peak expropriation

PEAK EXPROPRIATION
When you expropriate property you are a thief. When the government expropriates property it is eminent domain. For the public good. When a group of industrious folks expropriate anything not nailed down for four hundred years they accumulate a lot of wealth. Now, don’t get all whiney with me and start spouting patriotic jingoistic rhetoric. I’m actually quite happy that I live in a country that is so good stealing everyone else’s stuff. Human nature being what it is, there will always be mass scale thievery. No, we can’t all just get along. Theft is a natural species survival trait. So, you can be on the side that gets an early Christmas or you can be on the side that is left naked in the snow, huts burning and cupboards bare. Today we are going to talk about the end of the American expropriation. But keep in mind that post collapse, you can belong to one of the two groups. There is no middle ground. I realize this offends your sensibilities. Most of what I say does. Why you would still read my drivel as I slaughter your sacred cows one after another is one of life’s eternal mysteries.
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The long and sordid history of expropriation ( can’t say it too many times- it’s today’s two bit word ) globally would fill volumes and although you are actually all very generous and wonderful customers as far as paying me for my work, it still doesn’t pay that much to go through all the bother so we will skip any pretense of journalistic aptitude and concentrate on our own little corner of the world here. A bunch of social rejects sail on over here with visions of gold sprinkled sugar plums dancing in their heads and in a land of plenty start dropping dead left and right in a malarial swamp from disease and starvation. Some dumbass Native American doesn’t quite think the whole foreign devil invasion thing through the whole way and offers to show them how to plant corn and dead fish. They recover and once they get enough strength again start pillaging and exploiting the continent. Well, it takes a few years for the population and industrial infrastructure to allow widespread conquest. But by and large we started taking what we wanted right away.
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The ability to gather a surplus of energy is the road to wealth. Just as Rome conquered new land and slaves to build an empire, so did we. We might not have been as ambitious as the Brits, but then our own back yard had pretty much everything we needed. It wasn’t necessary until recently to go overseas to get the resources we needed. We have exploited labor and stole land better than most. The US has had a rather successful run at empire. We took lots of good land from the natives. We exported free labor from Africa. As more slaves were born and old land was worn out we just kept moving west to mine new fertile ground. As industry grew in the north we used incoming immigration to suppress the cost of labor. Then we threw that cheap labor ( further wage suppression was achieved by the very machines the labor built ) into the sausage grinder of the War Between The States to free up blacks so they could act as more cheap labor. The only thing keeping the scheme going was that the old laborers could advance economically and exploit future labor ( greed is good ). Coal and oil began to replace water power and wood as energy systems. They became our new cheap labor.
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Do you think it much of a coincidence that immigration policies became more liberal as our domestic supply of oil became to dry up? We needed cheap labor for corporate wealth. But this time there was no economic ladder to climb to satisfy those that had already been exploited. Economically we became to stagnate. The middle class ( largely a product of free oil ) began to shrink as the stockpile of energy started to dwindle. The reprieve from the 70’s was the result of one last giant oil fields coming online. That and rigging the paper currency game globally in our favor. And it only cost us our entire industrial capacity. You can dress up dwindling energy supplies in a green dress and call it conservation, but the name of the game is still depletion.
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All of this is coming to an end. There is no more land to steal. No more mineral wealth. Petroleum supplies are in decline. Most laborers have already mortgaged there futures for thirty years for a depreciating asset while earning less in real buying power. Ethanol and military occupation incur a far higher cost than we can pay in the long run. When there is nothing more to steal, wealth starts to decline. After the globe is plundered, after your own population is plundered, what is left? We have already long passed the point where the majority was allowed to share some of the looted wealth. The majority have already been plucked clean. The only thing left is for the population to actually give up that which would keep them alive. It is a foreign experience for Americans to be on the wrong end of expropriation. You had better get used to it.
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straight walled cases

STRAIGHT WALLED CASES
If we actually see a severe technological collapse, such as we covered last week on the pottery industry after Rome fell, there are going to be thousands of everyday items that are suddenly impossible to duplicate. Even if specific machinery is undamaged and somehow still manages to be run by whatever means the lack of supply transport will still see a failure of that item to be manufactured. We are so used to living in a forest of global supple that the single trees are blurred. One item sure to disappear is going to be ammunition. It might be possible to make primer chemical. You can pry out the wings on the cup after de-priming the case and add the chemical needed. Of course, this is not guaranteed since even improvised chemicals might not be available. But at least the work itself can be done on a primitive level. The propellant might be impossible to duplicate without basic chemical stocks being manufactured, but at a minimum black powder can be substituted ( you can use black powder in smokeless powder weapons, but never the reverse ).
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Your biggest problem however is going to be the cases. I could be missing an obvious large type detail here but as far as I can tell there is absolutely no way that you are going to be able to duplicate cases. It’s not like the 100+ year process is overly involved. An oval globe of brass is taken through several steps forming it up and out into a tube, then necking it and giving it a base. But since this is a industrial process with large machines there is no cottage level way to duplicate it ( note-I am talking about virgin case manufacturing here, not wild catting pre-made cases ). You can practice chemistry on a small scale but not the case manufacture. This is where with the collapse of the current industrial economy is going to throw you back several hundred years. The only hope you have of avoiding reverting back to muzzle loading flintlocks is either a total die-off leaving an adequate multi-generational supply of scrounging material, or being able to re-invent the wheel and cottage industry modern ammunition. How can you do this with brass cases?
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The only way that comes to mind is paper cartridges. This renders semi-automatic nearly worthless but fits in nicely with bolt actions. Then it becomes a single shot. You can still use the old base of the brass case. After the neck splits you are going to have to reform the removed brass part with paper ( or solder the case back-a practice I’m sure is unsafe ). If they made paper a few thousand years ago I’m sure our new arrival at the Post Oil Dark Ages ( PODA-I’m sure this is a new acronym, at least I hope ) can do the same. With necked cases this might be a bit tricky, not to mention the new lack of accuracy. I know many of my readers are far more knowledgeable than me on this subject. Will the base of the case swell enough to seal the chamber? Or do you need the neck to do likewise? This is assuming a paper case is even feasible. It seems the way to do this might be with paper mache. Yes, I’m just throwing ideas into the ring here. Starting a discussion. This is not really a fact filled instruction class.
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With straight walled cases, your problems are a lot less severe. Well, range and accuracy are a problem, but at least you have a functioning firearm. Look, who is really going to have all that much ammo? Hunting and defense are going to take a heavy toll quickly. I think we might see this level of desperate lack of supplies very quickly. This is not just a problem for your great-grandchildren. With straight walled cartridges you need to merely form a straight tube on the brass case. You take the base and glue a paper piece on the inside, then a paper piece on to that inside paper ( think of a short male pipe on the inside of two female pieces, joining those two pieces ). It would have to be a thick paper and without a water-proofing method would cause problems in the field. Popular straight cases are a rimfire 22, the shotgun and the pistol rounds. In urban and forested regions I would lean towards the shotgun. In open areas the pistol round would be barely better but might give you that little extra range you need. A .357 pistol/carbine combo might again make sense. I would recommend the single shot rather than the level action rifle if paper cases are going to be ( theoretically ) used. Less parts to fail and with paper the level action is worthless.
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Now, I would not be recommending another gun purchase here. Not for a low probability occurrence ( it will happen- I’m just not sure in our lifetime ). But this is something to ponder, anyway. Most of us will most likely just stick with our regular necked case cartridge rifles. Then desperately try to figure out how to build a mold to form a paper version of it ( I’m not sure a lathe is the answer, either-computer parts issues, price, etc. ) at the last minute as our last cases are reloaded beyond the safe limits as another hoard of mutant zombie bikers forms to storm the walls. I’m here to worry you more, sorry I have no easy or concrete answers. So, guys, please pipe up if you have any ideas. Leave a comment ( non-troll comments welcome ) or e-mail me ( jimd303@netzero.com , and always posted at my web site ).
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laundry slime

LAUNDRY SLIME
Well, here I was somewhat groggy. Just woke up, stumbled to the computer and posted another wonderful insightful unparalleled post to my wonderful loving readers ( shameless blowing of smoke up your back orifice ). My morning routine usually consists of rolling out of bed and emptying my bladder. Dress quickly as it is usually cold in the morning nine months out of the year here. Start the coffee maker and brush teeth, wash face ( I only run the hot water heater three hours in the evening for a shower and dishwashing so the morning wash is cold water on a washcloth placed in the microwave for a minute ). By the time the coffee is brewed I am almost awake and by the first cup I am human. But today I was a bit out of sorts. I think the failure of cat #1 to wake me up three times throughout the night really threw me off ( we play a little game at 3am where I throw flip flops at him after his pitiful cries wake me up and he pretends not to care-and he probably doesn’t since I’m aiming in the dark and always miss ). What really woke me up was the dear ol’ Rangerman sending me an e-mail with an article suggestion. Now, this was a bit unsuspected and I checked the calendar to see if it was my birthday. It wasn’t, so I immediately thought that perhaps Rawles was too busy doing TV interviews to socialize with him. But, no, strangely, it seems that some people are just naturally nice and do things like that. Who knew?
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As an aside here, I would like to silence the few critics that are opposed to www.shtfblog.com closing up shop for the summer. Guys, let’s get real. As my trolls are all too fond of pointing out, it’s all been done before. For decades, the same old prepping advice has been going round and round. You will find nuggets almost everyday. Items you didn’t think about. But nothing absolutely critical is being discussed unless you are a newbie. This is all just refinement and polishing. Taking time off from posting is not hurting anyone, and actually helping the authors ( Creekmore and Big Bear seem to be following this trend ) to relax and recharge. Better writing will result. Plus, let’s be honest. The less daily posting there is, the better my drivel will appear. Less competition for me ( although less stuff to rip off, dang it ). So, let the Rangerman relax, sipping cool rum drinks in his hammock, brutally directing his young offspring to pull weeds in the garden and spade compost in by hand. It’s good to be the king.
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So per a loyal minions suggestion ( blogger class ) today’s article is going to be on homemade laundry soap. This is not post-apocalypse laundry soap, made with the fat from butchered beaver ( acquired through ninja-like stalking and the use of a skillful knife throw ) and fire ash. This is super frugal laundry soap that will save you so much money that you can simultaneously retire to the Caribbean and construct a concrete pill box to repel mighty hoards of mutant zombie bikers. Well, okay, at least enough to buy yourself a few extra boxes of ammo or sacks of wheat kernels. Remember, if you watch after the pennies, the dollars will take care of themselves. If almost every activity you engage in is done as cheaply as possible you will one day become free of the Machine. I searched through Google and the first entry was a jackpot. Laundry slime. Posted over at www.thesimpledollar.com. These are one of those “clip coupons to financial nirvana” type sites, but as you can see from this article, they still contain good ideas. I should know that most people don’t want my type of frugal advice, living in the desert in a trailer eating boiled rattlesnake with rice, but I still can’t help being disappointed when frugal living advice doesn’t go far enough. Who cares where the cheapest disposable diaper buys are-go with friggin cloth diapers. Well, enough of that. To the item at hand, super duper cheap laundry soap. The prices here are going to be a little off. The article was written in early 2007. But still in the ballpark ( I changed his amounts on the bar soap-his was $1 a bar, mine is for 32 cents Wal-Mart brand ).
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To make laundry slime, get yourself a bar of hand soap, a box of washing soda ( look in the detergent isle, a Arm & Hammer product ), and a box of Borax. Take four cups of water and place in a pot on the stove. Bring water to just under a boil and start shaving off flakes from the bar soap. If it was me, I would dumpster dive an old aluminum pot and a cheese grater for quick and easy ( less clean up-don’t use that pot for cooking-and quicker preparation ), but if not you can whittle the soap bar with your pocket knife. Stir until all the soap is dissolved. Now take a five gallon bucket and add three gallons of hot water to it. Toss in your water/soap solution from the pot. Stir awhile. Add one cup of washing soda and stir some more. Add a half cup of Borax ( which is not really mandatory but drastically helps the cleaning action ) and stir again for a few minutes. Let sit overnight and in the morning you have a thickened slim. Use one cup of this per laundry load.
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The batch is going to be good for about 48 loads of laundry. And it will only cost you a whopping two cents a load. Take a look at a six batch cost. Six bars of soap for $2. A box of washing soda for about $3. One half box of Borax for about a buck. 288 loads of laundry for $6. Two cents a load. And, if the comments section from this article are any indicator, the homemade product works very well. Slime is good.
END

ahoy, pirates

AHOY, PIRATES
Argh, and ahoy. Pirates astern. Collapse era pirates have been warned about way back when as discussions of nautical BOV’s. Kunstler mentioned them in passing in The Long Emergency. And today National Pravda Radio did a short piece on Somalia pirates. It seems that our Sea Skinnies are really just misunderstood. Originally simple fishermen, they fought back against foreign fishing fleets engaged in mass harvesting. They started out small and moved up so now they have the means of attacking oil tankers and cruise ships. The usual Can’t We All Just Get Along PC bull dooky. It started out because that pit has no economy and thieves saw easy pickings on the ocean. But the reality doesn’t contain a victim other than the greedy capitalists getting their comeuppance so the bleeding heart liberals manufacture a feel good sob story. Same as the other day when I’m channel surfing and run across a PBS story about disappearing savanna animals in another equally repulsive crap hole on the continent. Roving baboon bands are replacing almost all other wildlife. Poachers are wiping out all competition to the monkeys. How could this happen? Our narrator questions in a perplexing tone. Blah, blah, yada, yada. This, that and the other, it finely comes down to the fact that when fish harvests are small, the hunting of bush meat goes up. They were quite happy with themselves for figuring it all out. It appears that liberals have never heard of supply and demand and are thus confused by its workings.
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Modern day pirates preying on luxury boats or drug runners are so blasé. Yesterdays news. Yesterdays panic of the day. Tomorrows pirates are going to be a different breed. As water goes back to its traditional role as the only economical transportation system ( that‘s when the oil runs out ), there is going to be a resurgence of pirates. Modeled along Viking lines. You live somewhere far away, then send out your marauders to waterside settlements. If they are lazy, they just steal whatever isn’t tied down, grab a few tasty women of child bearing age ( to keep the blood fresh, avoid inbreeding ), hoist a tankard or two of mead and sail on back for home. If they are motivated and industrious they will settle down and start raiding villages farther away from the water. Turn the place into a colony. Start a long line of red haired natives. So, yes, sea side settlements are going to be in danger there. Here you are settled in Oregon, harvesting a nice fertile area. You take up witchcraft and wearing kilts and talking to Earth Spirits. All is good with your world. Then pirates sail up river to you and do a little midnight raiding.
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But ocean based piracy is not going to be the only concern. Any body of water is going to have its share of that infestation. Large marsh or swampland. Rivers. Large lakes. The great thing for pirates is that escape is pretty easy. If you damage the settlement boats on your way to attack, there will be no pursuit. You take care of business and leisurely sail away. Yes, at first there will be surviving aircraft. Even a ultra-light should be good for a few aerial Molotov attacks. But en masse rifle fire will discourage most of that, plus fuel and parts replacements will end that prospect quickly. And I can’t see hot air craft being too numerous ( although if the resources are available and you can field them they will give you a battlefield advantage against regular and irregular military opponents ).
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I’m sure the first pirates to start here after a collapse are going to sound like innocent fisherman themselves. Well, gee, we were only mounting a salvage expedition and they fired on us first. We were just defending ourselves. Or, they become reprisal attacks. Perfectly justified. We invaded to instill democracy to a savage dictatorships. Just because they have oil is immaterial. Criminal behavior is always justified. And righteous indignation always follows a defense by the victims. Piracy is guaranteed. Be ready for it.
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render unto clinton

RENDER UNTO CLINTON
Well, here’s a mundane post for you. I have begun to notice a slight decrease in the volume of your enthusiasm, a less than perfect pitch in your astonishment at my every utterance. As punishment I give you the following. Taxes to keep your home after mass unemployment. Selling apples on the street corner are going to be illegal ( unlicensed vendor-that’s a taser ) so you had better plan on this now. Okay, actually I have nothing better today. The imagination is stuck between “for the love of God why isn’t the week over yet” and “aren’t they tired of reading my slop yet”. This was at the suggestion of a loyal minion. It is a good subject to cover, just that there’s really nothing to it.
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If you own a conventional dwelling in a high tax state, you are at the wrong web site. You can’t afford to put aside one years taxes, let alone three to five. And you certainly can’t afford to have those savings in both paper currency and precious metals. When I read that the average property tax in New Jersey was ten grand, several things came to mind. One, is the government sucking in all the toxic fumes from the waste dumps there? How can you keep anyone in your state that way? Oh, well, I’m sure California is little better. The second thing that came to mind was, are people nuts for staying there? We all know the answer to that. Of course they are. Unfortunately, like everyone else, anymore most folks are stuck with whatever insane decisions they made long ago. Unless you quite your job and declare bankruptcy most people are stuck where they are at because of the real estate market ( and who’s to say, honestly, if that wouldn’t be another insane move ).
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Paying taxes, rendering unto Clinton, bribing the criminal gang in charge. We must all cough up the moola or lose what we worked hard over the years to invest in. If you rent, you cough up the green for the landlord, to protect his investment. It would be tragic to have a paid for home, growing your own food, surviving in a rough but adequate manner, and be forced to give it up because you were forced out of the cash economy and were unable to pay your property taxes. In the future, as counties go broke and they have large numbers of under worked Union members with nothing better to do, you might be unpleasantly surprised to discover that the smallest taxes are suddenly vigorously pursued. And you may have no where near the grace period you used to have. We don’t even know if rates will go up regardless of citizen protest. If we can figure out that folks are stuck in their current location due to falling values, so can the taxing authorities.
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By having five years taxes set aside, at a minimum, not only do you have peace of mind and give yourself wiggle room, if rates go up you can still have three or four years worth of taxes saved. If you only have one year, any increase will screw you. And don’t think the county will then turn around and support your homeless ass on welfare. Times turn bad enough, the welfare state as we know it is finished ( and that will eventually include geriatric welfare, but I digress ). The optimum arrangement would be to have the five years both in cash and silver/gold. With junk land, that will be easy as pie. Five or ten bucks a year equals three ounces of silver or a few twenty dollar bills. I say have both, in case of either hyper-inflation or if precious metals are outlawed and the black market dealer is asking too much to convert it. With a house, good luck. Even if you live in a run down hellhole, taxes will still be a few hundred a year. That might hurt, trying to come up with that. But I would suggest that you try. You need a cushion. Things just keep getting worse. And they will stay that way regardless of who is elected ( or selected ). There is a lot to do right now. For one, buy the heck out of wheat before that starts being rationed or the coming harvest is as bad as last year. Well, preps are always unlimited and open ended. It just seems now is a really good time to panic. So here is something else to worry about.
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joe bobs trailer service

JOE BOBS TRAILER SERVICE
The newest kid on the block, http://selousscouts.blogspot.com came up with a great idea. He just starts blogging and hits a homerun first thing. Trying to make me look bad ( ‘cause you know everything is about me ). Getting free travel trailers or their parts on Craig’s List. Here I am harping about buying a trailer on CL, I never considered looking in the free section for the things. Now that it has been brought to my attention it is an obvious idea. My stepdaughter wastes an incredible amount of gas driving to Reno at least once a payday ( the husbands payday, not hers ) to pick up free crap from CL. And it’s good stuff. Some is not worth the gas money but mostly it is a wonder people are throwing it away. So I guess the reason this never occurred to me, to do the same thing with frugal living gear, is that my vehicle is in storage and I absolutely positively loath Reno with every fiber of my being. I get the heebie-jeebies going there. A pit of crowded zombies ( to be fair, it isn’t just Reno but all big cities- and yes, to me Reno is a big city ). I don’t even like driving on the freeway through the area.
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However, if you want to frequent areas such as this as a business, here is a pre-collapse, collapse, and post-collapse business for you. Right now, you get a big beater truck. Gas mileage doesn’t matter, this is a business expense. Not just in as far as a tax deduction goes, but even when gas becomes insanely priced you will still make money off burning it. Install both a trailer hitch and a fifth wheel hitch. You can make a casual income off of hauling other peoples trailers. Also, you keep up on Craig’s List and pick up those trashed trailers and trailer parts. Fix the trailers yourself as an on-the-job training. I am one of the least mechanically inclined people you will ever meet, yet I’ve taught myself some basics this way. Buy a crappy trailer and you can’t make it any worse, so you dive in with all thumbs. The Internet can give you a lot of pointers on things such as rescuing propane refrigerators and such.
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Most trailers can be salvaged to some extent, others become parts ( even the frame with hitch can be sold as projects to others ). Let’s say the interior cabinets are totally shot, you tear them out and suddenly you have a open roomy unconventional living space. Not everyone does care for the dark fake wood furniture. It clutters up the place. I prefer under the bed/sink storage and the rest shelves. If it is going to rarely be moved, this might sell. And that’s just one example. Now, after you get good enough at repairs, you can add a mobile RV mechanic to the business. You now haul and show up to repair. A bonus to this is that you get all the free stuff for yourself, and it cost nothing because you are running a business. Hell, even runs to the dump become a business expense. Going to the grocery store ( as long as you were going to town on business anyway ) is a mileage write-off. Suddenly, you have no out of pocket expense for transportation or shelter. Well, okay. Tax exempt items still cost you money, but it goes towards a benefit for you rather than to the government so they can pay the bankers interest or corporations to build munitions from depleted uranium that will kill an entire generation of soldiers sooner or later ( I’m sure the government knows how much in retirement and medical that will save them, and are glad ).
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Now you can haul your trailers or other peoples trailers and charge them. You can fix your own trailer or charge to fix others. You can get free trailers or parts and fix them for almost nothing and then sell used trailers. I don’t know how involved it would be to deal with the no-title situation. Even without a title to transfer, you can still make a sale to a land owner that will not be using the trailer for recreation but instead as a permanent home. Pay a few bucks to get a temporary moving permit, then park it and forget about it ( beware that some states require the trailer to be currently licensed and tagged to be allowed as a residence on the land-I believe Utah is one if I’m not mistaken ). You could even bypass the initial expense by going in with a buddy that ownes a suitable vehicle. He gets a fee anytime you haul one. Even if you are giving him 75% of the fee, you are foregoing the expense until your business picks up and you can pay cash for a vehicle ( although if the partnership works it might be better to avoid the motor mechanics and just stick with fixing trailers ).
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Demand for used trailers will skyrocket as the economy gets worse. But I don’t think the supply of super-cheap or free ones will suffer too much ( at first ). Most well off yuppie scum bought the things for vacation. As soon as the neighbors complain about it being parked in the yard or the gas money for trips dries up or a problem crops up beyond their willingness to hassle with, they will get rid of the things. Some areas might see a few a year only. I doubt this is going to be a full time business unless you travel quit a bit. But as time goes on and you establish yourself, people will get to know of your business and seek you out. It won’t be so hand to mouth then. Now, post collapse will see a dramatic change in your business. Supply will dry up. Repairs will dry up as the supplies do. Transport might be an option. Folks might need to group up or get closer to water or fertile land. If the truck is diesel, is bio-fuel an option in your area? If not, oxen with a custom rig will have to do.
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Heck, now that I’ve thought about it I might entertain notions of such a business one day. I’ll have storage room. Trips into town will be a tax write-off ( as will the satellite Internet connection ). Better than commuting into town for a minimum wage job at a fast food place even if your own business pays you less per hour. Just think about it. A low cost entry business with growth potential as the economy tanks.
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nice rice price

NICE RICE PRICE
Monday I’m running around during work, doing the whole crazy Monday because the whole world almost came to an end over the weekend since I wasn’t there thing ( every day I skip picking up food donations the pile grows ) and try Wal-Mart for distilled water. Only on a Monday would mechanical problems surface. So I’m there, dodging welfare mom’s picking up baby formula for the latest little payday and old codgers shopping for prune juice and jumbo sizes of Colon Blow and I decide to do a little research on company time. My usual price scan at ChiCom Mart is flour, oil, rice, beans and coffee. The basics. Here I notice that rice is the same friggin price as beans. Sixty two cents a pound ( one pound size, not bulk bags ). I am blown away.
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Next, I get home and do my usual Professional Electronic Research ( messing around on the computer ) and there it is, everyone and his brother covering the story about rationing at Costco and Sam’s. I’m definitely a day late and a dollar short on this one. And, of course, the rich getting richer, Rawles is once again turned into the next Howard Ruff, the media darling, the official survivalist spokesman. Damn it, I’m jealous. Don’t people realize that a disgruntled, bitter, paranoid, delusional, marginalized author would be a much better representative? And I understand I have very little to add here. But I had to pipe up. Remember, I might have better articles to write, but its what catches my fancy that you see the next day. I can’t be swayed with mass opinion, the path to bland pabulum lies there.
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At first, after the initial rice price increase news, I just blew it off. Number one, Americans are not primarily rice eaters. Meat, potatoes, wheat. Rice is for tree hugging tofu sluppers. Number two, to be honest I could give two licks about what happens on the rest of the planet as long as it doesn’t effect me ( that doesn’t mean I ignore it, just that I have no compassion for strangers and/or foreigners past a certain point-for instance, I don’t care if foreigners are tortured by the CIA other than the fact that the act degrades and belittles us as a society and Empire ). If a bunch of Africans are starving and a bunch of Asians are rioting over rice prices, I could care less as long as the instability doesn’t spill over to us. I know most of you will curl your lip at me and sneer at my uncompassionate attitude. I could pretend to care, make new friends. Or I can remain intellectually honest so as not to blind myself at a critical time when rational and logical thinking is required. Other blogs are run by nice compassionate fellows, not me ( I know, I’m trying not to be in such a bad mood-give me a year or two ).
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So I didn’t care about rice prices. Until it effected me. Now I’m pissed. The same price as beans! And beans were jacked up in price to insane levels right after the California frost. Remember that one? Never came back down either. Rice is one of the few commodities not subject to the banker boys messing with the price on the markets domestically, at least not to the extent as others. But changing weather, Peak Oil, inflation, etcetera are causing rising prices. Yet another product joining the list of items getting harder to stockpile. Cooking oil, flour, noodles, rice. Every day petroleum goes a bit higher. And every day another items starts seeing shortages. How much more news do you need to convince you that you must do whatever it takes to complete your preparations now ( I know, basically a topic repeat of an article-but darn important )? Whatever is less expensive that week, buy it. Rice one week, wheat the next, then flour, next corn. It doesn’t matter what it is, just buy food. And don’t sweat the higher cost at small sizes unless you are buying hundreds of pounds at a time. Smaller sizes are the last to run out.
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I don’t think food stability has been this shaken since the 1970’s- and back then high prices were political rather than depletion driven. You can’t go wrong buying now regardless of cost. No, it is no where near as cheap as it used to be. But I think with petroleum continuing its trend, food will only go up. Buy now. Stockpile now. Panic now. If things go back to normal, you’ve lost nothing but some paper money. You can always get more of that. Food on the other hand…
END
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urban death traps

URBAN DEATH TRAPS
Before we begin today, I would like to take a moment to bask in your applause and adulation. Yes, it has now been made official, that which I have labored long and hard to drum into the heads of any that were foolish enough to return. The Enfield is the perfect rifle for the dirt poor frugal survivalist. Rawles said it. You heard him say it. I have witnesses. Ah, this is such a sweet moment, I have a hard time controlling myself. Yes, yes, I know he gave the choice between a Mauser and an Enfield. I forgive him for that. www.survivalblog.com has such a large audience ( he probably has more readers in some obscure country like Uzbekistan than my entire readership ) that he must satisfy both the desire for accuracy and for field reliability. And as much as I want to hug and kiss and make them mine forever and ever, I do have to admit that the Enfield is not the greatest in the marksmanship department. So the Mauser does have its place in the scheme of things. I only grudgingly admit this however.
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For the last week or so ( it could be longer but I kind of easily lose track of time ) there has been a feud going on between a few unnamed blogs. It has remained civil for the most part ( I can’t understand it but it seems most sites don’t wish to antagonize their readership ) but you can tell there are strong feelings. The ongoing debate about whether urban areas are death traps. One says, everyone get the hell out you are all going to die and another saying that this is a nice theory but it is necessary to work a job. You could say that both sides were right. To a certain degree this is true. But since you all evoke my name whenever you are confused with any issue having to do with survivalism ( shut up, trolls ) I shall do my best to put this senseless debate to rest. I could make everyone happy and claim that under certain conditions it is best to stay in the city. The harder it is to get a job the more likely the last ones will be in urban areas. In some cases it is easier to hide in the city than the rural areas. On the other hand the proximity to population increases your odds of conflict. You can grow food a lot easier in the country.
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You can go through history and make reasonable arguments either way. So it all boils down to what disaster you are envisioning. The right choice boils down to what you are preparing for. Just as bolt action rifles are really only ideally suited for total collapse, post-apocalypse use ( bayonets and low ammo use are critical for a non-functioning industrial society ), contemporary urban living is only suitable for economic survival. Whether the economy is cottage industry based or industrial based, the city presents fabulous economic opportunity. On the other hand, when the economy goes south in a major way…you have increased disease, increased taxes, decreasing food supplies, increased mandated murders, etc. If you are playing the odds, and envision urban life as a stepping stone, the urban survivalist should do just fine. Absent nuclear/asteroid strikes/military occupation, urban life should be livable for a long time. The collapse will be gradual. As long as you can step away and see the big picture and don’t lose sight of the collapse. A long slow collapse will enable you to escape the urban areas.
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I’m not advocating retreat survival. Bugging out with everyone else is really too difficult. I am talking about a more structured plan. Live in city to earn a living ( of course, not too big as they are unlivable in the best of times ). When law and order and infrastructure start breaking down, it’s time to move to a rural area ( yes, yes, you could make that case now-I‘m speaking of life threatening failures ). After the die-off it is time to move back to a settlement for strength in numbers. It is one thing to have a group for the collapse, another to be with strangers as it is happening. No one strategy is the best long term. Too long in the city and you die trapped. Too long in a rural area and you are living in a besieged frontier land. I differentiate it like such. During the die-off, you might have to fight off desperate starving hoards. You do this because it is worse in the cities. After population stabilizes to a pre-petroleum self sustaining number, those raiders are now organized and have a supply base to attack from. Then you are in a losing situation. The cities are now better.
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So, yes, eventually cities will be Urban Death Traps ( UDT’s ). You need to plan on having an out before that happens ( what’s that I hear? Something about junk land and trailers? ). You prepare now, just in case a sudden collapse occurs ( and because supplies will dry up soon ). You make the best of it. But plan on avoiding the Death In Cities time frame ( you would be a DIC if you didn’t ). Then move back for protection. Farmers might even need to relocate if their land is too far from an urban area that quarters troops ( think a revisit to farmland surrounding castles, but with modifications to account for gunpowder ). The only other alternative is becoming a nomad. So, any way you go about it, mobility is the key ( not an RV survivalist, a la Damnation Alley, but having two homes plus the mental willingness to walk away when needed ). Sinking thirty years of wages into a suburban stucco house is really not going to work too well here-unless you know when it’s time to fold your card hand.
END
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wasting your life

WASTING YOUR LIFE
Most of us sail through life. We waste the only life we are going to get, and then we die. And with the economy and the global weather and resource outlook we can ( mostly ) agree on, it is safe to say we are going to die sooner than we think. Tomorrow is almost too late to start having a meaningful life since you don’t know how much is left. But, really, how satisfied are you with the way things have worked out for you? I’m not trying to get all middle age philosophical on you here. I merely wish to point out how other people are controlling your life and how you can minimize it. Not eliminate it. That is impossible. But at least to minimize the years of your life that serve no other purpose than to enrich others. There is the joy of self sacrifice you give to a life mate and your children. That is not the issue. It is the greedy, selfish, lazy bastards that strip you of your time here on Earth by taking your wealth ( which is merely a tool you earn with your time spent in mental and physical labor ).
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There is a certain amount of fraud or theft that will always be directed at you. Identity theft, con jobs, fly by night businesses. But they can usually be guarded against, especially after you have been burned a time or two. No, the biggest threat is from institutions. Taxation is the biggest headliner, but bankers win the grand prize for the amount they extort from you. Business and government follow their lead but never manage to catch up. You must fight against bank fraud constantly. Yes, it is a losing battle. But you can at least minimize their bill. The biggest thing you can do is to avoid a mortgage. All levels of home building are over inflated, but the interest on the loan is the worst of them. Raw materials are substandard and inflated by artificial controls ( for instance, the amount of land tied up as government controlled increases the price of available lumber ). Government taxes are added to raw land ( fees that never go to the purported use, which are instead paid for in the future by bonds ). Labor is underpaid ( illegal immigration ) yet contractors get unheard of profits due to a monopoly position. But the banker makes the most profit of all. Money is created out of thin air through fractional reserve banking ( a legal license to shaft 90% of depositors if mass withdrawals are desired ) and must be paid back with real earnings two to three times the amount of the loan.
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But of course that is not enough for the bankers. The current real estate debt in this country is roughly ten trillion. Five percent a year is a half trillion bucks. Then add in the national debt interest, a little less but close enough. Now the inflation rate, most likely in the teens, but just call it five percent ( more than the 3% official rate just by factoring out quality adjustments and substitution effects ). All of this is of course over simplified. But without too much disagreement it would be safe to say the bankers get ten to fifteen percent of the gross domestic product of this country. Sure, governments take is five times that, but banks have a heck of a lot less for expenses. Their net income is surely higher. You can help not contribute to this problem by staying out of debt. Credit card, auto, mortgage. Do not support your local banker. They are evil. One reason costs are so high is the need for business as usual to be supported by extreme levels of debt.
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Once you decide to free up most of your waking day by not being in debt, it is easy to starve most of the other parasites. Yes, to start out you need to pay a landlords mortgage. Do what used to be the norm. Live on next to nothing, deprive yourself of luxury, save money. Then, instead of putting that 20% cash down on the mortgage, buy your cheap land and shelter outright. One problem solved. Well, now you need fifty percent less income. So your taxes can drop. If you grow your own crops and eggs, perhaps even dairy. If you do without a car or just drive clunkers part time. If you get the old lady to home school and stop working. Now you can work part time and pay no Federal or State taxes ( you are stuck with Geriatric Welfare Taxes, but at least you go from 30% to 15% taxes ) if you stay under a certain amount of income. Not only does the government get less taxes ( direct and, with lower wages, indirect ) but so does the Corporates and the Bankers ( less product/service purchases is less to the banks that financed the business ). It is a beautiful thing.
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You can’t fight the Beast. But you can feed it a lot less. As screwed up in a lot of different ways as the Hippies were, they were right about not supporting your oppressors. In exchange for living in a shack with lamps and an outhouse, bicycling to town, you work half as much ( and it’s easy to work even less than that ) and have almost no stress. You can waste your life as you see fit rather than how the parasites want you to. And, most likely you won’t even be able to waste your life even if you want to. Just to stay sane from boredom you most likely will start to enjoy meaningful activities. Poetry read by a few hundred people or a few relatives wearing your home spun woolen clothing might seem trivial, but it sure is a nicer picture than lifeless drones running on a treadmill at work to pay off the government and bankers and corporate interests in exchange for a token amount of leisure hours on the weekend surrounded by a few shiny trinkets.
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My self imposed prison is a result of an ex-wife and a court order. I can bet you cash money on the third missed payment the law would be banging down my door at three AM with coal bucket helmet wearing and ninja masked jack booted thugs firing tasers at my testicles. I’m working for The Man for three more years and then I’m free. Then everyone can kiss my ass. The insurance companies, the landlord, the tax man, the bankers, the oil companies, the utility providers. All the parasites can learn to do with a lot less of my income. I’ll already be half way to my grave, but I’ll spend that last half as I damn well please. And that plan doesn’t include feeding the Beast. If you enjoy your trinkets and leisure, fine. It’s your life. Just ask yourself, is this how I want to spend my only life?
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guest article

GUEST ARTICLE

I wrote this last weekend and revised it a couple times before it was ready to send to Jim for posting. If you read Sam’s post over on Survivalblog you will note a lot of the same things covered. At least some of us think along the same lines. I am sure that as the subject is covered more, better ides will surface. My oldest son just graduated from the same type of college Sam describes and in the four and half years he was there he never felt the need for gear, but did keep a very small BOB handy. Every situation must be evaluated on its own merits.
Wolverine

Survival while at College

Two days after a “small” riot or “large” civil disturbance I posted some notes on it over at Staying Alive. (Thank you Michael) I mentioned in that article that my son had survival gear in his truck and couldn’t get to it because the riot was between him and the truck. We do not walk around with our BOBs on, but we do have EDC items. My son carries a pocket knife and a Leatherman tool. That is about all he can carry around a college campus without undue attention. Maybe one of the Ryan’s or Chad can write an article on what they carry/carried while at college. What I wanted to share with you was the survival steps we took his first year at school.
Michigan State is about a two hour drive from the farm. As a freshman he couldn’t have a car on campus so if TSHTF he was dependent on his own wits or us coming to get him. We had several talks about what he would do. We decided that if TSH he was going to bug out to our cabin/retreat that was an hour and half north. There were no large towns to go through to get there and no matter what way he headed south he would pass near large towns. While he couldn’t count on the retreat for much more than shelter and a small food cache, he would be safe.
My son has been hunting and shooting since he was three. (Yes, I know, you think that is too young. Well, it isn’t if it is done right.) He felt “neeked” without a firearm at school, but it could not be over come. We made up a bucket cache for him that would give him a fighting chance. I bought a wrist rocket and a traditional Y shaped sling shot and several packages of ammo in two different sizes. While it was no defense against a heavily armed MZB it did give him some ability to hunt and defend if needed.
Looking back on the preps we made they were totally lacking, but they were better than nothing. We stored a case of Ramon noodles, a couple cases of water under his bed. We dumped a few MRE’s and Mac and cheese packages in with the bucket cache. We added a few camping and hiking items to the bucket and then pondered how to hide it. What we came up with was the old trick of hiding in plain sight. We looked for a small round pillow in school colors to glue on the top to make it a seat or foot stool in his dorm room.
As a freshman my son took an ROTC class and was issued field gear. He added web gear, sleeping bag, boots, and rucksack to his supplies thanks to MSU. He later signed up for ROTC and is now an MS3, but he didn’t have to stay with ROTC and could have turned in the gear at the end of the year and walked away. Something to think about for any people sending their kids off to school.
The list of items that he didn’t have but should have is likely longer than the list of stuff he did have. We should have had a water filter instead of just treatment tabs. Because of the “weapons” mania that revolves around things like knives and axes we did not include a large field knife or hand ax in the cache. The sling shots were as much as we felt safe pushing the limit on. We kept them sealed in their original packages so they didn’t look “used” if discovered. He was at school to advance his chances in life and being expelled was not going to help, so we walked a very fine line. Each person or family must weight the pros and cons of their actions and go with what they believe are correct.
One thing he found out was that he could keep a long gun in the Campus Police office. With that information he took his Mosin up with him and stored it with the police. He knew he might not always be able to get it out, but at least it was close and a better plan than no weapon at all. He kept the bolt with him so that at least the gun was not useful to anyone else.
None of these are fool proof, can’t miss ideas for surviving TSHTF while you or a child are away at school, but they do tilt the odds in their favor.
He now has an off campus apartment and his supplies are better, he can store useful items there, and he has a truck to bug out with. The older he gets and the more years’ experience he gathers at school adds to his chances of survivability.
I hope this helps anyone sending a child off to school this year. I feel lucky that my son takes an interest in prepping and understands some of the ways things can go wrong in a hurry. Like all good survivalist, he is always improving his situation and working toward the end goal of graduating and moving back to the farm where we are restoring our safe haven.
I look forward to added thoughts to improve the odds for those that follow.
Wolverine

specialization and collapse

SPECIALIZATION AND COLLAPSE
Specialization is a great tool. A society and an economy are all propelled upward because individuals are able to devote all of their time to an advanced skill. A hunter/gatherer or a farmer only have the time and skill for basic tasks. For instance, a hunter can construct his own stone tipped spear. To identify ore and smelt metal for that spear tip takes a specialist. And specialization is only possible when there is an energy surplus. If everyone must spend all of their time growing food, producing enough just to survive, there is no surplus to feed those accomplishing higher tasks. Each specialist needs to be raised, trained and paid with surplus food so that they can accomplish their task which can’t be done in addition to raising food. Of course, with specialization comes the ability to produce that surplus of crops. You have tool makers that can give you better farming implements, military forces and those that equip them to both protect what crops you have and to steal others food. You have administration officials for planning, workers for public works projects such as irrigation canals, etc. So you are faced with a bit of a chicken and egg problem. With specialists you can produce more food but to get specialists you need more food.
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What happens to specialized labor after a collapse is the subject of this weeks article at http://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.com . Druid dude has graciously provided fodder for the Bison before ( unwittingly of course ) and has done so again. He in turn got the material from a book, The Fall Of Rome And The End Of Civilization by Bryan Ward-Perkins, which looked interesting enough that I just ordered it. So don’t be surprised if I dredge up this crap again in a few weeks. In order not to confuse his readership and to avoid writing a book himself, the focus is limited to the pottery industry. The Roman pottery industry was centralized and run by specialized labor. High quality merchandise was turned out in immense volume. This was shipped all over the continent. Volume allowed prices to fall and high paid specialists to prosper. This is exactly what has happened today, but this time on a global scale. So far so good. Open trade, unhindered transportation, a military superpower ensuring the peace. Mass production, low price.
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Then Rome collapsed. Mercifully, I won’t go into that again. But after a certain point in the collapse, the pottery industry ( and every other industry that was organized in a similar manner ) started to fail. Without a functioning economy workers couldn’t get paid. Without a functioning military trade ceased. Without a surplus of energy specialists could not be supported. Pottery became unavailable outside its production area. In prosperous times pottery was so cheap ( bowels, cups, storage containers, roof tiles ) that the poorest families could afford it. It was so cheap, even shipped across Europe, that no local pottery industries bothers to try to compete. All local merchants get the products shipped from far away and sell it retail. No craftsmen exist to compete since no one can beat mass produced prices. Even areas that have the factory suffer. The factory that closes still has an inventory. The inventory fills the needed supply for a time. But its existence means the old workers from the factories are not used to train new workers. The inventory is there, the economy is contracting, there is no economic incentive to train anyone or continue production. Once trade is disrupted there is no longer international sales and the specialists can’t be paid. Volume sales stop, surplus energy stops. Specialization stops. No one has any idea how to make quality pottery anymore. Two centuries after the collapse of Rome, a king is using pottery of a lesser quality than a poor family in Rome had.
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Now, back to our present situation. We have taken specialization and mass production and international trade to extreme levels. We are also highly dependent on surplus energy ( see yesterdays article on free slaves ), far more than Rome ever was. When Rome fell to such levels as no one could supply themselves with basic kitchen tools, how do you think we will fare since we have much farther to fall than they did. The most basic items will be beyond local production. We will be lucky if we only fall to a 18th century level of technology. When everything we do is highly dependant on foreign trade, what happens when global chaos cuts off trade?
END
Very exciting, boys and girls. A guest article Sunday. Stay tuned.
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end of free slaves

END OF FREE SLAVES
The War Of Northern Aggression led by the communist Lincoln was not about slavery. It was about the North favoring a Federal power and the South wishing to retain the supremacy of the individual state. Or, it was about soil depletion in the South and their need to expand ( new soil ) or die, but the North was unwilling to allow more states to be added that allowed slavery. Or, it was about Industrial economies displacing Agrarian ones. It was not as simple as slavery. Northerners had no moral qualms about pressing the negro into bondage. It was just not economically viable for them to do so. In the farming areas due to winter inactivity. In the factories due to sabotage fear. Yes, of course you had plenty of agitation against the institution on moral grounds. And that was used by other forces as camouflage. The point was that economic forces led the conflict, not high ideals. The coming collapse is about slavery.
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Peak Oil is about the end of free slaves. Our machine fuel is essentially free energy. Our entire society is built up around that. Now it is becoming dear. Very much not free ( and you ain’t seen nothing yet at $115 a barrel ). The economics are simple. One barrel of oil has the energy equivalent of an amazing 25,000 hours of manual labor ( from www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net ). Let’s call oil $100 a barrel for simplicities sake. That’s four cents an hour wages. We were complaining when it was a cent an hour. Now we are besides ourselves at four cents. The sky is falling! Even at the most ridiculously low wages you could find on earth, four cents an hour is impossible. The workers would be falling over dead from lack of nutrition, unable to buy food. Even if they were given free homes and groceries no one gets paid that little.
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Peak Oil is a fact in the US and about fifty other nations. We could drill every national park, every snow covered spot of ground. We don’t have enough to get back to our glory days. At best it would prolong further decline in our domestic supply. In 1970 the lower forty-eight peaked at ten million barrels a day ( we used to be the Saudi Arabia to the world up until the fifties or so ). Now, with Alaska and the Gulf factored in we pump five million a day. Alaska has seen production decline. The North Sea. Mexico. Most likely Russia and Saudi Arabia also. Saudi Arabia has pumped from one major field for forty years. It can’t last much longer. And as we are seeing top production, worldwide demand is going up. Mostly from China. They need energy to produce our plastic widgets plus energy of their own for a growing middle class. Oil supplies will only decrease.
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One day we won’t even remember how little the free slaves cost. As oil becomes scarce and the economy implodes, we will have to provide our own labor again. But can we? We have built a total economy and society on free slaves. Rome was never so dependant on its survival from slaves ( our slaves protect us, keep us warm in winter, feed us, everything ). We are unable to do much of anything for ourselves. I ran across a short science fiction piece once that envisioned the total absurdity our dependence on machines would lead us. Each person was enclosed in a machine that did it all. Mobility, feeding, waste removal. No one did anything for themselves. Well, that was here a long time ago with our reliance of energy. Not that it could have been helped. No one turns down free energy since it drastically raises their standard of living. But, the other side of the coin is that there is absolutely no way to go back to life before the slaves. We have lost all knowledge and skill needed to do that. We are highly specialized and centralized and dependant ( another day, an article on the collapse of Rome and how previous specialization doomed future generations ). You can do your best to soften a lot of the impacts of our slaves dying. But don’t think you can even imagine what that is going to mean. None of us is independent.
END
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desert land drying up

DESERT LAND DRYING UP
Get it? I’m killing myself here. Yuck, yuck. Okay, it’s actually “supply of junk land drying up”. But I couldn’t resist. Well, I could resist. Every day I resist telling you what I really think, holding back so the men in white suits don’t pay me a visit. I could probably get away with it though. If I really went crazy and warned of Mother Ship control and whatnot no one would take any other message I had seriously. Or, not. I’m sure there were plenty of people trying that one out for size who are now at the bottom of Lake Tahoe ( reputed to be an old Mob burial site ) wearing cement shoes. Or one of the CIA’s favorites, plane crashes or drug overdoses. I guess I’ll just keep it at the borderline area of paranoid delusional. But I still get points for the effort of resisting.
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For about four years now I’ve regularly followed E-Bay real estate listings. At first it was to buy a piece of land for myself. Then it was to buy more, never really satisfied with what I had. Then I kept up on it to make sure I had made the right choices. Then I kept at it in a futile attempt to increase my Google ad revenue. Of course that never panned out so I let you think it was merely a public service on my part. Any idiot can go to E-Bay and punch in search parameters for “buy now” and “maximum $1,000” but I had done a bit of research on zoning and such so I thought I might help out by compiling my own list. For instance, land in Texas outside an incorporated area or town limits and not under an Association had no zoning for housing. Also, by law all land must have legal access to it. If you wanted to live in 100% humidity all summer, in hurricane or tornado country or in a waterless wasteland where white boys number about ten percent of the population, but insisted on doing it in an RV, that was the state for you. New Mexico seemed to require two acre parcels for a septic, plus didn’t like RV’s. Most parcels for sale there where under that size so I usually never list that state. Colorado and Arizona usually don’t allow trailers but if you are remote enough you could skate by ( the same could be said for all states of course- and you might get away with building a shell around your trailer to make it look like a cabin- but some are better because of remoteness and lack of neighbors )
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Of course this was always a “proceed at your own risk” but I thought it would be nice if others could buy their cheap squatting spot. It is one thing I never have to worry about again. Too old, Social Security bankrupt, can’t work? At least you don’t have to worry about paying rent. Unemployment 50%, the only work is in the military sucking in radioactive middle east dust or collecting avian flu contaminated corpses for the next batch of soylent green rations? At least you have a place to live legally for less than the cost of an ounce of silver in property taxes each year. It used to be a very modest rent ( trailer lot ) was 25% of minimum wage take home pay. Now it is close to 40%. A piece of junk land is the best investment you can make, eliminating rent. I’ve pleaded, I’ve begged, I’ve thrown a tantrum. Yet most of you will never do this. Hell, you don’t have to live on it. At least not now. But it’s there if you ever need it. I’m not saying dropping out of the rat race is for everyone. I’m saying you should be prepared in case you have no choice but to go semi-primitive.
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But just as you start to think that perhaps you might, after all, if I’m lucky, start thinking about spending a measly five to ten percent of one years income on kicking the landlords butt out of your life- we start to see a problem. I have never seen the choices for real estate on E-Bay look so bad. The offering for cheap land is less than half of what it was. And what is offered is not very good. Almost pathetic. Some of that could be E-Bay’s recent pricing changes. But I think most of it is the realization that as a seller you are screwed if you enter ( or stay in ) the game. Either people simply don’t have the money to spend ( well, they don’t have the willpower anyway ) and inventory doesn’t move, or sellers think they might be stuck with an asset that depreciates in the future. Or a little of both/all three. I don’t know the policy changes, but any change has got to hurt the bottom line if your profit is only a few hundred bucks. The extra money part is simple. Most people can’t handle the increases in food and gas ( not that gas prices are keeping the locust hoards off my roads ), so discretionary income is minus zero. If I thought the economy was about to swan dive into a cesspit, I would do whatever it took to secure nearly free rent. Selling valuables, renting out the wife. Whatever. But most people aren’t paranoid enough. And the depreciating part is easy too. When some of the most perceived valuable real estate, California, drops in value 25% over the last year I would wonder about the crap land I was holding. Wondering if I would have to take a loss on it. Getting rid of it and not investing in any more.
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I can’t say this is your only chance to buy. I would hate to have to buy something that is not right for you ( within the parameters of junk land ) just because the choices were disappearing. This is just a warning. A heads up. A caution flag. I’ll still keep scanning the offerings, posting every few days ( usually Monday, Wednesday, Saturday ) if anything is available. Good luck.
END
Land under a grand or under $100 payments www.dirtcheapdirt.blogspot.com
Land under $2k or $150 payments www.sortacheapland.blogspot.com
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minimum urban prep

MINIMAL URBAN PREP
As other Loyal Minions ( blogger class ) have pointed out, there is yet another doom and gloomer in town. Yet another prepper patiently pontificating. Our own troll was eluding to the crowded field of self-proclaimed experts, I thought in a mildly amusing manner ( I can appreciate caustic sarcasm ). I say, the more the merry. Yes, it sucks to plod through fifteen web sites every morning, desperately racing the clock to get done before it is time to go to work ( and those are just the flagged ones ). But I am almost always rewarded with something I can use. Some tidbit of trivia I can turn to my advantage. One monkey sitting at the typewriter will only produce gibberish. Fifteen of them will eventually turn out Shakespeare.
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www.suburbanprepper.wordpress.com has been at it for about a week and has posted daily ( already surpassing total content of the year for certain sites I won’t name ). He has done a bang-up job so far. I am impressed. If he can keep up the pace I shall issue him a brand new Bison Blog Brownie Button. This is a highly coveted reward. Okay, now that I finished blowing smoke up his butt, let’s review one of his articles. The absolute minimum a fellow urban survivalist needs. Actually, it was not even about a “survivalist” prepping but rather a newbie to the game. A friend bought a gun on a whim but had no prep supplies at all. So our new blogger thought up a minimum amount of supplies the friend could get to be far ahead of 99% of the population. The point is not to scare the guy off, not to fill his head with visions of dancing AK wielding camo wearing lunatics. This is a good idea. What can you suggest to friends/acquaintances /co-workers to help them prepare for a rainy day without scaring them off. And you will scare them off. You can’t mention wheat kernels or grain grinders or semi-automatic battle rifles or even surplus military bolt rifles. You can’t stampede the sheep with anything other than a slightly modified food pantry and camping supplies. Do not underestimate the need for most people to keep their head buried. It is quiet and warm there.
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Back a few years ago I was trying to convert the guys at work over to The Way. A few were receptive to the more radical aspects of prepping, even subscribing to my e-mail newsletter. Most however were not even open to a trash can full of rice and flour. This was not in their world view. Nothing could ever go wrong, and it wouldn’t. They were convinced. Back when I started working at the casino ( five years ago ) our pay was very good. Tips daily ( the slot department ) were twice our wages ( and taxes were low- a set amount rather than declaring actual received money ). I was socking away money like it was Christmas, but most people there were spending almost all of it daily. The good times would always roll. I never foresaw being laid off twice at that job, but I had always assumed it was a job too good to be true, so I saved and invested. Good thing, as it turned out. Old co-workers are really living a hard life right now. Me, almost no change in lifestyle. But most folks are like that. They refuse to believe the 25 year party we just had is going to end. They refuse to think about it. I had one guy I wanted to give food to, I had to pester to get him to take it. A few sacks of flour ( I was rotating stock ). I’m sure it was thrown away as soon as the wife saw it.
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Nowadays it won’t be as hard to sell people on a very low level of preparedness. Katrina, etc. But you must proceed with extreme caution. Not only will they run away if the message is too strong, come crunch time they will blame you when you don’t share. Don’t confide in them that you have more than a few weeks supply ( for natural disasters ) of food ( then you can share that with them and they won’t be any wiser-plus you can spare that token amount ) or a modest gun collection ( just fess up to a shotgun and rimfire ) or much of anything else. It is only what you need for blackouts or natural disasters. Not only won’t they expect much from you, they might emulate you as long as it is all low key.
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The suggestions were for a budget of $450 for our shotgun owning/no prep friend. He had already bought the $250 shotgun. It was suggested he add a $170 Katadyn filter, a twenty pound sack of rice and a few rounds of 00 buck. This was deemed an absolute minimum to be more prepared than the rest of the population. And it is not bad advice at all. It will keep someone fed at least two or three weeks and able to defend themselves. Plus have fresh water. Remember, we are not trying to turn them into survivalists. You don’t want to suggest my frugal survival plan that will keep them alive for six to nine months on the same amount of money. This is strictly Wal-Mart preparedness items ( except the water filter ). I understand the firearm was already bought. Let’s assume this is going to be the case ( if not, suggest instead the single shot break open for $100 ). So the suggestion is for $200 for ammo, food and water. Buy the Berky ceramic filter replacement element from Lehman’s for $50. Drill a hole in the bottom of a poly bucket, insert filter, screw down ( the element drain on the bottom is a plastic screw with a wing nut ) and place over a container to catch water. Top price for element, new bucket and even sealant if you want it is under $60.
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That leaves $140 for food and ammo, a far cry from the recommended $20. The recommended water filter is far too costly. Make your own and save at least a hundred bucks. Most folks will be very happy with rice, flour, noodles and canned goods rather than just a bag of rice. And much safer with more than one box of shells. Better yet, you suggest in an emergency your buddy come over and use your water filter as long as he brings his gun and food stores. That’s darn cheap help. But even if this is someone you know long distance, $100 preps are much easier to swallow than $200 ( and remember, they are not preps, they are “a short term supply until FEMA shows up or the power comes on”). Even at only that small amount you get all the clean water and twice the food and ammo. $25 food might seem pathetic to you or me, but 20 pounds of rice and ten pounds of flour will bulk up almost anyone’s cupboards to feed them well for a month. It’s a start.
END
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cast iron seasoning

CAST IRON SEASONING
Before we begin today, a few words on Saturday’s roommate article ( prompted by the lads over at www.tslrf.blogspot.com ). I had no idea what the words on my forehead were since every time I looked into the mirror they were backwards ( and none of the bastards around here bothered to tell me ). I assumed they were merely identification numbers from the Mother Ship and I was the only one seeing them. But no, it was merely the word “idiot”. I forgot to mention the financial arrangements. If everyone pays up front you eliminate a lot of problems. And there is no grace period. Plus, if you promise everyone $25 or $50 as a finders fee for when someone leaves and they recommend a replacement you usually don’t see much time between roommates. I think I had to “payday advance” a portion of the rent only once and that was only for a week.
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Today’s wisdom is on cast iron seasoning. The regular advice is to take a piece of cast iron cookware, coat it liberally with shortening/solid oil and put it in the oven for an hour ( at around 300 degrees ). Every time I ever did this, about three times, I filled the house with billowing clouds of putrid smoke. The wife would exit with a sour look on her face, as if to say “try getting some tonight, jerk”. The cats closely followed ( they would have been first, tripping any human on the way by zipping between their feet, but cats are so curious they would get as close as they could to a rift in the earth that displayed the entrance to Hades itself before the sulfur fumes drove them back ) also giving me a vile look which I translated as “I’m going to beshat the inside of your shoes the first chance I get, human scum that smells like dog butt”. Now, obviously I was doing something wrong even though I was following conventional advice. I got smoke and a very poor job of coating. So for a time I just didn’t use cast iron cookware. I just went with an electrical skillet, the deep bowl type with lid. Well, those work reasonably well until the Teflon coating starts wearing off. Which means you have eaten most of that. It probably turns into cancer.
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Well, you would think that the prospect of munching of rectal cancer causing cookware would send me back to using cast ironware, which is actually healthy for you. You would be wrong. The prospect of spending $25 on another electrical skillet was what prompted the change. A year and a half ago when I bought the skillet they were about $20. Now they are $25. And unless my imagination is playing tricks on me, which could never happen, this time the coating didn’t last nearly as long. So I didn’t feel like getting ripped off as my internal organs turned into glow in the dark goo. I could have spent half the money getting a complete cast iron cookware set. But I wouldn’t even do that. So I kept using my skillet which had no coating in the middle. It took longer cleaning the thing ( and that was after soaking ) than it did cooking in it. And then, the frugal Gods smiled on me. I got three cast iron pans as I was trash picking. A small one where two eggs would have been crowded. A huge one that would have cooked a whole dog at once ( well, ankle biter to middlin size anyway ). And a medium size that was just right. They were all covered in spots with rust.
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I picked up two packs of sandpaper from the dollar store and waited for the weekend. This was going to be The Project for the weekend. It took awhile to get the rust off, but I was not deterred. I had to have cast iron for dinner, damn the torpedoes. Of course, one little problem was that my oven doesn’t really work. If you close the door all the way the flame goes out. Good for use as an emergency heater, not for cooking. But I had an ace up my sleeve. I had been complaining and whining, as is my usual mode of communication, to the guys at work and one of the old geezers told me how to do it on the stovetop. Get the pot nice and hot, then turn off the heat. Wipe with liquid cooking oil on a paper towel. All over. Let cool. Then, every time you use it, wipe the inside once again with oil. Reapply outside only as needed, such as when it “looks” dry. Use, fill with water, bring to a boil. Let sit if needed. Scrub or scrape. Rinse out and then back on the stove to dry. Once its dry, it’s also very hot-coat with oil. He never had any rusting problems, other than the Dutch Oven that sits in storage at the cabin all year. That gets extra oil coating inside and out, and even if there is rust it is minor and surface only.
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I cooked up some hamburger and then dumped in a can of sloppy joe mix. I was going to test this up right, with burnt on tomato paste. I emptied the food, poured in water, brought to a boil and let sit. When it got cool enough I rubbed off the food with my fingers, no need to scrub. Rinse, heat, oil. Done. Yes, I burned my fingers a few times. Even with dry napkins holding the oil soaked ones the pan was so hot it heated the oil up pretty good. But what great results after just one coat of oil on a stove top heated pan. You use far less heat, so any extra oil you’re using should still be a deal. I had the pots, for lids I had extra aluminum ones hanging around ( they’re for grease splatter and keeping dust and cat hair off the pan ), my total cost for sand paper and oil and propane was under a buck. Possibly under fifty cents. Ah, when a great plan comes together.
END
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carpooling

CARPOOLING
Well, here you are. Forced to get roommates, sharing the small house with another couple ( who are fat and smell funny instead of a hot looking babe you could work your charm on because we all know how sexy the ladies find a middle age man struggling financially ) and now double the number of irritating teenagers. Yours would have gone off to college if you hadn’t had to cash in Junior’s school fund after the wife lost her job and your retirement fund went bankrupt. So now you are stuck with oh-so-hip angst ridden moody bad hair and hanging pants social delinquents. You can’t see how this is going to get much worse. Oh. It just got worse. Gas is up to $8 a gallon and you can’t afford to drive the old hunk of crap SUV. You approach the boss about telecommuting but he just laughs at you and tells you if he wants an idiot on the phone he’ll just get a few more guys in Bangladesh who’ll work for rice rations and not much else.
*
You go down to Billy Joe Bob’s Honest Injun Car Lot and try to trade in the SUV for the down payment ( and to get the old loan paid off ) on a fuel saver rice burner but BJ Bob looks at you like you have lost your frigging mind. He politely inquires as to whether you have even bothered to crack a newspaper or turn on the evening news for the last year. He makes rude noises about scrap value as he gestures to a dusty back lot full of SUV’s. He quietly suggests that if you service his wives 300 pound sister once a week ( which will please the wife to no end to see her sister now happily in love Bob is sure to get lucky himself ) he’ll knock $50 bucks off the monthly car payment. But under no circumstances will he take one more gas guzzling Detroit monstrosity. With all sincerity he implores unto the heavens and Baby Jesus himself that he would voluntarily dip his own self into shit if he ever again paid one lousy stinking dollar for the hideous contraptions. Not that you aren’t the swellest guy ever and he would really love to help you and, final offer about the wives sister he’ll go up to $60 off payments, the best he can do is for you to pay him to take the SUV and he’ll sell you a Pinto with minimal rust for only $300 a month payments. Why, he’s sure it will get at least 25 mpg on the freeway going downhill. And Oriental cars getting thirty miles a gallon or up are a six month waiting period and $5k over invoice.
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You’re sure that since Motown factories are all shipped overseas to China as partial debt repayment that in a year or two you could get an import. In the meantime, there is only one thing you can do. Carpool. Carpooling is pretty much on par with scratching the chalkboard with your teeth. But a gas guzzler is what you are stuck with, so you must. At least you can get the gas costs down to half or a third, depending on the number of people you can get to go along with it. If you can find any. Worst case, you need to find people from other jobs. This adds hours to your day since everyone has different start and stop times. Oh, yeh. It should be oodles of fun. But wait! There’s more. It might even become mandatory one day. Oil becomes dear enough, no one will be allowed to drive alone. I can even see local governments being so hard up for cash without property taxes they impose mandatory carpooling and make money off of enforcement. That’s after they keep adding on gas tax. But, officer. I had to get to work or I will be fired and my buddy was sick today. Bam! $500 fine.
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Now aren’t you glad you bought an SUV for safety and Bug Out potential? Aren’t you glad you live out in suburbia? Aren’t you glad you never listened to me, since I was paranoid and irrational?
END
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recession roommates

RECESSION ROOMMATES
Well, let’s just say it right off the bat. Roommates suck. However, most of you refuse to go buy a trailer and a piece of junk land so come crunch time you are going to have little choice shelter wise but to get roommates. Eventually you’ll end up in a tent but until then you can stretch out the day of reckoning by sharing the cost of rent. Even families can do this. Not that they’ll like it, but no one will anyway. Sharing the castle is no ones idea of fun.
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I have optimistically titled this Recession Roommates, realizing I am misleading you but caring not a bit. If you feel like pretending we will only see a recession, more power to you. It should be titled Great Depression Leading Into The End Of Oil And Life As We Know It Roommates. But that didn’t have quite the ring to it. And besides, once grid down happens, assuming you even still have a job, some idiot is going to burn down the rental anyway as they desperately try to stay warm by burning through three stacks of Penthouse magazines. So most likely you will only need to worry about rent and a roommate during the recession.
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The great thing about roommates is that is doesn’t really cost you anything extra. You don’t need to buy a trailer, or land. You don’t even need a car ( in case you were going to live out of that ). All you need to do is eliminate all shreds of comfort and privacy. Back when Lucifer’s Daughter ( the ex-wife, Hillary is more properly titled Lucifer’s Ugly Cheap Whore That Was Such A Ballbuster The Dark Lord Threw Her Out Of His Realm ) decided to leave me I was paying my rent and hers, the car payment, etc. Even making $25k a year and rent only $575 which included all utilities ( early ‘90s in Oklahoma with gasoline at .99 cents to $1.09 ) I was a hurting unit financially. I had no credit card bills, but you try paying two rents. I had to try to get my bills down quick. I advertised for roommates and got two of them ( the apartment was two bedroom-I divided one room in half for two sleeping cubicles ). Thank goodness Wal-Mart came along with a Super-Center right about then for cheap groceries. My living expenses were $200 a month, total. My share of rent was $100. The guy with his own large room paid $275. The other roommate paid $200 and I paid the rest. My grocery bills were $10 a week ( bag of frozen chicken, two dozen eggs, a bag of rice, potatoes and a few loaves of bread ) and the other $60 was gas and miscellaneous. I biked several miles to the soon-to-be ex-wife’s apartment, got the car ( now in her name ), drove thirty miles to work a graveyard shift. That was a rough year.
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Without roommates, it would not have been possible ( or without Wal-Mart, bless their souls ). Gas is now three times as expensive, as is food. Luckily rent has only doubled ( wages are flat of course ). You can still live in town with heat and electricity, only working half time at minimum wage, if you can get roommates. Don’t dismiss that, it might be the only work available soon ( or working illegally full time for half minimum wage if that is the only work you can get ). It is quite normal for impoverished countries to stuff people into slums with not enough work to be had and all wages-if available-going to only rent and food. It could happen here if the oil supply falls enough.
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As for families, the same principle applies. Look for another family. A two bedroom apartment ( or mobile home, or house ) can be turned into a two family dwelling. All the kids are separated by gender and bunk beds are stuffed into the rooms. The parents get a small cubicle each where the living room used to be. If there is a garage, that turns into two bedrooms. Hey, it still beats a family in a travel trailer. And look at the bright side-you can buy food in bulk and use less energy cooking for two families at one time. Yes, this will suck. Life is going to get worse, not better. If you believe otherwise, a guy named Berneke has a bridge he wants to sell you. Prepare yourself mentally.
END
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multiples of crap

MULTIPLES OF CRAP
No, I’m not talking about the number of Presidential candidates to pick from. I think we just did that. Mrs. Universal Health Care ( whether you can afford it or not ), Mr. Habeeb our half-breed Muslim who is sure to pose no threat to America since he talks so pretty, and Mr. Alzheimer’s ( who’ll at least remember to start up the draft again ). Gee, I’m so glad I won’t be voting ( by not voting you refuse to consent to the non-Constitutional circus ). No, today, once again by suggestion of a loyal minion, we shall be talking about quantity versus quality. We’ve done it before but I think it was some time ago. So it doesn’t hurt to touch on it again. A lot of newer Loyal Minions ( Second Class ) have not been exposed to my wisdom on this matter. Of course they have not been exposed to large doses of radiation either. There you go trolls, I’m giving you an opening ( although to be fair our recent troll-not the anti boomer- has been a bit funny and witty lately ).
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We can’t afford quality. It is really quite simple. We are poor. There are more of us every month as the economy gets worse. There will always be more poor survivalists than rich ones ( they got the guns but we got the numbers ). We must prep poor. And we must buy duplicates as a matter of common sense. Even the best made item will break or get lost or get destroyed. Yet, buying ten piece of crap plastic widgets from China for the price of one good quality widget does not make sense either. The best we can hope for is medium quality in multiples. The Yuppie Survivalists can buy high quality in multiples, we have no choice but to lower our expectations. There are a few things Rawles and I can agree on and one of those is you need duplicates.
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And notice that I never really advocate too low of quality. I try to recommend the cheapest tool that will work, but that is not the same as the cheapest tool, period. The Lee-Enfield is the most expensive widely available surplus military bolt gun, not the cheapest. It is just that surplus guns are so cheap that almost no one will break the bank spending $150 instead of $85. I don’t recommend the cheapest water filter, just the cheapest way to use a Berky filter. Wheat is not the cheapest whole grain available. Wool is usually more than synthetic clothing. But I never think that the top of the line gear is necessary either. We might all pine for a semi-auto 308 plastic wunder-rifle but that is toy envy. We can get by a lot cheaper. Yes, I understand that in some instances semi-auto is the only way to accomplish certain missions such as combating advancing zombie hoards. But a concrete mansion with a treasure room filled with gold and a kitchen full of freeze dried Shit On A Shingle and a Playboy model in the bedroom are also the best way to accomplish certain missions. Ain’t gonna happen. Deal with it.
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Sometimes you are going to be stuck with lowest quality rather than medium. A lot of Pakistani or Chinese knives are the only alternative for cutlery outside of high dollar brand name or highest dollar hand crafted edged weapons. When I was shopping for straight razors ( an investment rather than for personal use-I have decades worth of disposables plus the sharpener ) you had a choice of $3 stainless steel or $100+ high quality. Not much in between. Stainless will pretty much suck, but you are almost stuck with that option. But most items have a middle ground. This is not rocket science, just common sense. You can’t have the best, and you need more than one for dispersed stashes and to ensure against theft or accident. Buy as many not-quite-the-crappiest items as you can.
END
www.oftwominds.com/blog.html had a great analysis on the cost of the Forever War as opposed to our total electric generation from solar. Very good.
www.urbansurvival.com/week.htm had a Wednesday article on Bushvilles/Tent Cities. Yeh, that’s right. Jim is not the only one telling you about increased travel trailer living due to the economic collapse. Now you might think it’s a good idea to buy one cheap before demand increases prices for used models ( and for God’s sake buy junk land so you won’t be dependant on government sanctioned parking areas as described in the article ).
Now, go buy books and gear at www.bisonpress.com

peak oil and retail

PEAK OIL AND RETAIL
Certain things just never get old. Enfield rifles. Junk land. Trailer living. Living without a car. LED lights. I can keep bringing up the same old subjects and never get tired of it ( whether you do or not is a different matter ). Another is Peak Oil. There are web sites dedicated to nothing but Peak Oil, so be thankful I only cover it as much as I do. Look, Peak Oil is not a theory started up socially retarded kids barely out of puberty hopped up on way too much caffeine and sugar ( the only other possibility to Y2K is it was a false flag campaign to slow the Tech Wreck Bubble from bursting, for those inclined towards conspiracies ). It is a theory put forth by a man respected in his field, then proven fifteen later exactly when it was forecast. Even if oil geologists are wrong and abiotic oil theory is correct ( I just read The Deep Hot Biosphere and while conceding the likelihood of it, I saw no case being made that oil replacement came near oil use- save your $15 on the book ) it doesn’t invalidate field depletion math. If you use more than input you hit Peak Oil.
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Even if oil never runs out, replacement ( or just what is left as the dregs ) is not enough for today’s economy. The US is the worst, having been bathing in oil and now down in home grown fuel to a fraction of what we use daily. But everyone is just as addicted to oil. We will suffer the most, having replaced all substitute activity long ago. Most other countries are not as dependant or addicted ( they still rely on a lot of human muscle power, public transportation, etc ) and will fail economically a lot slower than we will. So, if other countries use less oil to achieve the same economic activity, they can limp along with less. Any less oil for us past a token amount will crash our whole system. Just look at the social upheaval in the 1970’s from a 4% reduction in supply ( and that was when we imported a lot less than we do now ).
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In 2005 global oil production hit the all time high of 74.3 million barrels of oil a day. In 2007 total production was only 73.2 million barrels of oil a day. In two years we lost 1.1 million barrels a day in production, globally. This when oil prices had doubled. No one keeps production down with that kind of price increase. Yes, some of that was due to inflation. The dollar losing value means imports go up. Oil is a big import item. But you can’t lay the blame squarely at inflations doorstep. Dropping supply had something to do with it. One estimate, which seems alarmist until you consider the bell shape curve of production and supply, says by the end of this year we could be down to 70 million barrels a day ( if not actually below that ). If that is true, each year will see a much larger amount in the fall of production. So, let’s call inflation responsible for half the cost increase and supply the other half. One million barrels less equals a 25% price hike, without inflation ( and the more that becomes unavailable the higher this will go ). We would see at least $175 a barrel oil at the end of the year. Even low inflation would see that at $200 minimum.
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When taxes made up most of the retail price of gasoline ( back at $20 a barrel oil ), oil increases were nominal. Now, they are painfully felt. And quickly. We went through a lot of the 1990’s with oil at $20 a barrel. In one month, now, a barrel increases half that much. And before you start getting tingly nipples at the prospect of more nuclear power plants, increased coal use, natural gas use or roof covered PV panels, consider that all those need oil to extract or construct. China has already beat us to building more nuke plants and stockpiling uranium ( some of which is why the price increased 300% or more ). Coal use will provide a cushion for us to a small degree, but not as much as you think. Most oil is burned on the road. Coal can only substitute for a small amount of electrical generation ( and that assumes it can defeat the Gore Groups banning its use ). Natural gas is in decline, as is our imports from Canada. Alternate fuels can’t approach anywhere near the level of oil we use.
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And, really, so far we as a country have hardly been effected. Not in a meaningful way. That will change soon. Our economy worsens, which worsens our ability to buy oil. More producers are eyeing non-dollar payments. And more producers are in decline. Now, take our retail sector ( please, someone take it ). It is just starting to be effected by the housing bubble deflating. And along comes the jump in fuel prices. Our whole supply system is tuned to “just-in-time-delivery”. Yet diesel has seen a roughly 30% increase lately ( way to go, liberal tree hugging weenies, with taking sulfur out of the fuel-we need less fuel efficient trucks for transportation ). So far, most retailers have taken baby steps to combat higher delivery costs. Ordering less on the shelves, raising costs a little, shrinking packages a little ( notice the 24 ounce bread loaves are now 22 ounces? ). Letting staff shrink. Etc. Again, we ain’t seen nothing yet.
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So, all these converging problems. Mass unemployment from the housing bubble bursting ( contractors without work don’t count on the unemployed roles ), fuel costs up from inflation and falling supply. Less local tax revenue. Financial sector meltdown. Over built retail sector. Do you need five McDonalds in a town of 50k? They are only busy during a few hours of the day. Two Blockbusters and two Hollywood Videos in the same size town ( that was last year- we’re down one Blockbuster )? Two Wal-Marts, two Home Depots and a Lowes? Retail is going to take a huge fall, and with it a lot of jobs. The kind you are working as the skilled jobs are now overseas. But look at the bright side. As retail stores shrink, you might first see a lot of competition forcing prices down temporarily.
END
Rangerman, thanks for catching this-the link I gave you yesterday should have been:
www.cryptogon.com Sorry I got it so messed up. They are great for political news and such.
You know this is coming- buy books and gear www.bisonpress.com

boiling water

BOILING WATER
You would think an article on boiling water was needed as much as one on poring piss out of a boot. Luckily for me, needing something to write about every day, we do need this article. Even if this is old hat to you, it came as a surprise to me. And as you know, when the king displays a potentially embarrassing lack of skill it is simply healthier for all involved to just go along with that. Why, no, your majesty-I had no idea. I may not have the ability to behead at will, but you never know if I can curse you with bad juju. So pretend to be impressed here.
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As you know, I was particularly kind to you all and shared the homemade Berky filter with you. I had to spend $10 on the book to teach me this, yet I passed it on because of love you all, my loyal minions. Then I started to feel sorry for you. Well, perhaps they are extremely poor. Instead of spending $200, they only needed to spend $50. But maybe even that is too much. So I passed on my findings of the unglazed ceramic pot that could be used as a filter. All you needed was a $5 pot. And yet, even then you were less than satisfied, essentially wanting not only free information but free equipment. Not that I can blame you. If those damn distributors would send me free guns, magazines and ammo I would slowly rationalize semi-autos and/or new guns and recommend them to you. But, nooooo! Not only does Rawles get all the readers, the mainstream press write-ups and the free merchandise, I can’t even get no stinkin G-men to try to bribe me ( www.crytogen.com just ran an article on intelligence services studying the feasibility of influencing blog writers ).
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So here is your free water treatment. Actually, Vlad sent this to me, thanks bro. If you meander on down to www.survivaltopics.com you can see the article. And, just in case you think these guys were making it all up and I fell for a pig in a poke, you can go to www.princeton.edu/~oa/manual/water.shtml to get the research. How long must you boil water? Many different government and health organizations give different answers. Five minutes, ten minutes, even twenty minutes as if any water would still be left. The ol’ “double the time at high altitudes”. Even a more realistic “rolling boil for one minute” is not entirely correct. The correct answer to the question of how long you must boil water is…zero minutes. You don’t need to boil at all, just BRING it to a boil. This will save you a lot of fuel and, if water is in short supply, a lot of that will be conserved by lack of so much evaporation.
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Water temperature above 160 F kills all pathogens within thirty minutes. Above 185 F all bugs within minutes. So, the time it takes water to warm up from 160 F to 212 F ( the boiling temperature of water ) will be more than sufficient to kill all nasties in the water. Even at high altitude. As long as you bring the water to a rolling boil, you will be safe. No need to keep boiling it. Now, obviously this will not work with chemicals. And it assumes a supply of firewood. But since you are using half the wood or even less, it becomes less of a concern than before. Even with little wood available, even if you already have a filter, this is good information to have. It gives you more options. Options are good.
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Does this bring new light on the ancient Orientals and their tea drinking? It has always been assumed they just had a built up immunity to the pond scum they were drinking. But was it merely the water brought to a boil that did the trick? Too deep to ponder right now. Until tomorrow.
END
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