Armament Complete

I bought a used revolver the other day. It's a Taurus .357 magnum snub nosed. Why a .357 revolver, you ask? Well, let's evaluate based on the parameters in The Survivor's Guide to Firearm Evaluation:

.357 Magnum Snub Nosed Revolver
Reliability:	Very High
Accuracy:	Good up to 50', degrades quickly after that
Stopping Power:	High firing .357 mag, Moderate to Low firing .38
Time to Fire:	Low
Ammunition Commonality:	.357 is Common, .38 special is Common
Simplicity:	Very Simple
Ammunition Capacity:	Low (5 rnds)
Manageability:	.357 round is Moderate while .38 is very manageable

The big selling point on this pistol, to me, was two-fold: Reliability and Versatility. The revolver in general is a very reliable weapon type while the .357 revolver has the added bonus of being able to fire two different types of fairly common ammunition - versatility.

I bought my pistol (a Taurus .357 Snub Nosed Revolver) used for $309. Given the prices around here, that wasn't a bad deal. Now I'm done on firearm purchases. In keeping with my stupid tradition of naming my firearms, I have dubbed this revolver Harry (after Dirty Harry, of course).

As far as the Accuracy evaluation above goes, I'll admit that I am guessing. I haven't fired the weapon yet, but I have to imagine that the snubbed nose on this weapon would reduce it's accuracy at any sort of range. I'll test it and let you know for sure, though.

The Basic Plan

This will be the first time I’ve written down plans that I’ve been brewing in my head for quite some time. I’ll be totally honest about my preparations and what’s done or not. I’ll start this off in very rough outline form for this entry and then flesh it out as time goes on.

This plan is to cover the eventuality of a rapid collapse or a major emergency. The idea is to get out of the urban center in which I live and get out to Barboursville (my chosen Evacuation Destination).

(*) = not done

The Basic Plan

1. Everyone heads home immediately – no side trips
1. Detail who gets who. Do not assume anything.
2. Upon arrival home we gather emergency packs and bring them to the front door
1. Each person has their own pre-packed backpack (*)
2. Each person’s backpack is in their closet(*)
3. Each car has an emergency pack(*)
4. Gather camping gear and bring to front door
1. In my closet
5. Gather emergency food and bring it to front door
1. 5 gal. dried lentils
2. Non-hybrid garden seeds
3. 5 gal other dried food(*)
6. Gather weapons and distribute
1. Me
1. Cletus – loaded with safety engaged
2. Hilda – loaded with safety engaged
2. Son
1. Harry(*) - loaded with safety engaged
7. Gather Ammunition and bring to front door
8. Load Gear Into Cars
1. One person stays armed and alert, on lookout
2. Load People into Cars
1. Detail who will ride in what car in advance so there are no arguments or confusion.
9. Drive To Evacuation Destination (Barboursville, in my case)
1. My car in front
2. Route:
1. Directions Here
10. Evacuation Destination Arrival
1. Unpack Gear
2. If No Electricity Setup Hand Crank Radio – Monitor for News
3. Take Stock
1. Is everyone OK?
2. Anyone missing?
3. Anything missing?
4. What family members have not arrived?
5. What supplies are lacking for the immediate future?
11. Formulate Immediate Plan
1. The Immediate Plan addresses the aforementioned items as follows:
   
   1. Is everyone OK?
   1. If no – administer first aid as needed
   2. Anyone missing?
      1. Where are they? Are they able to get out to Barboursville?
   3. Anything missing?
   1. If critical – how to replace?
   4. What family members have not arrived?
   1. Get in contact if possible
   5. What supplies are lacking for the immediate future?
   1. How to acquire?
2. Formulate this plan quickly
12. Enact Immediate Plan
1. It is called an Immediate Plan for a reason
2. From the time when you arrived to the time you enact the Immediate Plan should be no more than 5 minutes.
3. If the plan calls for a trip somewhere, send no more than two people out

I'll Miss Rock N Roll

One thing I'll really miss about modern industrial society is rock n roll. To hell with R&B and all of that crap "music" which is generated by a machine and "sung" over by some pretty face whose voice has to be run through a synthesizer just so you can listen to it without cringing.

I mean I'll miss rock-n-fucking-roll. Not those little boy-band "rockers" who are assembled by producers for the express purpose of imitating genres gone by and to get little teenage girls' panties wet. To hell with those guys, too.

I mean real rock-n-roll, man. The modern standard-bearer of Rock is, without a doubt, Clutch. If you are not familiar with these guys then you should make it a point to buy one of their albums. If you're into harder rock then I'd start with Transnational Speedway League: Anthems, Anectdotes, and Undeniable Truths or the album titled Impetus. If you like Blues-influenced rock then I'd go for From Beale Street to Oblivion or maybe Blast Tyrant. Into the Stoner-rock genre? Then you'd worship the tour-de-force albums titled Pure Rock Fury, Clutch (self-titled), or The Elephant Riders.

Once you buy one of these albums, you'll want more. They are the Alpha and the Omega of modern rock-n-roll. Yeah - I'll miss them and Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Mudhoney, Nirvana, Black Flag, and the Dead Kennedys (among many others).

Cletus the Mighty

I went out to my folks' place this weekend, a nice 55 acre piece of land out near Barboursville, Virginia. It's really very beautiful. I've always said that the land out there is what I think of when I think of paradise.

Yeah, boring old Barboursville is paradise. Most people think of paradise and they think of a tropical beach somewhere. Well, friends, the only problem with that is that you're assuming a resort hotel goes with that beach because the tropics, naturally, are anything but paradise. Without the AC and modern amenities of the resort hotel you are left with mosquitoes (and malaria), poisonous snakes, spiders, and insects. Hell, the piranhas in the Amazon will eat you in no time flat!

In Barboursville on one little piece of land we have a pond, spring, woods, fields, creeks, and a marsh. Deer, rabbits, field mice, squirrels, a large variety of birds singing... a regular Disney cartoon of wildlife. I go out there and I can just feel the relaxation wash over me. I love that land.

Of course I went out there to shoot Cletus, my new Remington 870 Express (of last entry's fame). My brother and I took him down into this gully and propped up some targets and blasted away. Between the two of us we shot off about 50 shells, so no big deal.

It definately had that "new shotgun smell." The pump mechanism was stiff and we found out that the 8 shot extension to the magazine must be blocked off because we could only fit 6 shells. I'll have to chat with the gents down at the local gun shop to see what I need to do to correct that one.

Aside from the need to break it in a bit, Cletus was indeed a mighty weapon who pleased his master very much. There was a good balance to the weapon and it felt quite sturdy - like it was made well. I despise nothing more than a gun that feels rickity and loose. It shakes my confidence in the weapon and when I'm not completely confident in a gun, I won't shoot it.

Cletus was the polar opposite, thankfully. Very solid and reliable feeling. I figure when you intentionally release controlled explosions inches from your face, you better feel confident in that mechanism's reliability.

Cletus

I just bought my new shotgun... a Remington 870 Express with 8 shot magazine.

So. Damn. Sweet.

I have a stupid habit of naming my guns. My SKS is named Hilda. My new shotty I have named Cletus. Yahoo.

Anyways, I'm taking it out to my brother's place in the country this Sunday to go shooting. I'm giddy like a school girl.

I figured I needed this shotgun to balance out my post grid crash armament profile.

The Survivor's Guide To Firearm Evaluation

Here are some good rules of thumb to help you evaluate what weapons will serve you best after the grid crashes. Keep these rules in mind when purchasing your weapons. Even experienced users of firearms can benefit from these parameters, since they were developed from the perspective of a post grid crash world

Parameter #1 – Commonality (Ammunition and Weapon)

When choosing your weapons make sure you choose a weapon that uses a common ammunition type. The specialty rifle that fires custom made rounds is probably not your best bet unless you’re the one making the bullets.

In the event that you must scavenge ammunition it is far more likely that you’ll find a shotgun shell than a .50 caliber round. A 9mm round is more likely to be available than a .44 caliber magnum.

In terms of the weapon itself the more common the type of firearm the better a chance you’ll have of finding replacement weapons to match your ammo should the need ever arise.

Parameter #2 – Simplicity & Reliability

Simplicity and reliability generally go hand-in-hand. That is why the simpler the weapon the more reliable it will usually be and therefore the better a choice it is. Always choose a revolver over an automatic pistol. The revolver requires less maintenance and will fire more reliably than an automatic in a wider variety of situations. The lowered ammunition capacity will rarely be a problem, especially if the other guy’s automatic jams and your revolver goes “Crunch, BANG! Crunch, BANG!”

Bolt action rifles are the most reliable while most automatic rifles are on the less reliable end of the spectrum. Automatics use too much precious ammunition and bolt actions fire too slowly (or could depending on the situation). I think a good compromise is a semi-automatic rifle.

Most semi-automatic rifles are not overly complex, are very reliable, and use ammunition only as fast as you’d like them to. This means that repairs can be made more easily than with an automatic and you are less likely to be left helplessly outgunned than with a bolt action.

Parameter #3 – Stopping Power

How much punch does this gun pack? How much force does the round apply to the target? The more force, the less likely the target is to return fire once they’ve been hit.

If you put a 9mm round on a target, that target is much more likely to remain standing upright than if you hit it with a .45 caliber round. Weapons with greater stopping power usually have a bigger kick than smaller caliber weapons. It is for this reason that the smaller caliber is more accurate when fired rapidly.

Proponents of the 9mm will say that you can put many more 9mm bullets on a target much faster than you can with the .45. They’re absolutely right on that point but I still prefer stopping power over rapidity of fire.

My argument against the small caliber philosophy in the context of a post grid crash world is twofold:

• I would much rather fire less bullets to do the same job since it is probably going to be pretty tough to get more bullets.
• Dropping a target with one bullet is much cleaner and allows you to get on to the next target quicker and with more certainty, should you have more than one threat to deal with.

Parameter #4 – Time to Fire

How much has to be done to prepare the weapon to fire its first round? How large and bulky is the weapon? This will effect how quickly it can be brought to bear on the target.

In a firefight the most critical bullet is the first bullet fired. In a one on one situation the first bullet can be the one to end the fight. In a situation where you are outmanned, taking down your opponents’ leader quickly may demoralize the enemy causing them to flee or panic thereby saving your life.

Parameter #5 – Accuracy

How easily can the weapon strike a target at range?

If you miss, you neither get the bullet back nor do you bag the deer. A wasted shot is a wasted opportunity.

Accuracy can be extremely critical in a self-defense or combat situation. People, unlike deer, will shoot back given the opportunity. If your firearm can’t reliably hit a target at 50 feet, the weapon is not worth having unless you spend a lot of time shooting in caves, tunnels, or indoors (I'm kidding here, if you can't tell).

Parameter #6 – Ammunition Capacity

How much ammo does the firearm hold? You don’t necessarily need a 30 shot magazine, but a single shot weapon or one that only holds two shots (double barrel shotgun) is probably not very desirable, especially for self-defense scenarios.

Balance the need for ammunition capacity with the intended use of the weapon. A hunting weapon can probably stand a lower ammunition capacity than a self-defense or combat-oriented weapon.

Parameter #7 – Manageability
Simply put: don’t bite off too much to chew. A 100 pound 13 year old shouldn’t be using the sawed off double barrel shotgun. Grandma would probably be better off with the .38 special rather than the Dirty Harry special.

I Wouldn't Wish it on my Worst Enemy

Whoever our next President is could spend their entire term doing any one of the following:

• getting the economy on track again (not that they can do more than facilitate with sane policies)
• getting us out of Iraq
• repairing our massively damaged professional government bureaucracy
• balancing the budget
• repairing our crumbling infrastructure
• addressing global warming
• repairing our health care system
• improving our limping education system
• capturing bin Laden and taking down alQaeda
• repairing our standing with our allies

...and the list goes on. In truth, many of these items are interdependent and would have to be tackled in parallel. I do not envy whoever takes the Oval Office next because, Republican or Democrat, you have to admit that Bush has massively screwed the pooch, so to speak...

I am actually an independent voter. In my day I have voted for some Republicans and some Democrats and to be honest neither party impresses me much these days. But the fact of the matter is that the Bush Years have been awful for this country in every measurable way.

To quote Patton Oswalt, "If the standard for impeachment is covering up a burglary or getting a blowjob shouldn't this guy have been dragged out onto the White House lawn and shot by now?"

I couldn't agree more and to that end the Republicans must be taught that this cannot stand. If the Dems won't grow a sack and impeach him and then try him then we as voters must reject the Republican policies roundly at the ballot box.

I don't care who you are - you have a reason to be mad at Bush whether or not you realize it. If you disagree with me I suggest you comment here and challenge any point I've made. I can back everything up and will do so gladly if it means lifting the veil from a fellow citizen's eyes.

Another brief list of reasons to be pissed at the Bush Administration and pity the next because they'll have to fix it:

• The suspension of habeus corpus via the Military Comissions Act of 2006
• The NSA tapping our phone lines without a warrant
• Our intelligence aparatus (they warned him "bin Laden determined to attack within US" before 9/11)

About the intelligence community in the US... it needs to be fixed, yes, but only to undo what the current Administration has done. The responsibility for failing to prevent 9/11 doesn't lie with the agencies themselves but with the political arm of the Administration. They were warned and when it bit them in the backside they shifted blame to the agencies and followed that up with a major restructuring to make it appear to the public that they had fixed the problem.

We have lost 8 years on every front imaginable. Worse than that we've not only lost time, but ground. We've actually gone backwards in every arena since 2000. Had we jumped on environmental issues in 2000, I wouldn't be nearly as pessimistic as I am now.

In The Shadow of the Founding Fathers

I live in Central Virginia - a land rich with history going back to the very beginnings of America as a nation and back nearly to the beginnings of English colonialism in America.

This idyllic area used to be the Frontier, nestled against the Blue Ridge Mountains beyond which was Terra Incognita. Two of this nation's greatest explorers came from within spitting distance of where I am typing now - Lewis & Clark.

We also had our own Paul Revere type character - his name was Jack Jouett. He rode ahead of Colonel Tarelton and his English cavalry to warn Jefferson (Governor of Virginia at the time) and the Legislature that the Brits were coming for them. You should really read the wiki on him... an interesting fellow.

Also, three of the Founding Fathers came from this immediate area - Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe. They were the 3rd, 4th, and 5th Presidents respectively. Jefferson was arguably one of the most notable intellectuals of his age with a list of amazing achievements far too long to detail here.

No, this isn't intended to be a history lesson. All of the people listed above come from within 20 miles of where I am right now. Without many of these people America may not exist. It certainly would be a very different place and it's unlikely that the difference would be good. In many ways, America and the promise of America were born here.

It is in the shadow of this greatness that an anger in me wells. I feel treasonous and small when I see what is happening to this country. I feel this way because with all of the shameful outrages being committed against our liberties and the promise of America, I do relatively little about it.

People from around here risked being hung to secure the liberties we are too lazy to defend these days. After 9/11 the authoritarians in this country saw an opportunity to consolidate power and they took it. Like sheep the Congress passed the USA Patriot Act despite the fact that only a handful of legislators even read the act.

We are being spied on, lied to, and arrested with no charges, no trial, and no counsel in some cases. What are we doing? Ha. We're blogging. I obviously consider myself among these less-than-revolutionary revolutionaries.

I hold myself in nearly as much contempt as I hold most of the sheep out there. The one difference is that I am a sheep who has opened his eyes. I inform myself, at least. I don't know - maybe it's worse to know what's going on and to do nothing than it is to be willfully ignorant. No, I have to believe that informing myself and at least voting from an informed standpoint makes me just a bit better than those who vote against their own self-interest out of sheer ignorance.

I do a little more than nothing. I volunteer for candidates in whom I believe. I am somewhat active in local politics. I teach my children to think and not to follow. I teach them to hold ignorance in contempt.

The saying, "Just because you're paranoid don't mean they're not after you" has never been more true to Americans at large.

What do I mean by that? They know who you've been calling. Oh, yes, friend. The Administration has been pushing for a retroactive law to immunize the phone companies for assisting the NSA in their warrantless wiretapping program. Can you say data-mining? I knew you could.

They also know what your spending habits are. That means the government knows whether or not you like to visit websites about bondage and sado-masochism. They know if you visited a gay dating site. They know if you rented a hotel room last week in Richmond and not Alexandria like you told your spouse. Think of everything that goes on any plastic you own... debit or credit.

Not only do they know what you charged on your plastic, they know where you go on the internet regardless of whether or not you bought anything there. ISPs have been issued orders under the USA Patriot Act to turn over their records. Gag orders come as part of these requests for data. Not only can they not refuse the request from the government, but they cannot appeal to judicial review. Been to WebMD, lately? Got a condition you don't want anyone to know about for whatever reason? The fact that you looked up information on Erectile Dysfunction is now no longer a secret, no longer anonymous.

The one thing that protects us in the mountains and mountains of data they have to sift through. But if your name pops up on some list somewhere, blowing your "cover", they can immediately look up all sorts of information on you. Big Brother sees all. In today's world of technology it is actually possible, unlike in Orwell's time when it was merely a dark fantasy.

In today's world of multi-terabyte databases it only takes a handful of people feeling pressure from the government to cave in and turn over gobs and gobs of data to the feds. It would take entire forests' worth of paper to print the data that could be rapidly and quietly turned over to the government without a single sheet of paper. An innocuous flow of ones and zeroes streaming over a secured pipeline through the internet.

The Information SuperHighway runs through your living room, beyotch.

This spying, this mining of dirty little secrets, is made even easier if a warrantless wiretap or two are placed on a key set of influential people. Maybe they have a dirty secret or two. Add to that the notion that these federal agents are "fighting terrorism" with this information and these executives may turn over the information without requiring a warrant and with no need for blackmail.

If the FBI or the NSA needs this information, it must be important. Right?

With the War on Terror being called the Long War, we are stepping onto an Orwellian stage from which no good can come. A stage that Orwell could only dream of but which is now lit with the harsh glare of technology. A war with no end in sight is a tyrant's wet dream.

• Crisis is the rallying cry of the tyrant.
• If tyranny and oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy.
• It is a universal truth that the loss of liberty at home is to be charged to the provisions against danger, real or pretended, from abroad.
• No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare.

- James Madison

"Camping" Weekend

Saturday morning my brother and I set out on a camping trip. We drove to the Shenandoah National Forest and arrived at the gatehouse at about 9.15 AM. We filed a backcountry camping permit and were on our merry way.

What a perfect day for a hike and camp, too! I'd guess the temperature was in the upper 60's. There was a nice breeze. The trail was mostly empty. We ran into a couple of people but it was pretty easy to get a sense of isolation out there. The trail is a beaten dirt and rock path along various ridges, really. There's no paving or landscaping on this trail.

My brother and I went off the trail at a few points. At times we were going up 70 degree inclines which made it feel more like climbing than hiking . We hiked this way for at least four miles, maybe four and a half or five. Oh yeah - the whole time we were carrying packs that weighed in at 65 lbs.

By one PM we were looking for a campsite. We found a spot off the trail, dug a fire pit, lined it with rocks, gathered and chopped firewood, cleared the site, and then began setting up the tent when tragedy struck. As we were attempting to setup the tent we realized that the poles were way too short. We had the wrong tent poles!

The last time I went camping, my other brother (or maybe my sister) collapsed the tents and packed them away. I'm betting that's when the poles got mixed up. Of the three tents I had the largest two. My brother's tent was smallest by far. Since I brought the middle sized tent with me this weekend and the poles we had were too small, I'm betting my poles are with my brother's tent.

So we were left with three options, as we saw them:

1. Build our own shelter
2. Sleep on the ground
3. Hike back

Option one we dismissed. The method of shelter construction I am most familiar with requires thatching materials and we were on the side of a forested mountain. Gathering enough material to construct a shelter whilst on a slope was not very appealing.

Option two was out since we knew there was a chance for rain that night. Option three is what we chose. But we couldn't leave before we had achieved some sort of victory. We decided that victory would take the form of a fire we'd start and then immediately put out. I mean we had already built a stone-lined fire pit and everything. We got the fire going after two tries (not bad!) and then thoroughly doused it and got on our way.

I can tell you this: what started as a camping trip turned into a Bataan Death March of a hiking trip. I am so out of shape it isn't funny. The way I looked at it was like this: I was carrying a 65 lb pack and about 80 extra pounds of ass. That's me carrying 145 lbs all over the mountain.

At two o'clock we hit the trail again. We stuck to the trail on the way back (after climbing a steep slope for 150 feet to find it again!). Since we had used most of my water to douse the fire we were on the lookout for water on the way back. We found a great little spring full of cold, fresh water bubbling right out of the side of the mountain. Oh, yeah! I cannot think of a time in my life when water was so cold, pure, and refreshing.

After recharging our water stocks we ground on. My right heel was really starting to hurt by the time we tried to pitch camp, so it was less than pleasant to hike the entire way back on a sore foot. I tried not to be too much of a pansy about it.

When we got back I was not mocked by my wife. I have to give her credit on that one. Thanks, hon. She did make a good point, though which made me think a lot. She said, "Maybe the Universe was testing you. Maybe you were supposed to build a shelter and tough it out."

Next time we will not bring a tent at all. The entire point next time will be to camp with the idea that we must construct shelter if we want it. I'll have to see if my brother will be into that. I think he will be.

They're Not Building a Prison - It's Built

Click the image above for a full sized version of the chart. Has the population of America quintupled since Richard Nixon's 1971 declaration of a War on Drugs? The prison poulation sure has...

Intro

A little background on me to start with, eh? As of this post I am 35 years old and I live in Charlottesville, Virginia. I am a male IT professional (programmer, DBA, project manager, application support engineer, you name it!) who works a full time job here in town. I am a married father of four with kids ranging from 1 to 13 years of age. My wife also holds down a full time IT job. You could say we're a middle class geek family living the American Dream.

Despite my relative good fortune, I have always sensed that something was wrong with modern industrial society. Even before I would have known what a term like modern industrial society meant I could see that there was a sickness that seemed to be everywhere. I have always felt that something just isn't right.

So many things about the lifestyle we live in the western world are both unsustainable and unjust. The destruction we have wreaked upon the planet has, to date, been a mere dress rehearsal. With nations such as China and India coming online the slide will only gain in momentum. The addition of these two nations to the list of modern industrial powers will nearly triple the portion of the planet's population that lives under the umbrella of industrial capitalist consumerism.

I mention all of this not because I'm some communist or eco-terrorist. I state these simple facts because it is painfully obvious that this trend cannot continue unabated. We have already passed Peak Oil, the point where planetary oil production has reached its maximum level. With increased demand coming from India and China the rate of depletion of the remaining 50% of world oil reserves will far outstrip the rate at which the first 50% was consumed.

"What about green technologies?" you say.

I fear it may be too little too late. Over the course of the coming entries we will discuss this point and many more in greater detail.

I am a realistic optimist. That is to say I hope for the best but plan for the worst. Do I want this cushy lifestyle to go by the wayside? Do I want there to be chaos and civil unrest? Do I want there to be global turmoil and starvation? Of course not.

Do I think that it may happen? Do I think that maybe we woke up to the warning signs too late and that some people will live in denial until the lights go out? Yep.

I do all of the responsible things that I can think of, such as:

1. Recycle everything that my locality will accept (cans, paper, cardboard, plastic, & glass)


2. Compost


3. Use only CF bulbs in my home


4. Walk to work


5. Drive compact sedans when I do drive


6. Insulate my hot water heater


7. Use low-flow shower heads


8. Wash laundry only in cold water


9. Eat a mainly vegetarian diet


10. Replace appliances with energy efficient models


11. Shop local and organic as absolutely much as possible


12. Minimize money spent in the big box stores

There's more - that's all that immediately pops into mind. And believe me, I know there's more I could do (please respond with any suggestions!). The point is, despite the fact that I am not nearly as active in conservation as I could be I am pretty sure I do a whole hell of a lot more than most people.

Most Americans drive alone in their giant SUV to work, eat lunch at some restaurant that probably got its food shipped in from a long supply chain touching all corners of the globe, go home to a positively frigid home with the AC cranked, buy disposable everything from Wal-Mart (made in China with near-slave labor, no doubt), and then vote against every initiative that may help reverse climate change because it has a slight chance to impact their lifestyle.

The fact is that people are lazy by nature. Why change anything if the wolves aren't baying at your door? The problems is that the wolves are baying at your door. You just can't hear them because your TV is on too loudly.

Well I can hear them, people. I'm not a gun nut or militia freak. I'm just like you. I get up and go to work every day to make a better life for me and my family. I love my family just like you do. I have friends and hobbies. Despite my relative normalcy I am preparing for a general collapse of the system.

In future entries I'll talk a lot more about the details of my preparations, the things I see happening in the world that concern me, and as I learn them I will pass along survival tricks and tips to you. Please check out the Required Reading section on the right-hand side of the page if you want to get a decent list of material germaine to the subjects we'll discuss.