to support the growing welfare class which had to be bought off to forestall revolution. It didn’t matter what the social or economic or military costs were, to not invade was to see an almost immediate collapse rather than one farther down the road.
Rome after a time became known for its burdensome taxes. At its start taxes were fair and reasonable. In time they became so heavy that descendants would refuse willed wealth since it would actually cost them money. In America taxes started out as almost nothing. Other than a few import taxes and a universal head tax there was no other drain on your wealth. Taxes were so reasonable there was no need to cheat on them or to enforce their collection. Today there is not one physical item or performed action that is not over regulated, taxed several different times and subject to litigation. In most instances if you are left property in someone’s will it will be necessary for you to sell it to try to cover the taxes which are quite high. If you can’t get a fair price on it you will end up owing money.
And if high taxes weren’t enough, consider inflation. The popular Denarius silver coin was 90% silver. Two hundred years later it contained a whopping .02% of silver. Two tenths of one percent. Wheat, the dietary staple, started out costing 8 Drachmas. One hundred years later it was priced at 120,000. That’s inflation. In the US we have seen a totally gold backed dollar in 1916 when the Federal Reserve bank was hatched into being. Now there is no gold backing of the dollar. None. I don’t even think there is anything in Fort Knox, an illusion of wealth given to public school children. A dollar is worth two to three cents compared to less than ninety years ago. That might not compare to Rome, but inflation has just started to pick up again. Remember, it is not just about printing more money. Credit creation is also inflationary. If it wasn’t for the financial market soaking up the excess cash and China putting downward pressure on manufactured goods inflation would have been painfully felt long ago. And hyperinflation is bound to come after the Baby Boomers start retiring in mass.
Following the rise and fall of the Roman Empire is painful, especially if you put yourself in the shoes of those effected. One day the same might be said about the American Empire, especially if we start using nuclear bombs to desperately try to worm ourselves out of the mess we have created. I don’t think it is that far fetched to contemplate. Already the administration is making noises about nukes to compensate for lack of spare troops. The Romans had a half a million man army and did just fine until they couldn’t be paid in the end. Our military is about the same strength per capita, and despite great pay is unable to defeat its foes. Through no fault of its own, we just live in a time where technology favors the decentralized. Nukes might very well be used. Be very afraid.
END
www.bisonpress.com for all your Christmas shopping.
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
survival niches
SURVIVALIST NICHES
It used to be said that if one prepared for nuclear war than any other lesser disaster would already be manageable. To a degree that is correct. Other than a economic depression where our budding subterranean inhabitant lost his home and fall out shelter after he lost his job due to mass unemployment ( you did read yesterdays post, right? ), I can’t think of much that would trip up the nuke war prepper. If he followed the standard Bruce Clayton bible he was well armed and had plenty of food along with his shelter. But I would think even professionals making ten times my income would still need to get into debt for that and so this route is far from fool-proof. No survival preparedness plan is. The sorry fact is that we are forced to pick the event most likely to occur and plan for it. Resources are finite and must be allocated.
What kind of survivalist you are depends on your income, your level of paranoia and your inclination to dedicate your time. These factors can be intermixed. You might have plenty of money but little paranoia and so choose to just prepare for a few weeks of natural disaster living. Or you could be broke as a lawyers heart but extremely paranoid, believing peak oil will purge us into a vast Dark Ages and so devote a lot of time to learning Stone Age skills. But I think it safe to assume that we must all pick one scenario and plan for that. A stone age skill will see you through Peak Oil but if we see a dictatorship and all wilderness areas are forbidden to control rebels you can’t go out and survive in the woods ( unless of course you went up to Canada ). A month food supply and a shotgun will see you through another Katrina but not suffice for a asteroid hitting Earth.
I try not to limit myself to one grim future. I am equally convinced that not only will we see a nuclear war but also that Peak oil will shortly be on us and our country might see a dictatorship after an economic collapse. But I can’t prepare for it all. I can’t afford a fallout shelter that is energy self-sufficient while at the same time arming myself with semi-auto weapons and hoarding gold and silver. I could build an underground shelter out of wood pallets, plywood and plastic sheeting. Salvage windows from the dump and dig a rock filled pit to park my trailer over for solar heat. I could practice with my bolt actions enough to be able to be dangerous without a spray of lead downrange. And I could hold 1981 and previous pennies for copper coins and buy a few silver dimes at a time on an allowance. But I would be half-assing everything. Nothing would be done properly. Best to zero in on one disaster and prepare for it.
Climate Change- your primary worry is food, water and lack of petroleum. Your best bet is to be a homesteader. Out on a good piece of land with good water. Preferably with a perpetual wood supply. Otherwise a solar gain house is needed. This will be expensive but you need fertile soil. You will be growing all your own food. Some wheat for crop failures, some arms for hungry beggars and animal predators.
Nuclear War- fallout is going to get you. Forget worrying about marauders and government troops, most will be dead by the time you emerge. You need arms and ammo but a moderate amount will do. Luckily there is a wealth of old Civil Defense data on building shelters on the cheap. All your food must be stockpiled as irradiated ground won’t grow crops. A minimum of five years per person.
Peak Oil- oil supply will dwindle and our economic system will crash due to the entire system needing cheap energy to function. No more energy supplies or food coming in. Almost like the climate change homesteader but you need more guns and ammo to protect yourself against the huge lawless population that wants to steal what you have because their ghetto dwelling Uncle Sam handout taking butts were too lazy to work a job and buy supplies.
Dictatorship- yes it is true, the government is out to get us. A bit of food is going to be needed to avoid Stalin type starvation of dissenters, but what you really need are guns and ammo and reloading supplies and military manuals and equipment and training. You should be learning from the Viet Cong and Afghanis and Iraqi insurgents and learn to fight against the conventional military, but most will try to mimic the military in tactics.
Depression/Hyperinflation- while it would be nice to be on a farm, the most important thing is to own gold and silver as the dollar will be worthless. Food and guns are needed, but nothing excessive as society will still function. The main enemy is the bankers and the Federal Reserve. Have nothing in the financial market, even retirement. The banks will fail, only have real money which is precious metals.
Mad Max- pretty much just like a dictatorship. The need for massive arms. The difference is that you must have stashed food and water, as everyone is an enemy. They are all out to get you, civilians and military alike. The best defense is retreating up into the mountains or in the middle of a big desert with no roads nearby. So, bolt actions will work, just have plenty of ammo. Less militia like, more like a recluse.
Natural Disasters- the mild form of a survivalist. You just need a few weeks worth of supplies. A gun or two, lots of canned goods, a portable toilet, alternate lighting. About like camping but more fun as you don’t have to carry your supplies to the woods.
Retreater- you must work in the city to afford to prepare so you must own a retreat away from the city crowds. Not a cheap way to do things, but at least you can enjoy the good things in life waiting for the end to come.
Stone Ager- you know eventually it will all fall apart and as metal eventually rusts away to nothing the only true long term survival tools will be Stone Age. This is the cheapest way to prepare, you just need a few books and a lot of practice.
I think that covers just about everyone. Good luck picking your path to life and security.
END
Remember, www.BisonPress.com for my books on disc.
It used to be said that if one prepared for nuclear war than any other lesser disaster would already be manageable. To a degree that is correct. Other than a economic depression where our budding subterranean inhabitant lost his home and fall out shelter after he lost his job due to mass unemployment ( you did read yesterdays post, right? ), I can’t think of much that would trip up the nuke war prepper. If he followed the standard Bruce Clayton bible he was well armed and had plenty of food along with his shelter. But I would think even professionals making ten times my income would still need to get into debt for that and so this route is far from fool-proof. No survival preparedness plan is. The sorry fact is that we are forced to pick the event most likely to occur and plan for it. Resources are finite and must be allocated.
What kind of survivalist you are depends on your income, your level of paranoia and your inclination to dedicate your time. These factors can be intermixed. You might have plenty of money but little paranoia and so choose to just prepare for a few weeks of natural disaster living. Or you could be broke as a lawyers heart but extremely paranoid, believing peak oil will purge us into a vast Dark Ages and so devote a lot of time to learning Stone Age skills. But I think it safe to assume that we must all pick one scenario and plan for that. A stone age skill will see you through Peak Oil but if we see a dictatorship and all wilderness areas are forbidden to control rebels you can’t go out and survive in the woods ( unless of course you went up to Canada ). A month food supply and a shotgun will see you through another Katrina but not suffice for a asteroid hitting Earth.
I try not to limit myself to one grim future. I am equally convinced that not only will we see a nuclear war but also that Peak oil will shortly be on us and our country might see a dictatorship after an economic collapse. But I can’t prepare for it all. I can’t afford a fallout shelter that is energy self-sufficient while at the same time arming myself with semi-auto weapons and hoarding gold and silver. I could build an underground shelter out of wood pallets, plywood and plastic sheeting. Salvage windows from the dump and dig a rock filled pit to park my trailer over for solar heat. I could practice with my bolt actions enough to be able to be dangerous without a spray of lead downrange. And I could hold 1981 and previous pennies for copper coins and buy a few silver dimes at a time on an allowance. But I would be half-assing everything. Nothing would be done properly. Best to zero in on one disaster and prepare for it.
Climate Change- your primary worry is food, water and lack of petroleum. Your best bet is to be a homesteader. Out on a good piece of land with good water. Preferably with a perpetual wood supply. Otherwise a solar gain house is needed. This will be expensive but you need fertile soil. You will be growing all your own food. Some wheat for crop failures, some arms for hungry beggars and animal predators.
Nuclear War- fallout is going to get you. Forget worrying about marauders and government troops, most will be dead by the time you emerge. You need arms and ammo but a moderate amount will do. Luckily there is a wealth of old Civil Defense data on building shelters on the cheap. All your food must be stockpiled as irradiated ground won’t grow crops. A minimum of five years per person.
Peak Oil- oil supply will dwindle and our economic system will crash due to the entire system needing cheap energy to function. No more energy supplies or food coming in. Almost like the climate change homesteader but you need more guns and ammo to protect yourself against the huge lawless population that wants to steal what you have because their ghetto dwelling Uncle Sam handout taking butts were too lazy to work a job and buy supplies.
Dictatorship- yes it is true, the government is out to get us. A bit of food is going to be needed to avoid Stalin type starvation of dissenters, but what you really need are guns and ammo and reloading supplies and military manuals and equipment and training. You should be learning from the Viet Cong and Afghanis and Iraqi insurgents and learn to fight against the conventional military, but most will try to mimic the military in tactics.
Depression/Hyperinflation- while it would be nice to be on a farm, the most important thing is to own gold and silver as the dollar will be worthless. Food and guns are needed, but nothing excessive as society will still function. The main enemy is the bankers and the Federal Reserve. Have nothing in the financial market, even retirement. The banks will fail, only have real money which is precious metals.
Mad Max- pretty much just like a dictatorship. The need for massive arms. The difference is that you must have stashed food and water, as everyone is an enemy. They are all out to get you, civilians and military alike. The best defense is retreating up into the mountains or in the middle of a big desert with no roads nearby. So, bolt actions will work, just have plenty of ammo. Less militia like, more like a recluse.
Natural Disasters- the mild form of a survivalist. You just need a few weeks worth of supplies. A gun or two, lots of canned goods, a portable toilet, alternate lighting. About like camping but more fun as you don’t have to carry your supplies to the woods.
Retreater- you must work in the city to afford to prepare so you must own a retreat away from the city crowds. Not a cheap way to do things, but at least you can enjoy the good things in life waiting for the end to come.
Stone Ager- you know eventually it will all fall apart and as metal eventually rusts away to nothing the only true long term survival tools will be Stone Age. This is the cheapest way to prepare, you just need a few books and a lot of practice.
I think that covers just about everyone. Good luck picking your path to life and security.
END
Remember, www.BisonPress.com for my books on disc.
Monday, October 23, 2006
negative job growth
JOB CREATION MAGIC
If, as some conspiracy theorists maintain, the US government was behind 9/11 than the plan to place the US economy on a wartime economy worked. The Tech Bubble popping was the equivalent of another 1929 market crash. The US government, with its own survival in mind ( and that of its butt buddies the bankers ) engineered the Towers explosion to push public acceptance of a middle east occupation. Or, if Bin Laden was actually responsible for the attack, then the aim of bankrupting our economy is actually working quite well. Why do I think this? Consider one piece of the puzzle.
This month Business Week magazine came out with an article on “What’s Really Propping Up The Economy”. The sub-title was “Since 2001 the health care industry has added 1.7 million jobs. The rest of the private sector? None.” That really speaks for itself , but as usual I will dissect this for the slow ones and so as to be able to fill up an entire article. One, the housing bubble is entirely a government creation. Easy credit and low interest rates created an artificial demand for housing. As a result in a lot of areas housing prices doubled. Wages did not. Suddenly everyone was supposed to be able to pay twice as much for a house. And home equity loans were inflationary. Everyone involved in housing from Pedro the builder to Jackie the Yuppie real estate broker had a job due to government intervention in the economy. Two, the health care industry owes at least half of its existence to government funded medicine. Pure welfare.
Home Depot and Lowe’s alone added over 150,000 jobs to the economy. Expect those to disappear now that the housing bubble has burst ( excuse me, softened or corrected to normal ). About a million jobs were housing related. Remember, these are new jobs. Without the stimulus of new houses made artificially affordable those jobs would not exist. I think most of us realize the housing boom is over. Expect the jobs to disappear shortly if they already haven’t. All government positions, mainly education, created almost another million jobs. Another million pensions to support down the road.
So, construction and government workers accounted for almost two million jobs. The health care industry a bit under that. Three and a half million jobs created by government. The private sector came in at a minus 1.2 million. Assuming the half of the health care industry that was privately funded was real job growth and not just a follow effect of the public half, in five years the only job growth from the private sector was still at a negative number of a loss of over 300,000 jobs. The government added over three million jobs and the private sector as a whole lost jobs.
Why? The economy is crap. The Tech Wreck killed the financial sector and 9/11 put the bullet into the corpses head. Granted, job growth is not the whole economy. If over employment was due for a correction it would be normal. But the government is totally out of control with economic stimulus. The war in Iraq is costing us billions a day. Health care employment accounts for over 60% of job growth in a lot of states. The entire Rust Belt would be a third world country without the artificial input of tax dollars. Inflation is at least double what is reported. Unemployment is at least double of what is reported. We borrow almost a trillion dollars a year from foreigners. Clearly it can’t go on. The artificial job growth is just a symptom of a very sick economy.
What to do? I would panic, frankly. I would get out of debt any way I could, even bankruptcy. I would put all but the smallest amount of a rainy day slush fund comprised of Greenbacks into precious metals, guns, ammo, solar panels and wood stoves and food. I would get a piece of land for cash and have a shelter for it. My usual advice, as you can tell. This is nothing new for me. Look, if I am wrong ( and it wouldn’t be the first time ) you lose a few years of earnings. You can start again later. You will have a bad credit rating, but I view that as a blessing in disguise as it keeps you out of debt. You will own a worthless piece of land. But you can always use it for camping on vacation. But if I am right and you go into three alarm full blown panic mode and prepare as much as possible then it might save your life.
I consider this just another warning sign of a bad economy to come. With the recent history of job layoffs ( the most recent from Frito-Lay of all places ) you would do well to panic. Again, even if I am wrong the worst case scenario is that I set back your plans for middle class bliss for a time. And it might not even matter if nothing bad happens. You might be relieved you took the effort and finances to prepare now so a future alarm doesn’t cause as much anxiety. In other words, you’ll sleep better at night. So, yes, I am a chicken little seeing the sky falling at every opportunity. So what? We would be served well to prepare for hard times, regardless of when they come about or what happens.
END
If, as some conspiracy theorists maintain, the US government was behind 9/11 than the plan to place the US economy on a wartime economy worked. The Tech Bubble popping was the equivalent of another 1929 market crash. The US government, with its own survival in mind ( and that of its butt buddies the bankers ) engineered the Towers explosion to push public acceptance of a middle east occupation. Or, if Bin Laden was actually responsible for the attack, then the aim of bankrupting our economy is actually working quite well. Why do I think this? Consider one piece of the puzzle.
This month Business Week magazine came out with an article on “What’s Really Propping Up The Economy”. The sub-title was “Since 2001 the health care industry has added 1.7 million jobs. The rest of the private sector? None.” That really speaks for itself , but as usual I will dissect this for the slow ones and so as to be able to fill up an entire article. One, the housing bubble is entirely a government creation. Easy credit and low interest rates created an artificial demand for housing. As a result in a lot of areas housing prices doubled. Wages did not. Suddenly everyone was supposed to be able to pay twice as much for a house. And home equity loans were inflationary. Everyone involved in housing from Pedro the builder to Jackie the Yuppie real estate broker had a job due to government intervention in the economy. Two, the health care industry owes at least half of its existence to government funded medicine. Pure welfare.
Home Depot and Lowe’s alone added over 150,000 jobs to the economy. Expect those to disappear now that the housing bubble has burst ( excuse me, softened or corrected to normal ). About a million jobs were housing related. Remember, these are new jobs. Without the stimulus of new houses made artificially affordable those jobs would not exist. I think most of us realize the housing boom is over. Expect the jobs to disappear shortly if they already haven’t. All government positions, mainly education, created almost another million jobs. Another million pensions to support down the road.
So, construction and government workers accounted for almost two million jobs. The health care industry a bit under that. Three and a half million jobs created by government. The private sector came in at a minus 1.2 million. Assuming the half of the health care industry that was privately funded was real job growth and not just a follow effect of the public half, in five years the only job growth from the private sector was still at a negative number of a loss of over 300,000 jobs. The government added over three million jobs and the private sector as a whole lost jobs.
Why? The economy is crap. The Tech Wreck killed the financial sector and 9/11 put the bullet into the corpses head. Granted, job growth is not the whole economy. If over employment was due for a correction it would be normal. But the government is totally out of control with economic stimulus. The war in Iraq is costing us billions a day. Health care employment accounts for over 60% of job growth in a lot of states. The entire Rust Belt would be a third world country without the artificial input of tax dollars. Inflation is at least double what is reported. Unemployment is at least double of what is reported. We borrow almost a trillion dollars a year from foreigners. Clearly it can’t go on. The artificial job growth is just a symptom of a very sick economy.
What to do? I would panic, frankly. I would get out of debt any way I could, even bankruptcy. I would put all but the smallest amount of a rainy day slush fund comprised of Greenbacks into precious metals, guns, ammo, solar panels and wood stoves and food. I would get a piece of land for cash and have a shelter for it. My usual advice, as you can tell. This is nothing new for me. Look, if I am wrong ( and it wouldn’t be the first time ) you lose a few years of earnings. You can start again later. You will have a bad credit rating, but I view that as a blessing in disguise as it keeps you out of debt. You will own a worthless piece of land. But you can always use it for camping on vacation. But if I am right and you go into three alarm full blown panic mode and prepare as much as possible then it might save your life.
I consider this just another warning sign of a bad economy to come. With the recent history of job layoffs ( the most recent from Frito-Lay of all places ) you would do well to panic. Again, even if I am wrong the worst case scenario is that I set back your plans for middle class bliss for a time. And it might not even matter if nothing bad happens. You might be relieved you took the effort and finances to prepare now so a future alarm doesn’t cause as much anxiety. In other words, you’ll sleep better at night. So, yes, I am a chicken little seeing the sky falling at every opportunity. So what? We would be served well to prepare for hard times, regardless of when they come about or what happens.
END
Saturday, October 21, 2006
canned wheat
Just a word of caution before today's post. Most days the post will be late in the day. I have little choice due to my work schedule. So, assume about 6 pm pacific time.
Visit www.BisonPress.com for my books. Frugal Survivalist, preps for under 4500 at only $4.00, The complete Bison Newsletter, over 700 pages for $5.00 and Improvised Munitions the electronic version of TM 21-310 for only $3.00. And, and a free 35 page book posted on the site, $3k Homesteading.
CANNED WHEAT
Emergency Essentials sells a #10 can of wheat for $7. It contains five pounds of wheat. Eaten alone it delivers 1500 calories a day for five days. This will suffice in an emergency diet. After shipping you are spending about eight dollars for the can, assuming you buy more than one can. Shipping is a straight $6 regardless of item up to a certain purchase amount. You should buy at least six cans at a time to decrease the cost of each item. They can be reached at
www.BePrepared.com
For twelve bucks you could buy a five gallon poly bucket with lid and fill it with thirty three pounds of wheat. But the goal here is to buy metal containers, safe from rodents. The less costly way is to buy a thirty gallon metal trash can ( I am assuming here that no cheap fifty five gallon drums are available locally for purchase that are safe for food storage ) for about twenty five dollars. It will hold about two hundred pounds of wheat. Your final cost is about $75 if you use diatomaceous earth as an insecticide. Times two gives you over a years supply of food for $150, safe from rodents and insects. The cost of that amount in poly buckets would be about $120. For an thirty extra dollars you are buying rodent protection.
If you can’t store such a large container you must buy the canned wheat from Emergency Essentials for $8 for a five day food supply. Now, I love that company. Over the years I have placed several orders and always been extremely pleased. They are the epitome of a well run, caring, customer orientated company. You could do worse than buying from them. But what if you can’t afford to pay $1.50 a pound for stored wheat? You want small sizes, you want rodent proofing and you want as cheap as possible. A lot of folks such as apartment dwellers or RV dwellers can’t store a big metal drum. And poly buckets are not the super cheap bargain they used to be at half the price as currently offered ( and with thinner lids now, no less ). When it was a lot cheaper you could excuse the occasional rodent loss. But with the current cost it seems silly to buy expensive wheat storage that is less than perfect.
The metal cans are perfect, except for one thing. They are rodent proof, being of metal. They are insect proof, being nitrogen packed. But they are expensive. It would cost you about $600 to buy 400 pounds of wheat this way. Four times the cost of the trash can. Yet the trash can is not insect proof. It is insect resistant, but not 100% proof. Clearly, to save money you need to have less than perfect storage. I would rather buy rodent proofing and have insect resistance. I trust the diatomaceous earth. It just might not be totally guaranteed. So, how do we lower the cost from factory canned wheat?
You can go to Lowe’s and buy a one gallon paint can for $3.48 plus tax. The one at Home Depot costs $3.88 plus tax. It will hold about six and a half pounds of wheat. Almost a weeks worth verses five days for the other. A marginal improvement to be sure, but one that might save your life one day. An extra day and a half of food per can. About a buck worth of feed store wheat will fill the can. Your cost is no more than five bucks even with a tablespoon or two of diatomaceous earth thrown in. Be sure to put a plastic grocery sack in first. I’m not sure what is coating the inside of the paint can but it can’t be good to have food on it.
The cost for a years worth would be $320. About half the cost of the commercially prepared canned wheat. Not 100% insect proof, but pretty darn close. Perhaps an acceptable risk considering the cost savings. If you were to buy a months supply at a time the one would cost you $50, the other $25.
Another way would be quart canning jars. True, they are glass and so more prone to breaking. But they can be used for actual canning after you eat the wheat from them. The paint cans can’t really be reused except for more wheat if you are growing your own. If you can buy a quart Mason jar with lid and ring for a dollar it will not cost much more than the paint cans. And if you own a vacuum sealer already you can buy a $5 attachment that sucks the air out of wide mouth canning jars. No insecticide to buy. And you can see if there is any infestation. Plus you can stack the boxes full of jars easily. Granted, you will need a bit over sixty jars per hundred pounds of wheat. But you would only have to buy a dozen at a time. Or buy all at once for a discount. A good idea if you plan on canning in the future. Not if they are going to be a disposable item after the wheat is gone. However, they could be a good barter item even if you don’t plan on canning yourself. Just something to think over.
The cheapest way to safely store wheat away from rodents is in used fifty five gallon drums. The drum and wheat will go for under $100 for 300 pounds. If you can’t find a drum, or just wish to store a little bit of metal protected wheat to insure against lose from your poly buckets, go with the paint cans or Mason jars. You only have to spend $25 to $50 at a time and it is cheap enough insurance. I myself have poly buckets, commercial canned, metal square cans, and now paint cans. You can’t have enough wheat or 303 rounds.
END
Visit www.BisonPress.com for my books. Frugal Survivalist, preps for under 4500 at only $4.00, The complete Bison Newsletter, over 700 pages for $5.00 and Improvised Munitions the electronic version of TM 21-310 for only $3.00. And, and a free 35 page book posted on the site, $3k Homesteading.
CANNED WHEAT
Emergency Essentials sells a #10 can of wheat for $7. It contains five pounds of wheat. Eaten alone it delivers 1500 calories a day for five days. This will suffice in an emergency diet. After shipping you are spending about eight dollars for the can, assuming you buy more than one can. Shipping is a straight $6 regardless of item up to a certain purchase amount. You should buy at least six cans at a time to decrease the cost of each item. They can be reached at
www.BePrepared.com
For twelve bucks you could buy a five gallon poly bucket with lid and fill it with thirty three pounds of wheat. But the goal here is to buy metal containers, safe from rodents. The less costly way is to buy a thirty gallon metal trash can ( I am assuming here that no cheap fifty five gallon drums are available locally for purchase that are safe for food storage ) for about twenty five dollars. It will hold about two hundred pounds of wheat. Your final cost is about $75 if you use diatomaceous earth as an insecticide. Times two gives you over a years supply of food for $150, safe from rodents and insects. The cost of that amount in poly buckets would be about $120. For an thirty extra dollars you are buying rodent protection.
If you can’t store such a large container you must buy the canned wheat from Emergency Essentials for $8 for a five day food supply. Now, I love that company. Over the years I have placed several orders and always been extremely pleased. They are the epitome of a well run, caring, customer orientated company. You could do worse than buying from them. But what if you can’t afford to pay $1.50 a pound for stored wheat? You want small sizes, you want rodent proofing and you want as cheap as possible. A lot of folks such as apartment dwellers or RV dwellers can’t store a big metal drum. And poly buckets are not the super cheap bargain they used to be at half the price as currently offered ( and with thinner lids now, no less ). When it was a lot cheaper you could excuse the occasional rodent loss. But with the current cost it seems silly to buy expensive wheat storage that is less than perfect.
The metal cans are perfect, except for one thing. They are rodent proof, being of metal. They are insect proof, being nitrogen packed. But they are expensive. It would cost you about $600 to buy 400 pounds of wheat this way. Four times the cost of the trash can. Yet the trash can is not insect proof. It is insect resistant, but not 100% proof. Clearly, to save money you need to have less than perfect storage. I would rather buy rodent proofing and have insect resistance. I trust the diatomaceous earth. It just might not be totally guaranteed. So, how do we lower the cost from factory canned wheat?
You can go to Lowe’s and buy a one gallon paint can for $3.48 plus tax. The one at Home Depot costs $3.88 plus tax. It will hold about six and a half pounds of wheat. Almost a weeks worth verses five days for the other. A marginal improvement to be sure, but one that might save your life one day. An extra day and a half of food per can. About a buck worth of feed store wheat will fill the can. Your cost is no more than five bucks even with a tablespoon or two of diatomaceous earth thrown in. Be sure to put a plastic grocery sack in first. I’m not sure what is coating the inside of the paint can but it can’t be good to have food on it.
The cost for a years worth would be $320. About half the cost of the commercially prepared canned wheat. Not 100% insect proof, but pretty darn close. Perhaps an acceptable risk considering the cost savings. If you were to buy a months supply at a time the one would cost you $50, the other $25.
Another way would be quart canning jars. True, they are glass and so more prone to breaking. But they can be used for actual canning after you eat the wheat from them. The paint cans can’t really be reused except for more wheat if you are growing your own. If you can buy a quart Mason jar with lid and ring for a dollar it will not cost much more than the paint cans. And if you own a vacuum sealer already you can buy a $5 attachment that sucks the air out of wide mouth canning jars. No insecticide to buy. And you can see if there is any infestation. Plus you can stack the boxes full of jars easily. Granted, you will need a bit over sixty jars per hundred pounds of wheat. But you would only have to buy a dozen at a time. Or buy all at once for a discount. A good idea if you plan on canning in the future. Not if they are going to be a disposable item after the wheat is gone. However, they could be a good barter item even if you don’t plan on canning yourself. Just something to think over.
The cheapest way to safely store wheat away from rodents is in used fifty five gallon drums. The drum and wheat will go for under $100 for 300 pounds. If you can’t find a drum, or just wish to store a little bit of metal protected wheat to insure against lose from your poly buckets, go with the paint cans or Mason jars. You only have to spend $25 to $50 at a time and it is cheap enough insurance. I myself have poly buckets, commercial canned, metal square cans, and now paint cans. You can’t have enough wheat or 303 rounds.
END
Friday, October 20, 2006
welcome
Welcome to the newest, latest and greatest writings from yours truely, James M Dakin. Former publisher of The Walter Mittey Papers and Bison newsletter. I will focus on writing mostly along the lines of frugal survival preparations and extreme paranoia. Thrown in at my whim will be anarchist thoughts, personal pet peeves and other irritating posts. But you must read through it all to become wise. Printed daily except Sunday. Please feel free to write, jimd303@netzero.com If you wish to have me post your letter online, in the body of the letter write "post all below" above the portion I should post. Visit my web site
www.BisonPress.com and purchase my other writings to help support this blog. Enjoy. Jim.
www.BisonPress.com and purchase my other writings to help support this blog. Enjoy. Jim.
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