OUR DECLINE IS BETTER THAN YOURS
Before I say anything else, please note that I will continue to post drivel until either the day I die or it becomes uneconomical to do so ( for instance, if a tax was levied on the Web ). But there will be big changes afoot here. I’ll continue to post here Monday through Friday. Even if I really went south I’d still post at least once a week ( don’t worry, I don’t think it will come to that ). I just think I don’t care all that much anymore. I’ve posted for five years, almost every waking hour thinking about the subject of our collapse. I think I’m bored. Not only am I bored, I think it is getting harder and harder coming up with fresh subjects. I’ve always had my down periods, and then rebounded. I’ve always repeated, but managed to make up for it with new insights. I just think all that is getting harder and harder. I’m not burned out as far as being able to write, but burned out as far as being so inspired and motivated. Most of you are faithful minions and I want to keep this together, but I can’t help but wonder if its gone from me bringing up new things to ponder to just us sitting around and rehashing the same crap. I’ll keep writing, but this won’t be my main purpose in life anymore. I’m going to stop spending so much money buying books for research, and I’m going to stop caring so much if the Amazon commissions drop. If I’m not spending $120 a month on books, it won’t matter if I don’t get double that amount in commissions and Google ads and book revenues. This is going from a consuming all encompassing passion to just a hobby. And really, how long is it going to hold together anyhow? The post office and the Internet are both on borrowed time. Netflix is a business model in trouble, and so are blogs relying on ads. Last weekend I sat for hours and just pondered the upcoming pit project. It was a nice change of pace from trying to pull an article out of my butt. I think it is time for more Jim time. And it is necessary that I pull myself off the extra money tit before I become addicted. And the “spoiling myself with expensive books” tit. That one will be harder, but the extra money is going to preps. Some part of this is naked fear we are almost at the edge. I’m going to get serious about reloading components and especially rimfire. I played “big heepum business tycoon” role long enough. Time to stop investing in a micro-business and just go for more supplies. I’ll of course blather more on this another time.
*
Please support Bison by buying through the Amazon graphics above and to the right of each article. Or, visit
http://bisonpress.com/affiliatebooks.html
You can purchase anything, not just the linked item. Enter Amazon through my item link and then go to whatever other item you desire. As long as you don’t leave Amazon until after the order is placed, I get credit for your purchase. Thank you.
*
NPR was interviewing some author who wrote a book on North Korea. You know, that relatively harmless country we love to have lined up as a back up Evil Regime Of The Ages just in case a few ragheads with rocket launchers kick our ass in Afghanistan and we have to declare it pacified and desert it ( I’m sure most Afghans are wondering what friggin country we think we are rebuilding when they are still living in tribes ). We have to have SOME country to hate. It gives the sheeple something else to worry about in between Super Bowl Wardrobe Malfunctions, lest they shift their gaze to Quantitative Easing #6. It was fiction, but based on his stay there. Diane Rheem and him were breathlessly droning on how comical that government is. For instance, the one tourist hotel open only had two floors available. Our brave intrepid writer snuck around the deserted floors and noticed how all the other rooms were being stripped of fixtures to keep up appearances in the two open areas. And this was supposed to make us all superior and feel good about our standard of living. Really? Who has bridges falling into rivers? Who has vacant houses being copper mined, and the copper shipped over to China? At least the North Koreans are keeping their raw materials in house. Then he went on about how everyone is brainwashed. Really? Who supposedly has a Constitution? Who’s nation is full of uneducated idiots that think indefinite detention without charges is Constitutional? We blindly go alone with the Kenyans declarations of a dictator and spew about how we are the freest country on earth, and THEY are the brainwashed ones? Then there was some other nonsense about incompetent spying. I’m not sure how competent the TSA is compared to any Third World group of wanna-be KGB goons. Perhaps they are more professional than those jack booted thugs in, say, the Congo, but I wouldn’t put the rent money on that wager.
*
In short, we are as sad and pathetic as North Korea, but far more dangerous as we have more precise nuclear missiles. We have nothing to be gloating about. Yes, I love the idea of America. Too bad it’s a foreign land I’ll never find. And no, I wouldn’t
rather be living in Korea. But if we lie to ourselves and pretend nothing is amiss, nothing will ever change. You can’t fix a problem you don’t admit to having. But I think the thing that really chaps my ass is they insult our intelligence assuming we will buy into this crap. Of course, it could just be it underlines of apathy. Or it could be the Wet Spaghetti Theory Of Propaganda. Throw enough half baked notions against the wall and some is apt to be done enough that it will stick. Bombard us with enough manure and something is going to grow. Repeat a lie enough times and the most resistant will eventually just accept it so it stops bothering them. So why do I cry and you listen? Perhaps its just our brand of circus to entertain us through the collapse. Cheers.
END
The Official Bison Web Site http://www.bisonpress.com/
*
My e-mail is jimd303@netzero.com
*
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.
*
By the by, all my writing is copyrighted. For the obtuse out there.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Monday, January 30, 2012
frugal move
FRUGAL MOVE
Before we get into the meat of today’s article, and I’m sure there is no hurry because most of you who’ve stuck around a few years have heard it all before and all you new minions will swiftly desert away to a nice safe Yuppie blog where no one panics or gets upset that the middle class way of life is doomed ( and that includes pampered wives, bug out four wheel drives and a job that allows you to buy twenty three semi-automatic weapons ) as soon as I mention such forbidden words as Peak Oil or PODA ( post oil dark ages ) so I’m being a swell fellow and allowing you this heads up to do so, we’ll talk about today’s little news item with Freddie Mac or Fannie May or whichever Federal Reserve Bank bailout recipient it was that just had an “expose” about how they are actually out to hump you dry. I’m not the least bit surprised about this but apparently National Pravda Radio is all atwitter over said event. It seems FM is taking out derivatives betting against its customers being able to get their loans at a lower interest rate. Everyone is shouting “conflict of interest”. I’m wondering when these idiots are going to learn that “they” are indeed out to get you. I’m also wondering how hard it is to figure out that a bank loses money if you pay them less interest. Then I absentmindedly wonder how close to going belly up these folks at FM are if they are STILL playing with derivatives even after the real estate bubble, and how indicative they are of our whole financial system.
*
Please support Bison by buying through the Amazon graphics above and to the right of each article. Or, visit
http://bisonpress.com/affiliatebooks.html
You can purchase anything, not just the linked item. Enter Amazon through my item link and then go to whatever other item you desire. As long as you don’t leave Amazon until after the order is placed, I get credit for your purchase. Thank you.
*
Because that is our main worry, isn’t it? We have no idea when the entire system takes a big wet runny dump. The people in the World Bank or suchlike are crying on cue to sell the idea of more quantitative easing. The gold bugs are crying imminent crash to sell their wares. The freeze dried food guys the same, and I cry Apocalypse Now through good times and bad. But it is just common sense that kicking the can down the road eventually leads to the road running out. We know it is coming but nobody knows when or how bad. I think we should assume the worse just to play it safe. Which means getting the hell out of the big city. Granted, you could die just as easy in a small town, but the odds are better when you get out of an urban jungle. I still think you should bug out now, while there are no hostile crowds in your way, before the government can blockade you in ( the Warsaw Jews put up one hell of a commendable and courageous fight but in the end they were trapped ) and while you can still earn a living while you learn to live off grid ( it ain’t rocket science but it still requires practice and trial and error ). I’ve harped on this for years but I’m still getting that bad feeling like the cliff is near ( although to be fair I’m a bit of a nervous type and might be overreacting rather than picking up on a cosmic vibe only the reptilian part of the brain is tuned to ). Which might be why I’m so up in arms over “saving” the blog from imminent financial ruin. I might just be thinking it is doomed from grid crash and I’m picking up on the wrong worry. But who the hell knows. The nervous weasel makes a lot of wrong calls diving for safety. I’ve harped on junk land not because it is the perfect answer ( I don’t sell perfect, the Yuppie’s do ) but because it is the affordable answer. But I won’t try to resell you on the concept. You will either glom on to it or ignore it as is your wont. Here we just talk money, how to get to your land.
*
Anybody can afford to move to a piece of junk land. What not everybody can afford is being able to move all their stuff to it. Your stuff is very expensive to move. A U-Haul is, let’s just ballpark it, about a buck a mile to rent the unit. And about fifty cents a mile for gasoline. This ain’t anything to worry about across the state, but it adds up quick across the country. You need to figure out if it is cheaper to do one of three things. Move it all, move some and replace some, or replace all. Of course, you can start over smaller and cheaper. You can use the excuse of needing to move to drastically par down your possessions if you so desire. Once you stop using your crap as an excuse, you will find that moving is as cheap as a Greyhound bus ticket or a discount plane ticket. Or, just as cheap as the price to fill your gas tank ( if you get thirty miles to the gallon, it will cost only three hundred bucks to move coast to coast, baring mechanical failure ). That U-haul will run you over four grand. Which is more than your land probably cost you. Now, I understand that we are all different. One of you has more tied up in ammunition than four grand, another has tens of thousands of dollars in books needed for reference as you write for a living. I can’t cover everyone’s situation because I don’t know them. I don’t know who has sick relatives, who has a nearby farm to go to, etc.
*
I do know that in my own experience, paring my possessions down to a few duffle bags gave me the opportunity to move whenever and wherever I chose. I’ve lived most places other than Yankeeland. And when I hated it I just moved on with little lose. No investment, so no worries. That of course was before my children or most of my wives, but I’ve also just dumped all my prep gear and lit out half way across the country and started over again. Dumping all your possessions allows you to move freely about the country ( I think that was an old Southwest Airlines commercial ) and to start over smarter. I can’t tell you if that is as smart right now, collapse timeframe unknown, but it can’t be much worse than living in an almost guaranteed death trap. In short, moving to a safer place has nothing to do with financial ability and everything to do with your frame of mind. If you want it, it is as easy as can be. But for how much longer?
END
The Official Bison Web Site http://www.bisonpress.com/
*
My e-mail is jimd303@netzero.com
*
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.
*
By the by, all my writing is copyrighted. For the obtuse out there.
Before we get into the meat of today’s article, and I’m sure there is no hurry because most of you who’ve stuck around a few years have heard it all before and all you new minions will swiftly desert away to a nice safe Yuppie blog where no one panics or gets upset that the middle class way of life is doomed ( and that includes pampered wives, bug out four wheel drives and a job that allows you to buy twenty three semi-automatic weapons ) as soon as I mention such forbidden words as Peak Oil or PODA ( post oil dark ages ) so I’m being a swell fellow and allowing you this heads up to do so, we’ll talk about today’s little news item with Freddie Mac or Fannie May or whichever Federal Reserve Bank bailout recipient it was that just had an “expose” about how they are actually out to hump you dry. I’m not the least bit surprised about this but apparently National Pravda Radio is all atwitter over said event. It seems FM is taking out derivatives betting against its customers being able to get their loans at a lower interest rate. Everyone is shouting “conflict of interest”. I’m wondering when these idiots are going to learn that “they” are indeed out to get you. I’m also wondering how hard it is to figure out that a bank loses money if you pay them less interest. Then I absentmindedly wonder how close to going belly up these folks at FM are if they are STILL playing with derivatives even after the real estate bubble, and how indicative they are of our whole financial system.
*
Please support Bison by buying through the Amazon graphics above and to the right of each article. Or, visit
http://bisonpress.com/affiliatebooks.html
You can purchase anything, not just the linked item. Enter Amazon through my item link and then go to whatever other item you desire. As long as you don’t leave Amazon until after the order is placed, I get credit for your purchase. Thank you.
*
Because that is our main worry, isn’t it? We have no idea when the entire system takes a big wet runny dump. The people in the World Bank or suchlike are crying on cue to sell the idea of more quantitative easing. The gold bugs are crying imminent crash to sell their wares. The freeze dried food guys the same, and I cry Apocalypse Now through good times and bad. But it is just common sense that kicking the can down the road eventually leads to the road running out. We know it is coming but nobody knows when or how bad. I think we should assume the worse just to play it safe. Which means getting the hell out of the big city. Granted, you could die just as easy in a small town, but the odds are better when you get out of an urban jungle. I still think you should bug out now, while there are no hostile crowds in your way, before the government can blockade you in ( the Warsaw Jews put up one hell of a commendable and courageous fight but in the end they were trapped ) and while you can still earn a living while you learn to live off grid ( it ain’t rocket science but it still requires practice and trial and error ). I’ve harped on this for years but I’m still getting that bad feeling like the cliff is near ( although to be fair I’m a bit of a nervous type and might be overreacting rather than picking up on a cosmic vibe only the reptilian part of the brain is tuned to ). Which might be why I’m so up in arms over “saving” the blog from imminent financial ruin. I might just be thinking it is doomed from grid crash and I’m picking up on the wrong worry. But who the hell knows. The nervous weasel makes a lot of wrong calls diving for safety. I’ve harped on junk land not because it is the perfect answer ( I don’t sell perfect, the Yuppie’s do ) but because it is the affordable answer. But I won’t try to resell you on the concept. You will either glom on to it or ignore it as is your wont. Here we just talk money, how to get to your land.
*
Anybody can afford to move to a piece of junk land. What not everybody can afford is being able to move all their stuff to it. Your stuff is very expensive to move. A U-Haul is, let’s just ballpark it, about a buck a mile to rent the unit. And about fifty cents a mile for gasoline. This ain’t anything to worry about across the state, but it adds up quick across the country. You need to figure out if it is cheaper to do one of three things. Move it all, move some and replace some, or replace all. Of course, you can start over smaller and cheaper. You can use the excuse of needing to move to drastically par down your possessions if you so desire. Once you stop using your crap as an excuse, you will find that moving is as cheap as a Greyhound bus ticket or a discount plane ticket. Or, just as cheap as the price to fill your gas tank ( if you get thirty miles to the gallon, it will cost only three hundred bucks to move coast to coast, baring mechanical failure ). That U-haul will run you over four grand. Which is more than your land probably cost you. Now, I understand that we are all different. One of you has more tied up in ammunition than four grand, another has tens of thousands of dollars in books needed for reference as you write for a living. I can’t cover everyone’s situation because I don’t know them. I don’t know who has sick relatives, who has a nearby farm to go to, etc.
*
I do know that in my own experience, paring my possessions down to a few duffle bags gave me the opportunity to move whenever and wherever I chose. I’ve lived most places other than Yankeeland. And when I hated it I just moved on with little lose. No investment, so no worries. That of course was before my children or most of my wives, but I’ve also just dumped all my prep gear and lit out half way across the country and started over again. Dumping all your possessions allows you to move freely about the country ( I think that was an old Southwest Airlines commercial ) and to start over smarter. I can’t tell you if that is as smart right now, collapse timeframe unknown, but it can’t be much worse than living in an almost guaranteed death trap. In short, moving to a safer place has nothing to do with financial ability and everything to do with your frame of mind. If you want it, it is as easy as can be. But for how much longer?
END
The Official Bison Web Site http://www.bisonpress.com/
*
My e-mail is jimd303@netzero.com
*
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.
*
By the by, all my writing is copyrighted. For the obtuse out there.
Friday, January 27, 2012
when you're in a collapse
WHEN YOU’RE IN A COLLAPSE
Let’s just say, for the sake or argument, that I’m wrong. Let’s just say, acting on supreme ignorance in the face of facts, that Peak Oil never declines in our lifetime and we stay at Bumpy Plateau. In that case, I’d be wrong about collapse and the Druid Dude would be right about long decline. Hey, anything is possible. I’ve always thought a mortgage was a bad idea, but I was twenty years early in my paranoia. I’ve always hated cars, mainly because of the financial drain but also a lot of that is a fierce hatred against the whoring bastard insurance industry for jamming compulsory coverage down our throats. But by and large we still aren’t to the point where you can’t afford a car if you want one. So my timing really sucks on that one. I moved out to junk land only when a combination of economic collapse nationally met local sky high rents ( I knew I’d have to move eventually as rent went up 10% a year ) and then those two combined with the family planning on moving out of the area. In other words, I wasn’t a supreme strategic planner as much as I was just lucky. I’m usually right about the trend, but usually not for the reason I think, and never correct about the timing. I think the total collapse is just around the corner, but look at my track record before panicking.
*
But here is my point. Even if I’m wrong, I could be right. As they say, when your neighbor loses a job it is a recession but when you lose your job it is a Depression. The same can be said of a collapse verses a decline. During a decline, you could very well end up dead or penniless and homeless. Let’s go back a short period in history. How about just the first half of the last century? You weren’t alive then, but it isn’t such oldie and moldy history that you might want to discard it. When the Bolsheviks overthrew the Czar, and Russia turned into the Soviet Union, Russia was never in a collapse. In general, food still got into the cities and you didn’t have mass casualties. Not die-off levels anyway. Society was never in danger of collapsing. But if you got caught in between warring factions, you ended up dead. Even if you didn’t starve, you probably had malnutrition and health issues. Did you get enough fuel? In short, you were in a collapse, personally. Looking back, in a macro sense, life in general went on. But even without a collapse, a large segment of the society suffered. Look at Germany at the end of WWII. Civilians were dying left and right. Starvation was rampant ( between the end of the fighting and the relief shipments from the US, there was plenty of time for plenty of folks to starve ). History shows a change of leadership, a continuity of governance. But people still died. Calling this a long decline rather than a collapse was technically true looking at the vast forest. Looking at the trees individually tells a different story.
*
Please support Bison by buying through the Amazon graphics above and to the right of each article. Or, visit
http://bisonpress.com/affiliatebooks.html
You can purchase anything, not just the linked item. Enter Amazon through my item link and then go to whatever other item you desire. As long as you don’t leave Amazon until after the order is placed, I get credit for your purchase. Thank you.
*
Now, people die everyday. Just because you are one of them doesn’t mean civilization is collapsing. I’m talking here instead of mass death and destruction that is hidden in the bigger trend. How can you call Rome a slow decline when invading barbarians sacked the city ( killing all males and violated the females and selling the children into slavery ), food shortages caused malnutrition which exasperated the effects of widespread plague, and hyperinflation wiped out your savings? That was a civilization collapse to the people that went through it. Because it took a few hundred years before the city was a deserted overgrown meadow doesn’t mean people didn’t die as if it were a collapse. Die-offs are messy. I’d state that the majority did NOT slowly adjust over several generations. The majority died violent deaths. How else do you have such a severe population drop? Remember that civilization collapse is resource depletion. To get the population back into equilibrium with the diminished productivity of the land, most must die. And most do not die peacefully in their sleep.
*
Assuming that we do stay at the Bumpy Plateau ( the term describing the maxed out production of oil with blips up and down but staying within a certain range ), civilization per se has not yet collapsed. But far below that general trend, a lot of messy reconfigurations are going on. Tribes are fighting, natural disaster victims are receiving no help, infrastructure is not being replaced, quality of life declines and the unnatural death rates increase. Just like we’ve been seeing for the last five years or so. Do you honest injun really think New Orleans fifth ward, the island of Haiti ( okay, half the island comprising the country ), or Japans industrial city are ever going to be rebuilt? Do you think it will be safe to fish the Gulf within our lifetime? Do you think crime is going to decrease in Detroit? Who thinks stability will return to the middle east? The place is falling apart and slapping a fresh coat of paint in the front room doesn’t change things. We are already looking in the rear view mirror of the start of the decline, and there is no guarantee that a general collapse won’t happen. And a greater than even probability that your own personal collapse can occur any time. Sure, all the survival writers called for evacuation of urban areas in the seventies. And they were wrong. What did they lose? Future book sales. If you are wrong and stay where you are, what do you lose? Your life. Wake up about what you are betting.
END
The Official Bison Web Site http://www.bisonpress.com/
*
My e-mail is jimd303@netzero.com
*
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.
*
By the by, all my writing is copyrighted. For the obtuse out there.
Let’s just say, for the sake or argument, that I’m wrong. Let’s just say, acting on supreme ignorance in the face of facts, that Peak Oil never declines in our lifetime and we stay at Bumpy Plateau. In that case, I’d be wrong about collapse and the Druid Dude would be right about long decline. Hey, anything is possible. I’ve always thought a mortgage was a bad idea, but I was twenty years early in my paranoia. I’ve always hated cars, mainly because of the financial drain but also a lot of that is a fierce hatred against the whoring bastard insurance industry for jamming compulsory coverage down our throats. But by and large we still aren’t to the point where you can’t afford a car if you want one. So my timing really sucks on that one. I moved out to junk land only when a combination of economic collapse nationally met local sky high rents ( I knew I’d have to move eventually as rent went up 10% a year ) and then those two combined with the family planning on moving out of the area. In other words, I wasn’t a supreme strategic planner as much as I was just lucky. I’m usually right about the trend, but usually not for the reason I think, and never correct about the timing. I think the total collapse is just around the corner, but look at my track record before panicking.
*
But here is my point. Even if I’m wrong, I could be right. As they say, when your neighbor loses a job it is a recession but when you lose your job it is a Depression. The same can be said of a collapse verses a decline. During a decline, you could very well end up dead or penniless and homeless. Let’s go back a short period in history. How about just the first half of the last century? You weren’t alive then, but it isn’t such oldie and moldy history that you might want to discard it. When the Bolsheviks overthrew the Czar, and Russia turned into the Soviet Union, Russia was never in a collapse. In general, food still got into the cities and you didn’t have mass casualties. Not die-off levels anyway. Society was never in danger of collapsing. But if you got caught in between warring factions, you ended up dead. Even if you didn’t starve, you probably had malnutrition and health issues. Did you get enough fuel? In short, you were in a collapse, personally. Looking back, in a macro sense, life in general went on. But even without a collapse, a large segment of the society suffered. Look at Germany at the end of WWII. Civilians were dying left and right. Starvation was rampant ( between the end of the fighting and the relief shipments from the US, there was plenty of time for plenty of folks to starve ). History shows a change of leadership, a continuity of governance. But people still died. Calling this a long decline rather than a collapse was technically true looking at the vast forest. Looking at the trees individually tells a different story.
*
Please support Bison by buying through the Amazon graphics above and to the right of each article. Or, visit
http://bisonpress.com/affiliatebooks.html
You can purchase anything, not just the linked item. Enter Amazon through my item link and then go to whatever other item you desire. As long as you don’t leave Amazon until after the order is placed, I get credit for your purchase. Thank you.
*
Now, people die everyday. Just because you are one of them doesn’t mean civilization is collapsing. I’m talking here instead of mass death and destruction that is hidden in the bigger trend. How can you call Rome a slow decline when invading barbarians sacked the city ( killing all males and violated the females and selling the children into slavery ), food shortages caused malnutrition which exasperated the effects of widespread plague, and hyperinflation wiped out your savings? That was a civilization collapse to the people that went through it. Because it took a few hundred years before the city was a deserted overgrown meadow doesn’t mean people didn’t die as if it were a collapse. Die-offs are messy. I’d state that the majority did NOT slowly adjust over several generations. The majority died violent deaths. How else do you have such a severe population drop? Remember that civilization collapse is resource depletion. To get the population back into equilibrium with the diminished productivity of the land, most must die. And most do not die peacefully in their sleep.
*
Assuming that we do stay at the Bumpy Plateau ( the term describing the maxed out production of oil with blips up and down but staying within a certain range ), civilization per se has not yet collapsed. But far below that general trend, a lot of messy reconfigurations are going on. Tribes are fighting, natural disaster victims are receiving no help, infrastructure is not being replaced, quality of life declines and the unnatural death rates increase. Just like we’ve been seeing for the last five years or so. Do you honest injun really think New Orleans fifth ward, the island of Haiti ( okay, half the island comprising the country ), or Japans industrial city are ever going to be rebuilt? Do you think it will be safe to fish the Gulf within our lifetime? Do you think crime is going to decrease in Detroit? Who thinks stability will return to the middle east? The place is falling apart and slapping a fresh coat of paint in the front room doesn’t change things. We are already looking in the rear view mirror of the start of the decline, and there is no guarantee that a general collapse won’t happen. And a greater than even probability that your own personal collapse can occur any time. Sure, all the survival writers called for evacuation of urban areas in the seventies. And they were wrong. What did they lose? Future book sales. If you are wrong and stay where you are, what do you lose? Your life. Wake up about what you are betting.
END
The Official Bison Web Site http://www.bisonpress.com/
*
My e-mail is jimd303@netzero.com
*
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.
*
By the by, all my writing is copyrighted. For the obtuse out there.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
evolutionary biology
EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY
Evolutionary biology is one of those simple concepts that should have been obvious but is hard to sell because of such things as political correct thinking ( an oxymoron to be sure ). Humans have evolved physically to solve problems. Now, if you argue with other educated religious scholars about the number of angels that can dance on the head of a pin, this might not be the kind of theory you want to go embracing. Odds are, you will be burned at the stake for your troubles with independent thinking. Dogma can’t allow the most obviously innocent dissention into the conversation for fear of such mental activity. So, even though Darwin was a religious dude and simply said that God created the earth and evolution also, most folks tend to side with the idiot that did a few back of the envelope calculations and concluded that God created the earth whole clothe like three thousand years ago and that was that, end of argument. And just to light a fire under said religious folk, then you have equally baffling theories which worship at the scientific alter purporting that everything evolved from a primordial ooze. Which isn’t any more logical than the existence of God. But if I said that then said same scientists would have “proven” just fifty years ago that plate tectonics was wild quackery. Anyway, evolutionary biology might not be the end all and be all as a theory, but it certainly makes a bunch more sense than sociologists blathering on about “blank slates”. Which might have made sense at one time as there was little else to take its place but now compared to evolutionary biology it sounds pretty retarded. The blank slate theory blames ( or credits ) everything to environmental factors. These advocates are, say, purple haired fat lesbians that claim that if you raise a boy around ponies and tea sets he will be all in touch with his feminine side and be all loving and when he hits puberty he’ll grab the first male butt he sees and try to have carnal relations with it ( actually, the gay gene already gave way to the gay chemical imbalance, but that doesn’t sell in the PC crowd ). The evolutionary biologists on the other hand claim that male and female are born hard wired in their behavior because they evolved those characteristics to survive better.
*
Please support Bison by buying through the Amazon graphics above and to the right of each article. Or, visit
http://bisonpress.com/affiliatebooks.html
You can purchase anything, not just the linked item. Enter Amazon through my item link and then go to whatever other item you desire. As long as you don’t leave Amazon until after the order is placed, I get credit for your purchase. Thank you
*
Anyone that has ever had a child knows this instinctively ( well, they start to know it after a few months- before that they are too sleep deprived to know much of anything ). Which is why lesbians are the chief guilty party for holding views to the contrary. The idiots are living in book theory instead of reality. Other characteristics have evolved to help us survive as a species. Culture, for one. We don’t conform to any old cultural trait. We wouldn’t learn how to be pony playing tea sipping butt pirates if our parents were plastic penile pumping carpet lickers. Culture has to reinforce what is already programmed into our brains. Boys are naturally aggressive. When you encourage that by letting them brain each other with rocks and tree branches, everyone is happy, even the boys with dented heads. When you penalize them in a sports team for being “mean” or “competitive” and give trophies for participation, everyone grows up maladjusted and confused ( and probably wanting to be gay even if they can’t pull it off ). And evolution is not a quick process ( except in catastrophic circumstances when all other traits are suddenly extinct ). You need a fairly stable long term situation ( which is why we still retain all our hunter gatherer traits- ten thousand years of farming is nothing compared to hundreds of thousands of years of killing bison and picking berries ).
*
What does this have to do with survivalism? Easy. If you try to work against your programmed nature, you will lower your odds of survival. Right now, you are living as if the modern economy is how we are programmed to live and thrive. As if accumulating intangible wealth to acquire a mate is a viable strategy. Yes, right now that is what will attract a mate. But from a evolutionary biology standpoint, you are still a hunter gatherer. How good are you at hunting and gathering? I’m not saying that is a viable survival strategy after the collapse. There are way too many people, even after a 95% die off, and far too few animals. I’m saying that everything that has been culturally programmed into us is not a viable survival strategy. Women’s lib, the neutering of the males, all that sort of rot. Any female that sits there and cries to me about how oppressed women were a hundred years ago is as good as stewpot food. She has no idea how females have survived up until the modern era. They are the ones that lead males around by the gonads. The females are in charge, and the guys like it that way as long as they are able to act like they run things. And by the way, apropos to little, I’d like to throw in the fun filled fact as to why the female hourglass figure is so appealing. Fat on the breasts and thighs are signs of enough body fat for a healthy pregnancy, but show the right kinds of fat. Fat stomachs can easily point to health problems like diabetes and intestinal parasites. Males choose this body type as a preference, that body type is reproduced more, in time you get more of it. Evolutionary biology.
*
I just got done reading three books on this subject ( although at the time I didn’t realize they all followed said theory ). The Red Queen, Why Wealthy Men Have More Daughters, and The Dark Side Of Man. Of the three, I’d recommend The Red Queen.
END
The Official Bison Web Site http://www.bisonpress.com/
*
My e-mail is jimd303@netzero.com
*
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.
*
By the by, all my writing is copyrighted. For the obtuse out there.
Evolutionary biology is one of those simple concepts that should have been obvious but is hard to sell because of such things as political correct thinking ( an oxymoron to be sure ). Humans have evolved physically to solve problems. Now, if you argue with other educated religious scholars about the number of angels that can dance on the head of a pin, this might not be the kind of theory you want to go embracing. Odds are, you will be burned at the stake for your troubles with independent thinking. Dogma can’t allow the most obviously innocent dissention into the conversation for fear of such mental activity. So, even though Darwin was a religious dude and simply said that God created the earth and evolution also, most folks tend to side with the idiot that did a few back of the envelope calculations and concluded that God created the earth whole clothe like three thousand years ago and that was that, end of argument. And just to light a fire under said religious folk, then you have equally baffling theories which worship at the scientific alter purporting that everything evolved from a primordial ooze. Which isn’t any more logical than the existence of God. But if I said that then said same scientists would have “proven” just fifty years ago that plate tectonics was wild quackery. Anyway, evolutionary biology might not be the end all and be all as a theory, but it certainly makes a bunch more sense than sociologists blathering on about “blank slates”. Which might have made sense at one time as there was little else to take its place but now compared to evolutionary biology it sounds pretty retarded. The blank slate theory blames ( or credits ) everything to environmental factors. These advocates are, say, purple haired fat lesbians that claim that if you raise a boy around ponies and tea sets he will be all in touch with his feminine side and be all loving and when he hits puberty he’ll grab the first male butt he sees and try to have carnal relations with it ( actually, the gay gene already gave way to the gay chemical imbalance, but that doesn’t sell in the PC crowd ). The evolutionary biologists on the other hand claim that male and female are born hard wired in their behavior because they evolved those characteristics to survive better.
*
Please support Bison by buying through the Amazon graphics above and to the right of each article. Or, visit
http://bisonpress.com/affiliatebooks.html
You can purchase anything, not just the linked item. Enter Amazon through my item link and then go to whatever other item you desire. As long as you don’t leave Amazon until after the order is placed, I get credit for your purchase. Thank you
*
Anyone that has ever had a child knows this instinctively ( well, they start to know it after a few months- before that they are too sleep deprived to know much of anything ). Which is why lesbians are the chief guilty party for holding views to the contrary. The idiots are living in book theory instead of reality. Other characteristics have evolved to help us survive as a species. Culture, for one. We don’t conform to any old cultural trait. We wouldn’t learn how to be pony playing tea sipping butt pirates if our parents were plastic penile pumping carpet lickers. Culture has to reinforce what is already programmed into our brains. Boys are naturally aggressive. When you encourage that by letting them brain each other with rocks and tree branches, everyone is happy, even the boys with dented heads. When you penalize them in a sports team for being “mean” or “competitive” and give trophies for participation, everyone grows up maladjusted and confused ( and probably wanting to be gay even if they can’t pull it off ). And evolution is not a quick process ( except in catastrophic circumstances when all other traits are suddenly extinct ). You need a fairly stable long term situation ( which is why we still retain all our hunter gatherer traits- ten thousand years of farming is nothing compared to hundreds of thousands of years of killing bison and picking berries ).
*
What does this have to do with survivalism? Easy. If you try to work against your programmed nature, you will lower your odds of survival. Right now, you are living as if the modern economy is how we are programmed to live and thrive. As if accumulating intangible wealth to acquire a mate is a viable strategy. Yes, right now that is what will attract a mate. But from a evolutionary biology standpoint, you are still a hunter gatherer. How good are you at hunting and gathering? I’m not saying that is a viable survival strategy after the collapse. There are way too many people, even after a 95% die off, and far too few animals. I’m saying that everything that has been culturally programmed into us is not a viable survival strategy. Women’s lib, the neutering of the males, all that sort of rot. Any female that sits there and cries to me about how oppressed women were a hundred years ago is as good as stewpot food. She has no idea how females have survived up until the modern era. They are the ones that lead males around by the gonads. The females are in charge, and the guys like it that way as long as they are able to act like they run things. And by the way, apropos to little, I’d like to throw in the fun filled fact as to why the female hourglass figure is so appealing. Fat on the breasts and thighs are signs of enough body fat for a healthy pregnancy, but show the right kinds of fat. Fat stomachs can easily point to health problems like diabetes and intestinal parasites. Males choose this body type as a preference, that body type is reproduced more, in time you get more of it. Evolutionary biology.
*
I just got done reading three books on this subject ( although at the time I didn’t realize they all followed said theory ). The Red Queen, Why Wealthy Men Have More Daughters, and The Dark Side Of Man. Of the three, I’d recommend The Red Queen.
END
The Official Bison Web Site http://www.bisonpress.com/
*
My e-mail is jimd303@netzero.com
*
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.
*
By the by, all my writing is copyrighted. For the obtuse out there.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
perfect decline jobs
PERFECT DECLINE JOBS
Okay, another one I wrote last weekend. I’m going to go over to my web site and add a page on the top 20 fiction books. I’ve been meaning to do that for awhile. Tomorrow I’ll be back on schedule. Here’s an extra tidbit for you- Shwan’s, the frozen food dudes that home deliver, is shutting down a bunch of distribution centers across the country. If you want their slop you’ll have to UPS it. My guess is that will be MORE expensive, and the company was never much of a bargain to begin with. To me, proof that the middle class and luxury spending is sharply contracting ( but don’t worry, North Dakota oil will allow green shoots to grow out of our ass any day now ). They said so, so it must be true. On to our regular article.
*
Well, okay, no job is perfect. Because a job is work and work is a four letter word. But then again, the only thing worse than a job is no job ( kind of like the only thing worse than being married is being single ). What we will talk about here is jobs that actually have a future in a general decline and that have close to zero start up costs. But of course there is a catch. There is always a catch. Ain’t nothing free in life and what should be as obvious as my need to state the obvious. Entire generations thought they could get a free lunch ( Union wages, forced hiring quotas, Social Security benefits far exceeding what they paid into the system ) and now that the various levels of government are trying to modify the amount of free downwards the hue and cry from the public is deafening. So I guess most folks know there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch for the other idiots out there but they themselves are privileged and special. Anyways, back to the catch for a perfect job. You can’t expect to make too much money. In the past, rarified salaries were the expected norm. People sold their one hundred grand home for half a million, opened a granite top or a bead and trinket shop and expected to pull in big bucks. They were by gum special. Hey, Special Friggin Education. What moron can’t figure out salaries and home prices can’t grow upwards forever? The wave of the future is for wages to fall. They have stagnated for almost forty years. Through increased productivity, employee paid further education and computerization. Now add oil reduction and exponential debt growth to that and you get actual wage decline. For everyone except those that can steal it. If you can live on less, you will be welcomed in the future.
*
Living on less is having no debt and little expenses. No mortgage, no rent, no car payments or its running expenses ( if you think auto insurance is high now, wait for consolidation and more government granted monopolies [ such as mandatory health insurance- Romney or Obammy, both whores to the financiers so be sure to vote carefully! ]. Don’t drive and free yourself ). Grow some of your food. Eat bulk for everything else ( that doesn’t mean a five gallon tub of Gummi Bears ). Now you can live on very little salary. If you can, read a copy of both Possum Living and How To Survive Without A Salary. If your needs are low, your salary can be also. And with a need to little salary, you can provide services poor people ( the only growing demographic ) will want to pay. If you need to pay a mortgage, pay off the truck, rent a retail office, etc., you have already priced yourself out of this market. The perfect, grow in contraction, almost no start up cost jobs are Alternate Energy, Bike Repair and Bike Hauling. Alternate energy is going to be such things as insulating and 12 volt power. Also solar cookers and water heaters. All the needed skills can be self taught online and through old issues of Mother Earth News ( you can buy the first ten years on CD for $20. I wouldn’t bother with much past that date as the corporate scumbags took over around then ). Bike repair is as easy as a book or two and practicing on your own bike. If you go to where folks need you, you eliminate most of your costs. Bike hauling fits in with almost zero operating costs and the growing segment of folks being priced out of the car ownership market ( and the growing old and feeble segment ).
*
Please support Bison by buying through the Amazon graphics above and to the right of each article. Or, visit
http://bisonpress.com/affiliatebooks.html
You can purchase anything, not just the linked item. Enter Amazon through my item link and then go to whatever other item you desire. As long as you don’t leave Amazon until after the order is placed, I get credit for your purchase. Thank you.
*
You can’t sell your expertise at a high mark up with any of these jobs. If you do, the customer himself will perform the job. You want to price yourself under the threshold where it is worth the cost savings to do-it-yourself. For instance, if you charged $100 to install solar panels, most people would figure it out themselves ( perhaps buying $20 in beer to have a buddy come over and help ). If you just charged that $20, most people would conclude the cost savings weren’t worth them learning that new skill ( especially if it was a one time needed skill ). Usually, they could afford to insulate once ( say, using a years tax return ). They would gladly pay you $100 to get sweaty and itchy and finish it in one third the time. But they wouldn’t pay you hundreds ( my son works each summer on roofing. Him and a buddy charge double material cost as labor. Apparently that is much cheaper than from anyone else. And, he actually has high school carpentry training so it isn’t just two yahoos climbing around like monkeys. The community knows he is trained and experienced and works cheap ) or thousands like a contractor wants. Of course, there is always the problem of licenses and permits and required training. You are on your own figuring that out. The next, bicycle mechanics, is easy enough if you are klutz, and really simple if you are mechanically inclined. Which makes it easy to lose customers to do-it-yourself. You can’t expect to emulate retail bike shops and expect to be able to make all your money in tire repairs. Expect the crap jobs like bearing replacements. But by providing a come-to-you service ( their bike might be their only transportation at that date in the future ) free, and working cheap, you should always have some business.
*
Bike hauling anyone can do. If they are in shape, own a bike and aren’t too old. If you are cheap enough and can undersell the guy who owns a jalopy truck, you will always have a market. Have a quality bike ( most folks will own a crappy Mart bike ) and a specialty trailer for serious weight ( they sell a trailer that can haul an electrical appliance- but it also handles four big 18 gallon totes or a piece of furniture ). As more folks go back to the city ( as they give up cars and commutes ), the easier your client growth gets. It doesn’t have to be a serious oil crunch. Higher inflation, higher unemployment, higher insurance- all point to decreasing car ownership. Most folks have eaten at the GM trough of death and having once valued their time more than their health ( the poor don’t eat the majority of fast food- office workers and the wealthier workers don’t have time to waste and mostly eat out ) they are only alive due to modern pharmaceuticals. By the time the oil crunch gets serious, they are your built in customers as their health reflects their past eating habits. Your ability to actually peddle enough to haul your own weight in freight without having a heart attack is job security. And as your sickly customers die off, the newly car-less take their place. Most probably didn’t even have the foresight to buy a bike at all but instead had two or three cars.
*
You can start now, and with very little money. As time goes on you gain reputation and experience. When the serious decline starts, you are in like Flynn. As government teat juice dries up, the difference in earning a few hundred bucks or not a month will make all the difference ( and then, there is always barter for eggs and veggies, etc. Say, you take infirm grandma’s eggs around to her customers and she gives you a cut. Boom. Protein in your diet solved ).
END
The Official Bison Web Site http://www.bisonpress.com/
*
My e-mail is jimd303@netzero.com
*
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.
*
By the by, all my writing is copyrighted. For the obtuse out there.
Okay, another one I wrote last weekend. I’m going to go over to my web site and add a page on the top 20 fiction books. I’ve been meaning to do that for awhile. Tomorrow I’ll be back on schedule. Here’s an extra tidbit for you- Shwan’s, the frozen food dudes that home deliver, is shutting down a bunch of distribution centers across the country. If you want their slop you’ll have to UPS it. My guess is that will be MORE expensive, and the company was never much of a bargain to begin with. To me, proof that the middle class and luxury spending is sharply contracting ( but don’t worry, North Dakota oil will allow green shoots to grow out of our ass any day now ). They said so, so it must be true. On to our regular article.
*
Well, okay, no job is perfect. Because a job is work and work is a four letter word. But then again, the only thing worse than a job is no job ( kind of like the only thing worse than being married is being single ). What we will talk about here is jobs that actually have a future in a general decline and that have close to zero start up costs. But of course there is a catch. There is always a catch. Ain’t nothing free in life and what should be as obvious as my need to state the obvious. Entire generations thought they could get a free lunch ( Union wages, forced hiring quotas, Social Security benefits far exceeding what they paid into the system ) and now that the various levels of government are trying to modify the amount of free downwards the hue and cry from the public is deafening. So I guess most folks know there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch for the other idiots out there but they themselves are privileged and special. Anyways, back to the catch for a perfect job. You can’t expect to make too much money. In the past, rarified salaries were the expected norm. People sold their one hundred grand home for half a million, opened a granite top or a bead and trinket shop and expected to pull in big bucks. They were by gum special. Hey, Special Friggin Education. What moron can’t figure out salaries and home prices can’t grow upwards forever? The wave of the future is for wages to fall. They have stagnated for almost forty years. Through increased productivity, employee paid further education and computerization. Now add oil reduction and exponential debt growth to that and you get actual wage decline. For everyone except those that can steal it. If you can live on less, you will be welcomed in the future.
*
Living on less is having no debt and little expenses. No mortgage, no rent, no car payments or its running expenses ( if you think auto insurance is high now, wait for consolidation and more government granted monopolies [ such as mandatory health insurance- Romney or Obammy, both whores to the financiers so be sure to vote carefully! ]. Don’t drive and free yourself ). Grow some of your food. Eat bulk for everything else ( that doesn’t mean a five gallon tub of Gummi Bears ). Now you can live on very little salary. If you can, read a copy of both Possum Living and How To Survive Without A Salary. If your needs are low, your salary can be also. And with a need to little salary, you can provide services poor people ( the only growing demographic ) will want to pay. If you need to pay a mortgage, pay off the truck, rent a retail office, etc., you have already priced yourself out of this market. The perfect, grow in contraction, almost no start up cost jobs are Alternate Energy, Bike Repair and Bike Hauling. Alternate energy is going to be such things as insulating and 12 volt power. Also solar cookers and water heaters. All the needed skills can be self taught online and through old issues of Mother Earth News ( you can buy the first ten years on CD for $20. I wouldn’t bother with much past that date as the corporate scumbags took over around then ). Bike repair is as easy as a book or two and practicing on your own bike. If you go to where folks need you, you eliminate most of your costs. Bike hauling fits in with almost zero operating costs and the growing segment of folks being priced out of the car ownership market ( and the growing old and feeble segment ).
*
Please support Bison by buying through the Amazon graphics above and to the right of each article. Or, visit
http://bisonpress.com/affiliatebooks.html
You can purchase anything, not just the linked item. Enter Amazon through my item link and then go to whatever other item you desire. As long as you don’t leave Amazon until after the order is placed, I get credit for your purchase. Thank you.
*
You can’t sell your expertise at a high mark up with any of these jobs. If you do, the customer himself will perform the job. You want to price yourself under the threshold where it is worth the cost savings to do-it-yourself. For instance, if you charged $100 to install solar panels, most people would figure it out themselves ( perhaps buying $20 in beer to have a buddy come over and help ). If you just charged that $20, most people would conclude the cost savings weren’t worth them learning that new skill ( especially if it was a one time needed skill ). Usually, they could afford to insulate once ( say, using a years tax return ). They would gladly pay you $100 to get sweaty and itchy and finish it in one third the time. But they wouldn’t pay you hundreds ( my son works each summer on roofing. Him and a buddy charge double material cost as labor. Apparently that is much cheaper than from anyone else. And, he actually has high school carpentry training so it isn’t just two yahoos climbing around like monkeys. The community knows he is trained and experienced and works cheap ) or thousands like a contractor wants. Of course, there is always the problem of licenses and permits and required training. You are on your own figuring that out. The next, bicycle mechanics, is easy enough if you are klutz, and really simple if you are mechanically inclined. Which makes it easy to lose customers to do-it-yourself. You can’t expect to emulate retail bike shops and expect to be able to make all your money in tire repairs. Expect the crap jobs like bearing replacements. But by providing a come-to-you service ( their bike might be their only transportation at that date in the future ) free, and working cheap, you should always have some business.
*
Bike hauling anyone can do. If they are in shape, own a bike and aren’t too old. If you are cheap enough and can undersell the guy who owns a jalopy truck, you will always have a market. Have a quality bike ( most folks will own a crappy Mart bike ) and a specialty trailer for serious weight ( they sell a trailer that can haul an electrical appliance- but it also handles four big 18 gallon totes or a piece of furniture ). As more folks go back to the city ( as they give up cars and commutes ), the easier your client growth gets. It doesn’t have to be a serious oil crunch. Higher inflation, higher unemployment, higher insurance- all point to decreasing car ownership. Most folks have eaten at the GM trough of death and having once valued their time more than their health ( the poor don’t eat the majority of fast food- office workers and the wealthier workers don’t have time to waste and mostly eat out ) they are only alive due to modern pharmaceuticals. By the time the oil crunch gets serious, they are your built in customers as their health reflects their past eating habits. Your ability to actually peddle enough to haul your own weight in freight without having a heart attack is job security. And as your sickly customers die off, the newly car-less take their place. Most probably didn’t even have the foresight to buy a bike at all but instead had two or three cars.
*
You can start now, and with very little money. As time goes on you gain reputation and experience. When the serious decline starts, you are in like Flynn. As government teat juice dries up, the difference in earning a few hundred bucks or not a month will make all the difference ( and then, there is always barter for eggs and veggies, etc. Say, you take infirm grandma’s eggs around to her customers and she gives you a cut. Boom. Protein in your diet solved ).
END
The Official Bison Web Site http://www.bisonpress.com/
*
My e-mail is jimd303@netzero.com
*
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.
*
By the by, all my writing is copyrighted. For the obtuse out there.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
newsstand magazine review
NEWSSTAND MAGAZINE REVIEW
Okay, okay. I’ve finally pulled my head part way out of my butt. You’ll have to excuse me. I’m still fighting with this damn cold/flu/crud two weeks later. I’m blaming that for my more than usual amount of dumbassness. Since I mega-dose on vitamin C and have for many years, I can only think of three reasons the thing is hanging in so long ( when my co-workers, who are usually much sicklier, get over it in days ) One, since China produces almost all of the globes ascorbic acid, they are poisoning me. Two, Baby Jesus is infecting me with the worse strains in order to boost my immune system so I can fight the Super Deluxe Obammy Barnyard Flu soon to be unleashed on mankind. Or, three, I’m sucking in Japanese radiation and so my immune system sucks. I like number two, personally. My probably final word on the new magazine to be is this. Rather than more blog drivel, rather than a thrice yearly book, I’ll still put out a monthly mag but make it a booklet on one subject. That should be worth a buck. With m original idea, I was in essence begging you for charity. With the idea for a book, I’d soon run out of ideas for a thirty or forty thousand word book ( the reason I haven’t put one out in years ). With booklets, I thoroughly cover on topic. You should get perceived value added. And I shouldn’t run out of ideas. Month one will be junk land. The second will be firearms. Since I have to start over again next weekend, I’ll just post the articles I wrote last weekend. That way I’ll have time to do my tax return. Thanks for your patience while I thrashed around for a viable alternative to declining commissions.
*
If you simply love your books on CD and you positively love your Kindle to the point of indecency, a paper magazine would undoubtedly fail to move you. But for those of us that prefer paper reading to electric reading, who associate a book with joy and learning, a paper magazine has the tactile reinforcement that a web page is never going to match. Granted, electric media is the only reason self publishing is now possible on such a scale. None of us has much choice in whether we can read much if anything on paper. But when we have a choice, it sure is nice to hold our reading material in hand without the aid of electrons. I like survivalist magazines not because of the content so much but because it is paper and it does provide a better advertising medium ( I don’t buy the Yuppie Vermin Bastard Scum products by and large, but it is nice knowing what is out there and available ). But the last paper survivalist magazine was ten years ago. Why they failed is beyond me. They had a monopoly and they had oodles and gobs of advertising from Y2K. Granted, the ads fell after that date, but look at Wired magazine. They had a much more drastic fall in advertising after the Tech Wreck and they stayed in business. Of course, you could look at Blockbuster and wonder how a business with a monopoly in retail video rental could fail. Sure, Redbox and Netzero were competition, but with retail you could search for a movie you didn’t know you wanted. And, their acquisition cost had been reduced to nearly zero. They paid a percentage of sales for each movie- they didn’t have to buy the movie up front. It could have been the real estate bubble that did them in ( rents went up drastically ), or they just could have been grossly incompetent. I suppose American Survival Guide had about the same story. Even though low paying hacks were churning out worthless drivel, so were obviously low paid ( reading their output at times it almost seemed a computer program was churning out the stories ), perhaps the magazine still couldn’t handle the drop in ad revenue.
*
Please support Bison by buying through the Amazon graphics above and to the right of each article. Or, visit
http://bisonpress.com/affiliatebooks.html
You can purchase anything, not just the linked item. Enter Amazon through my item link and then go to whatever other item you desire. As long as you don’t leave Amazon until after the order is placed, I get credit for your purchase. Thank you.
*
The other day I was at the bookstore. I wanted to buy something besides a discard table ten cent book ( you have to help them pay the rent so they keep that table ) and couldn’t find anything worthy in sci-fi ( all the Apocalypse books had been wiped out just before Christmas ) or in my favorite authors in the used section so I went over to the magazines. I had resigned myself to having to buy the newest Backwoodsmen ( a fine magazine, but I hadn’t found many articles that interested me in the last year or so ) but there was a message from Baby Jesus himself ( I easily translated the message, “I love you like the red headed stepchild I never had, and I admire your hair, so unlike my mangy hippie freak show of a mop” ). A newsstand magazine of survivalism. How the heck had I missed this for the last year? There it was, issue number five of the bi-monthly “”Survivalist”. Which, by the by, has the obvious web address of Survivalist dot com. I was so excited that the retail price of five bucks bothered me not in the least, and that was just for 48 pages which included both covers.
*
Let me tell you, compared to the old American Survival Guide ( they changed the name just before they went out of business but I never remembered what it was ) this thing is the pinnacle of professional prose. ASG was pretty predictable in its contents. Every issue had an article on a gun none of us could afford, and the required ( by law it seemed ) article on cold weather survival. The rest was pretty much all ads. They could have won a contest with Shotgun News ( which, speaking of competent business practices, has weathered the death of the amateur gun dealer and the huge surge in gun prices ) to see who had less writing and more advertising ( for the few out there that never saw a copy of Shotgun News, it is nothing BUT advertising from gun jobbers to gun retail dealers ). But ASG was great in that it was the connection each of us needed to the survivalist community. Nothing since has really filled that void, be it chat rooms or even Rawles ( he comes close, but it is hard to feel the connection through the computer screen. Hey, I’m not a total Luddite. I love books, but I also love the fact I can publish a lot more of my writing when I don’t have paper costs or postage cost to factor in. Before, I sent out a monthly eight page newsletter. Publishing electronically, I do that two or three times a week ).
*
I don’t know if “Survivalist” will fill that void left by ASG, but it should. The movement needs its paper mag rag again. Okay, the writing is inoffensive, non-alarmist and pretty basic. But at least it is by talented writers that care about the subject. This magazine has Doug Bell ( who used to be my gun go-to guy before we lost touch ), Jerry Ahern ( still a hack writer, but OUR hack writer ) and guys I’ve kinda heard of like Robert Scott Bell and C Green, Jim Richter, Mat Stein and Ed Corcoran. The subject matter in issue five covered Martial Law, communications, gold and silver, collapse investing, CDC propaganda, suturing, Is The Family On Board?, emergency lighting and grid down, EMP, the interview with Rawles hawking his new book ( I guess this issue has been on the newsstand since October ), lasting survival shelters, essential oils, Did Civilization Peak In The 70’s?, frugal fire lighting ( by some fool pretending to be the Frugal Survivalist ) and a few unexciting classified ads. The regular page ads were NOT overwhelming. A Goldilocks amount of advertisements, in my opinion. Nothing you can’t pick up on the web as far as the articles, granted. So, honestly, this is just a luxury item. But I love it. I’m already decided, I’ll pay the under $20 subscription price.
*
Is it worth even the reduced $3 an issue? Like I said, a luxury item. But come on! $3 every other month? Who can’t afford that? I have a pretty high standard for content and I was satisfied with the items offered. Most of that could just be nostalgia, sure. The articles were really too basic and too short and too timid, by and large. But for the cost, if you pick up just one or two pertinent pieces of information it will be worth it. Frankly, we are all way too spoiled by the Internet. We pay $30 or $50 a month for access, and then assume everything on the web should be free. Hey, writers don’t get a share of that $50. Greedy bloodsucking corporations do ( I’m not anti-free market, but corporations can be, and usually are, pretty damn evil. My Payless boots just got their hole big enough to show socks. After a mere four months, less than a thousand hours of use. Piss off you whores! ). And while the magazine writers don’t get paid much more, they get exposure and pay in other ways, hopefully, eventually. So do your part and part with a buck fifty a month to put some profit motive into the movement ( better to pay that, and a few bucks a year on any new survival books, than buying a $500 wheat grinder to keep a Yuppie Survivalist equipment seller in business ).
END
The Official Bison Web Site http://www.bisonpress.com/
*
My e-mail is jimd303@netzero.com
*
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.
*
By the by, all my writing is copyrighted. For the obtuse out there.
Okay, okay. I’ve finally pulled my head part way out of my butt. You’ll have to excuse me. I’m still fighting with this damn cold/flu/crud two weeks later. I’m blaming that for my more than usual amount of dumbassness. Since I mega-dose on vitamin C and have for many years, I can only think of three reasons the thing is hanging in so long ( when my co-workers, who are usually much sicklier, get over it in days ) One, since China produces almost all of the globes ascorbic acid, they are poisoning me. Two, Baby Jesus is infecting me with the worse strains in order to boost my immune system so I can fight the Super Deluxe Obammy Barnyard Flu soon to be unleashed on mankind. Or, three, I’m sucking in Japanese radiation and so my immune system sucks. I like number two, personally. My probably final word on the new magazine to be is this. Rather than more blog drivel, rather than a thrice yearly book, I’ll still put out a monthly mag but make it a booklet on one subject. That should be worth a buck. With m original idea, I was in essence begging you for charity. With the idea for a book, I’d soon run out of ideas for a thirty or forty thousand word book ( the reason I haven’t put one out in years ). With booklets, I thoroughly cover on topic. You should get perceived value added. And I shouldn’t run out of ideas. Month one will be junk land. The second will be firearms. Since I have to start over again next weekend, I’ll just post the articles I wrote last weekend. That way I’ll have time to do my tax return. Thanks for your patience while I thrashed around for a viable alternative to declining commissions.
*
If you simply love your books on CD and you positively love your Kindle to the point of indecency, a paper magazine would undoubtedly fail to move you. But for those of us that prefer paper reading to electric reading, who associate a book with joy and learning, a paper magazine has the tactile reinforcement that a web page is never going to match. Granted, electric media is the only reason self publishing is now possible on such a scale. None of us has much choice in whether we can read much if anything on paper. But when we have a choice, it sure is nice to hold our reading material in hand without the aid of electrons. I like survivalist magazines not because of the content so much but because it is paper and it does provide a better advertising medium ( I don’t buy the Yuppie Vermin Bastard Scum products by and large, but it is nice knowing what is out there and available ). But the last paper survivalist magazine was ten years ago. Why they failed is beyond me. They had a monopoly and they had oodles and gobs of advertising from Y2K. Granted, the ads fell after that date, but look at Wired magazine. They had a much more drastic fall in advertising after the Tech Wreck and they stayed in business. Of course, you could look at Blockbuster and wonder how a business with a monopoly in retail video rental could fail. Sure, Redbox and Netzero were competition, but with retail you could search for a movie you didn’t know you wanted. And, their acquisition cost had been reduced to nearly zero. They paid a percentage of sales for each movie- they didn’t have to buy the movie up front. It could have been the real estate bubble that did them in ( rents went up drastically ), or they just could have been grossly incompetent. I suppose American Survival Guide had about the same story. Even though low paying hacks were churning out worthless drivel, so were obviously low paid ( reading their output at times it almost seemed a computer program was churning out the stories ), perhaps the magazine still couldn’t handle the drop in ad revenue.
*
Please support Bison by buying through the Amazon graphics above and to the right of each article. Or, visit
http://bisonpress.com/affiliatebooks.html
You can purchase anything, not just the linked item. Enter Amazon through my item link and then go to whatever other item you desire. As long as you don’t leave Amazon until after the order is placed, I get credit for your purchase. Thank you.
*
The other day I was at the bookstore. I wanted to buy something besides a discard table ten cent book ( you have to help them pay the rent so they keep that table ) and couldn’t find anything worthy in sci-fi ( all the Apocalypse books had been wiped out just before Christmas ) or in my favorite authors in the used section so I went over to the magazines. I had resigned myself to having to buy the newest Backwoodsmen ( a fine magazine, but I hadn’t found many articles that interested me in the last year or so ) but there was a message from Baby Jesus himself ( I easily translated the message, “I love you like the red headed stepchild I never had, and I admire your hair, so unlike my mangy hippie freak show of a mop” ). A newsstand magazine of survivalism. How the heck had I missed this for the last year? There it was, issue number five of the bi-monthly “”Survivalist”. Which, by the by, has the obvious web address of Survivalist dot com. I was so excited that the retail price of five bucks bothered me not in the least, and that was just for 48 pages which included both covers.
*
Let me tell you, compared to the old American Survival Guide ( they changed the name just before they went out of business but I never remembered what it was ) this thing is the pinnacle of professional prose. ASG was pretty predictable in its contents. Every issue had an article on a gun none of us could afford, and the required ( by law it seemed ) article on cold weather survival. The rest was pretty much all ads. They could have won a contest with Shotgun News ( which, speaking of competent business practices, has weathered the death of the amateur gun dealer and the huge surge in gun prices ) to see who had less writing and more advertising ( for the few out there that never saw a copy of Shotgun News, it is nothing BUT advertising from gun jobbers to gun retail dealers ). But ASG was great in that it was the connection each of us needed to the survivalist community. Nothing since has really filled that void, be it chat rooms or even Rawles ( he comes close, but it is hard to feel the connection through the computer screen. Hey, I’m not a total Luddite. I love books, but I also love the fact I can publish a lot more of my writing when I don’t have paper costs or postage cost to factor in. Before, I sent out a monthly eight page newsletter. Publishing electronically, I do that two or three times a week ).
*
I don’t know if “Survivalist” will fill that void left by ASG, but it should. The movement needs its paper mag rag again. Okay, the writing is inoffensive, non-alarmist and pretty basic. But at least it is by talented writers that care about the subject. This magazine has Doug Bell ( who used to be my gun go-to guy before we lost touch ), Jerry Ahern ( still a hack writer, but OUR hack writer ) and guys I’ve kinda heard of like Robert Scott Bell and C Green, Jim Richter, Mat Stein and Ed Corcoran. The subject matter in issue five covered Martial Law, communications, gold and silver, collapse investing, CDC propaganda, suturing, Is The Family On Board?, emergency lighting and grid down, EMP, the interview with Rawles hawking his new book ( I guess this issue has been on the newsstand since October ), lasting survival shelters, essential oils, Did Civilization Peak In The 70’s?, frugal fire lighting ( by some fool pretending to be the Frugal Survivalist ) and a few unexciting classified ads. The regular page ads were NOT overwhelming. A Goldilocks amount of advertisements, in my opinion. Nothing you can’t pick up on the web as far as the articles, granted. So, honestly, this is just a luxury item. But I love it. I’m already decided, I’ll pay the under $20 subscription price.
*
Is it worth even the reduced $3 an issue? Like I said, a luxury item. But come on! $3 every other month? Who can’t afford that? I have a pretty high standard for content and I was satisfied with the items offered. Most of that could just be nostalgia, sure. The articles were really too basic and too short and too timid, by and large. But for the cost, if you pick up just one or two pertinent pieces of information it will be worth it. Frankly, we are all way too spoiled by the Internet. We pay $30 or $50 a month for access, and then assume everything on the web should be free. Hey, writers don’t get a share of that $50. Greedy bloodsucking corporations do ( I’m not anti-free market, but corporations can be, and usually are, pretty damn evil. My Payless boots just got their hole big enough to show socks. After a mere four months, less than a thousand hours of use. Piss off you whores! ). And while the magazine writers don’t get paid much more, they get exposure and pay in other ways, hopefully, eventually. So do your part and part with a buck fifty a month to put some profit motive into the movement ( better to pay that, and a few bucks a year on any new survival books, than buying a $500 wheat grinder to keep a Yuppie Survivalist equipment seller in business ).
END
The Official Bison Web Site http://www.bisonpress.com/
*
My e-mail is jimd303@netzero.com
*
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.
*
By the by, all my writing is copyrighted. For the obtuse out there.
Monday, January 23, 2012
EMP ourselves
EMP OURSELVES
Before we begin today on why our good buddies in DC are probably going to kill us all quickly and avoid a lot of headaches, yet more on my just announced schedule change. You know, not publishing the blog on the weekends anymore. I’ve only published seven days a week for a year. This blog has been going for more than five years. So less than 20% of the time I’ve been posting both weekend days. Nobody should be that darn upset. Granted, perhaps the monthly magazine to take its place was stupid. But something WILL take its place. Your choice of doing this the hard way or the easy way. The easy way is, everybody chime in at the comments section. Monthly magazine ( which, granted, will be no more exciting than regular articles, just a smidge longer ) or a book every four to six months. The hard way is, I publish my first magazine issue and if nobody buys it, I know to go to books. Look, I’m not trying to get extra money from any readers. I’m trying to anticipate falling Amazon commissions and put something else easier in its place so you all keep supporting my writing. If you feel you will get higher value from a couple of e-books every year, great. We’ll do that. As I said, it takes twenty grand in Amazon sales for me to get $300 in commission. If my mere thousand readers don’t have that much to spend, my commission goes down even as you still buy through my links ( albeit smaller amounts ). You all were great supporting me in the past, I’m just mixing it up on how you can continue that. Remember four years ago when I started the Amazon links? It was because my Google ads and book sales had drastically declined. Same difference this time around.
*
Please support Bison by buying through the Amazon graphics above and to the right of each article. Or, visit
http://bisonpress.com/affiliatebooks.html
You can purchase anything, not just the linked item. Enter Amazon through my item link and then go to whatever other item you desire. As long as you don’t leave Amazon until after the order is placed, I get credit for your purchase. Thank you.
*
By paying so much attention as to how the federal jack booted ninjas are going to be trying to control us come the collapse, I wonder if we are missing the real danger. Should we be worrying about detention centers, or man made viruses? Should we worry about Muslim terrorist attacks or false flag attacks? Are UN troops a worry, or is mass genocide? If we don’t have the resources to pacify the population, isn’t it likely that the logical preemptive action would be to eliminate most of that population before they started to rebel? If I was the President ( and be thankful I’m not ) I’d look around me and see nothing but problems. The oil supply was flat with periods of slight decline in between periods it goes back slightly to that years new normal. You can’t replace that decline of domestic supply with ethanol anymore because the grain supply is contracting faster than that of oil. You’ve pulled out of Iraq because you can’t afford to garrison it at full strength anymore, even with borrowing half of the budget. All of your quantitative easing is being sucked up by Europe and they still keep getting worse. As soon as they go, your banks go. You know any day that the Straights of Hormuz are going to be a war zone. You know that as soon as that spark ignites the next world war ( nuclear only as no one has the resources to repeat WWII ), your citizens start rioting from lack of heating oil and grid power. You can wait for that event to unfold, and react blindly, or you can control the situation and be proactive. Keep in mind that the Constitution to you is a living document and it is as flexible as need be. Lincoln and FDR showed the way.
*
A man made virus is problematic. It isn’t always effective ( look at AIDS- it was targeted at Africa and butt pirates thirty years ago and both groups have yet to be eliminated. Very disappointing results ). And it can always backfire on you ( you know enough not to trust the pharmaceutical companies claims on the effectiveness of an antidote ). You don’t want to false flag ( Kristalnact, Gulf Of Tonkin ) attack. Anything you do will be only marginal in swaying the public, baring a nuclear strike. And you don’t want to make anything radioactive ). The best course is to EMP the Homeland. You have plenty of nukes to spare, you can blame it on anyone you want to, and you can mostly prepare for it with prior warning. We have enough missiles to defend the government, even if most of our conventional forces were missing or retired. We can spare a dozen to cover the entire lower 48 and really fry the civilians nicely. Since most military vehicles were stationary or warehoused, you retain your mobility. Even if you fry most of your own high tech equipment, do you really need it? Once the US economy is destroyed, the global economy is toast. And since they can’t buy parts now, the high tech arms race isn’t an issue. Plus, by immediately nuking the “guilty” party, everyone gets the message you can still defend yourself. They stay in their own back yard.
*
You have just duplicated a cold warriors dream. Killing off the civilians while leaving the infrastructure intact ( wasn’t that the hydrogen bomb? ). Oh, sure, there will be damage as the starving freezing civilians fight to the last full stewpot, but there isn’t the heavy damage of an industrialized war. Suddenly it doesn’t matter that Social Security is broke, or the fuel and food supply is shrinking. European economic meltdown isn’t an issue. And it doesn’t matter about the bankers. Those pricks might have controlled every President since 1914 ( Kennedy was an example to the rest not to get uppity ), including you, but you’ve just destroyed their money machine. Now you can become dictator for life ( one has a hard time believing Obammy wants the job, but Hilary sure will ). Things are a bit tough in the adjustment, but far easier than if you had let events unfold at their natural pace.
END
The Official Bison Web Site http://www.bisonpress.com/
*
My e-mail is jimd303@netzero.com
*
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.
*
By the by, all my writing is copyrighted. For the obtuse out there.
Before we begin today on why our good buddies in DC are probably going to kill us all quickly and avoid a lot of headaches, yet more on my just announced schedule change. You know, not publishing the blog on the weekends anymore. I’ve only published seven days a week for a year. This blog has been going for more than five years. So less than 20% of the time I’ve been posting both weekend days. Nobody should be that darn upset. Granted, perhaps the monthly magazine to take its place was stupid. But something WILL take its place. Your choice of doing this the hard way or the easy way. The easy way is, everybody chime in at the comments section. Monthly magazine ( which, granted, will be no more exciting than regular articles, just a smidge longer ) or a book every four to six months. The hard way is, I publish my first magazine issue and if nobody buys it, I know to go to books. Look, I’m not trying to get extra money from any readers. I’m trying to anticipate falling Amazon commissions and put something else easier in its place so you all keep supporting my writing. If you feel you will get higher value from a couple of e-books every year, great. We’ll do that. As I said, it takes twenty grand in Amazon sales for me to get $300 in commission. If my mere thousand readers don’t have that much to spend, my commission goes down even as you still buy through my links ( albeit smaller amounts ). You all were great supporting me in the past, I’m just mixing it up on how you can continue that. Remember four years ago when I started the Amazon links? It was because my Google ads and book sales had drastically declined. Same difference this time around.
*
Please support Bison by buying through the Amazon graphics above and to the right of each article. Or, visit
http://bisonpress.com/affiliatebooks.html
You can purchase anything, not just the linked item. Enter Amazon through my item link and then go to whatever other item you desire. As long as you don’t leave Amazon until after the order is placed, I get credit for your purchase. Thank you.
*
By paying so much attention as to how the federal jack booted ninjas are going to be trying to control us come the collapse, I wonder if we are missing the real danger. Should we be worrying about detention centers, or man made viruses? Should we worry about Muslim terrorist attacks or false flag attacks? Are UN troops a worry, or is mass genocide? If we don’t have the resources to pacify the population, isn’t it likely that the logical preemptive action would be to eliminate most of that population before they started to rebel? If I was the President ( and be thankful I’m not ) I’d look around me and see nothing but problems. The oil supply was flat with periods of slight decline in between periods it goes back slightly to that years new normal. You can’t replace that decline of domestic supply with ethanol anymore because the grain supply is contracting faster than that of oil. You’ve pulled out of Iraq because you can’t afford to garrison it at full strength anymore, even with borrowing half of the budget. All of your quantitative easing is being sucked up by Europe and they still keep getting worse. As soon as they go, your banks go. You know any day that the Straights of Hormuz are going to be a war zone. You know that as soon as that spark ignites the next world war ( nuclear only as no one has the resources to repeat WWII ), your citizens start rioting from lack of heating oil and grid power. You can wait for that event to unfold, and react blindly, or you can control the situation and be proactive. Keep in mind that the Constitution to you is a living document and it is as flexible as need be. Lincoln and FDR showed the way.
*
A man made virus is problematic. It isn’t always effective ( look at AIDS- it was targeted at Africa and butt pirates thirty years ago and both groups have yet to be eliminated. Very disappointing results ). And it can always backfire on you ( you know enough not to trust the pharmaceutical companies claims on the effectiveness of an antidote ). You don’t want to false flag ( Kristalnact, Gulf Of Tonkin ) attack. Anything you do will be only marginal in swaying the public, baring a nuclear strike. And you don’t want to make anything radioactive ). The best course is to EMP the Homeland. You have plenty of nukes to spare, you can blame it on anyone you want to, and you can mostly prepare for it with prior warning. We have enough missiles to defend the government, even if most of our conventional forces were missing or retired. We can spare a dozen to cover the entire lower 48 and really fry the civilians nicely. Since most military vehicles were stationary or warehoused, you retain your mobility. Even if you fry most of your own high tech equipment, do you really need it? Once the US economy is destroyed, the global economy is toast. And since they can’t buy parts now, the high tech arms race isn’t an issue. Plus, by immediately nuking the “guilty” party, everyone gets the message you can still defend yourself. They stay in their own back yard.
*
You have just duplicated a cold warriors dream. Killing off the civilians while leaving the infrastructure intact ( wasn’t that the hydrogen bomb? ). Oh, sure, there will be damage as the starving freezing civilians fight to the last full stewpot, but there isn’t the heavy damage of an industrialized war. Suddenly it doesn’t matter that Social Security is broke, or the fuel and food supply is shrinking. European economic meltdown isn’t an issue. And it doesn’t matter about the bankers. Those pricks might have controlled every President since 1914 ( Kennedy was an example to the rest not to get uppity ), including you, but you’ve just destroyed their money machine. Now you can become dictator for life ( one has a hard time believing Obammy wants the job, but Hilary sure will ). Things are a bit tough in the adjustment, but far easier than if you had let events unfold at their natural pace.
END
The Official Bison Web Site http://www.bisonpress.com/
*
My e-mail is jimd303@netzero.com
*
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.
*
By the by, all my writing is copyrighted. For the obtuse out there.
guest article
GUEST ARTICLE
My article will post at 1 pm ( see article below explaining ).
*
survival/food storage
We are a couple in our late 40's
each of us has 2 part time jobs
we don't have much disposable income
no kids
last few years we have been trying to build our food supply and become more self sufficient.
some of our food is now past "best before" dates
we decided to try to consume it to see if it was still ok to eat.
(we did the "sniff & taste a wee bit" to "check" it - this is not advice to eat food past the "best before" date. If you are unsure of any food - chuck it! It is better to be safe than sorry!)
some long term storage experiences
Pace salsa 5 years old-still good
Tea and coffee-over 3 years old-still good
Shelf milk aka UHT milk-over 2 years past best before date-ok as long as you shake it before you use it-fat settles - bottom of tetra pack turned to "yogurt"
canned goods from store (meat, fruit, vegetables, soups etc)-2 years past best before-still good Had a couple cans of tomato paste swell up-didn't open them-threw them in garbage.
Miracle whip salad dressing-2 years past best before-still good
Kraft bottled (italian, french, ranch, etc) salad dressing. Over 2 years old-ok.
honey-crystallized-but still good-soak jar in to water for a while to re-liquefy.
dry goods-sugar, powdered milk, flour, baking soda, baking powder, yeast, cake mix, pasta, etc. Over 2 years old-no difference. Stored in area that never gets past 70 deg. F
Breakfast cereal (corn flakes, rice crispies type)-over 1 year old-very slightly stale-but still good.
Health and beauty aids and over the counter meds-all health and beauty aids were ok (except for expired birth control-didn't want to take a chance on that!). The pain killers still killed the pain, the soap still washed as well, the cold and flu medicine worked just as good. Band aids don't stick quite as well and certain vitamin tablets changed color.
Crackers (triscuit, ritz) Just over 1 year old Very stale - eatable but not pleasant.
Pet food-dry food that was older than about 6 months-pets would turn up their noses at. They would eat it if nothing else was given. We felt sorry for them and gave the old stuff to the animal shelter.
Has it changed us or the way we look at or do things? Yes! We now regularly buy products that are discounted because they are close to the expiry date. We have not had to do very much grocery shopping in January because we have been consuming this expired food.
We have noticed that many of the new packages are quite often a few ounces less than the old ones, but still charging the same price as 2 years ago. I would say we have saved money by purchasing food 2 years ago that was on sale-every week a few extra items.
We were thinking of trying "the Bison diet" (buying sacks of wheat, beans, corn, etc at the feed store), but were not sure if we would like it or be able to figure out how to use it. With the "buy extra normal food every week" plan we knew we would not mind eating what we had stored. I found it very easy to have both the male and female food urges satisfied. He buys what he likes and she buys what she likes. Sometimes we have to keep track of each others inventory (and remind the other person to "ease up") because we tend to stock up too much on our favourite foods.
Submitted by: a nameless couple
My article will post at 1 pm ( see article below explaining ).
*
survival/food storage
We are a couple in our late 40's
each of us has 2 part time jobs
we don't have much disposable income
no kids
last few years we have been trying to build our food supply and become more self sufficient.
some of our food is now past "best before" dates
we decided to try to consume it to see if it was still ok to eat.
(we did the "sniff & taste a wee bit" to "check" it - this is not advice to eat food past the "best before" date. If you are unsure of any food - chuck it! It is better to be safe than sorry!)
some long term storage experiences
Pace salsa 5 years old-still good
Tea and coffee-over 3 years old-still good
Shelf milk aka UHT milk-over 2 years past best before date-ok as long as you shake it before you use it-fat settles - bottom of tetra pack turned to "yogurt"
canned goods from store (meat, fruit, vegetables, soups etc)-2 years past best before-still good Had a couple cans of tomato paste swell up-didn't open them-threw them in garbage.
Miracle whip salad dressing-2 years past best before-still good
Kraft bottled (italian, french, ranch, etc) salad dressing. Over 2 years old-ok.
honey-crystallized-but still good-soak jar in to water for a while to re-liquefy.
dry goods-sugar, powdered milk, flour, baking soda, baking powder, yeast, cake mix, pasta, etc. Over 2 years old-no difference. Stored in area that never gets past 70 deg. F
Breakfast cereal (corn flakes, rice crispies type)-over 1 year old-very slightly stale-but still good.
Health and beauty aids and over the counter meds-all health and beauty aids were ok (except for expired birth control-didn't want to take a chance on that!). The pain killers still killed the pain, the soap still washed as well, the cold and flu medicine worked just as good. Band aids don't stick quite as well and certain vitamin tablets changed color.
Crackers (triscuit, ritz) Just over 1 year old Very stale - eatable but not pleasant.
Pet food-dry food that was older than about 6 months-pets would turn up their noses at. They would eat it if nothing else was given. We felt sorry for them and gave the old stuff to the animal shelter.
Has it changed us or the way we look at or do things? Yes! We now regularly buy products that are discounted because they are close to the expiry date. We have not had to do very much grocery shopping in January because we have been consuming this expired food.
We have noticed that many of the new packages are quite often a few ounces less than the old ones, but still charging the same price as 2 years ago. I would say we have saved money by purchasing food 2 years ago that was on sale-every week a few extra items.
We were thinking of trying "the Bison diet" (buying sacks of wheat, beans, corn, etc at the feed store), but were not sure if we would like it or be able to figure out how to use it. With the "buy extra normal food every week" plan we knew we would not mind eating what we had stored. I found it very easy to have both the male and female food urges satisfied. He buys what he likes and she buys what she likes. Sometimes we have to keep track of each others inventory (and remind the other person to "ease up") because we tend to stock up too much on our favourite foods.
Submitted by: a nameless couple
article at 1 pm
ARTICLE AT 1 PM
I'll now be posting right around 1 pm ( baring server malfunction ). Since the weekend articles will now be pay-per-view I don't have to post weekday articles three days ahead of time anymore. I'll vomit up my daily drivel and serve it fresh, warm and smelly. Sorry to spring this on you last second, I forgot to include it is Sunday's article. See you in about six hours.
I'll now be posting right around 1 pm ( baring server malfunction ). Since the weekend articles will now be pay-per-view I don't have to post weekday articles three days ahead of time anymore. I'll vomit up my daily drivel and serve it fresh, warm and smelly. Sorry to spring this on you last second, I forgot to include it is Sunday's article. See you in about six hours.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
hoisted with your own petard
HOISTED WITH YOUR OWN PETARD
You know, it is just my luck that while I strive mightily to present fact and fun filled sermons and beseech and implore all my minions to change their evil ways by vomiting article after essay on any particular subject, in the end the only one convinced appears to be myself. Not that I’ve convinced myself I’m right. I knew that all along. But rather motivated myself to change. As of late ( I don’t know, the last year or two perhaps ) I’ve been forced to consider arsenals beyond that of war surplus bolt actions. The times they are’a changing and what used to make perfect sense is now sometimes a flawed theory. Of course you can still buy surplus and cheap ammo if you are on a strict $500 prepping budget. That part hasn’t changed in the last five years since I published the best survivalist book to ever grace the masses. It is just that now you only have one choice and that is the Russian bolt. Which I hate because of the lack of the gas safety but no one else considers an issue. If you want a better designed weapon you are now forced to pay the same as a new modern arm, so why pay for a used rifle? And the ammo saving are no longer there. I’ve been lamenting this insidious development, but didn’t give it too much concern since I already had laid back my own supplies cheaply prior to Y2K. Yet yesterday seemed to be the straw that broke the camels back. I investigated in depth one too many times another aspect of the negative aspects of war surplus.
*
Please support Bison by buying through the Amazon graphics above and to the right of each article. Or, visit
http://bisonpress.com/affiliatebooks.html
You can purchase anything, not just the linked item. Enter Amazon through my item link and then go to whatever other item you desire. As long as you don’t leave Amazon until after the order is placed, I get credit for your purchase. Thank you.
*
A minions comment on the poor shot placement at 300 yards got me mulling things over ( again ). I should have gone with 200 yards ( going up against the AK ) rather than 300. At 200, I’m not too God awful of a shot although I won’t claim a one shot one kill. But at $1 a round, even that cut in range is too much of a compromise. When I first bought the Enfields I also had a couple of SKS’s. At 100 yards they both sucked for accuracy but the rifle, if for no other reason the barrel length, was not as bad. But that was also the old WWI Enfields with those crappy leaf and post sights. When I went to the No. 4’s there was a great improvement in shot placement. But I also was living in Oklahoma and then Florida. You wanted a bit more than a pistol round but the terrain still didn’t call for much range. My 100 yard shots were usually all I needed and I felt comfy out to 200 ( and since I was buying thirty cent surplus rounds I didn’t mind the fact I couldn’t always connect the first shot ). Even when I first moved to Nevada it was at the base of the Sierra mountains and I didn’t worry about open range. Now however, I have to worry about 200 yards all day long ( 300 yards is about max because of the rolling hills ) rather than 100. I can’t easily practice enough to be proficient at those longer ranges ( even if I started reloading, with the shortened life span-so I’ve been told- of the 303 case I won’t be able to spend less than fifty cents or so a round taking into account the 65 cent case cost ). I could afford the cost but to me it seems this smacks on the case of shopping around trying to find VW Bug parts- it might be cheaper to replace the car itself. When you can buy a new factory case of a carbine round for half the cost as reloading your antique thirty caliber, it might be time to replace the arsenal.
*
It wouldn’t be the first time. I’ve replaced a pistol only arsenal, an SKS arsenal, my first Enfield arsenal and a rimfire arsenal. It might be time to replace this one. I have time, because if things go to hell tomorrow, I’ll still feel comfortable with what I have. I’ll just have to pay real close attention to ranges. But it is something I should place a few more rungs higher on my Master To Do List. First of course is building a more habitable pit. And designing better solar heaters. Paying off the land, perhaps rain catchment. It’s still up in the air, but I think I’m running out of excuses. I could still keep the Enfields ( security blanket, possible investment, bartable items ) and it would only cost me about two grand. Three bolts ( or single shots, I’m not sure ) and three thousand rounds. When you are on a totally frugal budget, bolts make sense. When you are looking for ways to waste extra, not so much.
*
Okay, this weekend is the last weekend of free articles. I’m going back to five days a week on the blog. Just like we did in 2010. But I’m still writing seven days a week. To read the extra, you will now have to pay. I’ll take my weekend writing and use it to put out a new e-magazine. It will be published monthly and I only am asking a buck for it. For you all wanting to read free, you still have the blog. For those of you wanting to support my writing, you can buy the magazine if you wish. You are all wonderful at supporting the blog, don’t get me wrong. But it takes thousands of dollars in Amazon sales for me to see a hundred bucks in commission. If you don’t have it, it doesn’t matter how much you love me. You can’t pay what you don’t have ( I’m down half of last January’s commissions- I’m thinking you all just don’t have the money you did a year ago ) to pull out of your butt. So instead of relying on you spending hundreds at Amazon, I only need you to pony up a dollar ( I’ll see 80% of that ). I think this makes better sense in a contracting economy. There will still be the option of Amazon, I’m just diversifying is all. The first issue should be out mid to late February. I’ll try to lard it up, but don’t expect much more than about eight articles and around ten thousand words. In the future, who knows? I might go bi-weekly or whatever. Let’s see. Of course, the best part of the magazine will be its name. The Cockroach Chronicles. Get it? Cockroaches will be the only species to survive global nuclear war.
END
The Official Bison Web Site http://www.bisonpress.com/
*
My e-mail is jimd303@netzero.com
*
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.
*
By the by, all my writing is copyrighted. For the obtuse out there.
You know, it is just my luck that while I strive mightily to present fact and fun filled sermons and beseech and implore all my minions to change their evil ways by vomiting article after essay on any particular subject, in the end the only one convinced appears to be myself. Not that I’ve convinced myself I’m right. I knew that all along. But rather motivated myself to change. As of late ( I don’t know, the last year or two perhaps ) I’ve been forced to consider arsenals beyond that of war surplus bolt actions. The times they are’a changing and what used to make perfect sense is now sometimes a flawed theory. Of course you can still buy surplus and cheap ammo if you are on a strict $500 prepping budget. That part hasn’t changed in the last five years since I published the best survivalist book to ever grace the masses. It is just that now you only have one choice and that is the Russian bolt. Which I hate because of the lack of the gas safety but no one else considers an issue. If you want a better designed weapon you are now forced to pay the same as a new modern arm, so why pay for a used rifle? And the ammo saving are no longer there. I’ve been lamenting this insidious development, but didn’t give it too much concern since I already had laid back my own supplies cheaply prior to Y2K. Yet yesterday seemed to be the straw that broke the camels back. I investigated in depth one too many times another aspect of the negative aspects of war surplus.
*
Please support Bison by buying through the Amazon graphics above and to the right of each article. Or, visit
http://bisonpress.com/affiliatebooks.html
You can purchase anything, not just the linked item. Enter Amazon through my item link and then go to whatever other item you desire. As long as you don’t leave Amazon until after the order is placed, I get credit for your purchase. Thank you.
*
A minions comment on the poor shot placement at 300 yards got me mulling things over ( again ). I should have gone with 200 yards ( going up against the AK ) rather than 300. At 200, I’m not too God awful of a shot although I won’t claim a one shot one kill. But at $1 a round, even that cut in range is too much of a compromise. When I first bought the Enfields I also had a couple of SKS’s. At 100 yards they both sucked for accuracy but the rifle, if for no other reason the barrel length, was not as bad. But that was also the old WWI Enfields with those crappy leaf and post sights. When I went to the No. 4’s there was a great improvement in shot placement. But I also was living in Oklahoma and then Florida. You wanted a bit more than a pistol round but the terrain still didn’t call for much range. My 100 yard shots were usually all I needed and I felt comfy out to 200 ( and since I was buying thirty cent surplus rounds I didn’t mind the fact I couldn’t always connect the first shot ). Even when I first moved to Nevada it was at the base of the Sierra mountains and I didn’t worry about open range. Now however, I have to worry about 200 yards all day long ( 300 yards is about max because of the rolling hills ) rather than 100. I can’t easily practice enough to be proficient at those longer ranges ( even if I started reloading, with the shortened life span-so I’ve been told- of the 303 case I won’t be able to spend less than fifty cents or so a round taking into account the 65 cent case cost ). I could afford the cost but to me it seems this smacks on the case of shopping around trying to find VW Bug parts- it might be cheaper to replace the car itself. When you can buy a new factory case of a carbine round for half the cost as reloading your antique thirty caliber, it might be time to replace the arsenal.
*
It wouldn’t be the first time. I’ve replaced a pistol only arsenal, an SKS arsenal, my first Enfield arsenal and a rimfire arsenal. It might be time to replace this one. I have time, because if things go to hell tomorrow, I’ll still feel comfortable with what I have. I’ll just have to pay real close attention to ranges. But it is something I should place a few more rungs higher on my Master To Do List. First of course is building a more habitable pit. And designing better solar heaters. Paying off the land, perhaps rain catchment. It’s still up in the air, but I think I’m running out of excuses. I could still keep the Enfields ( security blanket, possible investment, bartable items ) and it would only cost me about two grand. Three bolts ( or single shots, I’m not sure ) and three thousand rounds. When you are on a totally frugal budget, bolts make sense. When you are looking for ways to waste extra, not so much.
*
Okay, this weekend is the last weekend of free articles. I’m going back to five days a week on the blog. Just like we did in 2010. But I’m still writing seven days a week. To read the extra, you will now have to pay. I’ll take my weekend writing and use it to put out a new e-magazine. It will be published monthly and I only am asking a buck for it. For you all wanting to read free, you still have the blog. For those of you wanting to support my writing, you can buy the magazine if you wish. You are all wonderful at supporting the blog, don’t get me wrong. But it takes thousands of dollars in Amazon sales for me to see a hundred bucks in commission. If you don’t have it, it doesn’t matter how much you love me. You can’t pay what you don’t have ( I’m down half of last January’s commissions- I’m thinking you all just don’t have the money you did a year ago ) to pull out of your butt. So instead of relying on you spending hundreds at Amazon, I only need you to pony up a dollar ( I’ll see 80% of that ). I think this makes better sense in a contracting economy. There will still be the option of Amazon, I’m just diversifying is all. The first issue should be out mid to late February. I’ll try to lard it up, but don’t expect much more than about eight articles and around ten thousand words. In the future, who knows? I might go bi-weekly or whatever. Let’s see. Of course, the best part of the magazine will be its name. The Cockroach Chronicles. Get it? Cockroaches will be the only species to survive global nuclear war.
END
The Official Bison Web Site http://www.bisonpress.com/
*
My e-mail is jimd303@netzero.com
*
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.
*
By the by, all my writing is copyrighted. For the obtuse out there.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
divorced from preps
DIVORCED FROM PREPS
From SHTF Blog, we have an article on divorce and how to deal with it. Now, of course the first thing I did was thank said publisher for being kind enough to trash his life so I could get an article idea. Most of my loyal minions are no where near as dedicated as that. I liked the part about having to medicate to sleep. My first “real” divorce ( wife number two, Handmaiden Of Satan. Wife #1 was more of a marriage of convenience and in our divorce she only got me for me for two months net income ) produced the worst bout of illness I’ve had in my entire life. Now, I’m warning you up front, you might not like this article. I don’t bemoan my situation ( and we all know it is all about me ). I won’t be too hating on females. No rants or pleas for divine intervention to smite my enemies. In fact, I might even be able to squeeze out an optimistic tone. You might wish to proceed with caution.
*
If you and the spousal unit are always at odds over life in general, you are not meant to be together. If you can’t agree on fundamentals such as what is considered a safe place to live or how to budget money ( or how often you can bump uglies ) or whatever, you might not want to admit it but sooner or later you will split up. When times get tougher economically, those problems will be much worse. Every worsening of your situation will cause both parties to blame the other for past bad decisions. If he hadn’t stayed in that crappy job until the company went bankrupt we could have already been living in a much more affordable location and not lost the car, etc. I’m not saying that healthy couples won’t have the same issue ( selective memories on both sides when it comes time to blame ), just that a dysfunctional couple will NOT survive times of trouble but a healthy couple should be able to. If you know your marriage is in trouble, don’t postpone the inevitable. If you wait too long you end up homeless, unemployed and legally liable to make those support payments every month ( I’m going to assume 99% of my readers are male and will be on the hook for child support ). If you act soon enough, you can guide your destiny rather than be tossed about by it.
*
Please support Bison by buying through the Amazon graphics above and to the right of each article. Or, visit
http://bisonpress.com/affiliatebooks.html
You can purchase anything, not just the linked item. Enter Amazon through my item link and then go to whatever other item you desire. As long as you don’t leave Amazon until after the order is placed, I get credit for your purchase. Thank you.
*
Okay, financially you are going to be screwed. This is a given. You will usually be paying about 60-70% of your gross income to federal taxes and support combined. Take it from experience, if you try to stay living a conventional lifestyle, you live just sink deeper and deeper into poverty. And as a father, I understand that your kids are about the only decent thing about your miserable existence. But if you stay in the same location as them and that place has too high a cost of living, you will be dooming yourself ( and odds are, the ex will move them away anyway AFTER that event ). The ex-wife and the courts give not a care about how little money you have left ( there will be ZERO justice for you. I tried getting Food Stamps as I was paying 75% of my gross, and was denied ). You WILL make your payments or you can go to jail, get butt humped and die from AIDS. I kid you not. But as bad as this is, it can be liberating. You can now start over again living a sane and sustainable ( financially speaking ) life. You can start over again with another marriage to a spouse that isn’t allowed to act as your ex did. You can have your life back, and while doing so on 33% of your former income doesn’t seem possible, it isn’t hard. Give up your car, get out of debt, live in an unconventional dwelling and never waste a cent on luxuries. You will have plenty of prep money very quickly. But only if you give up any hope of a middle class lifestyle and middle class mate. Hey, trust me, middle class mates suck anyway. The lower rungs of the economic ladder might not hold the prettiest prospective wives ( I’m talking about the perceived beauty desired such as you see on TV or in the mall at the high end stores ) , they might be pretty bruised up being used up by life, but they have a far more sensible attitude. They’ve been through the squeezer like you are now experiencing and they accept that life will hand them a crap sandwich long before they get a gold lottery ticket. And did I mention the preps?
*
You can prep like a mother humper once the consumerist shoe shopping, central air wasting two car payments bitch of an ex is gone. You usually can come out ahead financially if you can learn to live below your means. How do you think I ended up on my own land, out of debt, running my own micro-business with preps coming out my ass? I make minimum wage and support a wife on that, as well as an ex-wife. One, I live below income. It took me awhile to learn how to do that. And mainly it boils down to just getting rid of the car and/or living in the cheapest area you can find. Two, you remarry a wife that is diametrically opposite of the ex. You can find cheap to keep wives. They all have their own issues, but then, we are talking about wives. We aren’t talking about just leaving a wife who won’t prep ( not that I’m opposed to that ). We are cutting off a limb once it becomes gangrenous. If you wait until the bitter end, you end up screwing yourself. If you are going through a tough time anyway, make the best of the pain and stress. Restart your life. Take your financial screwing, but don’t let it hurt you as much as the bitches want it to. If you cling to the middle class lifestyle, not only are you doomed to fail, if you aren’t careful you might attract another middle class wife!!!!! The Horrors. The Horrors.
END
The Official Bison Web Site http://www.bisonpress.com/
*
My e-mail is jimd303@netzero.com
*
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.
*
By the by, all my writing is copyrighted. For the obtuse out there.
From SHTF Blog, we have an article on divorce and how to deal with it. Now, of course the first thing I did was thank said publisher for being kind enough to trash his life so I could get an article idea. Most of my loyal minions are no where near as dedicated as that. I liked the part about having to medicate to sleep. My first “real” divorce ( wife number two, Handmaiden Of Satan. Wife #1 was more of a marriage of convenience and in our divorce she only got me for me for two months net income ) produced the worst bout of illness I’ve had in my entire life. Now, I’m warning you up front, you might not like this article. I don’t bemoan my situation ( and we all know it is all about me ). I won’t be too hating on females. No rants or pleas for divine intervention to smite my enemies. In fact, I might even be able to squeeze out an optimistic tone. You might wish to proceed with caution.
*
If you and the spousal unit are always at odds over life in general, you are not meant to be together. If you can’t agree on fundamentals such as what is considered a safe place to live or how to budget money ( or how often you can bump uglies ) or whatever, you might not want to admit it but sooner or later you will split up. When times get tougher economically, those problems will be much worse. Every worsening of your situation will cause both parties to blame the other for past bad decisions. If he hadn’t stayed in that crappy job until the company went bankrupt we could have already been living in a much more affordable location and not lost the car, etc. I’m not saying that healthy couples won’t have the same issue ( selective memories on both sides when it comes time to blame ), just that a dysfunctional couple will NOT survive times of trouble but a healthy couple should be able to. If you know your marriage is in trouble, don’t postpone the inevitable. If you wait too long you end up homeless, unemployed and legally liable to make those support payments every month ( I’m going to assume 99% of my readers are male and will be on the hook for child support ). If you act soon enough, you can guide your destiny rather than be tossed about by it.
*
Please support Bison by buying through the Amazon graphics above and to the right of each article. Or, visit
http://bisonpress.com/affiliatebooks.html
You can purchase anything, not just the linked item. Enter Amazon through my item link and then go to whatever other item you desire. As long as you don’t leave Amazon until after the order is placed, I get credit for your purchase. Thank you.
*
Okay, financially you are going to be screwed. This is a given. You will usually be paying about 60-70% of your gross income to federal taxes and support combined. Take it from experience, if you try to stay living a conventional lifestyle, you live just sink deeper and deeper into poverty. And as a father, I understand that your kids are about the only decent thing about your miserable existence. But if you stay in the same location as them and that place has too high a cost of living, you will be dooming yourself ( and odds are, the ex will move them away anyway AFTER that event ). The ex-wife and the courts give not a care about how little money you have left ( there will be ZERO justice for you. I tried getting Food Stamps as I was paying 75% of my gross, and was denied ). You WILL make your payments or you can go to jail, get butt humped and die from AIDS. I kid you not. But as bad as this is, it can be liberating. You can now start over again living a sane and sustainable ( financially speaking ) life. You can start over again with another marriage to a spouse that isn’t allowed to act as your ex did. You can have your life back, and while doing so on 33% of your former income doesn’t seem possible, it isn’t hard. Give up your car, get out of debt, live in an unconventional dwelling and never waste a cent on luxuries. You will have plenty of prep money very quickly. But only if you give up any hope of a middle class lifestyle and middle class mate. Hey, trust me, middle class mates suck anyway. The lower rungs of the economic ladder might not hold the prettiest prospective wives ( I’m talking about the perceived beauty desired such as you see on TV or in the mall at the high end stores ) , they might be pretty bruised up being used up by life, but they have a far more sensible attitude. They’ve been through the squeezer like you are now experiencing and they accept that life will hand them a crap sandwich long before they get a gold lottery ticket. And did I mention the preps?
*
You can prep like a mother humper once the consumerist shoe shopping, central air wasting two car payments bitch of an ex is gone. You usually can come out ahead financially if you can learn to live below your means. How do you think I ended up on my own land, out of debt, running my own micro-business with preps coming out my ass? I make minimum wage and support a wife on that, as well as an ex-wife. One, I live below income. It took me awhile to learn how to do that. And mainly it boils down to just getting rid of the car and/or living in the cheapest area you can find. Two, you remarry a wife that is diametrically opposite of the ex. You can find cheap to keep wives. They all have their own issues, but then, we are talking about wives. We aren’t talking about just leaving a wife who won’t prep ( not that I’m opposed to that ). We are cutting off a limb once it becomes gangrenous. If you wait until the bitter end, you end up screwing yourself. If you are going through a tough time anyway, make the best of the pain and stress. Restart your life. Take your financial screwing, but don’t let it hurt you as much as the bitches want it to. If you cling to the middle class lifestyle, not only are you doomed to fail, if you aren’t careful you might attract another middle class wife!!!!! The Horrors. The Horrors.
END
The Official Bison Web Site http://www.bisonpress.com/
*
My e-mail is jimd303@netzero.com
*
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.
*
By the by, all my writing is copyrighted. For the obtuse out there.
Friday, January 20, 2012
99 big wheels
99 BIG WHEELS
I’m sure as soon as you all read the comment by the troll saying that I should write about Big Wheels ( I think he was pissed he had to read another few words on bug out bicycles ) you instinctively understood that there was a fifty/fifty chance that I would take him up on his offer, no matter how steeped in sarcasm it happened to be. But you said to yourself, self, how in the world could even such a talented and wonderful creature blessed by Baby Jesus himself come up with an article on Big Wheels for survivalism? People, this stuff might look easy, but I think here is proof positive that it takes supreme talent to do all I do. Today’s article is on two topics, one being the three wheel bicycle as a survival conveyance. Okay, it technically isn’t a Big Wheel, that wonderful plastic tricycle that was for most the first vehicle any of us ever had unless we were just poor white trash living in an Appalachian coal mining town shack wearing flour sack shirts, watching whitewash dry ( too poor for actual paint ) and seeing how closely your cousin could be related to you before your offspring was stunted and looking like some freak from Hiroshima ( ohhhh! The humanity! How could he possibly have such a marked lack of compassion? ). But it is a Big Boy Big Wheel, so I call it close enough. Now, even I’ll admit that this article lacks much importance, so I’ll throw in some familiar ranting on the Republican Party Idiot O D Day. That might not be enough to keep you off my back, but I’ll deal with it.
*
Please support Bison by buying through the Amazon graphics above and to the right of each article. Or, visit
http://bisonpress.com/affiliatebooks.html
You can purchase anything, not just the linked item. Enter Amazon through my item link and then go to whatever other item you desire. As long as you don’t leave Amazon until after the order is placed, I get credit for your purchase. Thank you.
*
Oh, and one other thing. Speaking of “99”, remember that German band in the early Eighties singing about “99 Red Balloons”? I think that was the title of the song. If you listen to the English version ( the German version of course sounds better in a Teutonic Wench Pleading To Dominate You With Bondage Gear kind of way ) you might enjoy the reference to nuclear war worries ( the Balloon Going Up ). Okay, let’s get back on track. We all agree that bugging out by bike makes perfect sense because the bitch can’t break. Well, anything can break, but the odds are so far against it because you have as close to zero moving parts as is possible in a vehicle. A car on the other hand has close to a gabizillion parts ( actually 987 thousand kazillion ) to fail and with your luck one of them will on the worst possible day. Bikes are, at no additional charge, both on and off road. And the cost difference is insane ( about one to twenty at best ). Also, with a motor vehicle, once your fuel runs out you have a worthless tool. With a bike and just a handful of parts that thing should be good for years after the collapse. I think the reason so many Yuppie Puke Bastard Scum Survivalists insist on everything petroleum powered is because they refuse to believe it will ever disappear ( Little Johnny, where does meat come from? A white tray from the store ). Their argument is, It’s The Best For The Job ( giving an example of a chainsaw verses hand saws, for instance ). They don’t want to ask the more pertinent question of What Is The Best Tool For PODA ( Post Oil Dark Ages )?
*
Now, while I won’t ever switch to this kind of bike, it does have advantages. A three wheeler is great for cargo hauling and remaining upright. A regular bike, two wheeled, is of course easily turned into a cargo hauler, but if you are suddenly attacked you have to let the bitch fall over. You might damage precious cargo. And you usually have to get untangled from a regular bike if you want to run or return fire. With a three wheeler you are far less encumbered at defense. Plus, if you are old, you almost have no choice but to have this type of bike ( okay, perhaps one day I’ll be forced to go three wheeled if I live long enough and the collapse hasn’t happened ). I don’t pretend that I have any more information than you on this bike. I don’t know prices other than you are paying a premium due to its low volume in demand. If the idea appeals to you the research should be easy enough ( guest article, anyone? ). It certainly is an option for a tool for a certain problem.
*
Next up we have friggin Newt Gingrich and his stupid comment on how 99 week unemployed are slacking whores. Okay, he actually only hinted at that. He did say something to the effect that “99 weeks is an associates degree”. As in, why are these slacking ho bitches wasting my tax dollars lounging about in the sun drinking beer when they could be earning a college degree. Newt, I usually love ya big fellow. You are a politician but at least you know history which makes you a less than total idiot of a politician. But here you are either showing your ass or showing us what a sell out you are. ANY government pay out has its share of hucksters and cheats. The unemployed are no different, that doesn’t make all of them so ( you have as many cheating the Social Security system or the military disability system or whatever ). And, workers pay into the system. To me it is just another tax I’ll never see a return on, but to those using that argument about SS, here is the same rationale. You can’t say everyone is entitled to SS but not unemployment. Third, you stupid twat, more college degrees do not create new jobs. They just create more debt for people who can’t afford it. It’s a good thing I have no plan on voting ( your vote is not for a candidate, your vote is your consent to being screwed by the establishment- if voting actually changed anything it would be illegal. Castro had 100% voter turnout at each “election” ).
END
The Official Bison Web Site http://www.bisonpress.com/
*
My e-mail is jimd303@netzero.com
*
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.
*
By the by, all my writing is copyrighted. For the obtuse out there.
I’m sure as soon as you all read the comment by the troll saying that I should write about Big Wheels ( I think he was pissed he had to read another few words on bug out bicycles ) you instinctively understood that there was a fifty/fifty chance that I would take him up on his offer, no matter how steeped in sarcasm it happened to be. But you said to yourself, self, how in the world could even such a talented and wonderful creature blessed by Baby Jesus himself come up with an article on Big Wheels for survivalism? People, this stuff might look easy, but I think here is proof positive that it takes supreme talent to do all I do. Today’s article is on two topics, one being the three wheel bicycle as a survival conveyance. Okay, it technically isn’t a Big Wheel, that wonderful plastic tricycle that was for most the first vehicle any of us ever had unless we were just poor white trash living in an Appalachian coal mining town shack wearing flour sack shirts, watching whitewash dry ( too poor for actual paint ) and seeing how closely your cousin could be related to you before your offspring was stunted and looking like some freak from Hiroshima ( ohhhh! The humanity! How could he possibly have such a marked lack of compassion? ). But it is a Big Boy Big Wheel, so I call it close enough. Now, even I’ll admit that this article lacks much importance, so I’ll throw in some familiar ranting on the Republican Party Idiot O D Day. That might not be enough to keep you off my back, but I’ll deal with it.
*
Please support Bison by buying through the Amazon graphics above and to the right of each article. Or, visit
http://bisonpress.com/affiliatebooks.html
You can purchase anything, not just the linked item. Enter Amazon through my item link and then go to whatever other item you desire. As long as you don’t leave Amazon until after the order is placed, I get credit for your purchase. Thank you.
*
Oh, and one other thing. Speaking of “99”, remember that German band in the early Eighties singing about “99 Red Balloons”? I think that was the title of the song. If you listen to the English version ( the German version of course sounds better in a Teutonic Wench Pleading To Dominate You With Bondage Gear kind of way ) you might enjoy the reference to nuclear war worries ( the Balloon Going Up ). Okay, let’s get back on track. We all agree that bugging out by bike makes perfect sense because the bitch can’t break. Well, anything can break, but the odds are so far against it because you have as close to zero moving parts as is possible in a vehicle. A car on the other hand has close to a gabizillion parts ( actually 987 thousand kazillion ) to fail and with your luck one of them will on the worst possible day. Bikes are, at no additional charge, both on and off road. And the cost difference is insane ( about one to twenty at best ). Also, with a motor vehicle, once your fuel runs out you have a worthless tool. With a bike and just a handful of parts that thing should be good for years after the collapse. I think the reason so many Yuppie Puke Bastard Scum Survivalists insist on everything petroleum powered is because they refuse to believe it will ever disappear ( Little Johnny, where does meat come from? A white tray from the store ). Their argument is, It’s The Best For The Job ( giving an example of a chainsaw verses hand saws, for instance ). They don’t want to ask the more pertinent question of What Is The Best Tool For PODA ( Post Oil Dark Ages )?
*
Now, while I won’t ever switch to this kind of bike, it does have advantages. A three wheeler is great for cargo hauling and remaining upright. A regular bike, two wheeled, is of course easily turned into a cargo hauler, but if you are suddenly attacked you have to let the bitch fall over. You might damage precious cargo. And you usually have to get untangled from a regular bike if you want to run or return fire. With a three wheeler you are far less encumbered at defense. Plus, if you are old, you almost have no choice but to have this type of bike ( okay, perhaps one day I’ll be forced to go three wheeled if I live long enough and the collapse hasn’t happened ). I don’t pretend that I have any more information than you on this bike. I don’t know prices other than you are paying a premium due to its low volume in demand. If the idea appeals to you the research should be easy enough ( guest article, anyone? ). It certainly is an option for a tool for a certain problem.
*
Next up we have friggin Newt Gingrich and his stupid comment on how 99 week unemployed are slacking whores. Okay, he actually only hinted at that. He did say something to the effect that “99 weeks is an associates degree”. As in, why are these slacking ho bitches wasting my tax dollars lounging about in the sun drinking beer when they could be earning a college degree. Newt, I usually love ya big fellow. You are a politician but at least you know history which makes you a less than total idiot of a politician. But here you are either showing your ass or showing us what a sell out you are. ANY government pay out has its share of hucksters and cheats. The unemployed are no different, that doesn’t make all of them so ( you have as many cheating the Social Security system or the military disability system or whatever ). And, workers pay into the system. To me it is just another tax I’ll never see a return on, but to those using that argument about SS, here is the same rationale. You can’t say everyone is entitled to SS but not unemployment. Third, you stupid twat, more college degrees do not create new jobs. They just create more debt for people who can’t afford it. It’s a good thing I have no plan on voting ( your vote is not for a candidate, your vote is your consent to being screwed by the establishment- if voting actually changed anything it would be illegal. Castro had 100% voter turnout at each “election” ).
END
The Official Bison Web Site http://www.bisonpress.com/
*
My e-mail is jimd303@netzero.com
*
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.
*
By the by, all my writing is copyrighted. For the obtuse out there.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
five year plan
FIVE YEAR PLAN
I liked the article Monday at Rawles on Japan with its debt at 300% of GDP. Of course, if we would just listen to the West Podunk Community College School Of Business all that would be necessary for the Japanese to do to increase their productivity and hence lower their debt, even in the radioactive ruins of their industrial parks, is to stop giving those whiney lazy bitches handouts like free shelter and meals. And to stop taxing the rich, since we all know all rich guys spend all their money on consumer items so it is all magically trickle down. They never send their money overseas for safekeeping or increased returns. But since we don’t listen to WPCCSOB, we are all doomed to economic ruin. The article mentioned the end of this decade as Really, Really Bad Times To Come. So, you have at most eight years to prepare by buying fortified zucchini farms atop mountains in any northern drought stricken state of your choice ( behold! Yeoman Farmer Paradise Of The Future! ), arming your troops with really cool looking short range high firepower carbines made by God Fearing Americans For God Fearing Americans To Smite The Unbelievers, and of course lots of complicated digital radio communications devices relying on odd sized batteries, wearing ballistic helmets sporting cameras and infrared detectors and night vision devices and bullet proof vests and at least five hundred clips of ammo and even if you can’t move under your own power with all that crap because of the weight you don’t have to worry because you are bullet resistant and can just remain immobile and lay down an uninterrupted spray of lead like that really cool gun in “Predator” that somehow didn’t need electrical power to rotate its barrels as it mowed down whole jungle ecosystems.
*
Please support Bison by buying through the Amazon graphics above and to the right of each article. Or, visit
http://bisonpress.com/affiliatebooks.html
You can purchase anything, not just the linked item. Enter Amazon through my item link and then go to whatever other item you desire. As long as you don’t leave Amazon until after the order is placed, I get credit for your purchase. Thank you.
*
Obviously this is a lot of stuff to buy, but if you are one of God’s chosen you make a lot of money, usually as a government contractor. You love the “free enterprise system” and Baby Jesus loves you ( I’m being sarcastic, Baby Jesus says you suck ). If God loved you, he made you rich and you can afford to buy your way to safety through the Apocalypse. Now, the article didn’t say a thing as to why we only have six to eight years. I’d imagine since it was talking about inflation through government quantitative easing, it is felt that is all the time we will have before the whole silly circus melts down. Hey, why not? It is as good a guess as my four years to zero oil imports. I’m glad to see the article as it is a much better heads up in the time line to collapse than you usually see over there. I think it is overly optimistic, but then I’m usually way too pessimistic. Keeping in mind my general rule that you should have your bare bones, better than nothing stockpile yesterday, would there be any harm in assuming a five year plan? If we assume that my overly paranoid date of death should be stretched out a bit ( but also keep in mind my last child support payment is now only nine paychecks away!!!!! ) and their overly Pollyanna assumption is too much to hope for, let’s just compromise, meet in the middle and say about five years to go until the twin oil import death and the hyperinflated economic contraction meet. I’m not saying this is a set in concrete date we should all fear, just that it is a possibility.
*
And why not go with it? If you already have some food and protection, you can now gamble with the date of deliverance. The nice thing about an arbitrary date in the future is that no matter how small the probability of it being correct, you benefit from accepting it in that you get much more down. We all didn’t have to really truly believe all the computers would crash at the beginning of the millennia, we just used it as a motivator. A cattle prod to our lazy asses. For me it worked as both a timeline and as a way to visualize how I could prep better. If you work better under some kind of pressure ( I get so much written because I have a deadline. I don’t wait for inspiration or motivation. Those are too fickle and can be used by your brain as excuses ), the five year plan should do you a world of good. And it will work much better for you than it did for the Soviets because you are actually motivated. Fear and greed can be great motivators, but they work much better together than separately. You fear for your life, and are working to make your future lot in life more comfortable. If you have done nothing, go with my $500 plan. It is strictly bare bones, but with it and a cynical paranoid attitude you should survive a black swan event that happens anytime. Then, as serves you, make improvements.
*
We all want more food than just wheat. More accurate weapons shooting modern ammunition. We would all like a place to live that is debt free and runs on alternate energy. Being out of debt. A retirement plan. All this is included in your five year plan. Just balance everything. Being completely out of debt is nice, but if that is all you do in five years, you have no where to live, no food storage, etc. Plan in order of importance. You won’t get everything done, but much more than if you “just prepped as I felt the budget allowed” ( which usually means never ). And plan your activities in order of freeing up cash. Like paying off one credit card quickly, then doubling up on the next. You free up a car payment, say, then that money plus the original amount that went to the first item goes to the next. Like I’ve outlined on moving to your junk land. You live in your car, or rent a room, putting your former mortgage money or higher rent into saving up moving money or paying off the land quickly. Everything gets easier and moves quicker this way. You might find the structure and the immediate feedback really work wonders for you.
END
The Official Bison Web Site http://www.bisonpress.com/
*
My e-mail is jimd303@netzero.com
*
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.
*
By the by, all my writing is copyrighted. For the obtuse out there.
I liked the article Monday at Rawles on Japan with its debt at 300% of GDP. Of course, if we would just listen to the West Podunk Community College School Of Business all that would be necessary for the Japanese to do to increase their productivity and hence lower their debt, even in the radioactive ruins of their industrial parks, is to stop giving those whiney lazy bitches handouts like free shelter and meals. And to stop taxing the rich, since we all know all rich guys spend all their money on consumer items so it is all magically trickle down. They never send their money overseas for safekeeping or increased returns. But since we don’t listen to WPCCSOB, we are all doomed to economic ruin. The article mentioned the end of this decade as Really, Really Bad Times To Come. So, you have at most eight years to prepare by buying fortified zucchini farms atop mountains in any northern drought stricken state of your choice ( behold! Yeoman Farmer Paradise Of The Future! ), arming your troops with really cool looking short range high firepower carbines made by God Fearing Americans For God Fearing Americans To Smite The Unbelievers, and of course lots of complicated digital radio communications devices relying on odd sized batteries, wearing ballistic helmets sporting cameras and infrared detectors and night vision devices and bullet proof vests and at least five hundred clips of ammo and even if you can’t move under your own power with all that crap because of the weight you don’t have to worry because you are bullet resistant and can just remain immobile and lay down an uninterrupted spray of lead like that really cool gun in “Predator” that somehow didn’t need electrical power to rotate its barrels as it mowed down whole jungle ecosystems.
*
Please support Bison by buying through the Amazon graphics above and to the right of each article. Or, visit
http://bisonpress.com/affiliatebooks.html
You can purchase anything, not just the linked item. Enter Amazon through my item link and then go to whatever other item you desire. As long as you don’t leave Amazon until after the order is placed, I get credit for your purchase. Thank you.
*
Obviously this is a lot of stuff to buy, but if you are one of God’s chosen you make a lot of money, usually as a government contractor. You love the “free enterprise system” and Baby Jesus loves you ( I’m being sarcastic, Baby Jesus says you suck ). If God loved you, he made you rich and you can afford to buy your way to safety through the Apocalypse. Now, the article didn’t say a thing as to why we only have six to eight years. I’d imagine since it was talking about inflation through government quantitative easing, it is felt that is all the time we will have before the whole silly circus melts down. Hey, why not? It is as good a guess as my four years to zero oil imports. I’m glad to see the article as it is a much better heads up in the time line to collapse than you usually see over there. I think it is overly optimistic, but then I’m usually way too pessimistic. Keeping in mind my general rule that you should have your bare bones, better than nothing stockpile yesterday, would there be any harm in assuming a five year plan? If we assume that my overly paranoid date of death should be stretched out a bit ( but also keep in mind my last child support payment is now only nine paychecks away!!!!! ) and their overly Pollyanna assumption is too much to hope for, let’s just compromise, meet in the middle and say about five years to go until the twin oil import death and the hyperinflated economic contraction meet. I’m not saying this is a set in concrete date we should all fear, just that it is a possibility.
*
And why not go with it? If you already have some food and protection, you can now gamble with the date of deliverance. The nice thing about an arbitrary date in the future is that no matter how small the probability of it being correct, you benefit from accepting it in that you get much more down. We all didn’t have to really truly believe all the computers would crash at the beginning of the millennia, we just used it as a motivator. A cattle prod to our lazy asses. For me it worked as both a timeline and as a way to visualize how I could prep better. If you work better under some kind of pressure ( I get so much written because I have a deadline. I don’t wait for inspiration or motivation. Those are too fickle and can be used by your brain as excuses ), the five year plan should do you a world of good. And it will work much better for you than it did for the Soviets because you are actually motivated. Fear and greed can be great motivators, but they work much better together than separately. You fear for your life, and are working to make your future lot in life more comfortable. If you have done nothing, go with my $500 plan. It is strictly bare bones, but with it and a cynical paranoid attitude you should survive a black swan event that happens anytime. Then, as serves you, make improvements.
*
We all want more food than just wheat. More accurate weapons shooting modern ammunition. We would all like a place to live that is debt free and runs on alternate energy. Being out of debt. A retirement plan. All this is included in your five year plan. Just balance everything. Being completely out of debt is nice, but if that is all you do in five years, you have no where to live, no food storage, etc. Plan in order of importance. You won’t get everything done, but much more than if you “just prepped as I felt the budget allowed” ( which usually means never ). And plan your activities in order of freeing up cash. Like paying off one credit card quickly, then doubling up on the next. You free up a car payment, say, then that money plus the original amount that went to the first item goes to the next. Like I’ve outlined on moving to your junk land. You live in your car, or rent a room, putting your former mortgage money or higher rent into saving up moving money or paying off the land quickly. Everything gets easier and moves quicker this way. You might find the structure and the immediate feedback really work wonders for you.
END
The Official Bison Web Site http://www.bisonpress.com/
*
My e-mail is jimd303@netzero.com
*
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.
*
By the by, all my writing is copyrighted. For the obtuse out there.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
mighty thunder sticks
MIGHTY THUNDER STICKS
A minion wanted to know my thoughts on apocalypse orphans. This will be a wonderful topic but must wait for another day after it ferments in my brain awhile more. But it did get me to thinking on the subject of firearm caliber. And all our favorite surplus war bolt action rifles. If the mighty he-man warrior of the clan sucks in an airborne virus, gets sick, soils his drawers in a bloody manner and dies ingloriously, will the more frail members of his family be able to pick up one of those ten pound clubs and then actually fire one? All along my less than perfect plan had been for the wife to act as back-up with the rimfire rifle, and if needed she could use the revolvers in rimfire or even the 357 if she went with 38’s. This is all fine and dandy with me using the Enfield to reach out to longish ( I’m no sniper, but even three hundred yards is a good distance to start taking out AK users ) distances but if anything happens to me her survival chances diminish with such an arsenal. There is nothing wrong with a rimfire as the sole long arm, but it must be used in very skilled hands ( stalking, ambush ). The average survivalist is an overweight office worker, not a practiced bushwacker. And the spouse is usually going to be less skilled in the martial arts. While a good firearm in untrained hands is a marginal tool, to a certain extent the tool will substitute for that lack. In a knife fight, you are just as disadvantaged with a stainless steel $5 knife from China as with a $100 knife custom made if you are untrained. In firearms, the training level is much lower than a knife to achieve a tolerable level of skill. If you are half-assed in using a gun, the difference in the tool starts to matter ( unlike the knife ).
*
A guest article was posted earlier. Scroll down after my article.
*
Spending a grand on an AR-15 makes some sense as the carbine did have an original selling point that our little Vietnamese brothers in arms could shoot the thing far easier than the current 308 in service. They couldn’t shoot it for long as it jammed up easily, but don’t get me started on that. A African pygmy with arthritis could fire the AR for as long as it took to jam, with no discomfort. The AR is THE best design for a firearm that any urban boy could pick up and hose down the enemy. The recoil is zero. You do not flinch and can easily follow up shots. In all other aspects, this is the worst firearm every made. The parts are so over engineered that it would make a German cuss, the site is stupid, one can’t imagine why such a light weight carbine needs a carrying handle, you need a stick and a rock to extract a case jammed in the extractor, and the thing is dangerous to the user in a protracted firefight when the enemy won’t honor your request for a time out so you can clean your piece of crap. You might be tempted to arm your 100 pound five foot tall wife and your teenage children with this weapon because of the weight and recoil. As long as you hate them and want to see them die ( okay, I’m only sorta kidding ).
*
Please support Bison by buying through the Amazon graphics above and to the right of each article. Or, visit
http://bisonpress.com/affiliatebooks.html
You can purchase anything, not just the linked item. Enter Amazon through my item link and then go to whatever other item you desire. As long as you don’t leave Amazon until after the order is placed, I get credit for your purchase. Thank you.
*
For a loner survivalist, no other warm and fuzzy feeling will equal that of a scope mounted thirty caliber bolt action that will easily smite our enemies at eight hundred yards ( I ain’t that skilled, you might be- the gun certainly allows for it ). But if you have a wife and or kids, and are on a budget that precludes the purchase of four or five AR’s ( which are only three quarters of the price of the cheapest thirty caliber ), I’d recommend adopting a mid level arsenal. I’m talking about your average poor prepper here. I understand thee are plenty of Warrior Princesses out there that can pick up a M1 or whatnot and kick some serious long range ass. But that is not normal, is it? It is exceptional. Even though I applaud that skill, I won’t pretend it is normal. For the family defense unit of limited means and normal skill levels, think about carbine rounds. Yes, the 223 and 762x39. But not the semi auto rifles that are traditionally associated with those rounds. Semi-auto is retarded for a long term collapse into a dark age. You must conserve ammo from day one. And the cost of acquiring them is double. I’m suggesting civilian hunting bolt action rifles ( gasp! What of the bayonet? ).
*
It is true that a surplus rifle is a far superior military arm than its lighter constructed civilian counterpart. You can shoot them longer, butt stock your enemies in the trenches, mount a bayonet and charge if you run out of ammo. You can abuse them and they still function. A deer rifle is not so accommodating. But the difference in the ammunition and weight is critical in arming females and children. Even a slender short pasty Englishman weighing one hundred twenty pounds soaking wet has the upper body strength to carry his Enfield all day long and shoot at bloody Krauts at the end of it. His wife, even if taller and matching his weight, does not. Despite what FemiNazi bitches tells you, the genders have physical differences. Males, even the weak ones, have superior strength. That is just the way it is. That also kills them quicker, so stop your whining. You fems also have the ability to store much more body fat ( and stay healthy ). If you aren’t busy at the gym trying to turn your body into one matching a pre-teen boy, you can put some fat on your ass and carry that portable apocalypse pantry around with you. Just don’t try to carry around a heavy rifle. You will only set yourself up for failure.
*
A mid-caliber bolt action should be used for mid range sniping. Not close in urban assault. And it is an offensive weapon, not defensive. Don’t hunker down and wait to be attacked. The best defense is a good offense. So, while the rifle itself is not perfect or the best, it is affordable at around three hundred bucks. It should be light enough for the females and children to tote. Perhaps not easily, but easier. And the recoil, with a rifle mounted pad, should be manageable. Not as nice as a AR, but a heck of a lot nicer than a Mossin Nagant. And the benefits of scaling down your caliber are reflected in price and resources. The rounds cost half thirty caliber ( applicable to all but the 762x54r ), which means the same cost for arming two family members as one using his mighty macho thunder stick. And, while I’m not overly skilled on reloading so I can’t give exact figures, you are using less gunpowder to propel your lead down range. Yes, less stopping power and range, but more ammunition in the long run. As long as you are sniping instead of spraying and praying, the mid level calibers should only be marginally less effective ( 80/20 rule ). Now you are armed as a family with less than perfect but acceptable weapons rather than just having one member armed with the perfect rifle.
END
The Official Bison Web Site http://www.bisonpress.com/
*
My e-mail is jimd303@netzero.com
*
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.
*
By the by, all my writing is copyrighted. For the obtuse out there.
A minion wanted to know my thoughts on apocalypse orphans. This will be a wonderful topic but must wait for another day after it ferments in my brain awhile more. But it did get me to thinking on the subject of firearm caliber. And all our favorite surplus war bolt action rifles. If the mighty he-man warrior of the clan sucks in an airborne virus, gets sick, soils his drawers in a bloody manner and dies ingloriously, will the more frail members of his family be able to pick up one of those ten pound clubs and then actually fire one? All along my less than perfect plan had been for the wife to act as back-up with the rimfire rifle, and if needed she could use the revolvers in rimfire or even the 357 if she went with 38’s. This is all fine and dandy with me using the Enfield to reach out to longish ( I’m no sniper, but even three hundred yards is a good distance to start taking out AK users ) distances but if anything happens to me her survival chances diminish with such an arsenal. There is nothing wrong with a rimfire as the sole long arm, but it must be used in very skilled hands ( stalking, ambush ). The average survivalist is an overweight office worker, not a practiced bushwacker. And the spouse is usually going to be less skilled in the martial arts. While a good firearm in untrained hands is a marginal tool, to a certain extent the tool will substitute for that lack. In a knife fight, you are just as disadvantaged with a stainless steel $5 knife from China as with a $100 knife custom made if you are untrained. In firearms, the training level is much lower than a knife to achieve a tolerable level of skill. If you are half-assed in using a gun, the difference in the tool starts to matter ( unlike the knife ).
*
A guest article was posted earlier. Scroll down after my article.
*
Spending a grand on an AR-15 makes some sense as the carbine did have an original selling point that our little Vietnamese brothers in arms could shoot the thing far easier than the current 308 in service. They couldn’t shoot it for long as it jammed up easily, but don’t get me started on that. A African pygmy with arthritis could fire the AR for as long as it took to jam, with no discomfort. The AR is THE best design for a firearm that any urban boy could pick up and hose down the enemy. The recoil is zero. You do not flinch and can easily follow up shots. In all other aspects, this is the worst firearm every made. The parts are so over engineered that it would make a German cuss, the site is stupid, one can’t imagine why such a light weight carbine needs a carrying handle, you need a stick and a rock to extract a case jammed in the extractor, and the thing is dangerous to the user in a protracted firefight when the enemy won’t honor your request for a time out so you can clean your piece of crap. You might be tempted to arm your 100 pound five foot tall wife and your teenage children with this weapon because of the weight and recoil. As long as you hate them and want to see them die ( okay, I’m only sorta kidding ).
*
Please support Bison by buying through the Amazon graphics above and to the right of each article. Or, visit
http://bisonpress.com/affiliatebooks.html
You can purchase anything, not just the linked item. Enter Amazon through my item link and then go to whatever other item you desire. As long as you don’t leave Amazon until after the order is placed, I get credit for your purchase. Thank you.
*
For a loner survivalist, no other warm and fuzzy feeling will equal that of a scope mounted thirty caliber bolt action that will easily smite our enemies at eight hundred yards ( I ain’t that skilled, you might be- the gun certainly allows for it ). But if you have a wife and or kids, and are on a budget that precludes the purchase of four or five AR’s ( which are only three quarters of the price of the cheapest thirty caliber ), I’d recommend adopting a mid level arsenal. I’m talking about your average poor prepper here. I understand thee are plenty of Warrior Princesses out there that can pick up a M1 or whatnot and kick some serious long range ass. But that is not normal, is it? It is exceptional. Even though I applaud that skill, I won’t pretend it is normal. For the family defense unit of limited means and normal skill levels, think about carbine rounds. Yes, the 223 and 762x39. But not the semi auto rifles that are traditionally associated with those rounds. Semi-auto is retarded for a long term collapse into a dark age. You must conserve ammo from day one. And the cost of acquiring them is double. I’m suggesting civilian hunting bolt action rifles ( gasp! What of the bayonet? ).
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It is true that a surplus rifle is a far superior military arm than its lighter constructed civilian counterpart. You can shoot them longer, butt stock your enemies in the trenches, mount a bayonet and charge if you run out of ammo. You can abuse them and they still function. A deer rifle is not so accommodating. But the difference in the ammunition and weight is critical in arming females and children. Even a slender short pasty Englishman weighing one hundred twenty pounds soaking wet has the upper body strength to carry his Enfield all day long and shoot at bloody Krauts at the end of it. His wife, even if taller and matching his weight, does not. Despite what FemiNazi bitches tells you, the genders have physical differences. Males, even the weak ones, have superior strength. That is just the way it is. That also kills them quicker, so stop your whining. You fems also have the ability to store much more body fat ( and stay healthy ). If you aren’t busy at the gym trying to turn your body into one matching a pre-teen boy, you can put some fat on your ass and carry that portable apocalypse pantry around with you. Just don’t try to carry around a heavy rifle. You will only set yourself up for failure.
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A mid-caliber bolt action should be used for mid range sniping. Not close in urban assault. And it is an offensive weapon, not defensive. Don’t hunker down and wait to be attacked. The best defense is a good offense. So, while the rifle itself is not perfect or the best, it is affordable at around three hundred bucks. It should be light enough for the females and children to tote. Perhaps not easily, but easier. And the recoil, with a rifle mounted pad, should be manageable. Not as nice as a AR, but a heck of a lot nicer than a Mossin Nagant. And the benefits of scaling down your caliber are reflected in price and resources. The rounds cost half thirty caliber ( applicable to all but the 762x54r ), which means the same cost for arming two family members as one using his mighty macho thunder stick. And, while I’m not overly skilled on reloading so I can’t give exact figures, you are using less gunpowder to propel your lead down range. Yes, less stopping power and range, but more ammunition in the long run. As long as you are sniping instead of spraying and praying, the mid level calibers should only be marginally less effective ( 80/20 rule ). Now you are armed as a family with less than perfect but acceptable weapons rather than just having one member armed with the perfect rifle.
END
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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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By the by, all my writing is copyrighted. For the obtuse out there.
guest article
GUEST ARTICLE
As more people are seeing that those damn survivalists were perhaps not wrong about everything, more attention is devoted to them in the general media. While most of that fiction is not great at all, some works really try to have something to say. For instance, "Take Shelter". ( http://www.imdb.fr/title/tt1675192/ )
This is a movie that is clearly stemming from someone's personal experience, as it accurately describes the first stages of survivalism as experienced by newcomers.
It is a movie with premonitions and twist endings/moments, so it cannot be talked upon without referring to that. Just like it's nearly impossible to talk about "The Sixth Sense", once you've seen it, without spoiling it.
That being said, there is only suspence for those who aren't in survivalism. For survivalists, the fact of the hero being right or delusional is irrelevant.
OK, SO there are ONLY SPOILERS from now on.
We follow a character named Curtis LaFourche, played by Michael Shannon, who is reminiscent of Christopher Walken in his performance. Curtis is not a big talker, he has a wife and a young girl (approx. 5-6 years old). They belong to the working class in a small town in Ohio.
Curtis has very vivid dreams about a tornado threatening his home and his family, and this leads him to get prepared for it. This is one of several points where the movie does not want to confront itself with the more disturbing aspects of survivalism. Curtis' actions are not motivated by politics or economy, but by a dream, and a general sense of doom (and impressive sleeping disorders as well...). Now this is somewhat fortunate, because the storm becomes a metaphor for anything "SHTF", and we don't get caught by the technicalities. The movie focuses on Curtis' situation and choices.
His own mother having had schizophrenia, and being treated for it, Curtis is as cautious about a potential mental disorder as he is about his preps. A lot of people who have barely passed the door to survivalism may also ask themselves if they're not overreacting, or not having some condition (depression, paranoia...), when they're witnessing all the nonsensical stuff that revolves around survivalism, which is full of apocalyptical visions and general wackiness.
As more dreams occur, for instance his daughter and him being attacked while being in a car, or Curtis being bitten by his own dog, Curtis takes precautions (buys some extra food, for instance), and reorders some of his world slightly. No big fuss, but this starts to startle his wife, to whom he also becomes more directive. My view : Curtis is not kidding about his security, and will not let it jeopardize by discussions , compromise and other home economics/politics.
Then Curtis falls into the Big Trap of starters, which is overdoing things. He already has an old, small storm shelter in his backyard (from previous owners, probably), but decides to dig up a hole next to it, to put a ship container (!) and thus expand the living space. This costs him north of 6800 dollars, and he borrows company equimpent without telling his boss to do so. He takes his best buddy, also his work buddy, to help him.
Then he dreams about this buddy hurting him, and overreacts. He wants the buddy to be reassigned to another team, the buddy tells everything to the boss, who then fires Curtis. The buddy gets fired too (which is also good bonus lesson).
At first, Curtis' choice of doing things the way he did is not optimal. Of course, there's an easy explanation : he did rush things, didn't have the money to rent the equipment etc.
But there is another clue, and it's the center of the movie. Curtis is all alone on this. Nobody, not one single person is going to be of any help to him whatsoever. His wife is dreaming of a holiday by the sea, his father-in-law is a domineering idiot, his brother is patronizing him, his buddy turns against him and tells the whole social club (100+ people) about what he's doing (& provokes him in front of everybody), shrinks are clueless etc.
During the movie, Curtis becomes increasingly paranoid, but the introverted way. He's not aggressive, but he takes it upon himself, and continues stubbornly. Buys horribly expansive gas masks. Anybody in the survivalist world knows he's been horribly ripped off, but this could be a good metaphor of the whole profiteering business that grows around freaked out survivalists, with certain bloggers more than happy to oblige - after all, there's money to be made here.
As the movie draws to an end, as with every "omen" movie there has to be a confirmation of the omen. Here, the alarm sirens roars, a bad storm is approaching. Curtis can bring his family into the shelter, though. At this point the survivalist viewer can say "See ? It made sense to do everything he did." The setting of the shelter is extremely bare, there aren't spare clothes for instance (they're all in their pyjamas). The place looks cold and unfamiliar, like a cave.
At that stage, Curtis is stricken by terror of what is outside. His wife makes the whole Oprah stance "you have to open the doors of the shelter by yourself, this is something that you'll have to do", as if it was a first step towards recovery. My take on this : recovery from what ? His condition just saved your life and your child's life as well, just how is that a bad thing ? Is it because the danger is gone now ? it is because the shelter is finished, and you can take it for granted ? I guess it's all that "feminine selective memory" thing (or the "always be on top" thing).
And as the shelter's doors are opened , men in the audience and survivalists even more so hope to see utter devastation. But no, just a few branches that the storm took away from trees, the rest is undamaged.
Thus, Curtis accepts to go to a shrink, who convinces him to take a treatment AND to be hospitalized for a while.
In the final scene, which is the key scene that can be interpreted in several ways, the family is at Myrtle Beach (SC), and then the storm Curtis was dreaming about (with oily rain drops) is coming towards them, with two tornado hoses visible. Curtis looks to his wife, who nods in approval.
Now that scene can be interpreted in several ways.
First interpretation : it is one of Curtis' dreams. The way it is filmed is like the other dream sequences, but then again those started quite realistically as well. This interpreation means he's trapped in his madness forever. Another clue for this version is that they would not have been able to afford the vacation in the first place.
Second interpretation : this is what he prepared against, but he's away from home now. It might kill them all (who knows - you can't tell from the scene) and thus it was all Inescapabale Fate.
Third interpretation (it is a bit less solid) : By having gone so extreme, he's in this situation now where he had to go to the beach instead of having stayed at home. He missed the Test givent to him by the Almighty because he overreacted.
My interpretation : Shit does happen, and who cares if it happened to you or to somebody else. His premonitions did come true and he was right to worry and to act, even imperfectly.
End of the movie.
This kind of movie is focusing on the individual instead of the underlying technical / statistical aspects. But this is acceptable because most people don't care about economics, politics or fallout but do get interested by relations between people. (It's the old LEGO vs PLAYMOBIL divide).
Many survivalists have seen the Twilight Zone episode "The Shelter" where friendly neighbours try to break in one' shelter as the sirens roar. Here, I would have expected the Curtis' social environment to be somewhat jealous of his preps, or sneaky, but instead they never seem to understand what he's doing. One critic I read on the internet says it's a "Noah's Ark" kind of story. Indeed it's incredible that nobody in the movie questions the whole reason behind Curtis' actions. To everybody, he's just losing it. And, because he's isolated, that's how he thinks about himself, too. After all, he is using the same reasoning patterns as his environment does.
I believe that for the majority of serious survivalists (NOT yuppie survivalists), there is a tremendous internal force that drives them to act. They just know. And they also happened to have lived through serious shit at least once in their lifetime. (Here, it's the mother's schizophrenia that represents this kind of trauma). So the movie would be about the mysteriousness of this internal force in the eyes of those who cannot understand it, and the interaction between the two points of view.
From a survivalist perspective, I identified easily with Curtis. I had the same sense of overblown expenses, that stems from a lack of practical knowledge (well shown at one point in the movie). Curtis doesn't use the internet , but goes to the public library and looks for books on mental illness. His research strategy is not adapted either, as are his sources of knowledge (small rural library).
This movie had to leave practical aspects out, for the sake of the message. There is never any mention of firearms (although two moments in the picture could have led to it - the abduction dream and the entrance in the surplus shop), and there is no survivalist subculture, from internet or otherwise. Also, "SHTF" is a powerful storm, but nothing political, societal, economic or technological. It's a "clean" SHTF scenario (not "DEAD ZONE" with Christopher Walken, which is an evident reference for this movie).
From the perspective of the frugal survivalist, the movie pinpoints the trappings of uncontrolled spending (consumer culture) and lack of factual research. Actually, he could have made it just fine with what he already had and the few things he did in the beggining (more food, remove the dog's unpredictability issue etc.), if his only concern was a tornado.
The message of the movie is that you'll be completely on you own, even and especially within your own people. You will have to do the right thing while everybody will oppose you. They will oppose you because they want what they believe is best for you, and they will not listen to you.
Â
As more people are seeing that those damn survivalists were perhaps not wrong about everything, more attention is devoted to them in the general media. While most of that fiction is not great at all, some works really try to have something to say. For instance, "Take Shelter". ( http://www.imdb.fr/title/tt1675192/ )
This is a movie that is clearly stemming from someone's personal experience, as it accurately describes the first stages of survivalism as experienced by newcomers.
It is a movie with premonitions and twist endings/moments, so it cannot be talked upon without referring to that. Just like it's nearly impossible to talk about "The Sixth Sense", once you've seen it, without spoiling it.
That being said, there is only suspence for those who aren't in survivalism. For survivalists, the fact of the hero being right or delusional is irrelevant.
OK, SO there are ONLY SPOILERS from now on.
We follow a character named Curtis LaFourche, played by Michael Shannon, who is reminiscent of Christopher Walken in his performance. Curtis is not a big talker, he has a wife and a young girl (approx. 5-6 years old). They belong to the working class in a small town in Ohio.
Curtis has very vivid dreams about a tornado threatening his home and his family, and this leads him to get prepared for it. This is one of several points where the movie does not want to confront itself with the more disturbing aspects of survivalism. Curtis' actions are not motivated by politics or economy, but by a dream, and a general sense of doom (and impressive sleeping disorders as well...). Now this is somewhat fortunate, because the storm becomes a metaphor for anything "SHTF", and we don't get caught by the technicalities. The movie focuses on Curtis' situation and choices.
His own mother having had schizophrenia, and being treated for it, Curtis is as cautious about a potential mental disorder as he is about his preps. A lot of people who have barely passed the door to survivalism may also ask themselves if they're not overreacting, or not having some condition (depression, paranoia...), when they're witnessing all the nonsensical stuff that revolves around survivalism, which is full of apocalyptical visions and general wackiness.
As more dreams occur, for instance his daughter and him being attacked while being in a car, or Curtis being bitten by his own dog, Curtis takes precautions (buys some extra food, for instance), and reorders some of his world slightly. No big fuss, but this starts to startle his wife, to whom he also becomes more directive. My view : Curtis is not kidding about his security, and will not let it jeopardize by discussions , compromise and other home economics/politics.
Then Curtis falls into the Big Trap of starters, which is overdoing things. He already has an old, small storm shelter in his backyard (from previous owners, probably), but decides to dig up a hole next to it, to put a ship container (!) and thus expand the living space. This costs him north of 6800 dollars, and he borrows company equimpent without telling his boss to do so. He takes his best buddy, also his work buddy, to help him.
Then he dreams about this buddy hurting him, and overreacts. He wants the buddy to be reassigned to another team, the buddy tells everything to the boss, who then fires Curtis. The buddy gets fired too (which is also good bonus lesson).
At first, Curtis' choice of doing things the way he did is not optimal. Of course, there's an easy explanation : he did rush things, didn't have the money to rent the equipment etc.
But there is another clue, and it's the center of the movie. Curtis is all alone on this. Nobody, not one single person is going to be of any help to him whatsoever. His wife is dreaming of a holiday by the sea, his father-in-law is a domineering idiot, his brother is patronizing him, his buddy turns against him and tells the whole social club (100+ people) about what he's doing (& provokes him in front of everybody), shrinks are clueless etc.
During the movie, Curtis becomes increasingly paranoid, but the introverted way. He's not aggressive, but he takes it upon himself, and continues stubbornly. Buys horribly expansive gas masks. Anybody in the survivalist world knows he's been horribly ripped off, but this could be a good metaphor of the whole profiteering business that grows around freaked out survivalists, with certain bloggers more than happy to oblige - after all, there's money to be made here.
As the movie draws to an end, as with every "omen" movie there has to be a confirmation of the omen. Here, the alarm sirens roars, a bad storm is approaching. Curtis can bring his family into the shelter, though. At this point the survivalist viewer can say "See ? It made sense to do everything he did." The setting of the shelter is extremely bare, there aren't spare clothes for instance (they're all in their pyjamas). The place looks cold and unfamiliar, like a cave.
At that stage, Curtis is stricken by terror of what is outside. His wife makes the whole Oprah stance "you have to open the doors of the shelter by yourself, this is something that you'll have to do", as if it was a first step towards recovery. My take on this : recovery from what ? His condition just saved your life and your child's life as well, just how is that a bad thing ? Is it because the danger is gone now ? it is because the shelter is finished, and you can take it for granted ? I guess it's all that "feminine selective memory" thing (or the "always be on top" thing).
And as the shelter's doors are opened , men in the audience and survivalists even more so hope to see utter devastation. But no, just a few branches that the storm took away from trees, the rest is undamaged.
Thus, Curtis accepts to go to a shrink, who convinces him to take a treatment AND to be hospitalized for a while.
In the final scene, which is the key scene that can be interpreted in several ways, the family is at Myrtle Beach (SC), and then the storm Curtis was dreaming about (with oily rain drops) is coming towards them, with two tornado hoses visible. Curtis looks to his wife, who nods in approval.
Now that scene can be interpreted in several ways.
First interpretation : it is one of Curtis' dreams. The way it is filmed is like the other dream sequences, but then again those started quite realistically as well. This interpreation means he's trapped in his madness forever. Another clue for this version is that they would not have been able to afford the vacation in the first place.
Second interpretation : this is what he prepared against, but he's away from home now. It might kill them all (who knows - you can't tell from the scene) and thus it was all Inescapabale Fate.
Third interpretation (it is a bit less solid) : By having gone so extreme, he's in this situation now where he had to go to the beach instead of having stayed at home. He missed the Test givent to him by the Almighty because he overreacted.
My interpretation : Shit does happen, and who cares if it happened to you or to somebody else. His premonitions did come true and he was right to worry and to act, even imperfectly.
End of the movie.
This kind of movie is focusing on the individual instead of the underlying technical / statistical aspects. But this is acceptable because most people don't care about economics, politics or fallout but do get interested by relations between people. (It's the old LEGO vs PLAYMOBIL divide).
Many survivalists have seen the Twilight Zone episode "The Shelter" where friendly neighbours try to break in one' shelter as the sirens roar. Here, I would have expected the Curtis' social environment to be somewhat jealous of his preps, or sneaky, but instead they never seem to understand what he's doing. One critic I read on the internet says it's a "Noah's Ark" kind of story. Indeed it's incredible that nobody in the movie questions the whole reason behind Curtis' actions. To everybody, he's just losing it. And, because he's isolated, that's how he thinks about himself, too. After all, he is using the same reasoning patterns as his environment does.
I believe that for the majority of serious survivalists (NOT yuppie survivalists), there is a tremendous internal force that drives them to act. They just know. And they also happened to have lived through serious shit at least once in their lifetime. (Here, it's the mother's schizophrenia that represents this kind of trauma). So the movie would be about the mysteriousness of this internal force in the eyes of those who cannot understand it, and the interaction between the two points of view.
From a survivalist perspective, I identified easily with Curtis. I had the same sense of overblown expenses, that stems from a lack of practical knowledge (well shown at one point in the movie). Curtis doesn't use the internet , but goes to the public library and looks for books on mental illness. His research strategy is not adapted either, as are his sources of knowledge (small rural library).
This movie had to leave practical aspects out, for the sake of the message. There is never any mention of firearms (although two moments in the picture could have led to it - the abduction dream and the entrance in the surplus shop), and there is no survivalist subculture, from internet or otherwise. Also, "SHTF" is a powerful storm, but nothing political, societal, economic or technological. It's a "clean" SHTF scenario (not "DEAD ZONE" with Christopher Walken, which is an evident reference for this movie).
From the perspective of the frugal survivalist, the movie pinpoints the trappings of uncontrolled spending (consumer culture) and lack of factual research. Actually, he could have made it just fine with what he already had and the few things he did in the beggining (more food, remove the dog's unpredictability issue etc.), if his only concern was a tornado.
The message of the movie is that you'll be completely on you own, even and especially within your own people. You will have to do the right thing while everybody will oppose you. They will oppose you because they want what they believe is best for you, and they will not listen to you.
Â
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