guest article

GUEST ARTICLE

Mormon Edition.You know, I got the best response ever with the Squirrel Fraud edition, maybe because I started out by confessing to a squirrel shortcoming. I don't feel like copping to any more sins today, but here's a guilty pleasure, maybe that'll work:My favorite part of post-apocalyptic fiction is the grocery trip. In stories with a cataclysm, the hero/heroine often has a last chance at the grocery store before everything goes to hell. Susan Beth Pfeffer has a great scene where the electric is out, people are rampaging, and the grocery store says, $100 for a cartful of groceries. Her shopping detail is exquisite. The other day I bought a 25 pound bag of salt for the doom pantry and was reminded of the scene in Alas, Babylon where the lack of salt becomes an issue. There's a grocery shopping scene in that one too. Guess what I am re-reading now.
Every once in a while I like to imagine myself at Winco, shit is hitting the fan, what do I do? If it requires cash, I do nothing, as I never have cash. But, if they're taking checks or cards, I go hog wild. There are further variations on this -- does everybody know this is their last chance, am I the only one, are there a few of us wild squirrels? Will it be canned tuna, chicken orbeef, rice or cornmeal? Fun.Speaking of Mormon Edition, I hit a milestone (millstone) last week, and finally, at last, reached a one year supply on all major food groups. It took almost three years to do, whew! I was close for quite a while, but just could not get enough vegetable servings. My uncooperative family does not eat green vegetables, so the stash is heavy on mashed potatoes and corn and spaghetti sauce. Anyway, it took a lot of potato flakes, but we're there.Which means the squirrel can stop stashing, right?
Oh no, not that easy. I just read "Prophetic Statements On Food Storage for Latter Day Saints". Really interesting to see how their food storage has evolved. It used to be that they were required to have a seven year stash of food, can you imagine, for a large family? Then five, then two, and now one year. And the one year doesn't even have to be stuff that is eaten every day, it can be whatever is life-sustaining. The Mormon Four is a good example -- powdered milk, honey, salt, wheat. Apparently some Mormons are not obedient, and don't have a year's supply. Somehow I thought they were born with a stash of food. Also, I saw mention again of a couple of books that deal with the Siege of Leningrad (900 days of starvation). So I am thinking, why stop with one year?There are plenty of good reasons to stop. I am a lot better at pantry building than I was three years ago when I started. (I won't be really good at it until I've had to use a year's stash, then I'll KNOW.)
For the basic near grim survival stash for us, it'll take 40 pounds of salt, 295 pounds of dried milk, 105 pounds of fat/oil, 315 pounds of sugar, 1825 pounds of grains, 295 pounds of legumes, 1775 vitamins, plus leavenings and spices. This is called the 7-Plus Plan, a variation on the Mormon Four. A set it and forget it, not much rotation required form of food storage. So anyway, it'll take about 100 cubic feet of storage, and cost $2500.And you know what? I am not up for that. $2500 is not do-able. I think unemployment will be visiting our household this year. It is not easy to come by space for 92+ cartons of food, particularly when I can't even find the dining room table. But, a squirrel is not to be denied. I'm going to keep at it, bit by bit.
My new spreadsheet is ready, and I'll pick up a couple cases a month. It'll take forever, and I it will be completed, but I might as well get after it and see how far I can go. A squirrel with a new project, most excellent.Decent sized jars of pepper and cinnamon at Costco are only $3.99 and $2.99. Flour is still cheap, and sugar's not bad. This'd be a good time to become an expert at making no-knead bread for dinner and clone-of-a-cinnabon cinnamon rolls for breakfast. In case unemployment, or just company, comes to visit.

reviews and wiki

REVIEWS AND WIKI
My usual mode of operation is to find a subject no matter how obvious and mundane and sprinkle it with shiny glittery BS and then add a few two bit words and everyone oohs and ahhs and congratulates me on my insight and general all around greatness. Well, that's how I imagine it goes when you all get together every Friday night at your official Bison fan club meeting and pass the hat around to collect enough to buy my secret decoder ring. I mean, how else could such meetings end? Today we talk about www.wikipedia.org . A pretty nifty place if I do say so myself. That is where I got the information to cover primitive firearms primers. Being pretty ignorant of most things science, I just went from one link to another piecing together all the processes.
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Wiki is a good place to go if you are so poor you can't afford to buy specialty books, can't wait for inner library loans or are in too much of a hurry to sit and read anything past a few pages. You can get all the information you need on the derivatives markets, or Peak Oil, or the Yellowstone Volcano. Post-Apocalypse fiction, the Tri-States organization, hyper-inflation. Smokeless powder, cob buildings, even Jim Rawles. Whenever a survival author breezes by something that to them is obvious but to you is new and exciting, chances are you can zip over to Wiki and get enough information to act and sound informed. You're surfing all the girl on farm animal sites anyway, your broadband bill is already paid. You might as well learn a thing or two.
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On to the reviews. I've got three today. A movie and two books. The movie is "20 Years After". I just happened to glance over at Red Box one day leaving Wal-Mart and there was a gal carrying a shotgun, her ass cheeks hanging out of some tight shorts. Well, who wouldn't be interested? Post-Apocalypse and potential nudity. I've only seen one post-apocalypse movie that was so god awful bad that nudity couldn't save it. She-Wolves Of The Wasteland or something similar. So, I'm pretty excited about getting this movie. Alas, for the last six months the electrical juice situation has not allowed movie watching. Well, after hearing bitching and moaning and complaining and sniveling, I bought the wife a portable TV. Seven inch, color, digital channel ready. An insane $150, but she was bored and wanted to watch a few hours of TV a day. Being the super-duper extra nice guy that I am, I gave in and got the damn thing. It only uses 14 watts and the DVD uses 15, so one movie a week is now allocated. I would rather just have went to the movies once a month, but at least I get a few DVD's out of this deal.
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Let me just tell you, the movie sucked abnormally large donkey member. It wasn't low budget and it wasn't terrible acting. It was a crappy story. It was all mystical, fantasy, magic bull crap. The fighting scenes were terrible, a mere afterthought thrown in. And as bad as they were, at least it was an occasional break from the hippy dippy channeled crystal weirdness. And the good verses evil shtick was lame, using cardboard characters. And not one bit of nudity. No ass cheeks flopping around, not even any cleavage. I was hugely disappointed. Do not rent this turd.
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The two books were The Scarlet Plague" by Jack London and "The Aftermath, A Diary From The Future". London's was a very good story. Only 66 pages and as simple as an old man reminiscing to his grandsons, it nonetheless was very good. I didn't mind spending the $12 for the paper version ( you can find the free e-book online ). The Aftermath, on the other hand, was not so good and a waste of $15. The author was Cassandra Lepanto and I think she might be a college student. The book just struck me a naive and by someone without a lot of experience. The pacing was a bit off, with a weird back story about our country experiencing an Islamic revolution right before the massive earthquakes separated part of Washington state from the mainland. I'm not saying I could have written a better story. I know a lot of my minions think my fiction sucks. What I am saying is that compared to any $7.99 paperback book, the writing did not compare favorably. It seemed most of the information was lifted from government printed FEMA booklets. And the ending was unrealistically happy and rosy. It just didn't work together. At least she tried, and went ahead and published a book. I hope she can improve on the next go around.
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That is all for now. Remember to tune in the next two days for the guest articles. And trolls, kindly shut the hell up. If you aren't submitting anything, why bitch about those that do. Trash me all you want, but its hard getting guest articles. If you must contribute, just say I suck or don't know anything or that you've seen Google photo's of my trailer in Africa. And, by the by, I'm still waiting for my money for the photos.
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ramen recipes

RAMEN RECIPES
Top Ramen has a lot going for it. Low cost ( still, even after a fifty percent hike ). Should store forever. Filling and easy. Perfect for a bug out bag and can even be eaten uncooked on the run. Alas, I hated the stuff. I over did it during one poor spell and couldn't look at the crap for ten years. As I keep saying, take it from my sad experiences- don't eat just one item meal after meal or you'll find yourself not touching that food for years. I mean that literally. I didn't add bread to every meal or rice to every meal. That one item alone was the entire meal. You can eat one item constantly but not if it isn't added to something different each time. That's why everyone recommends spices and condiments. You fool your body into thinking it is a different food. You will find yourself eating less and less if it is the same food. It isn't just kids that will refuse to eat unfamiliar food and starve themselves. Anyway, I ate nothing but Top Ramen for two weeks or so, until the first paycheck came in. I didn't touch the stuff for seven or eight years later, and then only once or twice a year.
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I've reported similar results before. I ate nothing for rice for a week, nothing but potatoes for a month. Then I wouldn't touch those foods for years after. I finally got over my Ramen block. The last month or so I've started eating it about once a week. It is about the only noodle I eat, being so much easier. Except the Cup O Noodle cheese. That is good stuff, cheaper than mac and cheese. So, since I was off my Ramen block, I was more receptive to reading the book "101 Ways To Make Ramen Noodles" by Toni Patrick. Most of it is the standard advice. Add thirty different spices you don't normally have in your kitchen. But quite a few were easy and simple and needed few additives.
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The standard three Ramen methods are 1)soup. Leave the water in and add spice. 2)noodle. Drain the water and add the spice after. 3)oil and spice. Add butter and then the spice. To that she added quite a bit more. Parmesan Ramen. Drain, then add Parmesan cheese instead of the spice. Spaghetti Ramen- add spaghetti sauce instead of spice after draining. Veggie Ramen- drain, add spice, add veggies. Chinese Ramen- drain, add spice, add soy sauce. Tomato Ramen- don't drain, add a can of concentrated tomato soup and simmer for five minutes. Cheese Ramen- drain, add a packet of powdered cheese you stole from mac and cheese. Beef Ramen- drain, add spice, add Worcestershire sauce to taste. Chicken Ramen- drain, add spice, add a can of cream of chicken soup. Wiener Ramen- drain, add spice, add cut up hot dogs. Hamburger Ramen- drain, spice, add cooked hamburger.
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There are dozens more ( 101 total, remember ). Cream of asparagus and chicken, cream of celery and pork, cream of shrimp, cream of mushroom, cream of mushroom and tuna, cheese and bacon, bratwursts, chicken and soy sauce, cheese and veggies, Alfredo sauce, some really god awful sounding deserts such as custard and chocolate/marshmallow. Plus, a lot that the added ingredients will really shoot up the price. Especially with today's produce prices. It is incredible the number of ways Ramen was used. Here I was thinking, I'll store a few cases of Ramen for hard times ( and before the price of flour goes up again ). But with this guide I could eat the slop more often for dinner. I won't try most of these ideas, but a few surely sound promising. One note. You might want to match up the flavor to the recipe. Beef flavor for hamburger, pork flavor with pork meat, oriental with soy sauce. I don't care only because to me they mostly taste the same. But if following the above recipes, assume a specific flavor Ramen was called for.
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My Amazon coupon was a high $35. I ordered three books out of that. After I read them, I'll bore you details of volcano's and climate change. Thank you everybody that ordered through my Amazon links. You know what's next- buy my crap at www.bisonpress.com
Before I forget- both days this weekend are guest articles.

food fatigue

FOOD FATIGUE
Before we start today's useless blather, thanks to everyone for the support and general rally against the trolls. I try to keep a thick skin but sometimes they really get to me. I would have posted more pictures but once I put them online I found they really took in a panoramic view. So much that it would be a little too easy to find the place. It is one thing to tell you I'm a few miles out of town, quite another to give you exact landmarks. I trust all of you except the one troll on Ritalin with NSA controllers who will one day go postal on my ass just before they institute semi auto gun control again.
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Wheat should be the backbone of your food storage. You get enough to provide everyone with a bare survival diet for whatever period of time you decide prudent. I think one year isn't too long, those of you with five kids might only be able to afford three months. One pound per person per day plus a little extra for sprouts for your veggie needs. 100 pounds each three months. $30 per person per quarter ( plus storage containers, of course ). Do half wheat and half corn for $25 a hundred ( I went back again last weekend to my feed store and they charged me less this time-$11-I think one of the little punks is messing with me ). Not only will this save you a little money, it will provide you with some insurance against food fatigue.
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A wheat only diet is not the greatest idea. You need to train yourself to eat whole wheat. And you lack protein and fat. And you will go mad eating nothing else. Urging you to buy all this wheat is just to make sure you don't starve to death. As in, hurry up and buy your wheat, if something bad happens tomorrow you are at least covered with the minimum. After you have your wheat, then you buy your other grains and your beans and your fat. Some of you simply won't buy wheat. Fine, just buy enough for sprouts. If rice is your thing, okay. With rice, however, you need to buy white only. Brown simply doesn't last long enough before going rancid. But by only getting a hulled grain, an empty carb, you must make sure you have supplemental food to compensate for what was thrown away with the outer shell. In other words, rice is a great filler but not a complete grain. Wheat kernels are a complete grain and much healthier.
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After your grain, get your beans. Together the bean and grain will provide a complete protein such as meat has. Then, your fat. Don't worry too much about hydrogenated oil. You are in survival mode, you will need fats and better to have enough. If you only store olive oil because it is healthy you won't have enough because of the cost. Now you can worry about combating food fatigue. If you only have one grain, get another. Preferably two. I hate rice, it usually tastes like wet cardboard ( whole wheat tastes like dry cardboard- much better ). But once I've eaten enough wheat it will start tasting much better. I like corn but it seems to have a limited range of recipes. But again, a good change of pace from wheat. So now you've got three grains, beans and fat. Throw in the occasional rabbit or dog and you should be able to just tolerate your boring diet.
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I understand this is old hat to my loyal minions. But we are getting a lot of new, perplexed and confused people. Better to keep going back to the basics. People are not stupid ( okay, most people are stupid but the smart ones are waking up and realizing they need to prepare ), just uneducated. Just keep your priorities straight. The bare minimum diet first, then branch out. If you are doing the rice and beans from Wal-Mart deal, no need to get all your grain first. The rice and beans cost the same so you might as well go half and half from the first ( this helps counteract the limitation on white rice also ). If things fall apart tomorrow ( Yellowstone erupting or Russia launching nukes move a lot quicker than the financial meltdown ) you must have the bare bones food supply to keep you going. After that, with more time to prepare, then you can get fancy. Getting back to the better-than-nothing philosophy. Wheat alone sucks keeping you alive, but it is better than nothing.
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insurance failure

INSURANCE FAILURE
A loyal minion sent me this idea. I think it might be something we should be thinking about. Of course, I think they were also thinking I might have a better solution to the problem than what you are going to read. Before my mighty pearls of wisdom are thrown down before you, I'm going to throw out an idea. If you wish to help but can't do anything money wise ( and I can relate ) I could use a little help Internet wise. It is simply copying and pasting so I can publish more Chicken Little issues. I just can't find the time. And, no, it pays nothing. Although I'll give you any e-books you want. You do the work, I get the money. E-mail me if you are interested.
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Will insurance companies fail along with all the other failing banks, retail stores and auto manufactures? Of course. Those puke bastards at AIG sucked up $150 billion and are still crying. Of course, I'm talking about your friendly neighborhood insurance company. The guys that sell you fire insurance, auto insurance. Even medical insurance. Look, the entire social contract is coming undone. The middle class is dying. Your 401(k) just lost half its value. You can rely on Social Security for a check, but it will be paid with inflated money until it in effect buys almost nothing. That has already started several years ago. It will only get worse. To expect your insurance company to remain unmolested by the economy is silly. Insurance is like all the other Ponzi schemes. You need more people signing up to pay off the old customers. Yet, fewer people will be signing on the dotted line.
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Most people will not stop driving. They will drive less, but they will still retain automobile insurance. But far fewer cars are being bought new. New cars bring in more insurance, older cars less. There is a cash crunch right there. Medical expenses are going up. At some point, fewer seniors keep their cars in favor of medical expenses. They are half blind and have the reaction time of a glacier. Driving gets scary, it becomes easier to do without. So there goes more income for the insurance companies. Seniors and the young have high premiums. And the young might not get that sweet sixteen car anymore after half the household labor force is laid off. Still less income for the insurance company.
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Fewer people are buying houses. Fewer home insurance policies. Fewer companies are offering medical insurance. Fewer areas are being insured in hurricane country. An insurance company might benefit from leaving Florida. It costs them less in what they pay out. But it also means less money coming in. The entire economy is based on growth models. When your industry sees dropping revenue, there is trouble. Not to say tomorrow all insurance companies will close their doors. What might concern you is that your particular company will close its doors. They may, or they may not sell your policy before they go under. They buy insurance on their insurance, but you can't do the same. If your company goes under they might take your just paid premium with them. I had that happen to me once. A hole in the wall company took my money and closed up shop a few months later ( the state forced me to carry insurance but didn't do much to the company they licenced when they screwed its policy holders ). The only choice was to pay all over again to another company if I wanted to keep the vehicle.
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Most of your insurance is mandatory by the state or your bank. When your company skips town for Bermuda, you'll have to pull that money out of your butt to keep the insurance active. I would stop driving and mail in my house keys at that point. But that's just me. I realize most of you can't do that, so please spare me the troll tirades. And speaking of which, you puke trolls owe me $20 for the camera and developing posting online pictures of the African trailer park. When you PayPal me, just put "I'm sorry I was a doubting bastard" in the description so I'll know it was you. But, anyway, those will be your choices. Come up with the money all over again or do without the object they insure. Goodie, more fun choices.
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www.bisonpress.com for all my crap, free books, e-mail address, etc.

the dark side

THE DARK SIDE
Have you been seduced over to the dark side? I'm referring to the point where you can't get enough prep supplies. Enough is never enough, you always find something else you need to buy, another skill you need the tools for. You can't stop. Something else is worrying you, so you take steps to neutralize that worry. I wonder how many of us are there. I know I've been seduced away from normalcy, towards the rabbit hole of Paranoid World. I've come to terms ( kind of ) with it. But I'm wondering how many people I've unknowingly infected with this disease. Is it a bad thing? Don't worry, I coo seductively in their ear, just a few hundred pounds of wheat, a few guns and ammunition, a cheap water filter, and you can survive the collapse of Western civilization.
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Now while it's true that I have the best intentions and am trying to literally save their lives, I wonder how many lives I've altered? I'm not trying to sound like I'm all knowing or important or know what the heck is really going to happen tomorrow. Any of us, casually talking to neighbors or feeling out our buddies thoughts on the economy, can infect someone else. A meme, an infectious idea. Spreading our poison of fear and paranoia. I'm not saying we aren't correct for being worried. Anybody not frightened out of his friggen mind right now is asleep at the wheel. No, what I wonder is how many people have gone from helpful stockpiling and common sense preparedness to full blown paranoia because I've started them down that road. Am I helping them at all, or hurting them? Is basing all your life decisions on a perceived threat a great idea?
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You could say that we'll know soon enough. You could say that even if nothing happens at least those folks have attained a level of comfort and contentment they didn't have before. They can rest easy at night. You could say that. But I wonder, do I wish that on others? Yes, you sleep better at night because you don't have to worry about starving to death. But, once you've gone over to the dark side, you start inventing new threats to worry about. Like, will someone steal your food. So you buy guns and ammo. Them you worry about gun control. So you bury some guns. But then you worry about aerial detection and getting busted and going to a concentration camp. So you have bug out bags and a retreat. But you worry about losing your job and the retreat you have a mortgage on, so you buy gold as inflation hedges. But you worry about theft of your gold. Etcetera. All because you bought a few hundred pounds of grain. I exaggerate slightly, but you get my point ( and that was just for food, then you add in disease, etc. ).
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Just something to think about. The best intentions still have consequences.
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You will buy my crap, yes? http://www.bisonpress.com/

uncle obammy's hyper-inflation

UNCLE OBAMMY'S HYPER-INFLATION
We all bitch and moan and complain when the government takes our money and redistributes it. We all call for a return to smaller government. I personally think that Libertarians are communist pukes. You are either for government or against it. No grey areas. Abolish the whole damn mess, don't pick and choose what remains. I'm telling you I am a pure anarchist because I don't want to be accused of being pro-government after this article. Of course, trolls are infamous for being able to forget what they just read to make their point so I'm sure I'll get called an Obammy Lover or Liberal or other such hateful names.
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By and large, our economy is mostly government stimulus or control. If the government doesn't directly pay you, they pay your company through contracts or grants. Or, your monopoly was granted by the government. Or, you live off some type of government rule. I believe the number of civil servants, at all levels, is around 17% or thereabouts. Add in a few "private" workers like postal workers and I doubt we would even get to 20%. The government employs a lot more, but the way they've set it up it sounds better and allows the illusion of a capitalist economy. Blackwater or Haliburtan or McDonald-Douglas might be private companies but they don't exist without government contracts. Hell, I'm dependant on my minimum wage job from Federal grants. So while I complain about Seniors on welfare, I'm just as much to blame as anyone. We are mostly all suckling at the public feed bin. Doctors are by large a noble breed. A certain percentage do get involved for the money but I think mostly they simply want to help others. After malpractice insurance and school loans is it all that great of pay anyway ( I'm discounting the profit practices such as boob jobs and talking about health care professionals )?
Yet despite that, it is also true that without the government granted monopoly they would earn far less and have a lot more competition.
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Accountants live off both a government granted monopoly and the need to serve the IRS code as interpreters. And these are just the obvious occupations. Don't forget Union blue collar workers have the government to thank for their high wages and generous benefits. A used car salesman is helped by public subsidized low gasoline prices ( how much would gas cost if Exxon had to protect the Saudi oil fields? ). A welfare single mother gets off assistance and opens her own beauty salon. Or does she? Training is regulated and licenses are necessary. She earns more because of the cost barrier to entry, so she is still somewhat reliant on government for her paycheck. Would private business still be viable in a town next to the University or military base if they didn't accept taxpayer funded paychecks? I'm not placing blame or pointing fingers or trying to act superior. My point is that most of us are involved in this big scam and couldn't escape if we wanted to.
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Having said all this, that our economy is only functioning with government stimulus, we now come to the somewhat bright side. Yes, government caused all these problems. But it will also somewhat shield us from the consequences of its own folly for a time. If the economy was mostly private sector such as during the last Depression, we would fall hard and fast as the bankers got in trouble. This time, we will have a longer grace period as government spending keeps more employed. More than the 17% of civil servants. In the end, we will suffer much worse because of the government manipulation and control. The entire system will crash and everyone will suffer. But at least you now have more time to prepare for that collapse. All for the mere cost of hyper-inflation as the only way the bills can be paid. I don't know how much time, other than to guess that if this was a a capitalist system instead of a socialist one we would already be in soup lines instead of comfortably reading drivel like this on the computer.
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You have been granted a reprieve. Don't waste it, prep like your life depends on it.
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Pretty please with sugar on top buy my crap www.bisonpress.com

dig in 2012

DIG IN 2012
Below is an email I received. It asks for some advice on underground shoring. I'll let you read it in a bit, but first I must prattle on and on in an attempt to trick you into thinking I wrote something today. I apologize about the slow down in my output the last week or so. I'm going through a bit of a block, not having any real good ideas and kind of just winging it. I realize it is far from my best and am trying to get out of the funk. I know you are all a fickle lot and will leave me as soon as I grow stale and repetitive. Heck, I would do the same thing. So just bear with me a little. I've had these before and always emerged.
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Should we be concerned with 2012? 90% of what is out there is utter drivel, the "my great grandfather the Earth spirit came to me in a dream and showed me our Mother weeping, her flesh torn asunder and the man locust swept aside". Am I being rude and dismissive? You bet. I had better vision on LSD and I don't try to share them with many people. They were my enjoyment, and were not some window into an alternate universe. Okay, I'll share a little. After the acid kicks in, listen to the Doors "The End" ( thanks, DK, for introducing me to the music ). That giant snake was cool. Don't go with Pink Floyd. For one thing, you don't even need drugs. And for another, waaaay too depressing. I used to go to sleep every night with "The Wall" playing on headphones, and look how I turned out with that subliminal programming.
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What isn't voodoo crap is easily explained. As in, the Mayan calender might have stopped simply because society supporting the astronomers work crashed. The other 10% seems to make sense. I won't even try to repeat most of it, something about the earths orbit farthest away from the sun affecting the poles. It seems it can all be explained scientifically. I think a search under "pole shift" should get you a lot of info. Yet, Peak Oil can be easily explained scientifically and look how few people accept that. Or, look at global warming. Al "I invented the Internet" "I look like an uber-geek with my beard" Gore gave the whole scare a really bad name. Yet looking at the before and after pictures of the glaciers make it seem plausible. I wouldn't dismiss any potential disaster, as long as it seems reasonable. Whether you can realistically prepare is another matter. You just have to pick and choose what you can prep for.
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Here is a letter I got:

Hello James,I am a reader from France (yeah I know ;-)I like your concept of frugal survivalism, I can relate to that.Since this year I have an obsession to go underground. I somehow feel that it's where I will be secure from all the catastrophic events announced for 2012 ... don't laugh, to each his own paranoia ;-)So I plan to dig a kind of bunker, deep underground. I have no job since last October, my financial situation allows me a shovel and some construction material (wood, concrete etc).But I have time, I just lack the knowledge to dig and to reinforce the tunnel / bunker to avoid the whole thing collapsing on me.This is something I can't ask in France, even on the Internet : here nobody knows that it's "TEOTWAWKI now !!!" ;-)They would send me in a mental institution after discovering all the rice I stockpiled ! :-)I was thinking maybe you or one of your reader could give me advices on how to reinforce my construction, you know like in the old mines they were putting wood all around the tunnels they were digging (my dictionary gives me "stay" or "prop" or "strut" for the french word I mean but I don't know if it's accurate).I would start to dig under a tent to avoid being seen. I was thinking about a kind of tunnel that would go to the bunker.This bunker should offer protection from solar flares and radioactivity, maybe a lead covered roof if I can afford the lead.I think the lead would allow me to dig a shallower bunker, but I don't know how much ground or lead I need to block solar flare or radioactivity.I want to start as soon as the winter will be over.So I would be grateful to you if you could post this email on your blog. Please don't give publicly my email address, I will read the answers in the comments.Thank you and keep up with the blog, there are not only the trolls that read it, even the (one) french do ! :-)JMN
Jim says- I did a spell check by other than that left it alone as written.
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Shut up and buy my crap www.bisonpress.com

disease and health care

Cheating again today. A section from my book on life after the collapse. Which is now available, by the way. www.bisonpress.com
DISEASE AND HEALTH CARE
As discussed in the military section, health care will benefit from germ theory but suffer from antibiotic shortages. Simple sanitary practices have been responsible for more lives saved than millions of doctors ( something to keep in mind as you curse health inspectors or the building codes for septic tanks ). Yes, vaccines have played a huge role. But sanitary waste elimination and safe food storage was a huge step forward in quality of life and even longevity. As long as these standards are continued in practice disease and illness will not be the huge killers they once were. That said, no more antibiotics mean certain modern inconveniences turn deadly. No more vaccines will see a return of pandemics. And the lack of public services such as mosquito spraying will reintroduce malaria and such. The last item alone is reason to be leery of living in hot and humid regions. Much to do has been made of air conditioning opening up the South and southwest for colonizing by the swarming hoards of Yankees. But I would think that deep well irrigation and damming the Colorado opened up the lower west, and insecticides allowed the South to be safely inhabited. Air conditioning made them comfortable, but that didn’t allow water to be piped long distances or fetid swamps to become less threatening. The end to cheap energy and centralized control will turn those two areas in to unhealthy homes again.
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Now, having made the case that sanitary practices prevent diseases and that safe food storage contain illnesses, you also have to keep in mind that certain things are going to happen during and after the collapse. The breakdown of infrastructure means sewer mains leak. Private efforts at waste disposal are ineffective. The accumulation of trash, uncollected, harbors flies and rats. Water is treated badly or not at all. Even intentional contamination of reservoirs might occur ( for instance, as blackmail against a community ). Electricity supply becomes erratic and causes refrigeration malfunctions. And the lost knowledge of old school food preservation does not help matters. And don’t forget famine or at least malnutrition will weaken peoples immune system. So it really does become a crap shoot if disease does get uncontrollable or not.
*
One thing we can count on is a complete breakdown of modern medical care. There are simply not enough facilities to accommodate any significant increase in required care and the extreme cost of education and malpractice insurance make sure that the supply of doctors stays limited. Medical professionals are said to be the next growth industry, but given that over half that field is government funded, and in light of the current financial health of the government itself, any wave of students going mercenary will be short lived. Health care is a luxury for most of the population. Costs have become too high. During a collapse, that will get much worse. Fewer patients will mean higher costs. An aging doctor population and decreasing medical students will see less personnel. Unless a collapse happens very quickly and you will see a lot of latent talent available. But even then, how many doctors could practice without their high tech tools and the pharmaceutical industry? How many could become general practitioners with little or no modern medicine, with only herbs or opiate based pain killers or less than ideal chemicals for operating? Perhaps we have raised the bar in knowledge enough that even with such a setback medical care will still be an improvement over that of a century ago. But as with most transitions being hampered with lack of trade, lack of energy and lack of low tech infrastructure, don’t count on it.
*
The return to a pre-vaccine/antibiotic era doesn’t necessarily mean we are all going to keel over on the street as soon as someone coughs bloody droplets into the air. It does mean a return to early, random death for some. Decreased life spans for the poor. The return to the norm of death during child birth, of young widows and widowers, of once again treating death as a natural occurrence rather than a thing to be feared and fought with unending treasure. Remember, our present society mimics the wealth of kings of old. The poorest ghetto dweller of today lives better than a king several hundred years ago. Due to oil. Remove the oil and things go back the way they were. Which includes all but the wealthy unable to afford doctors or battling death with money.

post-apocalypse barber

POST-APOCALYPSE BARBER
Before we begin today, an addition to yesterday's article on corn. I should have added that whole grain corn is much easier to get used to than whole wheat flour. Just buying a bag of chips or a package of corn tortillas will start you on it. While most folks might turn their nose up at whole wheat, they've already been eating whole corn. So it might be more of a natural grain to stock ( just get enough wheat for sprouts, at least ). Okay, today let's talk about yet another possible post-apocalypse career. Barber. I covered straight razors eons ago, pre-blog days. I ordered a package of stainless steel straight razors and tried to shave with one with little effect. A loyal minion sent me a carbon steel one but I chickened out using it. By that time I had decided I would just stockpile a bunch of disposables and the razor sharpener from Lehman's. I can get a disposable to last at a minimum of two months using one of those sharpeners and shaving three times a week. So with my hoard of cheaply bought disposables I'm good for the rest of my life on shaving ( or close enough, and I still have that good straight razor ).
*
If you buy a bunch of stainless steel razors for barter, you can pay as little as two or three bucks each. If you want a professional straight razor, one that does a decent job ( you might have better luck with the stainless than I did so I could be wrong here and stainless will work just fine for you with a bit more attention to getting an edge ), you need to buy a carbon steel version. And they are far more than three bucks. Try more like thirty on up. But, you are buying an investment. This should be your primary concern. A guy can go awhile without a haircut. And do a half ass job chopping it off. But if they want a shave, they are going to have to go see a professional. Disposable razors will wear our quickly after the stores close. Beards will out of necessity make a come back, but enough men might want to do without one that you'll have a business.
*
Plenty of Web sites out there will give you all the information you want on straight razors. Next up are going to be hair scissors. Something a little better than a pair from the dollar store. Like the razors, you are going to have to decide on a compromise between the cost and the number of back up pairs you can stockpile. Then, it is a simple matter of buying a ten dollar book on cutting hair. If you don't already know how. But this seems like a pretty easy profession to get ready for. A few pieces of equipment, a little practice. I know I've thrown some pretty bizarre possible professions your way, such as honey wagon driver. This is just a reminder that there are easy, cheap ways to get ready for a post-oil life. It isn't the matter so much of skill. Anyone can hack up an animal carcass and soon learn butchering. Candle making isn't rocket science. It is more the matter of having the fore site to stock up on the proper equipment before hand. How many folks will have a manual sharpening stone wheel and files to sharpen axes or saws? Anyway, something to think about.
END

getting cornholed

GETTING CORNHOLED
Most blogs are just people telling you what they did. Kind of like an elementary school report, What I Did On My Summer Vacation. Went to the gun show today, bought a case of ammo. My blog is different. I tell you what I did on my summer vacation, and then I over analyse my actions to give you a lengthy and impressive sounding report. I could just admit that I'm on my second week of not having much to say, tell you I started buying corn at the feed store, and let you get on with your life. But that's not how I roll, Dawg. First you have to sit through a intolerable rant about politics and special interest groups before I tell you about my trip to the feed store.
*
Nixon was a lot of things ( thanks for globalization and Made In China, bastard ), but at least he had the smarts to give people the illusion of what they wanted. When housewives went to the streets in protest over high grocery prices ( this was back before housewives were replaced by microwave ovens and the TV became the new babysitter ), Nixon wasted no time ordering action. Get those prices down! He probably included some off color description of said females, like, perhaps, those crazy bitches are giving me a headache or something of that nature. I mean, come on, the guy didn't really have much nice to say about anyone. The result was tax policies to reward centralization of farming and the use of oil as fertilizers to give a big boost to output. That was when the animal feedlots were encouraged. Well, we all know how that worked out. Corporations shouldered out small independent farmers.
*
That was bad enough. Decentralized farms that were self supporting ( for instance, with the animals on the farm providing manure for fertilizer ) was one of our nations strong points. Just as you can't disarm millions of individuals as easy as you could central controlled official militias, one disaster didn't endanger all of the farms as long as they stayed decentralized. The good thing that came about because of all that was at least grain was historically very inexpensive. Literally, you could buy a years supply of grain with one days wages. So, while as a nation we became much more vulnerable, at least you could cheaply stockpile your own grain supply. Now, thanks very much you carpetbagging asshat Bush, a years supply of grain is rising in tune with inflation as wages have been pushed down. It is three times as expensive to buy grains as it was ten years ago. Wages haven't even doubled.
*
Now, it really doesn't matter if we are facing a global drought or not. It matters, but not as far as preparing with a food supply. You need to be putting in a supply of grain now. It doesn't matter why. Peak Oil, inflation, drought. Whatever. The trend is towards higher prices, and that should be reason enough to bite the bullet, buy the grain, store it and stop worrying about it. Once it's done, you can relax and worry about other things such as getting laid off. Corn is now an insane $26 for a hundred pounds. Do you really want to wait for it to get any higher? Or its supply to dwindle? Wheat is $30, and provides a much better bang for your buck ( lasts indefinitely, higher protein, more varied menu ). I only started buying the corn because I have so much wheat. A little something different. It used to be that corn was half the price of wheat so it went a long way stretching out your prep dollar. Now, we feel all special and warm and fuzzy when there is even any corn for sale rather than being sent on its way to the ethanol plant.
*
Now we have vulnerable centralized farming tied to oil, and grain is no longer inexpensive. Things keep getting worse, but why hurry up and prep, right? All the time in the world, since Obammy will save us all. I'm getting nervous, so I'm buying more grain. I got nervous enough last summer that I moved. That turned out to be the right decision, looking at our economy. I hope I'm wrong about the food supply.
END
Buy a corn grinder and other nifty Bison Crap at www.bisonpress.com

guest article

Guest article

I have been reading various survival blogs (including the bison blog) for more than a year know. The doom and gloom raised almost daily among them inspired me in part to buy a cabin on a couple of acres. Although the amount I spent on it (about $21,000) may seem like a small fortune to Jim and others, it did not buy me a prime piece of farmland. The area only get's about 14 inches of rainfall a year and most of that comes down as snow. The elevation is high and the growing season is very short. Currently I have to haul in water and wells run very deep ($$$$) in this area, so that probably won't change. On the plus side the property borders a national forest on the backside. There is a 360 degree view of neighbor free land with lots of trees. Rabbits and deer are all over the place and the soil is not to bad. The cabin is pretty rough. no insulation and a tin roof. The wood stove is huge but old and barely keeps the place at 50 degrees burning full blast on a 25 degree night and it gets much colder than that. I am planning on framing up some new interior walls and adding insulation one of these days. A more efficient wood stove would be nice too.The cabin is not a primary residence. As I mentioned earlier I was inspired to buy the property partly because of the anticipated downfall of the current standard of living. The other and maybe more important justification for making the purchase was to secure a sustainable future in retirement. I am pushing 40 years old, working a 9 to 5 type job for an hourly wage. My retirement account which I just started in 2008 has less than a grand in it and social security will probably go bust before I hit official retirement age. It is unfortunate that I waited this long to actually start saving and the result is going to be a very low standard of living when I retire. This is all assuming that I don't get forced in to early retirement by a SHTF scenario. Now that a place to live has been secured I have three basic goals that I would to achieve to provide a basic level of income free sustainability: To have enough money saved up in silver, gold and cash to pay the property taxes (currently $140 a year)for 20 years.To have 10 years of basic food supply for four people stored.To have a drinking water storage capacity of at least 1000 gallons.Although this is a short list it seems a monumental task to achieve but with these three goals achieved my family and I could survive for 10 years or more with no income. Granted it would be a very meager existence but we would live (probably better than a lot of third world people). I already have some weapons, ammo, tools, knickknacks, etc. but there will be plenty of things to add to the wish list if I can attain the first three basic goals. A small solar panel kit and some batteries will be high on the list. Medicines, toiletries and all that jazz will be high on the list too.Whether the economy will survive the current crisis or not remains to be seen but I am going to keep plugging away and hopefully be prepared for whatever comes our way. Familyman

guest article

Guest article

Wonder bread kids and the post collapse scenario.I have two of the little buggers in my family and when you are considering preps they make planning a lot more complicated and expensive. My kids are damn picky when it comes to eating and this will make adapting to survival storage foods much more unpleasant for them and for me. We have started grinding our own wheat for bread and while they enjoy being involved in the grinding process they don't care much for the bread. They have been raised on Wonder bread and everything else bleached and processed to the tenth degree. On occasion I can get them to eat white rice but it is not on their favorite list. They like pasta so I have included that in the storage plan but it is not the cheapest item on the shelf and to make it from whole wheat would not be easy or as appealing. Another item they can't stand is powdered milk, honestly I don't care for it either but I can put it down. I am going to look in to some of the powdered milk subsitutes but I am not sure they will be much better. Chocolate or other flavored additives might help but that just adds additional expense. They eat lot's of cheese but for long term storage there isn't a whole lot of choices that compare to a fresh brick of cheddar.For those who don't have kids or who have raised them on whole grain foods you are probably thinking just put it on the table and if they don't eat it, tough. Kids are going to be under a great deal of stress post collapse and I would like to see to it that going to bed hungry isn't added to list.I would prefer to ease them in to it so that it reduces risk of food allergies or other digestive problems. Hopefully I can get their diet preferences changed pre-collapse, making post collapse transition easier on the whole family and saving money to apply towards other preps. It will make my job of rotating the food storage easier as well.Chow,Familyman

depletion

DEPLETION
Check out the guest articles over the weekend. Both days. From someone that cares. From someone who foolishly put the time and effort into giving something free, only to see a bunch of ungrateful trolls bitch and moan. I'm surprised anyone even bothers. Thank you.
*
I'm looking at about a twenty five percent increase in probationary loyal minions ( newbies ). Rather than repeat the Katrina experience where my surge of readers was short lived, I'm going to take today to kind of sum up what we do here ( and hopefully keep them this time ). Try to answer such perplexing questions as, who the heck is this Dakin fellow? Why is he so paranoid? Why does he try to be so contrary? Why does he make fun of my asparagus patch and my super deluxe high powered plastic carbine with $50 magazines? Why can't he embrace the patriotic America of SUV's and three thousand square feet McMansions? And most importantly, why doesn't he show his pictures of his trailer in his African trailer park?
*
For the photographic dependents who can't spend a lot of time actually reading, I'll sum it up right now. Complete resource depletion. True, to start out with I mainly focused on economic depletion. As in, I was writing for poor folks that couldn't afford much in preps. And that is still my main focus. But to get a big picture, I'm trying to prepare as many people as possible to survive on a lot less. You can be poor and still afford a car. I'm trying to say that we're going to have to survive without them completely. Now, this doesn't make me too popular. No one likes the guy yelling at the crowd of drunks that they will wake up with a hangover the next day. What a kill joy, right? And I didn't discover the cause of hangovers, I'm just reporting what I read. Yet I'm to blame. Both for the hangover and for killing the party atmosphere. Most of my readers already get this. That is why that aren't frightened off. They know where we are headed and just want a few tips on how to prepare along the way.
*
For the new guys, this isn't a happy place to gather. I try to make it light hearted and humorous, most the time ( when I'm not grumpy and mean ), but you will not find any magic bullet to keeping your resource rich life going strong during or after the collapse. I preach as if you know you must adjust to accepting less. That the next generation is doomed to regress, not progress. Resource depletion. Less energy, less riches, less jobs, less food, less wood. Less ammunition, less transportation. And I don't lay claim to much originality. I read widely and try to connect the dots. And pass on to you how to do things cheaply. But for everything there is a price, and frugal prepping has a price of accepting a lower standard of living.
*
Junk land ( one acre of sterile soil, dry, or economically impoverished land ) is not the best place to live. But for a grand or two, with a tax bill of $10, and no debt, it can't be beat. A grain and bean diet during an emergency will suck ( start eating whole wheat flour now to adjust your system ) but it costs hundreds instead of thousands. A bolt action war surplus rifle won't work great against a mob of biker zombies, but it will meet most other defense needs at 10% of the cost. A revolver isn't as sexy as an auto pistol, but it also doesn't need $20 mags. A travel trailer is a poor dwelling to call home, but it is mobile, turn key, already 12v equipped and if bought used even someone on minimum wage can afford one without a mortgage. No garden goes against self-sufficiency preaching, but it allows you to live on junk land and the lack is partially negated by your grain stockpile. No one wants to be without a car, and bicycling is both uncomfortable and sometimes dangerous. But that is the wave of the future so you might as well start it now to avoid shortages and life threatening exercise. Less heat in the winter and no A/C in the summer seems impossible. But try adapting after the oil imports halt and see how easy it will be then instead of now while you have time to adjust. Minimum wage earners are looked on as druggies, slackers and losers. Yet you have a lot more flexibility than high wage earners needing to find that illusive secure job. And you don't have to worry about wage cuts. No retirement, no medical, they seem scary at first blush. But, again, the wave of the future. Confront it now while you have options.
*
Expecting less is in itself looked on as un-American. But the American Empire is already over, a walking corpse. As is the dollar. I won't sugar coat, I won't blow sunshine up your butt. I won't pretend problems will vanish. I only have paranoia and fear to offer. So, please, if all this fills you with dread, go away. On the other hand, if it gives you hope that with a little sacrifice ( okay, a lot ) you just might survive, welcome to my world. By the way, the African trailer park remark is explained as follows. The trolls are requiring picture proof on my living off grid, the latest in their series to discredit me. First they called me racist when I bad mouthed immigration ( I've been married four times, twice to Mexicans- I'm surprised they didn't want a copy of my marriage license ). Then I didn't know anything about guns because I couldn't endorse semi's. Everyone knows you need semi-auto to survive. There were a few other campaigns. But the latest "you still live in a park instead of on junk land" included one idiot remark that I was writing from Africa. I can just see the character from American Dad, looking at shock to his CIA buddies. "You wrote WHAT? Who'll buy that one?" So now I'm writing from an African trailer park ( is there even such a thing? ).
*
As to my caustic, bitter, cynical writing, I didn't use to be this way. I wrote bland, unoffensive articles. I guess I got bored and just evolved ( or devolved ). I think it is more fun this way. We might as well enjoy the collapse while we can.
END
All loyal minions, buy my crap! ( actually, sales are up nicely- thank you everyone ).
http://www.bisonpress.com/
This was sent to me, interesting.
http://www.safehaven.com/showarticle.cfm?id=12578&pv=1
And I was really impressed with the insight on this one ( and a bit jealous I didn't think of it )
http://tslrf.blogspot.com/2009/02/mexicos-potential-collapse.html

global drought

GLOBAL DROUGHT
Before we start today, a response to the critical comment on my reported Wal-Mart layoff numbers. My figure of 8,000 out of a staff of 14,000 headquarters workers was what I heard on NPR radio. I trust they have the staff and budget to report these things accurately. If I misheard those figures, my apologies. I swear that was the number given. Of course, I think I hear a lot of things. When I think the wife says "love you" she might be saying "die bastard scum" or something similar. She acts like it anyway. Look, I work nine hours a day and commute an hour and a half. I have limited time on line. I try to be as accurate as possible, but there is only so much I can do. Even with the number only being 800, it is still a valid point that the best performing retailer is laying off people, which points to bad things.
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I was reading www.urbansurvival.com as is my morning custom and I followed the link
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=DEC20090210&articleId=12252which which paints a pretty dire picture as far as global food production this year. I won't cover everything they do, you can read it yourself as it is not too long. In essence, two third of the globes agriculture regions are having record breaking droughts. Before, you might have been urged to stockpile food for the coming Depression and layoffs. Now, we can look forward to that and food shortages also. Play in your gardens all you want, perhaps your water table won't shrink. But by all means, stockpile your grains and beans now. Even if the drought or economic collapse is overblown by fear and sensationalism, buying now still means you beat food inflation prices. And by making wheat the bulk of your stockpile you not only buy the cheapest grain, you also get one that can store indefinitely. Don't neglect beans and fat, but don't put off getting your grain.
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Last week I restarted my rice and bean buying on my weekly shopping trip. Just to be doing something other than reading about the collapse. I think this weekend I'll go check out our local feed store and see what they have for wheat. I've never regretted panicking and overbuying before. When the Obammy gun and ammo panic started, I already had all my arms, ammo and primers. When silver doubled in price, I already had enough. When wheat went up fifty percent I was in no hurry to buy more. Now I can panic at my own pace. But, hey, why listen to me. If I live in a trailer park in Africa and distort financial numbers I must be full of crap about everything. Even links I bring to your attention. Sorry. I get a bit peeved sometimes about trolls. And this week, while not sick, I think my body is fighting off some crud people are passing around at work. Feeling a little logy and short tempered.
END
I don't care if you buy my crap, but just in case- www.bisonpress.com

shop on

SHOP ON
Wal-Mart is laying off over half its headquarters staff. And they are the least troubled of all retailers ( losing less customers than your competition today counts as a victory ). Port container counts are down 8% from a year ago, and rail shipments are down 18%. I talked to a guy this morning ( at work, although I'm sure my trolls will insist it is at my illusionary trailer park- thanks whole big bunches, Mayberry, for moderating your comments. I'm sure your trolls will migrate over to my site :) ) whose father in law works for a milling outfit. Their demand has fallen and he can only ship when he gets several freight cars worth. Possible shelf shortages as a result? Anyway, almost everyday there is further news to bolster the fear that products are going to be less available on shelves. Credit crunch, bankruptcies, the inevitable inflation.
*
I'm thinking it might not be a bad time to be buying as if products are going to become much scarcer. You'll find bargains with closing stores, maybe. A look at Circuit City's close out prices was nothing to get excited about. Which kind of reminds me. A liquidator outfit declared bankruptcy. The guys that take a bankrupt companies products and resell them at cut rate prices, and they are themselves declaring bankruptcy. Delicious. So perhaps that whole outlet for cheap goods is closing down. Lack of credit? My point is that perhaps customers won't benefit as much as I thought from closing retailers. So instead of waiting, finish up your prep shopping. The critical aspects, anyway. No reason not to shop up to the end, but don't wait for anything you've put off buying. Remember Rawles warning about the Berky filters company going bankrupt? Hope you've got yours ( although I just checked www.lehmans.com and they are still on sale for $45 for the elements to make your own ).
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Even without fears of shortages, consider your job situation. Do you think you'll be doing that last minute critical shopping once you're laid off? Do you really think you're still safe after all the news of recent lay-offs? Now consider China. A huge number of factory closings, a drought, etc. They are going under as fast as we are, if not faster. If supplies are disrupted from there, who can sell to the US? Vitamin C, shoes, underwear. Lots of small necessary items almost no one else but China makes anymore. At least cheaply. You can still find a $200 Mylar bag sealer, but forget about buying a $10 clothes iron from China to do the same thing.
*
The consumer way of life is ending. Shop on while you can.
END
Shop on at www.bisonpress.com

welfare dreams

WELFARE DREAMS
I can't remember who pointed this fun fact out to me, but in the last sixteen weeks as much money was created as was since the Federal Reserve Bank started devaluing the dollar in 1913. And that is before Obammy's TARP II is passed. Yet no one is panicking. The shelves of supermarkets are not being laid bare under an orgy of emergency food shopping. I've seen more merchandise being moved at the start of hunting season than is leaving the camping section right now. More people are buying ammunition because Obammy got elected than because inflation is about to explode ( okay, I'm only guessing on that one- but why is rimfire disappearing? ). I've already said you should be more worried about food right now than ammunition, but I think we've already established that no one listens to me. Did you buy junk land when it was under a grand a lot? NO. Now, if you are lucky, you live near BLM land where you can park for two weeks and then must move twenty miles away and start all over ( yes, enforcement will be spotty, but you should apply Murphy's Law ). Of course, if you are unemployed and homeless than good luck getting the gas to move. If the car doesn't break down. It would have been easier to just buy the land.
*
As we are collectively pushed from the frying pan into the fire, the welfare system is going to start breaking down. Oh, no doubt the checks will continue to come in. But they won't buy much. Hyperinflation will be ten percent a month ( perhaps "hyper" is too strong until the inflation rate is thousands or millions of percent, I'm just using it here to differentiate from our "normal" 3-7% a year official rate ) yet the government will back out food and energy and only adjust the cost of living allotment by the core rate of, say, one percent. I remember one customer I met in Florida while managing the Stop And Rob who was from the UK. His pension was something like $65 a month. Granted, this was pre-housing bubble and you could rent a trailer space for under $200 if you lived next to the ghetto. And I'm sure when he started working that amount was enough for a modest survival if your home was paid off. But it does illustrate inflation on a pension system. And how about those poor bastards over in Russia? Their pensions were adequate when rent and food controls were in place. Soon they wouldn't buy much of anything. Thank you, comrade, for saving us from the Nazi's. Now go freeze in the snow.
*
I consider Social Security a form of welfare. Don't get all uppity on me, I understand you worked all your life paying into the system. But no money was ever put aside, and payments to you are taken out of my paycheck. To me that's welfare. If I got my cut of the loot, I'd feel different. I've said before, given a chance I'll receive Social Security myself. But I won't lie to myself or my kids and pretend its a retirement system. It is geriatric welfare. It was embarrassing when Gore and Bush were bleating over the alleged "lockbox" of the system. Even more embarrassing was people fell for it. It has been a Ponzi scheme from day one. What about other welfare? Food Stamps and unemployment. Unemployment is already in trouble in a lot of states. And even before the Greater Depression started, ten percent of the population was on Food Stamps. The numbers will rise slower than Social Security, but only because we are starting to see the Baby Boomer waves start to retire. And the lack of workers for applications might not be reversed fast enough, so the numbers don't look as alarming ( if the Web site for the unemployment office crashes, fewer applications that week ).
*
But, regardless of details, the same inflation numbers will make most checks next to worthless. They can claim to be helping out those in need, but it will be more of a bitch slap than a helping hand. As more and more folks lose their jobs and homes, who helps out family members that are only getting these crappy checks from welfare? We are losing our only two support systems, welfare and family help. Caught between a rock and a hard place. Don't count on either one, but on your own preparations.
END
Blah, blah, www.bisonpress.com

game over

GAME OVER
When you hear "game over", what comes to my mind is the Bill Paxton character in the movie Aliens. "Game Over, man. GAME OVER!". Old farts, their hair still slicked back, jean cuffs rolled up and dreams of Jitterbugging still in their hearts, will think of pinball machines. Now we have a new book out of the same title. "Game Over: how to prosper in a shattered economy" by Stephen Leeb. I didn't much care for one of his older books on profiting from $200 a barrel oil. To my mind, the economy was crap if that happened so you would have precious little time to enjoy the return on that bet. However, I just so happened to come across Game Over in the library. For a new book they sure did hide it rather well. Stuffed in amongst the legal self help books ( I'm sure a mouth breathing patron who had no business outside of the picture book section misfiled it, but one does their suspicions nonetheless ).
*
So, hey, it's a library book. It can only waste my time, not my money. So I went ahead and checked it out. And it is pretty darn good. I finished it a few hours later. Don't go out and buy it, not unless you intend it as a gift for a fence sitter. Well, it is good enough to spend $15 on, but don't buy it unless you won't miss the money. The profit aspect of the book was, essentially, buy gold. It does well in a depression or inflation ( no crap, Sherlock ). The rest of it was stocks to buy to benefit from alternate energy. I didn't much care for that part of the book. What impressed me was his simple, easy to understand, written for laymen, explanation for Peak Oil and how it would effect us. He relabeled the net energy argument as Absolute Peak Oil. We have time to build an alternate energy powered society only if we start in time before we run up against the constraints of Absolute Peak Oil ( when it takes more energy to produce the energy than we get out of it ). One example he gave was windmills. There is more than likely not enough steel to build enough windmills to give us enough energy.
*
Another problem with the book is his undying optimism. He is saying we are totally screwed, yet if we all do the exact right thing we can save ourselves. And he is optimistic that we will. Idiot. Nonetheless, he has written a darn good book pointing out the dangers we face. By being Happy Happy Joy Joy he doesn't scare off any readers. By promising riches he interests everyone through their greed. So go ahead and check this out from the library. You can use it to teach others without scaring them off. If you care. I think we are a little late in the game. If nothing else, resources aside, the credit contraction will halt all conventional energy projects and alternate energy investments. And the little left over from the Feds after they get done burying their banker buddies under huge piles of cash will do very little. The folks that buy $900 toilet seats won't be able to fund much research in non-carbon fuels.
*
If you are struggling to get by, don't buy this book unless you are desperately trying to understand Peak Oil and haven't made up your mind if it warrants concern. If you are already panicked, take the $15 and buy some more rice and beans. That will keep you alive almost another month.
END

guest article

GUEST ARTICLE
Survival Ammo

If ammo gets hard to come by, what will happen? We can cast bullets, even use black powder, but WHAT will you do for primers? I know that they can be made, but wouldn't it be easier to put some away now for the future? They are reasonably priced too. If you mail order them, go in with other people to get a group guy to offset the hazmat $22.50 extra charge or buy them locally.

I CHALLENGE every patriot to put away AT LEAST 1000 primers (More is Better) for what you shoot (Primers cost about $30 per 1000). Even if you don’t have reloading equipment there will be people that do. Put them in a ziplock, throw some desicant in there, put the bag into an ammo box and they will keep for the next 40 years or more. We might have to hand these down to our grandchildren. Folks, we may REALLY NEED these in the future. If not, that means that you can have your brass reloaded on the cheap. There are only a few basic types.
Small Pistol
Large Pistol
Small Rifle
Large Rifle
There are magnum versions too, but these are the basics. Do an internet search as to what your ammo uses and get the right type for what you shoot. Brand really isn’t all that important, although many people have their favorites. Mostly the idea is that they start the process that makes it go BANG!
Stock up on wheel weights. If you want to be sly, tell the tire guys that you are wanting to make fishing sinkers. Offer to sweep their shop or something else for weights if you have more time than money. Barter is good. Even if you don’t cast bullets or reload, there are lots us that do and we need the materials to do it. The weakest links are the primers and the casings, so stock up.

Pick up every casing that you can every time you go shooting. Ask the range workers if you can buy or barter for brass. Even if you don’t shoot that caliber there are those of us who do. Properly stored, brass will last more than our lifetime, and can be reloaded from 3 to 20 times each. There are people still reloading brass they have been shooting since the 1970’s. Not too bad for longevity. Keep the .22 brass too, it can be converted to .223 bullets, but that is for a different post. Berdan primed cases can be converted to boxer. Steel cases can be reloaded, as can aluminum. .223’s that have been damaged on the shoulder or the bent at the mouth can be converted to 7.62 x 25. .308s with the same problems can be made into .45s. There are many uses for spent casings, so keep them all.

We need to prepare for the fight of our lives, so I urge you to aquire these items ASAP. Find out who reloads in your area, and if they don’t have dies for your caliber, you can always buy the dies and put them away for yourself. Most are pretty generic and use 7/8-14 threads, and will work in most modern presses. Many dies are under $35 to reload a caliber. The presses are much like guns, lots of people have them, but don’t have that many supplies to keep them running. The cast iron presses make dandy door stops without the parts to crank out ammo.

The .303 British, 7.62x54R, and 7.62x39 all use the same diameter projectile of .311 - .312, while the .308 and .3006 use a .308. That means that Jim’s .303 can be reloaded with a bargain surplus bullet ( http://www.southernammo.com/products/products.htm#components )for $76 per 1000. (A real deal) These are military pulls that have STEEL in them (Read Poor man’s armor piercing ammo) 147 gn. Copper washed steel jacket. Someone tested this and put a Kevlar sample in front of a 12” diameter tree. The round went through the Kevlar ……and then….through the entire tree!

Cost wise, to reload the .303, even if it is Berdan primed surplus, it could be adapted to a boxer primer, the powder put in, a surplus bullet installed for a total cost of about 20 cents or so if you have brass, and use premium powder. It would be about the same cost for the Mosin Nagant 7.62x54R or 7.62x39.

Just a few powders will do most anything, and again, people have their favorites, but we are talking survival and getting a powder to work for many uses. Unique powder can be adapted to do most any pistol caliber and will also work for just about any shotgun too. One pound will load about 1000 .38 / .357, so it will last awhile. IMR 4350 is good for many rifle loads. If you have your favorites, fine, stock up on those. If I only had 2 powders to stock up on these would do the job.

When you are reloading, keep the old primers. They could be used to make your own buckshot if need be, or you could use your imagination to come up with uses for small projectiles. Think about it, Mr. Claymore. This article is meant to be for entertainment purposes only, don’t try anything dangerous or you may get hurt and Jim or myself is not responsible for anyone’s actions.

Get busy and get the supplies into patriots hands. Barter, trade, pay cash, whatever, but get the tools we will need in the troubled times ahead. Keep the faith, keep your powder dry, and when they come for your guns, give them the little parts first.

Skip in Kansas City
(A Loyal minion)

comic hero

COMIC HERO
Before I forget, look for a guest article tomorrow. Being a guest writer is a mark of distinction and prestige, paying absolutely nothing except Super Loyal Minion brownie points. I don't care about style ( or lack thereof ). In fact, the worse you are the better I'll look. I only care about the topic. So don't worry if you write like I draw ( misshapen stick figures ). Send in your articles and I'll post them on a weekend. Since I have such a large troll population who think I don't know what I'm talking about there should be plenty of submissions from those smarter than I. Or is it smarter than me? I'm sure their grammar is perfect also.
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Today we talk about the comic hero ( no, not the comic book hero ). I was reading an article from the Archdruid Dude ( http://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.com/ ) about recommended books and he listed "Muddling Toward Frugality" by Warren Johnson. Wait I minute, I said to myself, I have that book. Picked up for a few cents at a thrift store, I had never gotten around to reading it. So I pulled it out and started on it and ran across a page that stood out. It tied in with the Grey Man article from Rawles blog last week. He described a book, "The Comedy Of Survival" by Joseph Meeker, and how there are two types of hero's depicted in classical literature. The tragic hero and the comic hero. The tragic hero is the one usually honored. He will not compromise his values. He challenges forces greater than his own. He risks everything for the correct stance. Coming immediately to mind is the well armed militia member waiting to rise up after gun confiscation and smite the un-Constitutional government. These are the kind of hero's we love and wish to be like when we grow up. How many movies have this kind of hero? 99%?
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The problem with this kind of hero is that they are uncompromising. We hate politicians that compromise, yet the individual that won't is both a hero and, depending on your type of view, someone like a terrorist. Every radical, uncompromising stance has an opposite viewpoint. When neither side will concede, wars occur. When you are waving the flag and voting for Bush to send more troops into a foreign country whose only sin was to own oil, do you stop and think of the tens of thousands of civilians killed outright or slowly through lack of medicine or sanitation or through radiation poisoning? Of course you don't. You are uncompromising in your view and to tone down the rhetoric and jingoism would be cause to be thought unpatriotic. I'm not judging those in the military. I think they are doing a fine job. Doing even more than is expected of them. To go back a third or forth time to a combat zone is commendable. My problem is both with the civilian leadership that sends them there and the civilians that encourage it because they won't allow any rational discussion of the topic.
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And to quote from the above source, " ...the tragic hero is usually an unpleasant individual to be with; he takes himself very seriously; he is unwilling to compromise; and he is condescending to anyone who disagrees with him." For all the admirable traits, those are the ones less than commendable. The other kind of hero is the comic hero. He is usually thought of as a buffoon. Silly, takes few things seriously. His goal is to survive and enjoy himself as much as possible. He doesn't want to fight, but merely to try to outwit his enemies and those in authority. Living life, surviving. Those are important and no cause is worth dying for. Life is not a struggle between right and wrong, but a thing to enjoy itself. This could be termed the pragmatic viewpoint. The bad thing with this type is that they don't take much seriously. They aren't interested in your crisis de jour. Most would be termed the sheeple. Both have good and bad points, but ask yourself this.
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Which view will help you adapt and survive?
END

making coffee

MAKING COFFEE
Last summer I posted an article on solar coffee. In essence, you make it just like solar tea. Leaves ( in this case grounds ) in the water, set in the sun all day in a glass jar. The next morning you heat and serve. Even when it got colder, we just went from placing them outside to putting them in the sun on the kitchen counter. We also used Mason jars which we already had around. Now, this was not the greatest tasting coffee. It was rather weak. However, we were in full frugal mode and I wasn't going to spend one extra cent on grounds or propane. It got us through to the first few paychecks while I got back on my feet. Of course, as soon as I could I upgraded. I bought a $13 french press to try out. That made a lot better coffee. It tasted a lot better while using no more grounds or propane.
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For a time all was just peachy on the coffee front. I broke the first coffee press, but I blamed myself. It was during a real bad cold snap and everything was staying frozen. The toothpaste, the dish soap. For laundry soap I would take a free cup of powdered soap the laundromat offers and toss it in my half empty liquid soap bottle ( the bottom half staying frozen ), add a little hot water and shake it up to turn the powder to liquid ( I hate powder soap- it doesn't work well with cold water washes which is how I wash ). We barely kept the water jugs from freezing solid, being able to squeeze a bit of slush from them after placing them by the heater. I didn't quite have to melt snow, but it was close. I just got two freezers from work, no charge. They were destined for the dump ( faulty compressors ) so I got them. I'm going to use them for water storage next winter. Anyway, I thought I had killed the coffee press by tapping it too hard to dislodge grounds while it was so cold. So I confidently ordered another two units, thinking I would just be more careful next time.
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And careful we have been. We treated that sucker with kid gloves. Always being careful, always only gently caressing rather than rough housing it. But the piece of crap still broke after a few months. The cross braces on the screen ( you soak the grounds for three minutes, then push down the plunger that is a flat screen on the bottom ) just broke off in several pieces. The same thing that had happened to the first press. They advertise that the carafe is unbreakable. Yeah, it sure it. But the other parts are flimsy crap. In the comments section at Amazon when I bought the press, we were warned about just that. But he said after a year of use. We only got two or three months of use. Granted, it was used half a dozen times a day, a dozen on the weekend when I don't suck up free work coffee, but you wouldn't think that would shorten its life span so much. But evidently you are only guaranteed a years use if you use it once a day.
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I was pretty hacked off. $13 plus shipping for the first unit, $25 for the second two. Out over $40 for less than six months of coffee making. Well, I still have the third unit unused, but I'm out the money no matter how you look at it. I'm sure they have french presses out there that are built far better. But I was done with plastic coffee makers. Or anything else as flimsy. Well, it was time to break out the percolator. We've had one in storage for years. I had not used it since I envisioned extra propane use. You know, let the sucker sit there for ten minutes boiling away. Since we didn't have a wood stove, propane use was an issue. The french press was great because you just needed to bring the water to a boil and that was it. You made one cup at a time ( it claimed three cups but where I come from four ounces does not make a cup of coffee ) and had little water to boil. I carefully measured out the same water and grounds as the press used. Started it up and as soon as it started making noise, I poured a cup. Already it tasted better than the press. Then I put it back on the flame and as soon as it made noise I turned down the heat and let percolate five minutes on low. It groaned, farted, gurgled and hiccuped, making every noise imaginable while it worked away. I poured it and it was blacker than my ex-wife's heart ( which, as a point of reference, compared to a black hole ).
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Ah! Glorious and delicious mud. When I started out drinking coffee I was in the military. Everyone made fun of the brew, jokes to the effect a spoon stood straight up it it, but not only did it warm you up on the coldest morning but it woke you up even after a night of poor quality sleep interrupted by the infamous fire watch. And here it was again, the glorious military mud. Better than Starbucks. I had accidentally rediscovered the best coffee around. I had never thought it was because a percolator had been used. I guess I had imagined they just used a lot of grounds. No, it was the percolator. I'll never go back to french press or drip makers again ( an unfortunate side effect here is that now my free coffee at work tastes like crap ). And this was using Wal-Mart coffee. I know a lot of folks will disagree with me on this. They are a lot fussier when it comes to coffee. They want fresh roasted beans, filtered water, etc. I'm not that refined. I just like bitter, strong and boiling hot. If you need a recipe I used a quarter cup of grounds to 50 ounces of water and let it make noise for about five minutes. My unit is aluminum with a cheap plastic bulb on top. My Amazon product page, www.bisonpress.com , has a small one that is similar for about $12. I also added one that has no bulb on top ( the only thing that seems would break ), about $20.
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So, what about my fuel use concerns? I think they were highly overblown. It takes the same energy to bring each to a boil, and then you perk on a very low flame ( if it isn't turned down it boils over from the spout ). So the extra five minutes had almost no extra fuel being used. Plus, being enclosed, the extra you leave on the stove can be heated with very little fuel. Less than bringing the next batch of french press water to a boil. So, I either come out even on fuel use or I use just a slight bit more. Considering the french press will break and the aluminum percolator won't, a long term, post collapse coffee maker should be the perk machine. As a bonus, it makes much better tasting coffee for the same amount of grounds. This is the second time this week I must kick my own ass for trying to get fancy and not sticking with the simplest tool. My bad.
END

compact trash

COMPACT TRASH
Thank you, loyal minion, for today's idea. I was really at a loss for one. I mean, what can you say about the tens of millions of unemployed Chinese, other than it's another sign that the collapse is global? Another Japanese firm lays off fifteen thousand, same answer. Macy's lays off seven thousand isn't exactly news. Who needs to buy the same garment Wal-Mart sells at five times the price? So while I was enjoying the spastic twitches of the global trading corpse that still thinks its alive ( like a headless chicken running around ), it wasn't really Bison article worthy. So just in time today's idea came in an e-mail. Also, before we start, here is a little clue for the trolls with Google Earth. The post office assigns mailing addresses as they are solicited, out in my neck of the scrub. The street address is shared by any number of people not living next to each other. I'm several miles away from the cluster box where I get my mail. Or am I in Africa, as some seem to think? Also, I like the hole in the earth comment. Now that's humor.
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Remember the "new" Twilight Zone episode where the two guys go into their fallout shelter? In the end one goes stir crazy and flees, only to be shot by the other since he doesn't want fallout brought back in. What got my attention was that the shelter was almost full of garbage bags. Food and supplies were planned for, but the waste problem was not. Now, let's think about our own garbage, even without a shelter. When is trash pick up going to fail? In winter, when the snow gets too heavy and everyone is stuck. Or when the electricity is out and fuel can't be pumped. You aren't living in the country, so you can't just burn it ( and even after a collapse burning might invite unwanted attention ). And you'll quickly run out of garbage can space after the first week. Let's say you can't put it in the garage, as the dog is in there at night and will chew on it. Or, you don't want to invite rodents to do the same. You can't dig a hole in the ground because its frozen. You can't leave it in the house if you have heat because of the smell.
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The only thing left to do is to compact it. And don't give me the "I'll whip out my handy dandy credit card charging a mere 30% and buy another trash can". One, this is how to do things cheaply. And two, you forgot to do that and are snowed in now. I have two trash cans, side by side. Both are small enough I use the plastic shopping bags for can liners. One I line, the other I don't. The lined can gets the wet trash. Food cans, cat turds, meat wrappers. The unlined one gets anything dry like chip bags or cellophane wrap. At the end of the week I empty that into a 13 gallon trash bag, along with the sealed up shopping bags of nasty stuff. One tall kitchen trash bag holds it all ( the dry stuff keeps getting smashed down all week ). Now, what if I couldn't get into town with my trash? I don't own any metal trash cans since I don't have trash pick up. But you can do the same thing I do. Store your trash bags in your vehicle. I don't drive to work, so it is no big deal for me. You will, so you either store it in the spare vehicle or put it in your trunk. I don't put it in my pick up bed because the neighborhood dogs are big enough to jump up into it ( my tail gate is a two by six wood board ). Since I only generate the one bag it is easy enough just putting it on the floor boards.
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But back to compacting. Before you take out your BOB and auto tool box from the trunk for trash, compact it so it takes up only a quarter of the room. Have two trash cans, one wet and one dry. Get yourself some cheap packing tape. After a few days, take the dry and stuff it in a sack or wrap some newspaper around it and wrap the tape tightly around it to shrink its size. Then store that one anywhere, since it has no food on it ( dump crumbs into the wet can, rinse out liquids, etc ). Collapse all boxes flat ( such as cereal boxes ) and tear them up as you discard them. With metal cans, either smash them flat if you can figure out how to keep the food from splattering, or stuff them full with other trash, such as vegetable waste. Take milk cartons and flatten them in the sink after they empty. Take anything with good plastic and clean and reuse so it doesn't go into the trash. Almost nothing should stay its original size. Then, into the trunk it goes.
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Another unenviable task, playing with your trash. Enjoy.
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