Some Humor

Occasionally we as humans need to laugh and smile so here is some of both for you!

An old couple were sitting in Church and the wife noticed
that people were staring at her.

She leaned across to her husband and whispered, "I've just
let go a silent fart. What do you think I should do?"

He said, "I think you should get fresh batteries for your
hearing aid."


The phone rang. It was a salesman from a mortgage refinance
company. "Do you have a second mortgage on your home?"

"No," I replied.

"Would you like to consolidate all your debts?"

"I really don't have any," I said.

"How about freeing up cash for home improvements?" he tried.

"I don't need any. I just recently had some done and paid
cash," I parried.

There was a brief silence, and then he asked, "Are you
looking for a husband?"


I recently picked a new doctor. After a couple visits and
exhaustive lab tests, he said I was doing 'fairly well'
for my age.

A little concerned about that comment, I couldn't resist
asking him, "Do you think I'll live to be 80?"

He asked, "Do you smoke tobacco, or drink beer or wine?"

"Oh, no," I replied. "I'm not doing drugs, either!"

Then he asked, "Do you eat rib-eye steaks and barbecued
ribs?"

I said, "No, my last doctor said that all red meat is very
unhealthy!"

"Do you spend a lot of time in the sun, like playing golf,
sailing, hiking, or bicycling?"

"No, I don't," I said.

He asked, "Do you gamble, drive fast cars, or have a lot of
sex?"

"No," I said.

He looked at me and said, "Then why do you even give a shit?"

The Iranian Incursion in Context

By George Friedman
A small number of Iranian troops entered Iraq, where they took control of an oil well and raised the Iranian flag Dec. 18. The Iranian-Iraqi border in this region is poorly defined and is contested, with the Iranians claiming this well is in Iranian territory not returned after the Iran-Iraq War. Such incidents have occurred in the past. Given that there were no casualties this time, it therefore would be easy to dismiss this incident, even though at about the same time an Iranian official claimed that Iraq owes Iran about $1 trillion in reparations for starting the Iran-Iraq War.

But what would be fairly trivial at another time and place is not trivial now.

Sending a Message With an Incursion

Multiple sources have reported that Tehran ordered the incident. The Iranian government is aware that Washington has said the end of 2009 was to be the deadline for taking action against Iran over its nuclear program — and that according to a White House source, the United States could extend that deadline to Jan. 15, 2010.

That postponement makes an important point. The United States has treated the Iran crisis as something that will be handled on an American timeline. The way that the Obama administration handled the Afghanistan strategy review suggests it assumes that Washington controls the tempo of events sufficiently that it can make decisions carefully, deliberately and with due reflection. If true, that would mean that adversaries like Iran are purely on the defensive, and either have no counter to American moves or cannot counter the United States until after Washington makes its next move.

For Iran, just to accept that premise puts it at an obvious disadvantage. First, Tehran would have to demonstrate that the tempo of events is not simply in American or Israeli hands. Second, Tehran would have to remind the United States and Israel that Iran has options that it might use regardless of whether the United States chooses sanctions or war. Most important, Iran must show that whatever these options are, they can occur before the United States acts — that Iran has axes of its own, and may not wait for the U.S. axe to fall.

The incursion was shaped to make this point without forcing the United States into precipitous action. The location was politically ambiguous. The force was small. Casualties were avoided. At the same time, it was an action that snapped a lot of people to attention. Oil prices climbed. Baghdad and Washington scrambled to try to figure what was going on, and for a while Washington was clearly at a loss, driving home the fact that the United States doesn’t always respond quickly and efficiently to surprises initiated by the other side.

The event eventually died down, and the Iranians went out of their way to minimize its importance. But two points nevertheless were made. The first was that Iran might not wait for Washington to consider all possible scenarios. The second was that the Iranians know how to raise oil prices. And with that lesson, they reminded the Americans that the Iranians have a degree of control over the economic recovery in the United States.
There has never been any doubt that Iran has options in the event that the United States chooses to strike. Significantly, the Iranians now have driven home that they might initiate a conflict if they assume conflict is inevitable.

U.S. and Iranian Options

Iran’s problem becomes clear when we consider Tehran’s options. These options fall into three groups:

1. Interdicting the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz and Persian Gulf through the use of mines and anti-ship missiles. This would result in a dramatic increase in world oil prices on the Iranian attempt alone and could keep them high if Tehran’s efforts succeeded. The impact on the global economy would be substantial.
2. Causing massive destabilization in Iraq. The Iranians retain allies and agents in Iraq, which has been experiencing increased violence and destabilization over the past months. As the violence increases and the Americans leave, a close relationship with Iran might be increasingly attractive to Iraqi troops. Given the deployment of American troops, direct attacks in Iraq by Iranian forces are not out of the question. Even if ultimately repulsed, such Iranian incursions could further destabilize Iraq. This would force the Obama administration to reconsider the U.S. withdrawal timetable, potentially affecting Afghanistan.
3. Use Hezbollah to initiate a conflict with Israel, and as a global tool for terrorist attacks on American and allied targets. Hezbollah is far more sophisticated and effective than al Qaeda was at its height, and would be a formidable threat should Iran choose — and Hezbollah agree — to play this role.

When we look at the three Iranian options, it is clear that the United States would not be able to confine any action against Iran to airstrikes. The United States is extremely good at air campaigns, while it is weak at counterinsurgency. It has massive resources in the region to throw into an air campaign and it can bring more in using carrier strike groups.

But even before hitting Iran’s nuclear facilities, the Americans would have to consider the potential Iranian responses. Washington would have to take three steps. First, Iranian anti-ship missiles and surface vessels — and these vessels could be very small but still able to carry out mine warfare — on the Iranian littoral would have to be destroyed. Second, large formations of Iranian troops along the Iraqi border would have to be attacked, and Iranian assets in Iraq at the very least disrupted. Finally, covert actions against Hezbollah assets — particularly assets outside Lebanon — would have to be neutralized to the extent possible.

This would require massive, coordinated attacks, primarily using airpower and covert forces in a very tight sequence prior to any attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Without this, Iran would be in a position to launch the attacks outlined above in response to strikes on its nuclear facilities. Given the nature of the Iranian responses, particularly the mining of the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz, the operations could be carried out quickly and with potentially devastating results to the global economy.

From the Iranian standpoint, Tehran faces a “use-it-or-lose-it” scenario. It cannot wait until the United States initiates hostilities. The worst-case scenario for Iran is waiting for Washington to initiate the conflict.

At the same time, the very complexity of an Iranian attack makes the United States want to think long and hard before attacking Iran. The opportunities for failure are substantial, no matter how well the attack is planned. And the United States can’t allow Israel to start a conflict with Iran alone because Israel lacks the resources to deal with a subsequent Iranian naval interdiction and disruptions in Iraq.

It follows that the United States is interested in a nonmilitary solution to the problem. The ideal solution would be sanctions on gasoline. The United States wants to take as much time as needed to get China and Russia committed to such sanctions.

Iranian Pre-emption

The Iranians signaled last week that they might not choose to be passive if effective sanctions were put in place. Sanctions on gasoline would in fact cripple Iran, so like Japan prior to Pearl Harbor, the option of capitulating to sanctions might be viewed as more risky than a pre-emptive strike. And if sanctions didn’t work, the Iranians would have to assume a military attack is coming next. Since the Iranians wouldn’t know when it would happen, and their retaliatory options might disappear in the first phase of the military operation, they would need to act before such an attack.

The problem is that the Iranians won’t know precisely when that attack will take place. The United States and Israel have long discussed a redline in Iranian nuclear development, which if approached would force an attack on Iran to prevent Tehran from obtaining nuclear weapons. Logically, Iran would seem to have a redline as well, equally poorly designed. At the point when it becomes clear that sanctions are threatening regime survival or that military action is inevitable, Iran must act first, using its military assets before it loses them.

Iran cannot live with either effective sanctions or the type of campaign that the United States would have to launch to take out Iran’s nuclear facilities. The United States can’t live with the consequences of Iranian counteractions to an attack. Even if sanctions were possible, they would leave Iran with the option to do precisely those things Washington cannot tolerate. Therefore, whether the diplomatic or military route is followed, each side has two options. First, the Americans can accept Iran as a nuclear power, or Iran can accept that it must give up its nuclear ambitions. Second, assuming that neither side accepts the first option, each side must take military action before the other side does. The Americans must neutralize counters before the Iranians deploy them. The Iranians must deploy their counters before they are destroyed.

The United States and Iran are both playing for time. Neither side wants to change its position on the nuclear question, although each hopes the other will give in. Moreover, neither side is really confident in its military options. The Americans are not certain that they can both destroy the nuclear facilities and Iranian counters — and if the counters are effective, their consequences could be devastating. The Iranians are not certain that their counters will work effectively, and once failure is established, the Iranians will be wide open for devastating attack. Each side assumes the other understands the risks and will accept the other’s terms for a settlement.

And so each waits, hoping the other side will back down. The events of the past week were designed to show the Americans that Iran is not prepared to back down. More important, they were designed to show that the Iranians also have a redline, that it is as fuzzy as the American redline and that the Americans should be very careful in how far they press, as they might suddenly wake up one morning with their hands full.

The Iranian move is deliberately designed to rattle U.S. President Barack Obama. He has shown a decision-making style that assumes that he is not under time pressure to make decisions. It is not clear to anyone what his decision-making style in a crisis will look like. Though not a prime consideration from the Iranian point of view, putting Obama in a position where he is psychologically unprepared for decisions in the timeframe they need to be made in is certainly an added benefit. Iran, of course, doesn’t know how effectively he might respond, but his approach to Afghanistan gives them another incentive to act sooner than later.

There are some parallels here to the nuclear warfare theory, in which each side faces mutual assured destruction. The problem here is that each side does not face destruction, but pain. And here, pre-emptive strikes are not guaranteed to produce anything. It is the vast unknowns that make this affair so dangerous, and at any moment, one side or the other might decide they can wait no longer.

"This report is republished with permission of STRATFOR"

More Gorebal Warming News

Europe cold snap kills dozens across continent 

content edited due to low-life scum suing bloggers for alleged copyright infringement

So, how's that Gorebal Warming working for you now Europe? Al Gore should be prosecuted for his part in this hoax!
I wonder if HAARP is playing any role in our climate change?

Food Crisis Looms in 2010

Borrowed this link from JWR's site. I believe it needs more than just a passing note.

2010 Food Crisis for Dummies

content edited due to low-life scum suing bloggers for alleged copyright infringement

USDA estimates for 2009/10 make no sense

 read the rest here


When this news finally breaks, there will be a panicked populace stampeding to the stores and buying everything in sight, much as happens before a hurricane. Expect utter chaos to reign as the government tries to get things under control. Those who are too late to the trough will seek out those who got their fill. And then the SHTF.

We have all had the opportunity to prep for a given time, lets hope those preps will be enough. For those who are just beginning to awake to this need, I feel so sorry for you. Time has run out. It is only seconds to midnight now and it may be too late for the latecomers.
May God watch over us all. 

Book review: One Second After

Having read the reviews others have written about this book, I let my curiosity overcome my wallet and I bought it as a Christmas present for myself. I settled in on a Sunday afternoon and was soon halfway through the book. I finished it Monday evening while half watching 3ohEight play the newest Call of Duty release, an awesome game and tactical training opportunity. I am his tactical adviser.

Anyway, the book starts out in the first chapter with an introduction to the main character and his family, with a few neighbors thrown in for good measure. Chapter 2 gets right into the action and from there you are either drawn into the story or you set the book aside and go back to burying your head in the sand.

The storyline is plausible, and seasoned prepper's will stand in their chair and scream at the main character to pull his head out of his posterior and recognize what is going on. He eventually does and starts to take action.

Shortages of ammo, medicine, food, wild game and the inevitable showdown with disease and an army of cannibalistic bad guys all add to the storyline. EMP disabled vehicles are scattered everywhere and with some ingenuity, some are coaxed back into use by bypassing the computerized electronics.

Without giving away too much of the story, I can say that it was worth the price I paid on Amazon.com. The price on the back of the book is listed as $14.99 but I got it for $10.11.

I feel that the book has a place in any Survival Fiction library and does provide a lot of food for thought. So, I would recommend it to anyone who likes to read end of the world, TEOTWAKI type stories and want a glimpse of what may be in our near future as “the weak say, I am strong”, and lash out at the Great Satan.

Buy it.
Read it.
Learn from it.

Are rice prices about to spike?

Fear of 'super-spike' in rice market

By Javier Blas in London

Published: December 8 2009 17:53 | Last updated: December 8 2009 17:53

Rice prices have moved to levels not seen since last year's "super-spike" as a buying spree by the Philippines, the world's largest importer, tightens the market.

Manila received offers on Tuesday for it to buy low-quality rice at about $630 a tonne, up 30 per cent from last month's tender, and double the $320 a tonne seen earlier this year.

The rally comes as global rice production is set to fall in 2009-10 for the first time in five years as a result of India's driest monsoon in four decades, a series of typhoons destroying crops in the Philippines and droughts elsewhere because of the El Niño weather phenomenon.

"It feels a little like early 2008," said Frederic Neumann, an economist at HSBC in Hong Kong, referring to the "super-spike" when rice reached a record $1,000 a tonne in April 2008.

The supply shortages have triggered concerns about a surge in food inflation in Asia, where rice is a staple. Darren Cooper, a senior economist at the International Grains Council in London, said: "Rice is obviously a political commodity in Asia."

As prices soar, traders are worrying that policymakers could react with the same panic measures that fuelled the rally last year by hoarding stocks and imposing export restrictions.

"This highlights one crucial risk," Mr Neumann explained. "Prices can quickly escalate if jittery consumers and public officials see supply risks looming, even if these are more perceived than real."

If rice is a part of your food storage preparations, you may want to stockpile more before the price goes sky-high. My family loves rice and it can be served many different ways, so it has a big place in my preps. Guess it is time to stock up on some more while I can...

A Partial Listing Of My Survival Library

Over time I have assembled quite a few books on survival, outdoors, homesteading and such topics that are of interest to the self-sufficiency inclined.

Here is a partial listing of my library:

Tappan on Survival - Mel Tappan

Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants - Bradford Angier

The Oats, Peas, Beans and Barley Cookbook - Edith Young Cotterell

Managing 12 Volts: How To Upgrade, Operate, And Troubleshoot 12 Volt Electrical Systems - Harold Barre

Producing Your Own Power - Rodale Press

Wind Power For The Homeowner - Donald Marier

The Homesteader's Handbook to Raising Small Livestock - Jerome D Belanger

The Edible Indoor Garden - Peggy Hardigree

Greenhouse Gardeners Companion - Shane Smith

Naturopathic Handbook of Herbal Formulas - Richard Scalzo

The Manual Of Practical Homesteading - John Vivian

Country Blacksmithing - Charles McRaven

The Tightwad Gazette - Amy Dacyczyn

The Tightwad Gazette II - Amy Dacyczyn

The Art of War - Sun Tzu

Stalking The Wild Asparagus - Euell Gibbons

Eat Healthy for $50 A Week - Rhonda Barfield

The Foxfire Book vol. 1 - Eliot Wigginton

Primitive Outdoor Skills - Richard L Jamison

Indian Crafts and Skills - David R.Montgomery

Tom Browns's Field Guide to Living With The Earth - Tom Brown Jr.

Your Garden Pond - K. H. Wieser & Dr. P. V. Loiselle

Shelters, Shacks and Shanties - D.C. Beard

Ducks & Geese in your Backyard - Rick & Gail Luttmann

Chickens in your Backyard - Rick & Gail Luttmann

Independent Energy Guide: Electrical Power for Home, Boat & RV - Kevin Jeffrey

Living On 12 Volts With Ample Power - David Smead & Ruth Ishihara

Wiring 12 Volts For Ample Power - David Smead & Ruth Ishihara

Field Guide To North American Edible Wild Plants - Thomas S. Elias & Peter A. Dykeman

Wilderness Cookery - Brad Angier

Healing Power of Herbs - Dr. John Heinerman

Outdoor Life Complete Book Of Camping

The Hiker's & Backpacker's Handbook - W. K. Merrill

The Wild Food Trail Guide - Alan Hall

Outdoor Life Complete Book Of Outdoor Lore - Clyde Ormond

Seed to Seed - Suzanne Ashworth

Gardening When it Counts - Steve Soloman

Urban Wilderness a guidebook to resourceful city living - Chrisopher Nyerges

Living off the Country: How To Stay Alive In The Woods - Bradford Angier

Storey's Basic Country Skills - John and Martha Storey

The Encyclopedia Of Country Living - Carla Emery

Making The Best Of Basics - James Talmage Stevens

There are other books that I do not have listed here, but as time allows I will catalog them and post them also. Most of these books are available on Amazon.com, but some may only be avaiable on ebay.

Survivalism Meetup Groups

I found this site after searching the web for a specific topic. This might interest those who are considering joining up with other like minded people but don't know where to start.

I will also be adding it to my Featured Links sidebar widget.

Survivalism Meetup Groups 

Another useful site is one recommended by JWR frequently, and is also located in my featured links, called Preparedness Groups Page.

One warning about this link is there seems to be some asshats who harass those who they take a disliking to. These jackasses camp out and generally pick on those whom they feel superior to. If you read the comments on the posts you will identify them in short order.

Ammunition: How much is enough?

The argument over how much ammo to buy and store is one of the most widely contested subjects on the Survival/Militia internet forums today. Many feel that only 500 rounds total is necessary while others suggest amounts that would require heavy trucking to move about.

All things considered, the amount of ammo you need to store is directly tied to what your perception of what TSHTF will consist of and how you go about preparing for it. The amount of ammo required by a homeowner protecting the contents of his home after a natural disaster is considerably less than the Survivalist preparing for a multi-generational economic collapse/NWO takeover/Government suspension of civil rights scenario.

In one you may have to protect yourself and property for several months while in the others your succeeding generations (if there are any) will have to rely on what you stored up for them. So where does this put you? Since this relies on your personal beliefs, no one can tell you what will suit your needs. You must evaluate what may possibly happen during your SHTF period and purchase accordingly.

Do you feel that you will have to fight off the ravening hordes of un-prepared sheeple?
Do you plan on supplementing your stored food with small game?
How good of shot are you? Can you do one shot kills on an attacking feral dog pack?

If you like to shoot as a hobby you may already have reloading equipment and lots of supplies. It is a worthwhile hobby to take up as it can cut the cost of ammo for your favorite non-common caliber, whether it is a wildcat load or an obsolete military caliber, and it is also fun. But how much is enough?

Perhaps the best way to approach this is to set up a purchasing plan. Work out on paper (or computer) the most likely scenario to happen in your area sooner than later. If you do not have supplies to get you thru 72 hours of your favorite SHTF, that is your primary concern. If you don’t have one, buy your primary weapon for your arsenal and several hundred rounds to go with it. Next purchase a weeks worth of storage food. Then purchase water purifying supplies that will clean 50 or more gallons. Alternate your purchases each month building on what you had before until you have reached a level at which you are comfortable.

Once you have done this, then plan for the next most likely scenario. Using this technique you can slowly build up a supply of food, water, gear and ammo without sacrificing one group of items for the sake of another. You will also be able to add gear for the least likely scenario without sacrificing for the most likely to happen.

Now that you have met your most dire needs and prepared for those what ifs, you can begin to stock-up on ammo.

But what do you buy?

First thing to understand is that in a natural disaster, life will go on outside of the affected zone. This means that ammo will continue to be produced by the respective manufacturers and what you have accumulated through your purchasing plan should be sufficient for your needs.

However…

If we were to experience an economic breakdown, with riots and such, martial law would most likely be imposed, some people disarmed (most likely the wrong ones), and no ammo available for the foreseeable future, if ever again. Let the experiences of those who suffered the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and other disasters be a lesson to you.

Lesson 1
You can be forcibly removed from your home for “your own good”! In a future disaster, your food and supplies may be seized and redistributed to the sheeple.

Lesson 2
You will be disarmed for the general good. You may be shot if you do not co-operate willingly. You may never see your firearms again.

Lesson 3
The government is inept at responding to disasters of this scope.

Lesson 4
Those with the guns make the rules.


Those with extensive reloading supplies (hidden away) will be in a fairly good position, but you can not reload .22lr!

The barrel life of most average modern (WWI and up) military firearms is up to 50,000 rounds fired with proper cleaning techniques and controlled rates of fire of 5 to 10 seconds between shots.

This is also true of most .22lr’s.

So now we reach the answer for a multi-generational firearm. Buy for the life of the barrel. Unless you own a Ruger 10/22 and a select few other makes, the ability to replace the barrel will exceed the skill of most users, especially after TSHTF. The 10/22 has an easily removable barrel and a spare can be stockpiled along with other spare parts needed to keep your rifle humming.

100,000 rounds of .22lr = $2000.00+ in today’s money. This is a large, forbidding outlay of cash for a lot of us, so the answer is to continue to purchase over time, and storing in metal ammo boxes.

Now you ask, What do I need with all that ammo?

YOU don’t need all that ammo. But your children and grandchildren may. If a MG-SHTF (multi-generational) happens it is likely .22lr will never in the foreseeable future be manufactured again!

Therefore, what you have put aside will be more valuable than gold. Literally. Where someone may sneer at your Krugerand they may jump at the chance to barter for a handful of .22lr.

Don’t forget, a certain amount will be spent in training new hunters and will not contribute anything to the stew pot! Also, prices will continue to climb and eventually, the Government may ban ammo sales altogether.

Ok, now what about the other calibers?

The same goes for the other calibers of your arsenal. You may want to buy some of each caliber at the same time or rotate it like you did with your gear. I would not buy 100,000 rounds of anything unless I had a secure area to store it in, away from confiscation and looting, in an area you feel secure in caching it, or at your secure retreat. Also, do not neglect other aspects of survival just to buy ammo.

Stockpiling large amounts of ammo is not for everyone. I do not advocate it if you have little or no disposable income to prepare with. But for those thinking of buying gold or silver for TEOTWAWKI, I would recommend that you first consider ammo. For barter purposes, stocking up on some of the less common calibers might give you the leverage you need to get that one item you want and need which nothing else will budge. Reloading dies in these calibers will insure a steady customer for your trade goods.

A lot of people say that bartering ammo is a bad idea as it may be used against you (me included), but I think that once the situation has stabilized to the point that community bartering is occurring on a regular organized basis, this danger may be past. Bartering at an established trading post will help alleviate some of this danger once they have been created (and they will).

So, for my last recommendation.

Buy a black powder flintlock rifle and learn how to make your own black powder. Store extra flints as well as barrels, lock mechanisms, bullet molds and lead. You may well then truly have the ultimate rifle for civilizations end.

Changes

I decided to upgrade the look of the Blog and made some changes. I am happy with it for the most part. Does anyone view the uTube videos at the bottom of the page? If not I will get rid of them to clean things up a bit. I have also been considering going with the monetizing bit. I have resisted commercializing my site so far, but I could use any income it generated.

I may have to truncate my Blog roll as it has gotten to be huge!!!!

Also I added the translation widget for any foreign readers out there that struggle with English.
The site seems to be best viewed with Firefox, and there seems to be a small issue with IE 8. I have not tested it with IE 6 or IE 7.

I am also adding product reviews to my itinerary, starting with products I have recently purchased and am opening up to evaluate new products from retailers. I am also preparing to issue a link policy, as some retailers have requested such.

So, drop me a line, tell me the site looks great, or that it sucks.

The Survival Arsenal

I wrote this post some time ago. I have seen this topic continually popping up on the blogs and on different forums. So, here are some of my Ideas on this topic.

What you choose to fill your arsenal is largely dependent on your whole philosophy of what you are preparing for. Here are some possible scenarios:

1) Pandemic
2) Natural Disasters
3) Economic Instability/Social Breakdown
4) Martial Law/Civilian Disarmament
5) Civil War
6) UN/NWO Takeover
7) World War (Nuclear or Biological)

Other factors that could influence your choices are as follows:
1. What can you afford?
2. Where do you live? Are you planning on bugging out or hunkering down?
3. How old are your children? Can they competently shoot a .22lr? How about a larger caliber?
4. Do you plan on hunting for sustenance?
5. How does your family perceive your preparations? Are they behind you 100% or consider you eccentric? This will affect how well they will train/prepare for TSHTF.

Rifles:

The 1 Gun Scenario:
If you can only afford one gun, make it a single shot, over/under style. Try to get .22 LR over 12 GA. Other gauges (20, .410) are acceptable as long as you can stock enough ammo for it to last the life of the gun. The ammo is common enough for both as to probably be available in almost anyplace you might be.
Role:
Primary - Hunting small/large game animals
Secondary - Home Defense against Intruders

Your geographic location will have an effect on what make the best arsenal, so I will break this down into Rural and Urban choices.

RURAL
Let’s examine what I consider to be the basic survival arsenal for a rural area:

Basic (Budget)
1) Shotgun, 12 Gauge
Role:
Primary - Hunting small/large game animals
Secondary - Home Defense against Intruders

2) Large Bore (Bolt/Lever Action) Rifle, Legal Hunting Caliber
Role:
Primary - Hunting large game animals
Secondary - Sniping/Home defense

3) Rifle, .22 LR caliber, Bolt Action
Role:
Primary - Hunting small game animals
Secondary - Home defense

This selection provides a diversity of calibers that each compliment the other.

The shotgun is capable of taking deer and bear, as well as vehicles when using slugs. With #6 shot, it will be adequate at close range for home defense without too much risk of over penetration. A pump shotgun is 1st choice, followed by the double barrel and then the single shot.

My recommendations are Mossberg pump (500/590/etc...) and the Remington 870. There are lots of choices for accessories for these rifles. The large bore rifle should be a common, preferably military cartridge. The Mosin-Nagant 91/30 is a great value for the cost and is a good long distance and hunting round. They cost around $90 at chain sporting good stores (Big 5 in my area) and 440 rds. of 7.62x54R 147-grain FMJ Ammo can still be purchased from the Sportsman’s Guide. Stay away from the 200 grain surplus ammo that is available as it may be designed for machineguns and therefore have too high of pressure for your rifle!

The M38/ M44 are a good choice also but has a pretty good muzzle blast. These rifles have been arsenal reconditioned and are in pretty fair shape. The Finnish m/39 Mosin-Nagant is reputed to be a better quality rifle, but as such it is harder to get and more expensive.

The 8mm Mauser would be my 2nd choice for around $120. The condition of these is not as good as the Mosin-Nagant, but is acceptable for the price. The Mauser can be re-barreled to .308/7.62x51 and makes a nice rifle as such. Re-barreling though may be beyond the reach of some, lacking skill to do it themselves or income to pay to have this work done. If that is the case, they are better off to invest in Mil-surp ammo.

There are other bolt actions rifles available, but probably pricier than the Yugo m24/47 Mausers hitting the Surplus market currently. Surplus .308 is also more expensive than the other calibers mentioned above. Some of the Indian surplus ammo also has problems so avoid it if you go this route. Reloadable 8mm can be made from resized and trimmed .30-06 cases.
It must be noted that the surplus ammo available is for the most part Corrosive Primed and your weapons should be cleaned soon after firing it.

Visit Surplusrifle.com and read up on the available Mil-Surp rifles and their ammo.
http://www.surplusrifle.com/index.asp

Other non-military rifles in common calibers are available, but will cost more to purchase and buy spare parts for. Unless you are flush with cash, stay away from exotic calibers as ammo for these will become hard to find. The .243, .270 and 7mm are popular hunting cartridges, but unless you are into reloading, and have lots of supplies, the ammo cost to support these rifles long term is prohibitive. They may however have a place in a limited Sniping role.

Another choice is a lever action Marlin 336 or Winchester model 94 in .30-30. It is a common enough caliber and it is more than adequate for harvesting deer. Lever actions are available in other calibers but I wouldn't recommend them as a primary weapon for survival.

The .22 LR is available in so many different models and brands that it could fill a whole book. I will only mention those here that I believe meet the requirements. The cheapest model worth purchasing would be a magazine fed bolt action. No Single Shots.

So why not an assault rifle? Because the Assault rifle is too costly for the basic budget.
Many assault rifles come in .223 caliber.
The .223 is not legal to hunt with in most states.
The effective range is less than a battle rifle
The cost is generally more than a Mil-surp battle rifle.
The penetration of the .223 is less than a battle rifle.
Even the 7.62x39 is not as effective as the major military calibers for battle rifles
Hunting with an Evil Black Rifle will draw possible un-wanted attention to you and your family.

The assault rifle has its place, just not in the basic arsenal. Read further on to find where AR's fit in.

A basic budget Arsenal would be the 22 LR, Mossberg 590 and the Mosin-Nagant bolt action. This arsenal can be assembled with some ammo for under $1000 dollars. It is also capable of filling all hunting roles from squirrels to Deer. Also, it is adequate for home defense, up to a point.

Once you have established the basic arsenal, you might wish to expand it as your finances allow. Don't over buy if you can't afford to stock the ammo for it. Your money would be better spent on food, spare parts and other gear. Few things are more useless than a gun without ammo. It just becomes an awkward club. Spare parts are a must! Learn how to install them.

In addition to the above choices:
Advanced (Budget)

1) Military Surplus Semi-Auto Battle Rifle
Role:
Primary - Home defense
Secondary - Hunting game animals

2) Semi-Auto Assault Rifle
Role:
Primary - Home defense

3) Rifle, .22 LR caliber, Semi-Auto
Role:
Primary - Hunting small game animals
Secondary - Home defense

There are many choices here but only 2 are actual Mil-Surp. The rest are re-assembled parts from de-milled selective fire military rifles with new Semi-Auto recievers. And since we are talking low budget, these 2 fit the bill. They are the M1 Garand and the SKS.
Now the question. Why the SKS?
1. Low recoil.
2. Ballistics are comparable to the .30-30.
3. Low cost - about $200.00, less on sale or possibly at gun shows.
4. They are designed for people of smaller stature. (wife, children)
5. They are very reliable with a simple design to maintain.
6. There are lots of accessories for them.
7. Adequate firepower. Better penetration than smaller calibers.
8. Ammo is fairly cheap and is readily available. (for now)
9. It can also somewhat fill the role of the assault rifle due to its magazine size and caliber.
10. It is legal to hunt with using a 5 rnd mag.
11. It is capable of taking deer sized game.

I would suggest for adults 1 ea. SKS's with the standard 10 rnd magazines with a minimum of 1000 rnds stored. Average combat load for the SKS is 180 to 240 rnds with other gear. Why the 10 rnd magazine? Less chance of malfunction than with the larger capacity magazines. I feel that the ones that I have owned were of questionable quality and I would not risk my life with them.

If you have children they can be outfitted with an SKS or .22 LR., depending on their stature and age. Say from 6 to 12 years a .22 LR. From 13 up, arm them with an SKS. Give them what they are comfortable with shooting. An alternative to the SKS or .22 LR for kids would be a carbine in 9mm, .45 ACP or .30 carbine. Another possibility would be lever action carbines in .357 Magnum and .44 Magnum. I believe that you can shoot .38 Special in one .44 Special in the other. These cartridges should be manageable by some children.

Next I would look at the M1 Garand from the CMP. (Civilian Marksmanship Program) http://www.civilianmarksmanshipprogram.com/Services/ Their prices are getting higher all the time and are reaching the point where you are almost better purchasing a new one from either Fulton or Springfield Armory’s.

Surplus ammo is still fairly low priced and can be found in the 8 rnd en-bloc clips. 280 rds of .30-06 150-gr. FMJ with ammo can for $49.97. Includes 8 rnd en-bloc clips. http://www.sportsmansguide.com/cb/cb.asp?a=259531

The Garand is much heavier than the SKS as is the case with its ammo, so it is primarily a weapon for adults. It also has better penetrating power and will allow you to shoot thru some types of cover. It has a longer range than the SKS also. It is also a better made, if not a little more complex weapon.

The assault rifle is a much debated weapon with many saying it is not necessary and others that it is. If you can afford one and the ammo/magazines/spare parts for it, get one. They are hard to beat for perimeter defense against multiple targets at shorter ranges, up to 100 yards. If you are rushed by 20 hungry sheeple intent on looting your home, the Garand and SKS might not be enough firepower.

The AK-47 is a better penetrator than the .223 and shares the same ammo as the SKS. The Mini-14 comes in 2 Military calibers: the .223 and 7.62x39. There is some debate as to whether it will hold up under combat situations but since you are using for defensive purposes this shouldn't be an issue. I hope. The AK-47 is the least expensive of the two rifles.

Some of the common assault rifles are the AR-15 family and other more costly guns such as the Galil, Valmet, Steyr AUG, AR-180 and HK-93. I may have missed some but it doesn't really matter since they are beyond the cost limitations of a basic budget.

Everyone should be taught basic gun handling and marksmanship with the .22 LR to become proficient with a rifle.

.22 LR = no flinching from recoil/muzzle blast as well as low cost practice.
Then move up in caliber to your main rifle.

For the .22 LR, next up would be the tubular magazine feed. The Marlin Glennfield model 60 is one such gun that comes to mind since I am familiar with it (my 1st Gun). I have never had any experience with the Remington Nylon 66/77 but have heard good things of them.

Last would be the best of the .22 LR's, the Ruger 10/22. Make yourself afford it.

URBAN
The roles of weapons are basically reversed in an urban environment from hunting to home defense. Let’s examine what I consider to be the basic survival arsenal for an urban area. The choices of weapons are quite broad:

Basic (Budget)
1) Shotgun, 12 Gauge
Role:
Primary - Home Defense against Intruders
Secondary - Hunting small/large game animals

2) Large Bore Rifle, Legal Hunting Caliber, Semi-Auto
Role:
Primary - Sniping/Home defense
Secondary - Hunting large game animals

3) Rifle, .22 LR caliber
Role:
Primary - Home defense/Feral Dogs
Secondary - Hunting small game animals

With the exception of the large bore Semi-Auto, the choices for shotgun and .22 LR in the Basic category remain the same as in a rural environment.

Let’s look at suitable large bores. First, what do I consider a large bore? Anything .30 caliber or larger in a Rifle cartridge. If you live in an area that is largely urban or suburban and plan on staying there, I would suggest a Semi-Automatic with a magazine of at least 10 rounds. This would be good for self defense during a riot or other civil disorder/natural disaster.

I recommend the SKS once again. It is hard to beat this inexpensive semi-auto without spending lots more money.

Most of the HK's on the market now are actually rebuilt G3's using newly stamped sheet metal receivers. These can be had for a reasonable price. An original HK-91 will set you back a tidy sum though. 20 rnd magazines can be had for as little as $2.00 each in good condition. Stock up.

The Cetme's are also a fair value, but there have been some quality issues with the various receivers available
They will for the most part accept the HK-91/G3's magazines, having the same heritage.

The Chinese made M1A (Polytech) has one of the best receivers ever made, however the rest of the parts are questionable. Fulton Armory will rebuild these with Original GI parts to a better than new condition.

When I first got into survival the cadillac of all firearms (at the time) was the FN-FAL. If I remember correctly, they were going for about $1200 new then (early 80's). New and rebuilt ones are available but are still expensive. DSA make some nice ones. I wouldn't call these “budget” though.

Any of these are suitable for your large bore choice as long as they are dependable.
So why not a Bolt action for urban areas? You may need to use your Large bore for defense against crowds of looters or gangs intent on doing you harm and the greater firepower of a semi-auto with detachable magazines may be needed.

If you are still in the urban environment WTSHTF, you will probably need the firearms in the advanced section just to get out.

Advanced (still Budget)
1) Assault Rifle
Role:
Primary - Defense
Secondary - Hunting small/large game animals

2) Carbine
Role:
Primary - Defense

3) Combat Shotgun
Role:
Primary - Defense

Note: Avoid firefights at all costs. The odds are you or some of your family will die as they are not trained for Urban combat.

The Mini-14 and AK-47 rifles in caliber 7.62x39mm are adequate for both defense and hunting (with the addition of quality optics).

For strictly firepower, the AK-47 can't be beat, followed by the AR-15 family. Dollar wise, you will get more bang for your buck with the AK since it is priced well below the AR-15 family of weapons. You can get ammo, magazines, gear and gun for the price of 1 AR-15. The AR-15 has the edge over the AK in weight and accuracy, as you can carry considerably more .223 than 7.62x39. The quality of manufacture is better also.

In considering carbines, their use is best left to those who are unable to carry heavier weapons and ammo and are not accurate enough with handguns. Some carbines to consider are the Keltec SUB-2000 in 9mm & 40 S&W, Hi-Point Firearms carbines in 9mm & 40 S&W, The Marlin Camp Carbines Models 9 (9mm) and 45 (.45 ACP), the Ruger Police Carbine in 9 mm Luger or .40 S&W and the Beretta Cx4/Px4 Storm in 9mmx 19 and 9mmx21 IMI, 40 S&W and 45 ACP.

These range in prices from affordable to expensive and you will get what you pay for in these. There are others out there. If a carbine suits you, look around you'll find what is best for you.

Another choice is the .30 Cal M1 Carbine. Ammo for this rifle is no longer cheap and it is basically a pistol caliber in performance. Many people love it and you may still find it around for a reasonable price. Lots of different capacity magazines are available for it too.

Many other guns are acceptable, as long as you can stock the ammo and spare parts for them. If you are part of Preparedness Group or a Para-Military organization you will want to standardize your choices to maintain compatibility within your group.

So what is a Combat shotgun?
It can be either a Mossberg 500/590 or an Remington 870 with an 18” to 20” barrel and a 7 or 8 shot magazine. It can have a folding stock as well as a pistol grip front and rear. Most come with a heat shield on the barrel that has Ghost Ring sights. You can deck them out with Sidesaddle ammo holders and under barrel flashlights/laser sights. There is even now a 10 shot drum magazine and 6 shot box magazine available from Knoxx Industries. These are only for the Mossberg line currently.

Another is the Saiga-12 self-loading smooth bore shotgun manufactured by IZHMASH of Russia. It is built on the AK-47 action, comes with 12-ga. smooth bored barrel and the chamber which accepts ammo equipped with shot or slugs including "Magnum" cartridges with 2-3/4" and 3" cartridge case. It is magazine fed. Since I do not have any experience with it yet I find it hard to say it is a good choice, but it is available. Some older military weapons are the Winchester Model 1897 and the Winchester Model 12 as well as the Ithaca Model 37. These are not readily found in the civilian gun market so I will just mention them in passing.

The combat shotgun is good for clearing rooms and hallways of intruders allowing you to get out of a bad situation in a hurry. You can put a lot of hits on multiple targets with this weapon. The biggest drawback to a combat shotgun is the weight of the ammo you must carry to have a fighting chance against adversaries. If you are using a combat shotgun you should have someone backing you up with either an assault rifle or a battle rifle. Even with slugs, these are not a long range weapon.

Handguns:
This is a very personal choice and what works for one may not for another. At the very minimum I would recommend a .22 LR revolver for your emergency pack along with 500 rnds of ammo. That’s 500 potential meals.
Buy and shoot what you are comfortable with. If you are afraid of the recoil, you will have a hard time hitting what you are shooting at. Before you buy, go to a shooting range that rents handguns and try out several. This is less expensive than buying a .44 mag only to find out you need a .38 special.

Magazines:
Buy at least 15 each 30-rnd for each Assault Rifle, and an extra 5 for replacements. For Battle Rifles, purchase 15 each 20-rnd mags with 6 extra. The Garand uses the 8 rnd clip, so buy 100 each. They are much easier to loose than a standard magazine. Handgun magazines should be 6 to 10 each depending on capacity and price. Mil-Surp battle rifles use stripper clips, and while some ammo comes on it most does not. 240 rounds on 5 round clips is 48 stripper clips.
Purchase an even hundred. The SKS stripper clips hold 10 rounds so 240 rounds would require 24 clips. Since these are still fairly cheap, get a hundred of them also.

As always, these are my opinions and are just guidelines for you to help build your own Survival Arsenal. Weapon selection is a choice that must be made with patience and lots of thought. Don’t just rush out and buy something based on someone else’s experience. Plan well now, you won't be able to do it WTSHTF and you will live or die with your choice.

Selous Scout.

The Cache – Part 11 – Descent into Darkness

He got up and added wood to the fire once more, breaking free of the past, his thoughts surfacing in the present. He needed to get more water as his water bottles were dry, and he was beginning to get thirsty. He moved to the remnants of the doorway and looked outside. It was still raining but nowhere near as hard as before.

There was a lot of standing water in low places and still some piles of snow remaining. Moving outside, he found a snow drift that was not entirely melted yet. It had formed a pool of melt and rainwater from which he refilled his water bottles. In the distance he could hear the roar of the rain swollen river, growling its discontent at its captivity by its banks. There would soon be flooding no doubt, if the streams and rivers were not already at flood stage. He wished he had his weather alert radio with him, but it was at home in his bug out bag.

He returned inside where he then treated the water with his Polar Pure water disinfectant, just in case. It was noticeably warmer now, and he could no longer see his breath easily, so the temperature must be in the high 40’s to mid 50’s. He knew that with the rising temperatures he would need to do something to preserve the remaining meat, or it would spoil before he could eat it. He took his last 2 bouillon cubes and crushed them into his cooking pot and then filled it with water, creating an impromptu marinade.

He sliced the remaining meat as thinly as he possibly could and then placed it in the marinade to soak for a while. While the meat was soaking, he built a crude drying rack from maple branches off the tree outside his shelter. He strung the rack with the inner strands from a length of para-cord, creating multiple levels to hang the meat to dry. He then leaned the rack against the stone fireplace, far enough away so that it would not smolder, but close enough to get the full benefit of the radiated heat. The trick is to dry, not cook the meat.

It was now about mid-day, so he decided to gather more firewood for the evening. The walls near the bedrooms had surrendered most of their sheathing already, so he began to work towards the kitchen area. Off the end of the kitchen was a small room which appeared to be a pantry. He explored the shelves, but found nothing useful. As he turned to exit the room his foot came up against something solid amongst the leaves blanketing the floor in that area.

He stooped down and brushed away several layers of decomposing leaves to discover a large brass ring. He pulled on the ring and was surprised to find it attached to a door in the floor. He picked up his collection of wood, which he deposited near the fireplace, and then retrieved his Mini-Mag flashlight to which he attached a lanyard in case he dropped it. He fastened the lanyard to his belt and then returned to the pantry to examine further this new discovery.

The door was comprised of most the floor space in the pantry, being about 3 ½ feet wide by 6 feet long. When fully open, it rested against the shelf behind it and was held open by a hook and eyelet. He could see the top of a stairs leading downward into the stygian blackness. The smell of earth and mouldering old things was faintly rising from the cellar, as he correctly guessed it was a root cellar. Shining his small flashlight downward revealed more steps without a railing and little other detail. The little flashlight just was not made for illuminating large areas. Gingerly testing the solidity of his footing, he began to descend into the darkness below.

His greatest worry at this time was that the old steps may have rotted from age and exposure to ground moisture. So far they appeared to be solid. Rather than treading in the middle of the steps, he stayed to the left side, letting the nails bear his weight as he slowly tested his weight on each step. The cellar appeared to be about 8 feet deep as he could now see the bottom.

The stairs creaked ominously with each step downwards, voicing their complaint against his intrusion into their slumber. No one had tread this way for many years, so the event was far from welcome. Even with all the groaning the steps seemed solid enough, so he continued downward in spite of their complaints.

With 3 more steps to go, he relaxed a little and put all his weight at once on the next step. The step let go with a groan and a crack and he was plunged forward into the darkness headfirst. His head met with a hard object that arrested his forward plunge, knocking him senseless to the ground.

And then he was swallowed up by the blackness for a time.

===============================================

Agent Cobb was an asshole.

He didn’t care that he had this image, in fact he built it up any chance he could get. He preferred to work alone, and by having this image got his wish more frequently than naught. Other agents chided him whenever that opportunity arose, heaping scorn and ridicule upon him. But he shed it like a duck sheds water. His superiors were aware of this, but since it didn’t affect his performance in the field, they were not inclined to interfere with his façade.

Agent Cobb was a real big asshole.

Cobb was a twenty year veteran with the agency, having been involved with both the fiasco at Ruby Ridge and the disaster at Waco. He was remorseful that he had only gotten any trigger time at Waco, at the very end of the standoff. He knew for certain that he had gotten at least 4 kills at Waco, even if they were just women and children they were still kills. He also had other kills there: pets. At least two dogs and one cat while waiting for other targets of opportunity to appear.

Agent Cobb was a Bastard!

One of things that he didn’t brag about when discussing the Waco massacre was the fact that he had delivered the coupe-de-grace to several of his wounded colleagues after noticing that they had been shot by the Branch Davidians’ during the firefight. He was correct in surmising that their death’s would be attributed to hostile fire and that no investigation would follow the incident.

Now his latest assignment was stalking and killing Government sanctioned targets of the latest power grab and treasonous legislation just enacted, over public outrage! Cobb didn’t care that the government was leaning towards totalitarian tactics; he just wanted to kill someone. That was his main driving force, killing. The more targets the better. His dept. head was aware of this desire as Cobb had stated it in clandestine briefings, but it made no difference in his assignments. He was just warned about going overboard in his targeting of non-sanctioned packages.

This latest assignment was a Godsend as far as he was concerned. All options open was the word from his commander. "Unless they are National Guard, they are expendable!" Preparing for this latest assignment allowed Cobb to select fresh equipment to fill out his M.O. His choice for a rifle was the FN SPR A1a suppressed Sniper rifle. For a side arm, he chose his normal choice, the Browning Hi-Power 9mm autopistol with 4 extra magazines, untraceable of course!

He had two days of range time before deployment on his latest assignment, so he spent that time getting used to the new rifle. He was a natural with most weapons so in short order he was printing his targets with smaller than 1 MOA shots. This garnered grudging admiration from his fellow agents, as they were not nearly as proficient at target practice.

His orders stated that he was to be ready for deployment at some hick town north of Seattle in a two day time frame, all options open. He grinned at the prospect of liquidating another unsuspecting target and getting paid to do it. He never felt any remorse for taking the life of a fellow human being. It was all part of the job.

On day two, he rose early and showered, luxuriating in the hot water cascading over his body. He hated the fact that he would not be able to shower until after the target was sanctioned, but that was part of the job. Gathering his kit he left the ready area and headed to the chopper that would drop him near his A.O. As the chopper lifted off he waved at his C.O. who was watching him depart. “Fuck you asshole!” he said as the chopper lifted off.

It only took 25 minutes to reach the primary area of deployment and un-ass the chopper for his selected target area. He had spent the last two evenings going over topographical maps of the terrain to select the area of coverage. There was no guarantee that his primary target would pass his way, but if he did, he was dead! Of course he had secondary targets to watch for, as the area was a known transit area for disaffected veterans and other undesirables.

After a short hike, he arrived at the spot he had chosen for his ambush. A heavily treed slope with light underbrush, overlooking a railroad trestle that any east-west traffic must pass. He set up his camouflage and settled in to wait. This was the most boring part of the whole deployment and assignment scenario. Waiting for a target of opportunity to arrive. He dug his tactical radio out of his pack and checked in with his base of command. Having finished with the niceties of dealing with his superiors he put the radio back, wanting no further contact until “He” felt it was necessary.

Cobb set up his small camp stove to heat up some water for dinner and some coffee. Since it was getting late in the day, with shadows darkening the areas under the trees, he took his night vision out from his pack, tested its operational status, then lay it beside his rifle for easy access.

Cobb was a single man, as no woman would stay with him for more than a few evenings before leaving in disgust. A few of the women agents that he knew had been accommodating until they had gotten their fill of his true nature. They then left in revulsion, questioning their own judgment in associating with this monster.

He grinned at the memory of his conquest of them. He cared not a whit for any of them, using them only to pass the time between his assignments. Sighing with satisfaction over his reminiscence, he resignedly devoted his attention to the target area. Using a range finder, he charted the whole target area and prepared for his mission.

One piece of Cobb’s equipment was a advanced motion tracker. It would pickup motion from as far as 500 yards away, so he deployed it in case he should fall asleep and a target of opportunity pass by. He hunkered down and begin his wait for his human prey.

----------------<>---------------

Cobb was getting bored. He had been in position now for 30 hours without so much as deer breaking the monotony. He got the radio back out of his pack and checked in. His commander chewed him a new one for not staying in contact, and then informed him the interdiction was going down. He was to stay on alert until the target was apprehended or eliminated. Cobb snorted and said a few choice words, then responded in the affirmative.

The radio crackled with activity at the strike site. Agents were in what they thought was hot pursuit of the target! Then they lost him. Cobb’s commander came on the radio and told him that the target was on the move and to be alert. He readjusted his rifles position and then picked up his binoculars and began scanning the western end of the trestle for movement.

There! Something moving at the west end of the trestle caught his eye. He set down the binoculars and picked up his rile, gripped by an adrenalin surge as the target moved into view. He now broke out into a sweat as he followed the movement out into the center of the trestle. Was it his target? He couldn’t be sure, but he was going to take him down anyway.

Lining up his crosshairs he focused on the mans head as he stopped mid-trestle. The man looked around and then it seemed as if he focused on Cobb where he lay! “ What the hell?” he thought and then squeezed the trigger. Half a second later and Eddie was tumbling over the edge of the bridge, his life pouring from the wound in his head. “Oh Yeah!” said Cobb! He then radioed command that he had a kill, and would ID on the trestle as he had no clear view of his victim.

That’s where Dusty saw him.

That’s where Cobb’s fate was sealed.

So Long and Thanks for all the... Money!

Crooks, Criminals, Robbers and Thieves!

Top banks cut small business lending by $8 billion

content edited due to low-life scum suing bloggers for alleged copyright infringement

There's lots more in the article about the Gov's plans for creating jobs.

These Banks, their board of directors should be dragged screaming from their homes in the middle of the night to meet a tree limb and a well knotted rope for their part in our economic collapse.

What does it take to piss off all the american people? No matter what your political view, you are being shafted along with all the other parties; one size fits all.

Only when the power grid dies and they can't watch 'Dancing with the Assholes', it's then I guess.

We, The People

As a nation, we have an opportunity to send a message to the criminals in DC that their time of gorging and wallowing in the Public trough is coming to an end. Our local and state elections are nearing, affording us to send a glimpse of what will soon befall them to these dinosaurs in office.

Why do we keep re-electing these fossils to represent us? I suspect it is because we expect wisdom to come with age. However in most cases, it is greed that comes with years of political experience. Enough!

I am taking a new philosophy at how I view public SERVANTS. 1 term only, then you are out! Unless your job performance has benefited all the people in your districts in measurable ways, you have got one shot at it. This will remove the old stale thought processes and refresh the pool of Ideas more frequently.

It will also cost those who buy our elected officials more money to retain the same influence. I also think that the states should look at shortening the Terms of all Congress creatures to half of what they currently serve. This would also limit the influence peddling that goes on behind the scenes. Is this doable? With the will of the people I believe it is.

A message needs to be sent: Incumbents Out! Don't think you are going to settle into a nice career in politics because you are only going to get one shot at it.

The power to change lies with We, The People!

Road Kill

This time of year is extremely rough on the wildlife in my area. On the way to Tijuana on the Skykomish, you can see all kinds of unfortunate critters who have met their demise by automobile. Just between my hometown and where I work (5 miles) yesterday I counted four. They are predominately raccoons.

Today on my way to work, about a mile and a half from work I came upon three live raccoons standing in the middle of the highway. Traveling at 50+ mph did not give me or them time to avoid each other and I ran over two of them. As my headlights hit them, one lumbered off into the incoming lane while the other two just milled about in the center of my lane. Thump bump crunch!

Road Kill.

Now I feel bad about hitting them as I wished them no ill, but it goes to show that without any natural enemies in the area, the coon population is very heavy, forcing them into urban areas. In my own backyard I have seen, opossum, deer, squirrels, and raccoons, which by the way built a nest and had their young in the attic of one of my storage buildings. I have even seen a coyote running down the street in the early morning hours on my way to work.

In the spirit of Halloween, I leave you with this picture of the un-dead.

Scary huh!

This and That

Just bought a new wireless router to solve the problems I was having with the previous one. No such luck. After a myriad of problems I gave up on the one router solution and bridged the 2 solving the problems I was having with each.

So, I’m not a happy camper as I only wanted to power one device.
Grrrrrrrrrr…

I received a really nice letter from a blogger who I admire and respect. It was in regards to my story The Cache. I have re-read it many times since receiving it, and have tried several times to write an adequate reply. No dice. Thank you Remus for the letter. It means a lot to have someone of your stature compliment my work. I also appreciate all of you who comment on the story. It is for you that I write.

I am coming to a turning point with this story. I have been encouraged by many of you readers to pursue publishing my story. So I am currently researching using Lulu for this task. Some options are free, while others have a direct cost for the author. Deciding on a format will also take some doing. Perhaps I should do a poll to find what size people prefer?

At some point in the near future I will need to stop posting the chapters and focus mainly on completing the story. I only hope that the quality of the story will be worthy of your wait. As far as a timeline for finishing it, January 2010? Writing a story can be easy or laborious. I love to do it, but it does take quite a bit of time to write and then edit your own work. Even then some errors can find their way through.

The company I work for is planning a furlough in December ’09 of two weeks duration.
I would like to utilize some of this time to work on the story. I am also considering re-writing some of the earlier chapters for more content and some background that was left out.

I like to read. As a young man I purchased at least 2 paperback books per payday. My favorite authors were many, but Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robert E. Howard, H.P. Lovecraft, Michael Moorcock, Philip Jose Farmer, Andre Norton, Isaac Asimov, Arthur C Clarke, Robert A. Heinlein, J.R.R. Tolkien, Piers Anthony, Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle all had a place on my bookshelves, as well as many others to numerous to mention.

Honorable mention: Robert Lynn Asprin and the Thieves World series.

Non-fiction for the most part has a hard time finding a place to take root in my interest. I do like history though.

I read so many other blogs each day that at times it can be hard to do any of my own blogging. Of course if I posted too much about what I have been doing, TPTB would know about all my preps. Nothing questionable or illegal, but none of their business anyway. Needless to say, I continue to prep. My focus this month is clothing, socks and shoes.

I received a phone alert from the School District office yesterday. It seems some sicko tried to abduct a 10 year old girl as she waited for the school bus. I hope they find this puke and prosecute him to the fullest. If I had my way he would be neutered and put on a work gang for 20 years. Even that may be too lenient.

I plan on joining Costco this next payday. Rep’s were here at work last week signing people up. My main interest with them is making bulk purchases such as cases of canned goods and bulk packed items that can be repackaged and stored. I am also planning on purchasing a vacuum sealer in the near future. Cabela’s seems to have a fair selection of sealers and bags.

I haven’t done any canning yet this year as I don’t have the storage space for the jars. I need to either build a root cellar or a super insulated pantry/addition on to the house. I have also been working on a design for a greenhouse that uses old sliding glass door components for the glazing. I was given a bunch of them and need to use them before they get broke. They are of varying heights and widths so the design needs a little more work than normal.

I am going to go all raised bed gardening for next year. I can get the materials for free from my place of employment.

Fall seems to have come in with a bang and is colder than last year, or so it feels. It may be a wet winter, instead of cold as the mountain ash in my yard is lightly loaded with berries. Last year it had a lot.

That is all for now.

U.N. 'doesn't smell of sulfur anymore,' says Chavez

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, speaking at the United Nations Thursday, said, "It doesn't smell like sulfur anymore."

 content edited due to low-life scum suing bloggers for alleged copyright infringement

Now it smells of bull shit and decay, a terminal rot reeking of deceit and tyranny.
Down with the UN and all who support their totalitarian world view!
Chavez you freakin monkey...

Tijuana on the Sky

Today was payday. I waited until 3ohEight got home from school and then headed off to the budding metropolis of Tijuana on the Sky(komish River, or TotS) to buy groceries and some preps.

At the local Big 5 sporting goods store I stocked up on butane fuel for my single burner Amco Model A100 butane stove. The bottles of fuel were $1.99 each so I bought 10 of them. I nearly wiped out the entire shelf.

You see these stoves everywhere, usually without any fuel nearby, so I have been buying some whenever I can. I also bought some Coleman zipper pull thermometers with compass. These will go into the GHB’s and BOB’s for my family.

When we got to the checkout counter the female cashier (cute) proceeded to ask me for my zip code. Of course I gave her the one for TotS as I feel it is no ones business where I live. She was “like totally” astounded that anyone would buy so many gas canisters at one time.

“Are you going camping?”

“No, we're going hunting”

“Oh, I went hunting with my dad once. He woke me up early one morning and asked if I wanted to help cook some eggs. I asked him how he was going to do that and he said he was going to cook them in some water (boil) and then eat them that way. I told him eeewww, I don’t want any of them. I don’t go anymore, it’s too long to go without a shower and blah blah blah.”

It was all I could do not to bleat out “baaaaahhhh”. Holy crap, how is she going to survive come the collapse? Short answer, she won’t. Not unless someone like myself or 3ohEight takes her in and provides for her. She seemed intelligent, perhaps she can learn if she hooks up with the right person or group.

I later told 3ohEight that come the collapse she would probably get raped and then murdered because she probably lived in a urban environment and basically had no clue as to what might be in her future.

Next we got groceries. While hanging out in the meat and cheese aisle I overheard an older gentleman complaining about some renters. “If you rent to one of them, before you know it their whole damn family is there.” He was talking about the burgeoning Mexican population in TotS.

It is a problem. Many have no insurance, yet drive. We recently had a gang killing in a town near me.
Brown Pride Soldiers.
A Mexican gang.
Affiliated with MS-13 (Mara Salvatrucha MS-13)
Google it.

I am not anti Mexican. There are some really great people that I work with that are hard workers. They are here legally. I am anti ILLEGAL immigrant.

We stopped by the local Jack-In-The-Box for lunch and were treated to our own version of TotS while there. 3/5th of the customers were Hispanic. 4/5ths of the staff were Hispanic. While we were eating we were treated to the banter of the staff.

In Spanish.

And singing.

I am glad they are happy.

They should be. They have the job that my 19 year old can’t get because they have it. I don’t know the hiring policies of Jack-In-The-Box, I just know that a lot of US citizens need work and I see an awful lot of non-English speakers filling positions that US citizens could be filling. My 19 year old for example.

Ok, enough of my ranting about ILLEGALS.

I got preps, do you?

The Cache - Part 10 - Reflections

A special thanks to Ol' Remus and the Woodpile Report for his mention of this story and a link to it on his blog.

He was once more visited by dreams of his family. He dreamed his sons were travelling together in an automobile, his oldest son driving. Up ahead he could see a bridge that had been damaged by a storm, the middle of which had a large gap through which the car would plunge if it didn’t stop in time. He tried to tell them to stop the car, but the music was playing much too loud and they could not hear. Instead of watching the road, they were talking to each other, having to look at each other to make out what they were each saying, rather than turn down the music. He yelled at them to stop, but they continued on until the car plunged into the gap.

He sat up wide awake, with a cry choked back into his throat, and beads of sweat forming on his forehead. He was shaken by the realism of the dream. Was it a premonition of disaster for his sons? Or was it just a bad dream dredged up from his sub-conscious to rid himself of the stress he was under.

He could hear the wind whipping around the chimney, making a low moaning sound as it drove the rain in sheets against the roof of his shelter. He checked his watch and noted that it was a little after 4:00 AM. He was still tired but he forced himself to rebuild the fire as it was nearly out. He stirred up the coals and soon had a healthy blaze going once again. He had been using boards from the walls and floor to feed his fire, and the dry wood burnt faster than he liked. Lying back down, he drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

When he woke once more, it was daylight. Such as it was with the dark rain clouds filling the sky and the driving rain blowing in sheets, limiting vision to a few yards. He decided that he would stay put until the weather improved or until the issue of food drove him forth once again to search for sustenance.

He raked the now plentiful coals into a pile between some bricks he had found near the fireplace, and then placed his newly found and seasoned frying pan over the coals. He took the remaining quarter of the rabbit and deboned it. He added some fat from his store gathered from the two raccoons and then dropped the meat into it. The smell of the sizzling meat nearly made his mouth water as his stomach complained about its emptiness. Pouring the last of his water from his canteen into his cooking pot, he began heating water for his last instant coffee.

As the water was heating, he added the sliced cattail roots to the pan with the rabbit. If only he had some onions! He sat back and waited for the food to finish cooking and the water to heat. While he waited, he let his mind wander, mulling over the events of the past weeks, wondering what tales the house would tell if it could only give up those secrets that it alone was privy to. Although houses can not talk, they can tell a tale if you know how to listen.

If this house could talk, it would tell him how a young man had come out west to build a home for he and his bride to be. It would tell how the man found this land and bought it by working for another man for 5 long years. It would tell how he spent each free moment of his day, clearing the land and building the house from logs taken from the woodlot at the back of the property. It would tell how he built the house timber by timber, board by board until it stood ready for his bride to be. It would tell of that joyous day that she arrived at the train station in the nearest town, ready to become his bride on the following day.

It would tell of the young couples struggle to make ends meet, and their dawn to dusk labors to care for their livestock and tend to their garden. It would tell of the joyous birth of their two daughters, and the love that filled the home as the family grew older. It would tell you of the happiness that filled its walls.

And then it would tell you of the sorrows. The sorrow of losing a child to a roaring river as the undercut bank gave way. The joy and sorrow of having the youngest daughter marry and move away. The sorrow that came years later, as the old man lost his wife to cancer.

It would tell of the daughter moving even farther away, of her losing contact with her father, of him growing older and lonelier each year, until one spring day he passed on to be with the wife he had loved more than anything. It would tell of that day that he sat on the porch with his old coon dog and a cup of coffee he would never finish. It would tell that when he died, the dog howled for three days until the neighbors came to see what was the matter. It would tell that they buried him next to his wife in the orchard. Then it would fall silent, for it stood empty with nothing to note, nothing to tell.

But houses can’t tell these kinds of stories, so the history passes on, unheard and forgotten.

But the houses know. As long as they still stand, they know.

He wondered why the bricks were by the fireplace since there were only four of them. The house knew that in the winter the family had heated the bricks by the fire and then wrapped them in towels to place under the covers at the foot of the bed to keep you warm at night. But the house could not share this with an outsider, so he just shrugged it off and chalked it up as a mystery.

In short order the food had cooked and his water heated, so he began his meal while drifting deeper into his reflections of the past…

He had been caught and set free by the guard named Charlie, who told him of the patrols behind him. He had eluded the patrol and had hidden from the chopper, and then holed up waiting for dark as the weather turned against him.

===============================================

With the rainstorm came early nightfall, the clouds choked out the last feeble rays of the winter sun before they could penetrate their dark cloak. He was comfortable where he was and hated to move, but he needed to get through this area of town while he had the cover of night. Reluctantly, he packed up his gear and moved out on down the tracks.

He wondered what Dusty was doing, if he had killed the sniper, whether he was alright. Walking on the railroad ballast was always tiring with the rocks constantly shifting under your feet, your ankles flexing from side to side. As he walked along he felt something change on his right foot. He pulled out his flashlight and saw the sole was beginning to separate from the top of the boot.

The cheap Chinese boots were literally coming unglued! He sighed, and then checked the left boot. It too was coming unglued. It seems that in order to cut manufacturing costs, they skimped on the amount of glue used to hold the shoes together. Heaven forbid they actually stitched the lowers to the uppers!

This was going to be a problem but hopefully they would hold out until he reached C1. He had a newer pair of the same style of boot, but made by a different company. C1 lay approximately 4 miles from where he was now, perhaps a 2 day journey if he travelled at the pace that he had been. He would just have to be careful that he did not stress his shoes any more than necessary so that they would last.

He moved through the darkened town, following the tracks. Upon occasion, a dog would bark at him for a bit, until hushed by its owner or retrieved into the house so as not to draw more attention than it already had. As he passed by different homes, he could see families gathered around their dining tables, eating their dinners. He could even smell the food from some of the homes, making his mouth water and his stomach ache with hunger. No matter how hungry he might get, he could not stop to eat until he cleared the other end of town.

He passed the last house without further notice by the canine guardians in the town, making good his escape.

He moved along the edge of the tracks ready to duck into the brush at any sign of patrol activity. Walking in the loose gravel was very tiring and his shoes kept threatening to fall further apart at the slightest wrong step. He decided to take a break in the brush off the track and was soon rolled up in his bedroll and poncho. Tuckered out, he fell asleep. The rain and wind continued their tango, drenching the underbrush and slicking the rocks, unmindful of the fugitive left in their care.

He heard a rumbling in his sleep confused mind. “What was that? Thunder?” he thought. And then it was upon him, crashingly loudly and with a wind that blew and sucked at his being relentlessly. Then came the long, drawn out wail. It was a freight train travelling west about 60 miles an hour. It clattered and rattled at him for about five minutes and then was gone, the clattering fading off in the distance.

Totally awake and wholly unnerved, he left his erstwhile resting place and set out once more down the edge of the tracks. He traveled this way for about an hour. Up ahead, the brush faded back from the tracks on both sides leaving an area about 200 yards long to traverse with no cover or concealment on either side. To his right, it dropped off into the river and the left side was rip-rap and railroad ballast. Beyond that was a wall of blackberry bushes.

He stood there for about ten minutes, listening for telltale sounds of patrols or another train. If he was spotted by a train engineer, they would radio his position in as a trespasser on the railroad right of way. He nervously started out but soon relaxed as he neither saw nor heard anything. Then, as he was at the halfway mark, he heard it! It was the thrumming of a chopper as it thrashed at the air.
Holy crap!

He began to run.

He was about 50 yards from the first bit of concealment when his right shoe let go. His foot tore through the side and came down on a sharp rock. He howled in pain and tumbled to the ground. He looked at his foot and could see the bright crimson blooming in his sock. The thrumming grew louder and panic shot through him. He jumped to his feet and began to run again, favoring his injured foot as best he could.

The savage rocks tore at his foot, further lacerating it. He grimaced as he limped along as fast as he could. Then, unbelievably, the left shoe repeated the failure of the right and sent him to the ground once more as the sole folded over and caught on the ground, tripping him up. Cursing and sobbing in pain, he leapt up and looked around him for escape.

There, up ahead! He could see a spot where a group of young alders created a thicket of underbrush next to the tracks, about 50 feet away. With the chopper about to break over the tracks from where it was following the river, he once more launched himself forward, each step agony as the sharp rocks cut into his already damaged and bleeding feet. And then he leaped as hard as he could, landing in the thicket, into the nest of blackberry vines hidden therein. No sooner had he landed in this personal hell than the helicopter crossed over the trees and began following the tracks as they wound to the southwest.

It was soon out of sight and sound, but he could not move because of the searing pain in both feet. He was feeling faint from the effort and the pain and wanted nothing else but to let the darkness that was gathering around the edges of his vision to take him and blot out the agony. Slowly he pushed back the blackness and its solace, realizing he needed to tend to his wounds and get situated for the night. He wasn’t going to be traveling for a while.

He slowly unhooked himself from the greedy blackberry vines that clutched at him and crawled out to the edge of the track. Faced with no options, he took some 550 paracord from his pack and tied the soles of his shoes to the uppers. He then painfully got to his feet and began walking slowly down the tracks, leaving a trail of red footprints to be slowly washed away by the now light drizzle that haunted the rest of his day.

Somewhere down the tracks, a hundred, perhaps two hundred feet he found what he was looking for. He followed a deer trail which led off the tracks to a low area on the river bank. He stopped there and removed both of his boots, surveying his shredded socks and lacerated feet. He found a semi comfortable rock to sit on and dangled his aching feet in the cold river water, letting the current bathe the injuries and numb them with its chill.

After about an hour of this he had become too cold overall and crawled back up the bank to a small grassy area where he decided to make his camp. He set up the poncho and laid out his ground cloth. He then folded up his bedroll for something to sit on while he doctored up his feet. He spent the next hour drying his feet, cleaning bits of gravel out of the cuts, coating his injuries with Bag Balm and then wrapping them with gauze from his first aid kit. He gingerly pulled on a clean pair of cotton socks over the gauze, and then a pair of wool socks over them. Then he took 2 prescription Vicodin and washed them down with water.

An hour passed and the pain receded to a tolerable level thanks to the Vicodin. He then decided to make himself something to eat. He chose Oatmeal since he hadn’t any breakfast and he wanted something that would stay with him for awhile. He finished his meal and cleaned up his meal preparations, stowing everything back in his pack. Exhaustion now began to take hold, and his eyes keep creeping shut. He crawled into his bedroll and sighed in resignation, delivering up himself to the darkness of dreamless sleep.

===============================================

Pulling his attention back to the present, he saw that the fire was burning down once again to coals. How long had he been zoned out? A quick glance at his watch showed him that four hours had passed since he had finished his breakfast and had lapsed into his reflections of the past. His half drank coffee had gone cold long ago so he poured it back into the pot and waited for it to heat up once again.

While waiting for the coffee to reheat, he decided to go relieve himself. He had picked one corner of the living room where the roof had leaked and rotted away the floor. After breaking up the rotting wood he had cleared an area in which he dug a small, deep hole with his trowel, piling the earth to one side to use for covering up his bodily waste after each use. He was running out of toilet paper also. Another reason he needed to get to C1.

He sat back down and retrieved the now hot coffee. His mind drifted back to that place on the river bank where he nursed his wounded feet.

===============================================

He spent two days in that spot, changing the bandages daily. By the morning of the third day, he was able to move around well enough that he felt that he could now travel. He carefully lashed the boot soles tightly to his feet, making sure that the cord would not be subject to extreme abrasion as he walked. He looked around his camp for any misplaced gear and finding none, shouldered his pack and limped away up the trail.

He knew he wasn’t far from C1 now. Perhaps a day barring any slowdowns, perhaps less. He had traveled for a couple of hours when he decided to stop and rest. His feet were throbbing so he decided to take more of the Vicodin. This time he only took one, more than that made him drowsy and he wanted to remain vigilant.

He decided to move off the right of way as up ahead the track began to parallel the highway and gave scant concealment for the next two miles. He felt a kind of excitement, an exhilaration at being so near to his goal at last! Being so close to the highway made him nervous so he began to spend more time pausing and listening as he advanced.

There! He heard a voice just over the tracks by the highway. Slowly crawling up to the rails, he peered over and saw a roadblock just across the road from him! He slowly lowered himself back down to the safety of the underbrush and began moving away from the roadblock in the direction of the cache. His progress was painfully slow but he dared not move faster for fear of being heard moving about in the brush.

It became apparent that he would have to wait until dark to cross the road. So he picked a likely looking spot that would hide him from both aerial and pedestrian view and waited.

Occasionally he would rise up, and from cover spy out the highway. It was starting to get dark when he noticed the 2nd roadblock just down a ways from the 1st. They were placing them within visual distance to be sure no one slipped thru the gap. He could see the spotlights and could hear the generators as they fired them up in preparation for the night operations.

As he was watching a Humvee approached from the west. It stopped at the first roadblock and a man got out. He spoke briefly with the man who seemed to be in charge and then re-entered the Humvee. A different man got out and … he had a Dog!

“Oh Shit! Oh Fuck! God Dammit!!!!”

He was totally screwed now! The Humvee moved up the road to the next roadblock where the same actions replayed themselves. One dog barked, causing the other dog to respond. This went on for a few minutes as the handlers struggled to regain control. Thoroughly disgusted, he retreated back into the brush where stray breezes wouldn’t betray him to the dogs. He wouldn’t be crossing this road, not tonight. Maybe not any night!

He dug out a granola bar from his pack as well as a bottle of water and had a cold supper. Resigned to this latest turn of events, he rolled up in his bedroll and poncho and lay there waiting for sleep to come. And it did.