center target

CENTER TARGET

Again with the guest articles all weekend. 

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Here’s a joke for you. A little boy is in the tub washing up. He looks down at his testicles and then up at his mother. “Mom, are these my brains?” “Not yet, son.”

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Okay, I keep forgetting so I thought I should bring it up. A week or two ago a loyal minion sent me a snail mail outlining for several pages a brilliant strategy for dealing with the bank and your mortgage ( Homebuyers Beware: Who's Ripping You Off Now?--What You Must Know About the New Rules of Mortgage and Credit ). As in, getting the bank to eat the loss. It entailed illegal moves, risky maneuvers and most likely jail time if not outright rendition. It was diabolically clever. Alas, I won’t share it with you as it can only mean trouble for me. Even if I am “protected” under selective freedom of speech, I still have to worry about arbitrary enforcement. It could be laughed off, or the banker elite could have no sense of humor about it and clamp down hard. I’m sure the NSA ( The Shadow Factory: The NSA from 9/11 to the Eavesdropping on America ) can monitor all the blogs for key words such as “screw the banks” or “don’t pay the parasitic scum sucking anal whores”. It is one thing to advocate or report jingle mail, quite another to put forth more drastic and permanent solutions. I don’t bring this up to tease, but to say thank you for the input and hard work to my mystery writer.

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Officially, we have been out of a recession since June of 2009. I don’t know if this speaks poorly of our elected officials that actually believe we would swallow such a load of outright lies and bovine dung or if the public is that flippant ignorant. Perhaps it is a bit of both. How many months of a half million new unemployment claims have we had since we’ve officially been out of recession ( Recession Storming: Thriving In Downturns Through Superior Marketing, Pricing And Product Strategies )? Officially, I love all my minions and wish you all the best. In reality, some of you are real asshats and need to be one of first in the stewpot. But if I keep repeating the official line everyone will love me back and be confused about my true feelings.

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I’m going to do my usual intellectual theft today ( if you steal an idea it is research, if you steal the order of the words its plagiarism ) and take an idea from Howard Ruff ( How to Prosper During the Coming Bad Years: a Crash Course in Personal and Financial Survival ). But in return I’ll go ahead and give you a heads up on his newest book ( How To Prosper In The Age Of Obamanomics: A Ruff Plan for Hard Times Ahead ) so he can profit from our association. I didn’t like the book before this, it was a terribly out of date “updated” form of his original “How To Prosper”. I can’t vouch for his latest. It could be another underpaid ghost writer or the ravings of an old and senile mind. I’ll be looking into ordering it but I can’t say much more than that right now. Okay, his concept was a number of circles in each other, like a dartboard or archery target. The center ring was the most nutritious foods with each ring surrounding it less appealing. You were supposed to work your way out, first acquiring the center ring ( I think I’m remembering this correctly-it’s been a few years since I’ve reread the original ). A minion commented yesterday that this prepping stuff was overwhelming and that confused me a bit. Rawles Super Deluxe Yuppie Plan Requiring A Half Million Dollars, that is overwhelming. The Super Deluxe Redneck Frugal Plan is as simple as some wheat, a gun, a water filter and some LED’s. But I understand the statement because the redneck plan should be looked at as fulfilling the requirements in many circles. You achieve the requirements in the target and then work your way out to the next. I don’t preach the Best Way, I preach the Affordable Way. Anybody from a college student to a retired pensioner can afford the simple basics. Then, because time is more precious than money, you’ve beaten the race. Then you entrench and better yourself.

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Collapse ( Confronting Collapse: The Crisis of Energy and Money in a Post Peak Oil World ) is never orderly or on schedule. Yuppie Scum that incrementally accumulate the best of all equipment will die with one quarter or one half of all the best preps. Frugal folks ( 90% of us ) will immediately have enough to keep them alive. If there is still time, they improve and add to what is already there. If society takes the Big Flush tomorrow, you are safe even if it is uncomfortable and miserable. You can eat, drink and protect yourself. In this case, quantity is far more important than quality. Quality comes much later. Anyone can scrape up a few hundred dollars. Since it doesn’t have to be the whole amount, you can do it $50 or $100 at a time. Your minimum goal is a years supply of wheat, a grinder, a water filter and a gun and ammo. Since LED’s ( Westinghouse 03466 Nanolux 3-Watt G19 LED Bulb, White ) are so cheap they are not even really on the prep budget. The dollar store has them and their batteries, for goodness sake. A years supply of food, thirteen thousand gallons of safe water, protection. Throw in a tarp and a few wool blankets ( Italian OD Wool Blanket ) and you are all set. Wheat, because it has the highest protein content of all the readily available grains. It isn’t a complete protein, but hopefully you can trap enough rats to supplement it. Corn is only half the protein and rice that can be stored is without the nutrients of a whole grain. You can stay alive. This is the important thing- a few hundred bucks will keep you alive for a year after the collapse.

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That is your minimum level of preparedness. It will do the trick if no more time is available. Next, time allowing as well as extra money, add beans to your food supply. You can get a complete protein by adding beans to a whole grain. Meat can be hunted or trapped to supplement ( as noted by minions, just a little meat in a dish exponentially adds to your fullness and protein count ) your stores. In times of no fresh meat, the beans will do for the added protein. Living on wheat alone is a bad idea, but it can be done if needed. If you buy six months of wheat and three of beans ( the same cost as twelve months of wheat only ), you die after nine months of a complete meal plan. If you just have wheat you die after a year with slight malnutrition. I would rather be malnourished than dead, which is why a basic, better than nothing diet is just wheat. But as soon as possible afterwards, start getting beans. Next, add ammo ( SupX Power-Pnt 22LR 40gr /100 ) or at least reloading supplies ( Abc's Of Reloading: The Definitive Guide For Novice To Expert ). Ammo is far more important than more firearms. Only then would I add junk land to my preps. And only really cheap and affordable land. It might be better to have a place to store your year of wheat, as homelessness is just around the corner for most of you. But wheat, water and guns are the first priority. You don’t know when the global food crunch will go critical. If you never get land you can improvise a squat. You can’t improvise calories. From there it is whatever- solar panels, precious metals ( Portable Wealth: The Complete Guide to Precious Metals Investment ), better arms, non-electric tools.

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There are hundreds more skills or pieces of equipment. But just work from your worst, better than nothing supplies up to your luxuries and improvements. Get your most affordable quantity now, immediately, then you can slow down and work on quality as finances permit. That is the nice thing about starting at the bottom. It assures survival regardless of finances and time. And every payday after is a bonus, not a race to save your life. I know, covered many times before. But it never hurts to reiterate basic principles.

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The Official Bison Web Site http://www.bisonpress.com/
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My e-mail is jimd303@netzero.com
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Anyone can submit a guest article. No minimum word length, no writing skill necessary ( just get the idea across ). You retain copyright ( this must be your original writing ) and I’ll just use the once. I’ve yet to turn down an article, just don’t use the N Bomb or libel another that can sue me. Send by e-mail ( please, label as “guest article” so I can find it easily later ). Payment will be your removal from my enemies list.
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