30 December 2008

Ex-Commie Doom Prognostication

A Russian bloke by the name of Igor Panarin predicts that the U.S. will disintegrate by 2010. I'm not sure that I completely buy his prediction on how things will go down, but I do think it's interesting that notable people moving in high circles could openly espouse such an idea.

Reading a bit about him I see that he's basically a Russian talking head - like one of our Sunday morning pundits. According to one site, he moves around in Kremlin circles quite a bit, so maybe he's a step above punditry.

He's also a professor and published author. Okay - maybe two steps above punditry, seeing that many TV pundits in this country have no more qualifications than hosting a radio talk show in Albuquerque and a high school diploma. On slow news days the 24 hour news channels will probably put you on with just a diploma.

In any event, for an apocalypse junkie like me this is interesting stuff.

29 December 2008

Shootin' Sunday

My brother and I went shooting again Sunday morning. He brought his AR-15 and Glock .45, I brought my SKS and shotgun.

After the buck of the .45, SKS, and shotgun the AR-15 was a bit like shooting a pop gun. I love it, don't get me wrong, but it felt almost like a .22 or something. The kick is just nothing on that gun.

We murdered the standard assortment of cans and plastic bottles. It was good to brush up on the ole marksmanship skills. I also needed to sight in my red dot scope again since I had to tear down my SKS recently in order to clean it.

Home Brewing

Santa treated me right this year. My wife got me a great home brewing kit. I started my first batch of beer last night (True Brew IPA). I have to say that when I peeked in at my fermenter this morning and saw the bubbling in the fermentation trap I experienced a little perk of pride similar to when your child says its first word or takes its first step.

I really enjoyed the process of brewing. Ninety percent of the work is done up front, for those who know even less about brewing beer than I do. The output of this upfront work is called wort. My wife seemed to think the smell was weird, but I liked it. You could definately tell I was brewing an IPA. The smell of hops was pretty strong.

I still have a while to go before I can actually drink the beer. After placing the wort in the carboy for fermentation, you let it sit for a week to ferment. After this you bottle it and wait for another 2-3 weeks before you drink.

This will be a nice skill to have, should TSHTF. Of course I'll have to advance my skills beyond using kits if I plan to brew post-gridcrash. I am currently looking into hops cultivation, as well. It would be nice to have fresh hops for brewing (gridcrash or no), so I plan to grow enough hops for my own personal brewing uses.

Another point of interest is the water source I use for brewing. While the city water at my house is good, excellent compared to other municipally sourced water I've had, the water from my parents' well is outstanding. I may brew another batch soon with the well water and see if there's a noticeable difference in the taste of the final product. If there is, my Mom will get to see me a bit more often as I come out to her house to get water!

And the best part is that this will save me a lot of money. I am a big fan of the beer (so is the wife), but I won't drink crap beer. Budweiser? Hell, no! Headache in a bottle, is more like it.

No, the beers I like tend to be in the $8-$12 range per six-pack. With this IPA kit coming in at $30 and yielding 48-50 bottles I am looking at roughly $50 in beer saving each batch I brew (8 store-bought six packs at about $10 each being $80).

24 December 2008

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, and good tidings to anyone whose holiday I may have missed.

Take this time to cleave to family and friends. Forget about the world outside and just appreciate those who you love and who love you.

The world will still be there in a few days... waiting with all of its problems. It's important to just take a breather once in a while.

22 December 2008

Gridcrash

We are teetering on the edge, my friends. The auto industry nearly collapsed, and still may in the near future. Three million jobs down the toilet - nearly. Can you imagine the fallout from that?
  • Three million people (nearly all at once) added to the already bulging unemployment rolls.
  • Three million more people without any health insurance...
  • Three million more people with drastically reduced buying power. A real problem since our economy is fueled 2/3 by consumer spending and all.
  • Hundreds of thousands more foreclosures in relatively short order... this could have easily sent an already weak new housing market into oblivion.
  • The possible collapse of foreign automakers' operations in North America. All of these companies worked with the same suppliers that would have gone out of business if GM, Chrysler, and Ford went down. How many more people would that have put out of work?
  • Repeat all steps above as service industries related to auto plants, parts, dealerships, etc fold - everything from fast food joints, to stores, to office supply companies, etc, etc, etc.

We are staring economic oblivion right in the face. If you haven't woken up to just how close we are to another Great Depression, then you need to pay attention. The Fed finally admitted to a recession dating back to December 2007. As of the very moment of that announcement, we were in the longest running economic downturn since - you guessed it - the Great Depression.

Each new day we wake up still in this recession is another day added to the record of the longest recession ever. Most economists think there is no chance we'll come out of this in 2009.

Once the mightiest manufacturing sector the human race had ever seen - the Big Three - now is reduced to begging for taxpayer money like some homeless child. What's worse is that the guys who got us into this mess, Wall Street, came asking for twenty times as much money and got it without so much as a batted eyelash.

Let someone who actually makes something come ask for a paltry sum in comparison and it's like the Spanish Inquisition. What does that say about us? It says if you're white collar and take a shower before you go to work, then you can do no wrong. Be as greedy, corrupt, and stupid as you want - we'll bail you out no questions asked.

But if your collar is blue and you shower after you get off work, then expect to be demonized when you come asking for a loan. Expect to be treated with suspicion. Why? Because we don't respect hard, honest work these days. We respect money, and the making of it, above all else.

We respect it above hard work.

We respect money more than honesty.

We respect the acquisition of wealth no matter the means.

In short, we are sick. We have lost our center - and I don't mean that in any sort of religious manner. I don't mean that with any political bent whatsoever. I mean that when we don't respect that which made us great, then we will be great no longer.

Hard work and opportunity used to be at the center of the American ethic. We no longer respect hard work in and of itself and I fear that the same opportunities that were afforded me coming up will no longer be available or attainable to my children.

Why? Because the wealthy and elite have been allowed to run our ship aground - again. The difference is that back in 1930 people actually lived closer to the land, They knew how to darn socks and plant crops and raise animals. Many didn't have electricity.

Nowadays the dispossessed will not know what to do when there's no supermarket. They won't believe any of it until it's already happened - until the lights actually go out.

Well, my friends - I am not one of those people. I have a piece of land to retreat to when the sh!t hits the fan. This land has a source of clean water - a source spring. I have guns and seeds. I have the skills needed to protect my own (first aid, CPR, marksmanship). I have the skills needed to provide for my own (hunting, fishing, basic gunsmithing, gardening, construction, electrical engineering). I have a library of books dedicated to things like making drinking water safe, emergency shelter, gardening without petroleum fertilizers and pesticides, composting, shelter, and more.

Batton down the hatches. Gridcrash is a-coming.

Stockpile Progress, Part 2

As of now, my Apocalypse Stockpile consists of:


  • Guns
    • SKS, mounted on a Tapco Fusion Kit with BSA Red Dot sight (350 rnds)
    • Remington 870 Express 12 ga. shotgun (100 buckshot, 50 slug)
    • Ruger GP100 .357 Magnum Revolver (250 .38 rnds, 100 .357 rnds)
    • Ruger 10/22 with 30 shot clip (1000 rnds)
  • Outdoor Gear
    • 3 tents (6 person, 4 person, 2 person)
    • collapsible trench shovel
    • Solio solar battery charger
    • mini propane camp stove (3 fuel cells)
    • deluxe first aid kit
    • 6 rain ponchos
    • hatchet/hammer
    • machete
    • buck knife
    • 4 sleeping bags
    • freshwater fishing gear (pole & decently appointed tackle box)
    • 4 camp cook kits
    • 6 lightweight plastic plates
    • complete set of 6 utensils (fork knife, spoon)
    • hand crank flashlight
    • hand crank AM/FM/ShortWave radio
    • various other cooking gear
    • flint and steel kit
    • waterproof matches
    • stakes
    • 100' rope (500 lb test)
    • compass
    • small binoculars (Bushnell)
    • Army ALICE pack
    • more... (can't recall at this point)
  • Food
    • 12 MREs
    • 2 Other MRE-type meals (backpacking dinners)
    • 5 lbs dried lentel beans, stored in an airtight container
    • hermetically sealed can of various non-hybrid vegetable seeds
    • 36 energy gels (little packets used by runners to speed electrolytes to your system)
  • Miscellaneous
    • playing cards
    • silver coin (for water treatment)
    • 100 M80's

There's more. This is what I can recall off the top of my head.

18 December 2008

Camping, Shooting, and the Decline of America

A bit of a scattershot entry here, but what the hell?

Oh, God. We've really and objectively gone to hell in a handbasket.

In that spirit, I am going shooting with my brother and kids this weekend. A .45 or two, maybe a .357, and my .22 Ruger will be in the mix.

I'm trying to setup a camping trip with a couple of my brothers and maybe some friends for some time this winter. We'll probably camp on the back portion of my parents' property in Barboursville.

I really want to try out some of my camping gear which I just haven't gotten a chance to use yet.

11 December 2008

A Life Saved, Pay No Mind

I had the most bizarre experience last night. I keep thinking about it and when I do it keeps striking me as surreal.

I was at a local restaurant eating with three of my four kids when I noticed a girl sitting at the next table choking. Her Mom had a panic-stricken look and just kept asking her 9 year old daughter if she could breathe. The kid stood there choking... obviously unable to respond.

So after about 10 seconds of this I jumped up and went over and asked the Mom if she needed help. She said, "Yes, help!"

So I did. I may not be remembering the timeline perfectly here, but it went something like this:
  • I pried the kid's mouth open and stuck my finger down her throat, trying to sweep out whatever was in the way. I actually felt something in there. It would later turn out to be a piece of pineapple. 10 seconds.
  • She gagged and I thought for a second she was going to gag up the blockage. She didn't. Another 5-10 seconds waiting to see if she'd start to breathe.
  • I stuck my finger down her throat again, and felt the object again (just on the tip of my finger). This time I really tried to aggravate her throat to induce a more powerful gag response, which worked but failed to dislodge the blockage. 5 seconds.
  • Slap her on the back hard to try to get her to gag up the blockage. No luck. 10 seconds. Mom is really freaking out at this point. I'm not sure what she's saying, but it's repetitive and hysterical.
  • There is a crowd of waitresses starting to gather at this point.
  • I picked the girl up and gave her a good Heimlich thrust (I've actually been trained and certified on this). 5 - 10 seconds.
  • She still isn't breathing. Now my heart is pounding in my ears. I'm really scared this kid is going to die. In a bit of a panic I give her a hard Heimlich. Her chest pops pretty loudly.
  • 5 more seconds pass and I put the girl back down on her feet, grab her face with one hand, forcing her mouth open. I then jam my finger in starting at the corner of the mouth so I can get my finger in there deeper. I stretch her cheek pretty violently getting my finger as far back into her throat as I can.
  • I still can't pull out the blockage, but I do manage to shove it down further, inducing a huge gag and I feel the blockage slip down and away from my finger.
  • I pull my finger out of her throat (covered in pineappled bile up to my wrist) and am rewarded with a shuddering, raspy, and giant gasp of breath.
  • I sit down, numb and relieved and absently start to wipe my hand off.
  • The kid collapses in her Mom's arms, crying... the waitresses disperse.

I went to the bathroom and washed my hands. I came back and a waitress (who witnessed the whole thing) brings me my check. I'm a little surprised by this. Not that I did it for a free dinner, but if I owned that joint I'd comp the dinner for the guy who just stopped a little girl from dying in my restaurant!

Mom says nothing to me. The waitresses say nothing. My kids are the only one who react at all. The little girl seemed to want to come over to me at one point, but her Mom pulls the child back to her. No one in the restaurant so much as looked at me as I walked out.

Like I said, I'm not asking for a parade or anything, but the fact that no one reacted at all was just strange. Very bizarre. Surreal is the word that just keeps coming to mind. You just saw a little girl come close to death and... nothing? That's some high drama and... nothing?

What does it say about us when we can witness something like that and not react?

My kids, understandably, wanted to talk about nothing else in the car. At least my two oldest wanted to talk about it. My four year old may not have been able to compute what went on. I do remember she had a bit of a slack-jawed look on her face when I sat back down at our table. She was chatting about Christmas as we drove moments later, so I guess she was okay with the whole thing.

10 December 2008

WTF Have I Been Saying?

Notice what year 2008 ranks in there with? 1931. The worst year for the S&P ever... worse than 1929, for Christ's sake.

You'll have to click the image to get a full sized version to read it well.

03 December 2008

Prognostication

Let me tell you something here - if the US Auto Industry collapses then I officially deem this nation no longer a superpower. The long ride we've had as a preeminant global force will be done with if the industry that won World War II for us goes away.

There was a scene from Band of Brothers that leaps to mind where Webster (along with the 101st Airborne Division) is riding in the back of a long convoy of trucks along a highway where 300,000 German POWs are marching in the median going the other way.

They are walking and riding in horse-drawn carts and Webster screams at them, "What were you thinking!? Look at you! You have horses!! Say hello to Ford and General Motors! You ignorant, servile scum! What are we doing here? You interrupted our lives for this?!?!"

The idea that a nation could attempt to dominate the modern world on horseback was preposterous.

Our manufacturing base is without a doubt the central cog in our military machine. The auto industry is the wheel upon which almost all teeth in the industrial cog are mounted. When that goes, the last of anything we actually make is sure to soon follow.

A Year Late, A Couple of Trillion Dollars Short

The National Bureau of Economic Research finally declared a recession this week. Fucking genius, fellas. I guess what we've all known for, oh, about a year is now "official."

Thanks. Good to know you're on top of this for us.