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Preparing for the Inevitable
Preparing for the Inevitable
As I begin this, the power to a couple of million people has been out for 6 days. Despite what will be said, this is not an anomaly but one in a more frequently occurring series of infrastructure breakdowns.
Add to that the undeniable fact that, whether caused by global warming or other possibly worse scenarios, more people’s lives are being negatively affected by both weather and disasters.
Now, keep in mind that the budgets of those organizations intended to respond to these events have been severely reduced because of loss of revenues related to fewer tax payers and substantially lower property values.
Factor in the impact of the pending banking collapse and the inevitable bank runs, and you have the recipe for some serious craziness.
One thing we haven’t had to contend with much in the past is the impact of a computer glitch on our lives. My favorite example occurred right here in San Diego on July 4th.
The long awaited, highly anticipated, state-of-the-art fireworks tribute to American independence is an event so spectacular that people drove hundreds of miles just for the “oohing” and the “aahing”, and the gut punching of dozens of thunderous explosions spread out over forty-five minutes.
Billed as the Big Bay Boom it is a fireworks lover’s heaven. The show itself was produced by the venerable century old firm, Garden City Fireworks, all the way from Millington, New Jersey.
No amateurs flickin’ bics in a trench somewhere. Four separate locations, including three barges brought into the bay itself, would serve as launch pads.
Because of the uniqueness of the site, this would be one of company’s biggest shows of the year and they do hundreds of them from coast to coast.
As darkness set in, people positioned themselves for what was to come.
And, then it began.
Oh, and it was magnificent! No one could recall ever seeing anything bigger or hearing anything louder. One observer described it as looking “as though a flaming planet were roaring right at us.”
It was an apt description. It had that Steppenwolf song “Born to Be Wild” lyric quality to it, “Fire all of our guns at once, explode into space.”
And then…. it was over. Done, fine, the end.
They had indeed fired all of their guns at once and the show was done in 15 seconds, pretty much guaranteeing some kind of Guinness record I would imagine.
Officials referred to the event as “premature ignition.”
But hey, it happens to all of us at one time or another, right?
The Big Bay Boom was just that, one big boom. Only a computer could do that.
But it got me wondering, if the best intentions of the best professionals with a century of experience can see their work undone so easily, what other unintended consequences are lurking in the dark recesses of computer code written by a possibly disgruntled programmer?
It reminds me of something my uncle once said. He and many of his generation viewed the world differently than mine because of World War II. “I don’t care how good they say German and Japanese cars are, I’ll never own one. Someday they’re all going to just stop at the exact same time and we’ll be done for.”
At the time, I thought he might have had a few too many Hamm’s, but now, I think he may have been on to something.
Soon they will be deploying drones, unmanned computer operated aircraft for use inside America. I’m sure nothing could ever go wrong.
Then there is the money problem.
The Euro experiment has derailed and governments are running out of money right here in the USA. The city of Stockton CA has filed for bankruptcy and San Bernardino is about to do the same. Scranton, Pennsylvania reduced all city employees to minimum wage. This will be coming soon to a town near you. Check your local listings for times.
Oh, and those state and municipal pension funds that everyone has been perpetually underfunding. What remains in these funds are the TBTF bankstas worthless loan pools secured by nothing.
Obviously, government at every level is dysfunctional for a host of reasons. As a result, we have to take greater responsibility for our own well-being.
Katrina is still the best argument for self-reliance. Oh, no! Here comes FEMA.
It is starting to remind me of the old Soviet Union where nothing worked the way it was supposed to, and there is good reason for that—both were failed attempts at centralization. Or, Globalization as this effort has been named. Or, New World Order as they used to call it. The end is one economy, one currency, open borders and one small group running it all…for the good of all Mankind. Democracy is out. Plutocracy is in. If you weren’t a big fan of totalitarianism or fascism, you’re really going to hate the New Plutocracy.
What we are witnessing is the byproduct of Centralization; the idea that one big giant entity run by one all-powerful bureaucracy is better than a bunch of much smaller entities run by local organizations.
Recently, I heard an economist say that Globalization was essential and unstoppable. But what the fuck do economists know? Free trade and lax borders have resulted in the expansion of poverty both domestically and internationally.
Sure it’s good for the one percent, and the evidence of that could not be more compelling. Whether you focus here or in Europe or Asia, the evidence of decline is everywhere.
Globalists hate it when you say what I am about to say. Things worked better back in the day. The jobs were local, the Government was local, and the schools were local. The markets weren’t super but they were adequate. Who needs a Guava from Guadalajara, anyway?
Almost any job paid enough to buy a modest house at an affordable payment.
If you needed customer service, you didn’t need to be routed to India.
I’ve heard all of the arguments about why I’m wrong and why we can’t seal ourselves off from the global movement. I’ve thought about it long and hard, and I think that is nonsense.
It defies my common sense and life experience.
Electricity came late to the rural areas surrounding the Mesabi Iron Range. A local coop was formed, the REA we called it, which stood for the Rural Electric Association. Power failures were more common, but they didn’t last very long. A couple of hours and the power was usually back up.
We are but one event away from chaos and I say to you, “be prepared”.
I am a reasonable man. I have been writing columns for more than thirty years and most of the last 7 or 8 years work can be found online. Everyone can see that I’m not some conspiracy theory loon or part of any group that advocates for anything other than constitutional rights.
People who know me seek my advice on a wide range of topics because they trust my judgment.
I’m not advocating that you should carve a bunker out of a mountainside but to be prepared to survive for thirty days if the water is out, the power is out, all means of communication are out and you cannot get out.
No supermarket, no ATM, and no fuel. Communication might be impossible and, at best, difficult. Even if the utility side is operational, the system would be stretched beyond its limits.
Plan a meet up place in advance or even two. Your own logistics will determine the best location for all of the members of your tribe.
I’m not a Doomsdayer, but I cannot see how we can avoid at least some sort of interruption in our daily lives.
Hope for the best and prepare for the worst. We are in uncharted waters here. History will reveal many of the things that we cannot see while events are unfolding. Don’t assume that it could never happen. We live in a world that is but one errant keystroke away from serious calamity.
Being prepared is about answering a few basic questions. How long should I prepare for? What will I need?
Water, food, first aid, fuel, and waste management are the basics
When it comes to provisions, I want to keep thirty days of food and water. If some sort of normalcy isn’t achieved by then, we are probably screwed anyway. Don’t forget your pets. Have extra food and water for them as well.
Experts suggest a gallon per person per day, but you can definitely get by on less. I also keep a few bottles of Gatorade which can be diluted with water for some extra nutrients while you hydrate
Our water comes through the mountains in a pipe. If an earthquake or a landslide were to damage the pipe, the county’s reservoirs would eventually run dry.
Locate a local water source in advance. In Southern California we have the Ocean, and not much else. But, you may be fortunate to live near a water reservoir or storage tank.
Getting access to that water can definitely extend your ability to survive a longer period.
You can survive weeks without food but only days without water.
Many people have set aside dried beans, pasta, and rice as their emergency store. But they require both water and fuel to prepare so I recommend that dried, unprepared foods make up only a small part of your “emergency” stash.
Same with having a freezer full of food.
You can stock up on freeze dried MRI type meals, but they are fairly expensive and you still need to rotate them over time which means eating them and replacing them.
Until you get around to doing that, at least plan ahead with what is at hand.
My choice for a survival stash is very different from my normal diet and is mostly canned food. I have white beans, black beans, pinto beans, kidney beans, lima beans, corn, tomato sauce, jalapenos, canned tuna and salmon, low sodium spam, peaches, pears, apricots, peanut butter, and nuts.
As long as no emergency occurs, you’ll need to rotate your food. Expiration dates don’t mean a whole lot when it comes to canned food. A year or two probably doesn’t matter.
Every now and then when it’s late and I’m tired, I just pull something out and eat it.
Or, donate the food every few months and replace it all at once.
If you rely on prescription medication, you should probably try to keep an extra thirty-day supply. I know this can be hard to do with some insurance plans, but if you forget every now and then to take your medication, squirrel it away for an emergency or see if you can pay retail for an additional thirty-day supply.
Keep your vehicles full of gas, refill propane tanks promptly and consider the ease of an extra canister if you typically barbecue on a gas grill. When one runs out during that fabulous Tri-tip, you’ll have a full one at the ready and swapped out before the grill starts to cool.
The gas grill can be used to heat food.
If you have a fireplace, keep some firewood on hand.
Create an emergency money supply. Banks could be closed for weeks and ATMs may not function without power. If they do have power, they will quickly run out of money.
All paper money is fiat money with no actual value behind it, just the guarantee of a nation that cannot pay its bills. In times of chaos, people who have things you need might be reluctant to take fiat money.
Some coinage has actual value. Having some small denominations of gold and silver is a smart hedge against economic collapse. I’m not suggesting that you convert everything to gold bullion or silver. I have no idea what will happen during a global economic calamity.
The attitude toward precious metals could change. Then there is the issue of practicality. With an ounce of gold approaching $2,000, it would be like asking the corner store to make change for a two thousand dollar bill. Good luck!
The idea of an emergency money supply is to not be without it when you need it most. If the money is unspendable, it is the same as having none.
How much money depends on what you might want to accomplish. Having enough to get a long ways away is my goal, and to be able to use it to buy necessities for at least thirty days when I get there.
And, what if we just limp along, without any major event? You’ve lost nothing, and you are still prepared for anything.
www.4closureFraud.org
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There's hundreds if not thousands of lists out in cyberspace detailing the must have items for surviving socio-economic collapse, but I've yet to see any of them list the most important of all - mobility.
If yu can't make a change of location part of yur preparedness, yu simply aren't prepared. Unforseeable changes to the local situation can wipe out yur long laid plans in an instant...leaving yu high n dry at the critical moment when the only real way to stay alive and healthy is to get out -fast....
and that doesn't mean hopping onto an interstate and joining a long line of vechicles in gridlock going nowhere. Depending on yur druthers, and yur geographical situation, there's two real good alternatives to consider:
a) live on the water -that water supply is a really BIG deal is a given...if yu live right on yur supply that's a huge plus...anybody living from the Great Lakes* to the Gulf has an execellent resource on their doorsteps...the chain of canals, lakes, reservoirs and river systems right in the Merikan heartland is a bug out artists dream come true...my last trip up the St Johns River showed me how lucky Merikans are in this regard..and how little appreciated and utilized the resource is! The comments section is no place for a discussion about what kind of craft to consider, but the internet is full of that subject matter.
b) fourleggers are yur friends...especially if yu don't have the above mentioned advantage. With the right breed of horse yu can live and travel cross country on a self made vechicle which will get yu out of many many jams that other modes of travel cannot deal with...most preppers plans count upon a continuity of infrastructure that is just plain silly...when yur stuck, yur done, and ready to be rounded up for the one way trip to Femaville.
Of course, the best and safest plan would be to clear right out of the whole Euromerikan proto-prison kamp pronto...but few are willing to make that choice...so in this age of state-sponsored domestic terrorism in the form of drone surveillance, even the best bug out arrangement in the fallen lands of the west is subject to major fouling.
NFA...no fixed address,...used to be the stigma of the down n out in the "Great Society"...soon nuff it's going to be the signal attribute of the lucky few who are equipped for surviving the forthcoming planned demolition of life as we used to know it! MOVE em on OUT, PILGRIM!
*and please, no sniping about winter...liveaboard is as doable in icy times as in others...it requires a level of preparedness that is acquired by no other means than doin it...yu can be snup as a bug at -40 outside and 3 feet of ice!
"I've yet to see any of them list the most important of all - mobility."
Mobility is only useful if you have a santuary to travel to. Being Nomadic will be a short and horrible journey as there will be people everywhere being mobile too and will act to take everything you have. Travelling also puts you at extreme risks, most likely highway robbery as gangs set up ambushes waiting for travelers to deliver them goodies. Its fairly easy to pick off a small groups of travelers with a rifle at a distince and then take everything the have. In other situations locals will set up road blocks blow bridges to stop drifers from entering their town. Travel will be very difficult. what happens if you experience a foot (sprain, infection, etc) or leg injury that prevents you from traveling by foot, and you miles from any resources for resupply?
"Euromerikan proto-prison kamp pronto."
And go where? Foreigners don't fit in, and they will be attacked, imprisoned, kidnapped, etc. Foriegner will very much be angry at americans if there is a collapse as they will be blamed for everything. Were would you recommend going? Latin America with its gang violence, Asia ruled under semi-totaliarian gov'ts. Japan with its over population and poluted food and water supplies. Africa, the Middle East? There is no safe place to go. Many nations also requires heavy fees to become a resident.
"and please, no sniping about winter...liveaboard is as doable in icy times as in others"
where do the calories come from? You going to carry a month or two worth of food on your back? Good luck fishing when there is three feet of ice covering the lake/river.
"anybody living from the Great Lakes* to the Gulf has an execellent resource on their doorsteps."
Until the Nukes start melting down when their diesel depletes in three or four days after the event. Then it all become contaminated. If the nukes don't get you it will be the sewage treatment system and chemical waste that get dumped into the rivers and lakes as systems fail.
"fourleggers are yur friends...especially if yu don't have the above mentioned advantage. With the right breed of horse"
Horses, mules and other pack animals will be targets. You might as well paint a big red target on yourself. A pack animal is more than a weeks worth of food for a big family or small gang.
CLEARLY, you have not though this through.
Are you a big wussy or what?
Fuck man... Grow a pair.
You come across as someone who will sit in the corner, suck their thumb and think about everything that can go wrong instead of working the problem.
Trust me. Your days will be numbered.
...Are you a big wussy or what?...
either that, or he's workin the board for u no who! They want as many of our peeple stuck behind the lines when the big fence comes down post elections...
before I got up the nerve to clear out in 2009, the biggest single factor in my indecision was the lack of clear, first hand info from folks what had already jumped....
I know beyond any doubt that there are hundreds of thousands, if not millions of my kith n kin of the haplogroups now in the sites of the Khazarian barbarians who can feel the terror about to be unleashed, and know in their hearts it's time to go: I doubt I'll get around to rebutting each of His Hollowness's many mistaken assertions fore this thread gets stale, but trust me peeple...if yu can summon the nerve to cross the lines with yur lved ones whilst there is still time, you'll thank yur Maker for the day that yu made the decision to jump sans parachute...rather than remain in the burned out hulk of the USS Liberty!
http://youtu.be/Hm4O55ErlNA [Richard Earnshaw - In Time]
it's mid afternoon Eurasia time, and I see this thread is still up!
I reread the comments of genius boy, and there's no point in rebutting his work...he's done it all for me!
anybody who'd uptick that series of howlers has gotta be dumber than a stack of Big Macs!!!!!!!!!
I don't think yu've ever been outsidda yur basement Bud! I look forward to the chance to catch yu in action here again sometime when I'm not at my nocturnal slumbers!
I see that the dead-enders back in the fallen lands have been busy overnight...
after I feed the critters and then take the boat to town I'll consider giving a detailed rebuttal to the collection of ill-informed arguments that formed here like a bloom of algae - or maybe I'll just leave it like it is, in the hopes that at least a few picked up a useful thought or two to pursue...
Right. Let's compare notes big fella, sometime shortly after the [final] exercise of the farce called US elections a few months from now. I live every detail of what I just wrote about here....yur comments are collection of speculations about matters which yu have NO first hand experience of...
OH, and yur offering to the greater good is?
Don't forget bicycles!
this. You don't have to feed a bicycle. You can carry it across obstacles it cannot cross with you mounted on it. It doesn't spook or go beserk when wounded, maiming/killing you in the process.
Do yu live somewhere amongst tall buildings and the usual accretions of concrete that subsitute in the minds of the reality-challenged for life on Planet Earth?
\What yu know about animals wouldn't clutter up the head of a pin...
Good luck with the bicycle tour/-travelling lite is great...till yu need supplies and the ATM\plastic thing don't work anymore...then yu what...
trade yur womenfolk for vittles and a replacement titanium wheel n sprocket set?
dumbfuck, I've walked more beans, baled more hay and cut teeth and balls off more pigs than you could fucking count. I'm not some idiot leg shaving road racer, or tree hugging "save the trails and whales" x sports hipster. What do you suppose you are, the the fucking horse whisperer? Are animals your friends, and you trust them more than humans?
let me clue you in a bit. That old milk cow or swayback mare with the soft brown eyes will stomp you like a fucking tomato worm for no discernable reason at all then in the next minute eat grass while pissing on what's left of your crushed body. And only be bothered by a fly that's buzzing her ear.
in comparison, the fucking vietcong moved 3 bodyweights of supplies PER BICYCLE, in shitty terrain while under air interdiction attacks.
Go to a fucking garage sale and buy a mountain bike for 25 bucks off some fatass who hasn't ridden it in 3 years. It's a lot cheaper than you spooky, high maintenance and high cost hobby.
lol,
ignoring yur ill-chosen expletives and unasked for long-form biography which I guess are supposed to camoflague the complete lack of reasoned rebuttal, I'll simply repeat my basic point...
yu know extremely little about animals, and have a gigantic capacity to overlook that shortcoming in favor of grossly over estimating your wisdom...
to which it now seems clear to even the casual observer that yu have a morbid fear and hatred of them...
perhaps your next time round in the big WHEEL O LIFE will breed a better appreciation of our four legged friends in yu Mr. Scissorhands!
btw...dismembering swine does not constitute experience in working with animals genius! Yu are terminally confused about yur connection to the animal kingdom...go kick a dog.
and helicopters!
Sorry, I forgot. Nobody here can afford a hellicopter.
george,
great article, you are spot-on, on almost all of it.
there is one exception, though, this small turd in the punchbowl:
"Recently, I heard an economist say that Globalization was essential and unstoppable. But what the fuck do economists know? Free trade and lax borders have resulted in the expansion of poverty both domestically and internationally."
wrong, wrong, WRONG!
free trade and lax borders do not expand poverty, period.
an increase in human freedom is never the problem.
the world existed long before despots started to draw invisible lines in the dirt and claim that this over here is one country and that over there is another country.
one's right to move about as one sees fit and to do business with whom one will, regardless of these imaginary lines in the dirt, does not impoverish anyone, it enriches us, gives each of us personal and economic freedom and opportunity.
as far as the trend towards poverty, perhaps you should place the blame for that squarely where it belongs - our way of life for too long has depended on borrow and spend, our corrupt government officials in bed with the big banks have looted the public treasury and handed our wealth over to private for-profit interests, our debt-based fiat ponzi scheme is unsustainable. the vampire squids have drained us of our life energy, is it any wonder so much of society is weak and helpless?
limiting our freedoms to move and transact across borders will do nothing to turn the tide of increasing poverty, i don't know why an otherwise seemingly intelligent person would suggest such a thing.
Your hypothesis would only be correct if both sides of the border treated humans with dignity and respected their essential liberties. As soon as you have a 1.3 billion man slave labor camp working for a dollar a day and a cup of rice on 12 hour shifts at midnight (yes, Apple execs publicly stated they LOVED this aspect of China), then you don't have actual open borders and any trade will result in the financial destruction of those who still possess liberty. Your failure to understand this is precisely the key point that globalists hope for - ignorance - that then allows them to exploit global wage arbitrage to the detriment of all, both the laborers in places like the US and Europe, and the laborers in places like China who cannot command a fair wage.
You can't have free trade with a nation of slave labor. Until Americans and Europeans understand that, globalism will continue to suck them dry. And worse, idiots will still defend globalism even as it destroys their own capital and their own labor value.
The key thing necessary to improve (slowly) the problem of poverty is to remove governments that do not respect liberty for its citizens.
so, you are saying, that because a citizen of china is opressed economically and otherwise by his govt, the solution is that our govt should oppress him and limit his freedoms also? what a wonderful humanitarian you are showing yourself to be.
what a bizarre and clearly false statement. an open border is an open border, regardless of who is on the other side of the border or what their living conditions are.
ANY trade? really? i bought an ipad made in china. did that result in my financial destruction?
perhaps you should set your arrogance aside for a moment, and consider the possibility that someone who holds different values than yourself is not "ignorant", nor has a "failure to understand".
again, wrong. wages in the western world in recent past have been an anomaly, partly due to borrowing, spending, and living beyond our means (credit bubble), and partly due to colonization/exploitation of third-world peoples and their resources. wages in the western world must and will come down to normal levels. you can accept it and deal with it, or you can try to fight it and create more stress and suffering which will lead to a more dramatic reckoning in the end, but it will happen.
as far as laborers in china not being able to command a fair wage, it is precisely because of international trade that the standard of living in china and the wealth of its citizens has been growing so dramatically, please check your facts.
again, false. you can have free trade with anyone who agrees to have free trade with you, it's pretty simple really.
as far as your drivel about "globalism", you are the one who brought up that word, not i, that is entirely your baggage, sir. i have no interest in your so-called globalism, only in freedom.
ok, that's fine. but who is going to do the removing of governments? and who will judge whether a government respects liberty for its citizens, and to what extent must they dis-respect that liberty before the government gets removed? who will make these choices, you?
You paint a rosey picture, the realistic picture of what is happening with open borders is the incomming hoards are all comming for the benefits. They have nothing to offer this country, except disease and poverty. I like the idea of closed borders and if one wants to migrate to this country there needs to be a way for them to do so. All the countries that have allowed a large muslim population to settle and set up their own laws and communities have seen the error of their ways. You mention freedom to move and transact business across borders. What if they come across with a few rags and with nothing to transact? Thats what we have now.
everyone has something to transact, if not skills then at least brute labor.
the problem with you, my friend, is that you are a white racist punk, you hate the brown people, whether mexican or arab, you fear them, you fear that they are coming for your "stuff", you think that oppresive government laws will protect you from this perceived threat, and in choosing to give up our freedom to get some imagined security, you show yourself to be someone who deserves neither, as franklin put it.
the reality of the situation is, those who cross borders in search of new opportunity are always the most ambitious, most hard working people there are, just like the european colonists and also later immigrants that came to america.
the lazy and despondent ones, those are the ones who stayed behind.
not afraid of brown people, just don't appreciate having them steal my shit. pretty universal concept
"The end is one economy, one currency, open borders and one small group running it all…for the good of all Mankind."
Yeah, that's really working out great for the Eurozone!
HJ45
"All the countries that have allowed a large European Banker /muslim/ populations to settle and set up their own laws and communities have seen the error of their ways"
yah that's right ask the native americans about how that works.
Or, refer to Anders Brevik's closing statements.
The problem is not the open borders ... the problem is the welfare state and [deliberate] government policies to admit new dependants to the teat.
Western democracies are being deliberately deconstructed to pave the way for global government. There are plenty of writings on these plans -- some going back nearly a century and others on the web sites of the globalist think tanks themselves -- that cover the steps being taken.
I just picked up a used copy of 'Global Tyranny....Step By Step' , The United Nations and the Emerging New World Order, by William F. Jasper, Copyright 1992. As you said, i-dog, it's more than just a 'conspiracy', it's well documented. (I still won't say 'fact, however).
Back cover: '.......a new world order under the United Nations would mean:
*an end to your God-given rights guaranteed by the US Constitution
* National and personal disarmament
* Conscription into a UN army or police force to serve at the pleasure of the UN hierarchy
* Loss of parental rights to raise your children according to your personal beliefs
* Coercive population control that will determine when-or if- you may have children
* Communist-style dictatorship and ruthless terror, torture, and extermination to cow all peoples into submission.
Sounds more like 2012 than 1992, wouldn't you agree?
http://www.crossroad.to/Victory/stories/wild-pigs.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7mnQHeGPrw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaEoSJpLc-w
Thank you for addressing this glaring non sequitor! I started to, then said "Ahhh, fuck it!...they won't understand!".
Libertarian horseshit. Just look at the smoking ruin that is open borders/free trade globalization. Once again, fact trumps theory.
authoritarian/facist horseshit. once again, it's not the freedom that's the problem. freedom is never the problem. instead of using useless buzzwords like "free trade globalization", why don't you try putting together a cogent argument as to why you hate freedom so much, why you want to limit my freedom and the freedom of other persons to move about and do business with whom we choose.
screw your freedom. my food comes before your freedom.
Because my daughter goes to the elementary school where you're selling heroin.
Enjoyed the article. You never really finish getting prepared, so don't grow discouraged if you don't have everything covered. Do what you can with the resources you have and prioritize properly.
For those in urban areas, just make sure you know when to get out, where you will go, and how many ways you can get there. I think this will be the hardest thing to determine, but the most important. Get away from the masses if at all possible and commit to practice drills to accomplish doing so efficiently. Develop a buddy system for this if you can.
"just make sure you know when to get out"
http://www.alertsusa.com
Worth every FRN.
better three months early rather than one minute too late!
Just an aside, Wal-mart today was completety stripped of Mountain House freeze dried (camper) foods. There was like one 'Neopolitan Ice Cream'. That was it. ?????
Had to make a trek to WallyWart to get a SIM card this week and strolled the aisles. In Sporting Goods, ammo was stripped to all but uncommon calibers, shotgun shells(normally on the aisle), were down to a couple boxes, all but the cheeziest pellet guns were gone, there were no pellets or CO2 carts, they were down to a couple 2-packs of propane canisters, and over in Grocery, the sale on jerky was a success because the rack was down to may 5 packages. A month ago I went in for dog food, picked up some clays and shells and the shelves were loaded? Oh, and the canning section was down to a couple boxes of pint jars and packets of spice, etc. About a year ago, a number of the local Wally's started stocking guns again. I may head down to the nearest in Lutz(and stop by my favorite silver shop) and see what they have.
One theory is that it's seasonal. Or at least I hope THEY don't know something WE don't know.
Anything that goes bang probably got grabbed up for 4th of July festivivies. A lot of people got accidentally shot by patriots a couple of blocks away last week. Canning supplies are most likely gone because the fruit's coming in.
Jerky's disappearance can probably be attributed to all the people going camping right now.
Sounds to me like the local Wally's doesn't have very good historical input on their merchandise ordering software. Or else the old guy that does it from memory is on vacation.
M1A. Doubt if you'll find one at Mallwart. Good Lord what a cannon. Blasts thru cinderblock at 300 yds and will kill whatever's on the other side.
Haven't seen bartering mentioned, so I will. Tobacco is at the top of my list. I suggest keeping a stash of American Spirit on hand because it's the only real tobacco that is generally available. If you have one of those little vacuum packing machines just pop your stash into a vacuum bag and it will stay fresh at least several years unopened.
Also you might consider having a few tobacco plants growing in our garden or even in pots on your balcony. Tobacco is a very easy plant to grow, harvest and cure on a small scale. And the best part is that nobody will be stealing your growing plants - even hard-core smokers would gag at smoking green tobacco.
I was an Army brat in Germany in the early 50's and it was absolutely remarkable what I could get in trade from the locals for one of my Dad's Camels. Not one pack - one cigarette. He never missed them ( I think).
Free tobacco growing instructions and other info on my website www.cultivatorshandbook.com
Thanks American Spirit
Great idea, great website, and great info on your website.
Anyone who can grow/make smokes/beer in version 2.0 USA is gonna be collecting some serious (silver) coinage.
Reefer @ $3,500/ lb. vs. tobacco @ $13/ lb.
No contest from a farming perspective.
Scotch is a good barter tool and it never spoils. Any sprits is good for barter.
Did somebody say Katrina?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-taU9d26wT4
The American People are nothing more than a herd of creatures who are there for the enrichment of the kleptcracy (think cows). Try, just try, to be a Free Man. If you're not willing to purchase your freedom with your life - and you will because you're not supposed to be a Free Man - you'll find that you're still just a herd animal when the time comes for you to assert your Primacy.
I would add the idea of community the understanding that you may need to offer ideas for local control/currency barter acceptance and a host of other things that come about when things go haywire. When everyone else is asking "what do we do", offering a suggestion of "let's calm down, take stock of what we have and need and see what we can do to keep ourselves alive" is better than "Listen to me, I know what to do, follow me!"
People skills are going to be vital. Knowledge is going to be vital. Having a plan or at least an idea, even if no one else follows, is going to be vital. The know-it-alls and political wanna-bes will screw things up, let 'em. Be ready with calm, sensible ideas and offer them, don't try to force it down anyones throat. Anyone that doesn't want to follow can do what they want (it is still America) and when they fail, they can come back and ask to be included again.
Humility, knowledge, people skills and a lot of good planning will get many through. The opposite is going to get a lot of people hurt or killed.
the plan, or strategy, is to Stop Paying Your Taxes
in one fell swoop you remove the parasites from the landscape, both Govt and bankers (inc The Fed), which makes handling a Great Depression 20 times easier according to all independant forecasts
not having the tossers of Govt putting a spanner in the works of agriculture, energy and industrial markets (ie. a free - from Govt - market economy) not only lessens the pain but increases the upside to recovery
the answers really are simple: Plan Zero Govt
bibles dont taste that good... you ..on the other hand ....
The bible is one of the best life saving resources available. When you need to keep going and do the impossible, then the bible is my lifesaver.
Consult the indigenous tribes about the historincal precedents for your resource.
Bible this: The first language of any deity is nothing humens speak. There's an infinity of interpretation and realization between the lines there for ya. I'm sure any relevant deity would want you learning and thinking for yourself in any case.
I have often thought about the injustices suffered by the indigenous tribes. The investing paradigm is to maximize profits per square foot. An industrialized civilization produces more monetary income per square foot than does a hunter gatherer society. The indigenous tribes were displaced because of this.
The irony is that the human race is now in the situation of the indigenous tribes. We are being displaced by a technology that is far more productive than a human carbon based body can compete with. The bible is not a book. It is God hiding in 600k letters waiting to meet you. It is God trying to tell you that you are a miracle. Break the codehttp://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/1254056/jewish/Where-Are-the-600000-Letters-of-the-Torah.htm
Reminds me of that joke where God sends the guy praying on the roof in the flood a boat, and a helicopter. . .
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