Mountain House Freeze Dried Food Giveaway Reminder

 Just a reminder for those still interested the drawing is August 8th. please see details.




    Ladies and Gentlemen there is a contest going on over at  http://modernsurvivalonline.com/   They are giving away (1) case of High quality  Mountain House Freeze Dried Food Chicken and rice flavor. 

This food has been donated by Ready Made Resources Please check them out http://www.readymaderesources.com

Modern Survival online will draw the winner on Sunday August 8th. Contest details are available again at  http://modernsurvivalonline.com/

Observations on the day

     Had a road trip today of about 500 miles going from one corner of Arizona to the opposite corner of Arizona. Now if the economy is picking up I will be a horses A&*, I drove through very small towns and even the city of Phoenix and came and came to a conclusion. My conclusion was that there are a lot of empty spaces to rent, and on top of that I did see the occasional mega warehouse for sale or lease. I have been in and out of AZ for the better part of 23 years and I have seen the sprawl of people over take the desert But I am wondering if the bad times have caught up, It sure looked like it from my view.



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     Now before I hear it I know it's FEMA but even they do something half A%$ right every now and then, plus your paying for it anyway. They do have some online training in several areas and cover a range of disasters, most of the online courses last between 30 minutes to an hour and a half and you get a certificate in the end, now you can use this information in several ways:

  • Have the information to better yourself.
  • Use the information for work, Add to your H.R. file at work, more qualifications.
  • Or know how Government and state workers will respond to things. 
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      Oh man stick a fork in me I am done, time to sleep. Enjoy all.

Immigration Protests: An Act of Domestic Terrorism article link

     An article over at Townhall.com where a group blocked traffic with tires roped together along with brown paint and glass on a highway south of Tucson.... And they say were destructive..

http://townhall.com/blog/g/029be245-8b62-43bc-8302-a63394d2760e

Prepology

Asked an interesting question on taxes

     I was just asked by someone why a lawsuit has not yet been filed based on racial discrimination with respect to the new 10% tax on tanning salons. It is biased against whites is it not? An interesting thought is it not?

Your thoughts?

Article from author Matthew Bracken

      If you have a chance today please check out the article by author Matthew Bracken over at WRSA, It goes into the issue of CW2.

http://westernrifleshooters.blogspot.com/2010/07/bracken-cw2-cube-mapping-meta-terrain.html

     Mr. Bracken is the author of a trio of books on the fictional subject of American civil warII. 













Mr Bracken's website.
http://www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com/



 

U.S. Wants to Ease FBI Access to E-Mail Records, Web Activity

U.S. Wants to Ease FBI Access to E-Mail Records, Web Activity

     Check out this article over at fox news, it has " Our best intentions at heart" but we all know how the best intentions turn in to the just another tool to strip away out rights and privacy. 

 

Frugal pickings

      I am always on the lookout for deals on the Internet and I have been looking at Craig's list a lot lately. I have seen all kinds of deals especially firearms and ammo. In addition there seems to be a lot of equipment that is being sold pretty cheap, I try to check the tool and electronics sections as often as I can. Keep your eyes pealed for the ham radio gear and other communications gear that makes it on there also.... Enjoy.

Desert water thoughts

Sonoran Desert N of Phoenix AZ 40968Image via Wikipedia
     Throughout my travels in the desert on foot the one overriding factor in determining how long I can stay out is water. It is heavy, bulky and generally one of the first things you will run out of. Here in Arizona where temperatures can easily hit 110 plus during the summer running out can be a death sentence.

     Water weighs in at about 8.35 LBS per gallon at that rate how much do you really think you can carry? Take 3 gallons for instance that equates to just over 25LBS, you could carry it but add that in with any other supplies and you are going to be overweight and exhausted in no time.


      I  Know that for me I can easily burn through a gallon a day traipsing around the desert. When I go out I usually only stay out for a day or two but I always bring extra water and leave it with the truck I go in. Most people think that they can stop at the last 7/11 store on the way out of town and pick up a bottle of water and everything will be just fine.

     Well what happens when your vehicle decides to give up the ghost on you and you are stuck now in a hostile environment instead of your nice little day trip. Usually your phone can get you out of trouble but I remember living in Indianapolis and you can be downtown and not have signal so have a backup. One other option you might want to consider is the spot satellite messenger.

Product Description

"The SPOT Satellite Messenger, the world's first satellite messenger, uses both the GPS satellite network to determine a customer's location and the SPOT network to transmit that information to friends, family or an emergency service center. SPOT is a revolutionary product that is designed to raise the safety factor for hundreds of millions of people around the world". Please see the add for complete details and options.

     I would consider one of these devices for any serious hiker especially if they go out alone. Good common sense like telling someone you know where you are going and what time you will be back doesn't hurt either.

      Keep in mind that the above applies to normal non SHTF times. Come a major disaster or adverse social event your whole plan will have to change, different locations mean different styles of preparation but for desert locations water is king.


GPS'd up to the eyeballsImage by sonofabike via Flickr
As a bonus funny I also saw this pic and had to add it for the fun of it.
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Mini Riots for Phoenix

     Well it looks like there are a few mini riots in Phoenix today and this in the face of the temp injunction to parts of the SB1070 law, Victory riots I guess. I would still suggest that anyone that does not have any business in these areas to stay clear, avoid the problems. Below is one story link with further details.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articl...test-0729.html

     Remember your common sense people and you should be OK. Pay attention to your situational awareness..
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Temp Immigration injunction for Arizona

     Arizona's very controversial law SB1070 was gutted earlier today for the most part leading many to believe that Government really is broken. Federal authorities are charged with immigration issues but many in the country feel that they have been lacking in their duties for quite some time. This has  prompted states like Arizona and parts of other states to do the job themselves or so they thought.

    Lead, follow or get out of the way that is all a majority of people want with respect to immigration enforcement and now it seems that the Arizona issue is destined to have a date with the supreme court. Good luck with it happening before the November elections, it would not surprise me one bit to see a push for another general amnesty to make it a moot point. 

      Now, this decision is just a slap in the face for non federal law enforcement, to me it says that they can not be trusted to act within the highest standards to make a simple request for citizenship proof, hell I live in a town that in order to leave the area no matter what direction I go I have to answer the question "are you a U.S. citizen" so there I feel a little reverse discrimination towards me, so what the heck lets just ask everyone. All this is going to do is create more hate and discontent until there is closure on this whole debacle. Damned if you do and damned if you don't..

Colony review episode 1

     Episode 1 of season 2 is now in the can so to speak. The first thing you get from this series is that it seams to be a little rushed, I was a little disappointed at how they went over their water purification system. Clean water should be #1 on every one's list ( second to air of coarse ) I believe they took the liberty of people having watched the first season where they did a lot better in explaining how they put that system together.
 
     Now I know this show has certain aspects to keep the viewer's attention but I would like to see them slow it down and explain better what they are doing. This group will need a leader at some point, "freelancing" on the fire ground will not be tolerated comes to mind from past training and I think it applies here too. This group will need a plan if it is to have any realistic appeal to it.

      A second observation I disagree with was the first confrontation that the group had. This group needs to start working as a group and use their numbers to an advantage. In giving the outsiders food you create a double edge sword, be kind and charitable or keep what you have will have consequences either way. The outsiders were no doubt instructed to cause as much mayhem as possible as well as gather intelligence and they did.

     Some of the good things that the group did do was in their decision of moving out of the tent and into a more defensible building but they did not build on this as well as they could have. The other thing was they immediately recognized that they would need to start gathering more food now versus later. The scouting missions that they started is a good idea that will net them additional supplies in the future but they do need to be careful  as they are separated from other members of the group.

     In the ending part of the program where the larger outsider group came for the supplies is where I have the biggest issue. While the home team was clearly outnumbered they made it worse by letting themselves be divided and easily conquered. In this particular case they would have been better off making a stand in their house on the second floor, from what I saw there was only one staircase. This would have been a natural choke point to defend and neutralize the outsiders numbers. In the end they still might have lost but it would have taken a lot more time to do it. This should be interesting to see how things will unfold.

Fox news flash

    Just caught a blurb on FOX news about a possible ruling on the pending SB1070 law, This will most likely be related to an injunction of part or all of the law... This should be interesting..

The Colony

     For those interested the new season of the Discovery show the Colony starts tonight at 7PM. I do believe that almost any show of this type could open eyes and they have been known to bring out a few good ideas but take it for what it is, Entertainment...

Thoughts on the day

     As a small business owner things are a little slow, I had one call to take care of today that lasted about 4 hours, after that I was free. Needless to say I wanted to go play with the metal detector a little so I loaded up some extra water, grabbed the cell phone and out the door I went.

     Not really having an exact destination in mind, over the next mountain would do just fine, out of town and quiet seemed to fit the bill nicely. In hopes of trying to forget about the world for a few hours it seems like I got just the opposite instead. More and more every day I come to the realization that I have lost faith in my fellow man and woman.... To me it seems that no one is taking any of our current situations very seriously, the gulf, unemployment, taxes, Govt regulation, anything. It seems like every one has their blinders on, Come November we will most likely see the house change hands and maybe even the senate but I do not foresee anything better coming of it, just a different speed.

     The damage in my opinion has already been done and we have only ourselves to blame, our economy "can" so to speak can only be kicked down the road for so long. I would consider us already bankrupt now, how much money do we owe to the rest of the world, Billions, Trillions, how much do we borrow every day just to run?  At some time the credit card IS going to be turned off and then what, we will never pay it off, the interest alone will kill us.

     As I see it the only way I think we can get out of this mess is by cutting to the bone and that means getting rid of a few thousand programs in government, as far as I know and have seen Govt DOES NOT do it better, there is just no way they can, it is not built for it. Many of these cuts will be the ultimate third rail but I think our constitution served us well for a long time and our problems started when we strayed away from it. Look around and one can see all the proof we need, we have become an I want it all and i want it all now and I don't want to pay for it.

     Unfortunately I do not think there is any one single person who can stand up and educate us in how we have strayed, we are too diverse a country to believe in anyone not from our "Click". Our re-education will come from action, a meltdown action of some kind. We have gone through this before and not really all that long ago, about three generations give or take. The big difference this time will be that people will not be as nice in any way. Ugly will be the act of the day and forget about the police and military putting things back in order, they will be home with their own families especially in a large event, regional or larger...

     When or if things go south you may have little time to collect your family, shopping will be a nightmare, travel will be snarled. Just look at hurricane or storm events to see how hectic things can be. Making even general plans now can save you precious time down the road. Thing happen, pretending they won't is an automatic strike against you that you can not afford.....

Additional mine pics

I was recently asked if I had any additional pics that I could add from my recent mine adventure, I do and I will add a few over the next few days... Enjoy.
These beams you see were about 10x10

This large box is where they dumped material and washed the material, there is a small gate on the front to drain it out.

The inside of the box, all of this wood was in great shape. I am not sure of the age but either way it was built to last.




I did not enter either one of the vertical shafts but I really wanted to, lack of equipment and a good partner prevented it but it is on my to do list for the future.

Super efficient homes

     I was checking out some home designs and came across a good website with a lot of floor plans on straw bale homes, super efficient and good looking, check them out.

http://www.balewatch.com/

   

Financials and exercise = metal detecting

     I took the opportunity the other day to to work on some supplemental income generation, I went out and bought a new metal detector. Now I have never had one, never used one, never even touched one before but what the heck I'll try something new. Now I have no intentions of becoming "Rich" by finding a bunch of gold, although it would be nice I just don't have that kind of good Karma banked up right now. While the area I live in does have quite a few old mimes I think I will find more throw away items than anything. One thing I did take the opportunity to do was go out to one of the many informal shooting areas just outside of  town and I was surprised at the amount of brass that people are still leaving behind. Brass being a good recyclable metal right now me and my bow spent about an hour and a half finding and bagging brass, we even bagged separately all the wolf 7.62x39 that litters the area, what the heck it all adds up right.

      Come the end of the day we had collected a few pounds of brass and a few pounds of steel cased wolf casings, they all now reside in 5 gallon buckets and there is more to collect. While not a good day job this did give me an opportunity to do a lot of walking around and bending over to pick up various metals. In addition it gave me some good one on one time with my older son who was totally excited to be digging in the dirt "looking for treasure"

I could not fine the exact unit that I bought but after looking at prices you can get into one for as little as $40 all the way to 5 figures, that's a little too rich for my blood. I hope to have fun with the one I have and we'll see where it goes and I will let you all know if i find anything good.....

Report Blasts Military For Not Being Nuke-Proof By Olivia Koski July 22, 2010

     The article below I found while perusing some other site, it does make sense to keep older antiquated equipment around for many reasons not just including EMP issues. Some older equipment has a simplicity to it that can be a teaching tool never mind the fact that you can actually work on it in the first place...Enjoy


Report Blasts Military For Not Being Nuke-Proof
By Olivia Koski July 22, 2010

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010...ng-nuke-proof/

If, by some chance, you end up surviving the nuclear apocalypse, don’t count on the U.S. military to be around to help you rebuild. Or don’t expect all its fancy electronics and communications equipment to work, at least.

That’s the strongly worded, rather ominous assessment from a joint Defense Science Board/ Threat Reduction Advisory Committee Task Force, which warns in a recent report that the military needs to wake up to its vulnerability to nuclear attack.

Out of my wallet

      Now I have an idea that should fix all of our problems that seem to plague us ignorant, stupid, can't take care of ourselves much less our children serfs that we are. I believe that we all should be issued a Government handler to guide us in the correct way, we just can't make the correct decisions. Hell we might as well as the Govt continues to worm their way into every corner of our lives. The worst part of this seems to be that most people could care less, many people want even more "think of the safety we would have" HORSE-CRAP.

     Our wonderful new health-care-death-care program that we just had to pass to know whats in it dropped another set of eyeball on us, I am talking about the new reporting of your acquisition of gold. Go buy $600 worth and your information gets passed to the feds..... It's none of their damn business what I buy or how much I buy. We might as well pull the phrase "legal tender for all debts, public or private"  off our money because it sure does not mean what it used to.

      This week we also get to deal with the new financial bill that is almost as big as the HC bill you can bet that worthless dollar that is in your wallet right now it is loaded with new ways to get into that wallet of yours. Credit cards are already scrutinized now they get to do more of it, your employer reports on you, hell we report on ourselves left and right.

     Form 1099 will soon be your best friend, again I would not bet against the Govt adding a plethora of new reportable items or services so that they can make their "tax". What this will do in some circles is create a new black market, it's already here now for some areas, it will just expand to take in new products.

     Well I have lost my train of thought and I know what happens when that happens so I will end this article for now and may pick it up at a later date..... Good Morning

Arizona end of the month riots? Maybe

     July 29th is set to be the day that the controversial SB1070 law goes into effect, that is unless an injunction is issued in federal court, toss a coin who knows. In the event that the law does go into effect and you live in the Phoenix area do you have a plan if the SHTF?

     I take into account from the previous history of protests in the area that some people will not take the law going into effect lying down, when you are already illegal why not do something else illegal like riot... Now if riots do happen I would put my money Phoenix being a very interesting place...... to avoid. As for those who do live in the area it might be worth your time to have an event plan in your mind if things do go south, like:

  • Have your car/ truck filled up the day before
  • Plan on staying away from hot spots in contention
  • Have a place to go outside the city if needed
  • Know where your kids plan on being that day ( modify as needed ) 
  • Is your BOB up to date?  is your car's?
  • Do you have everything at home you need for a few days if need be? ( your a prepper of coarse you do )
  • Consider security for the day if you own a storefront business 
     The above is only a very small partial list to think about, I would take this as a training opportunity to test yourself and family. Hopefully nothing comes of this event but better to be prepared and safe.... Take care.

Free or paid training opportunity

     I would like to pass on a training opportunity to those of you that are out in the rural communities. I was how shall we say "nudged" to join the local VFD (Volunteer fire department) My age had something to do with it as I was considered "young" by the other members, their idea of young was anyone who is under 50. Well needless to say I took to it like a duck to water and then I found out about the training that was available and the best part was that they paid me ( some commitment to the dept was required but well worth it ).

     I took this opportunity to learn fire science, wildland firefighting and best of all medical training. This type of training would cost you big money if you had to pay for it but I traded my time for the training. These are all valuable skills and it is skills that will help most not gear. Another fringe benefit of being a member is that you are privy to some information that the general public is not, VFD's are now technically part of DHS. While on this department I was issued a radio with all county frequencies, this included state and local police. Our department also puts you in contact with your local emergency management director and in some cases you can be part of the training and planning for your local area, this gives you a good insight on how your local community will deal with an incident, the flip side also is you can see how unprepared your community is also.

     One other thing to mention as a benefit are the people that you will meet, they have been some of the best I have ever come to know, some would give you the shirt off their back. Working on a department can and will allow you to make valuable contacts in the community and the friendships will last a lifetime.

GPS/ fun day and exploring

     This weekend is now over and it was an interesting one, myself and the little ones went out for a bit of GPS and map work. I have for a while wanted to go out and check out several mines in the rough area so this was a perfect opportunity to do so. This was also an opportunity to do some hiking with our BOB's and really relax and explore a little.

     In the back of my mind I also had an ulterior motive for doing this little jaunt, I am a mine junkie, you can't keep me out of them, I love to see anything old, it's history that we are loosing everyday. One of my reasons for locating this mine area was to see if it was a suitable location to go to in case of a major civil disruption or environmental disaster. I like to have multiple locations to go to in these cases, just having a place to go to that is preplanned is one less stress that you will have to deal with when or if you ever have to.

     This is one of the caves that we tracked down, it  is hard to tell from the photo but you could drive a small car or truck down this entrance. The incline is at about 15% and the ground is pretty free of obstacles.

     I would remind everyone that mines can be extremely dangerous to enter either by potential cave in or by noxious gasses that can be present. The cave we went into was well researched before hand and due to it's size and the amount of supplemental air shafts it had been deemed a very safe mine to enter but always do your research.

     One of the things that you notice about this mine is that as soon as are about 20 feet in the temperature drops dramatically. The outside temp for the day was hovering around 110 but as soon as we were in the mine the temp dropped a good 30 to 40 degrees and we even had a slight breeze.

     While my kids were having fun looking around for bats, yes there were bats, I was busy looking, thinking and checking to see if this mine would be a good temporary bug out location. The reason why I wanted to look into a mine for that purpose is that out here the heat kills, I don't care how tough you are if you are in 100 degree plus heat for any amount of time you will be very uncomfortable and also at risk of heat stroke. While in it's current form this mine will be a poor substitute for a long term shelter but for a few days you could get along depending on what you brought along for supplies.

This part of the mine was used as one of the airlock/ escape areas, further to the rear was a ladder that leads out of the mine via one of the air shafts. This is one area that could be repaired and sealed off if one was faced with an NBC event. If this were used for that event you would have to replace the natural ventilation with some type of filtered mechanical ventilation, I.E. hand powered pump or battery powered. While it could be done it would be a lot to do post event but keep in mind this is an alternate location if a primary or secondary is compromised. 

     I would like to stress that having multiple options before an event is crucial, you do not want to have to think about "where will I go" if something happens. Thinking about where to go can take up valuable time that you may need, make it automatic, have your plan. I have now added this location as an option, I know how far away it is, I know how much time it will take and how much gas. Granted time and distance could vary if you have to take a different route but that is why we should test our routes and alternative routes, again have a backup to a backup....


Cutting our own throats again and again.

     Here in America we have the blessed opportunity to buy almost anything we want and can afford ( wait, the afford part will be good for another story,  Sorry I digress ), we generally buy things we can afford and right now the purse strings are pulled tight, we are in a tight economy or recession/ depression whatever you want to call it, the bottom line is that  we are not doing too well right now.

      Unemployment is in the tank 10, 15 or 20% unemployment in some states, take your pick. Either way we are all pinching pennies as best we can. Our trade gap with China is ever widening as evidenced by the article below. Please take a minute to read the article linked below and then I will have more commentary below.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/14/business/economy/14econ.html?_r=1&emc=rss&partner=rss

     The one personal thing that I take away from the above article is that we as Americans are spending what money we do have on foreign goods. I generally like to think of Americans as a smart lot but what this shows me is our stupidity. Everyone seems to want Government to fix the economy, fat chance on that. We have an opportunity to fix it without the Govt, without a new law or some new super duper regulation, it is really simple.
BUY AMERICAN

     Why in the world would you want to make the choice between someone in your own country working or
someone in china working over the cost of a product. Is the difference in cost that much? how about that cost of being unemployed, how about the cost of that business having to move or close down because it can't compete due to the over regulation on American companies and no regulation on foreign competitors. It is unfair and non competitive. 

     I would like to challenge everyone to take care of there own first, I know times are tough but by buying American we keep our money here, we keep our jobs here and we will turn this around and add to our manufacturing base. This means more jobs in the U.S. for Americans.
www.madeinusa.org

American made products are out there and ready to be bought, the above list is from a quick and fast Google search, keep in mind that you might not have to pay sales tax if you buy something from out of state. Enjoy


Do you have your ducks in a row? part 2


     Well back to having the proverbial ducks in a row piece, I left off with a hypothetical,  being robbery/ muggings and the like. Odds are that at some point in every ones life we become a target. While some will be at a higher chance than others a lot of it can be attributed to ones own risk taking, we take risk every day. Getting out of bed every day is a risk and so is walking down the sidewalk but they are things we are going to do it is in our nature to do so.

     Now the bad type of risk I am talking about is pretty common sense like walking in the wrong neighborhood at the wrong time of day or night, we all know that. So how many of us lock our doors after we get in our out of our cars? how many of us lock our front doors at night? how about your mail security, do you have a locking mailbox, How much information can someone get about you by stealing your mail. Identity theft can ruin you just as easy as anything else, the flip side is do you shred or destroy all of our documents, what information are you putting into the waste basket and then to the curb. Thieves these days can find a goldmine of information about you from your trash. Take nothing for chance these days always assume that someone is peeking over your shoulder trying to get your info. 
    
     The bottom line I would like to make is that you should think very carefully about almost everything you do, take that extra moment to look five minutes into the future and role play a few possibilities about your choices. Do I really need to do this right now? or go there at this time? Should I shred this paper? Hey ( trusted Neighbor ) can you grab my mail today as I will be getting home very late tonight. It can be hard for a good person to get into the mind of a not so good person to see how they might do us harm but in doing so you can gain valuable information in how to protect yourself. Common sense can be a great ally and so can your gut because when it just does not feel right or pass the smell test follow it because it is usually right....





Happy 4th

     Happy 4th all, eat, sleep and be merry and have a good time but be safe and stay out of the fast lane while driving. Cops will be out heavy so if you don't have to go out, DON'T. Be safe.......

Do you have your ducks in a row?

     I hope that everyone has their house in order, air, water, food, shelter and protection. While you might have a different order I know that a lacking in any one will make for a rough time. I would love to know what is coming down the pike but not being a psychic puts us all at a disadvantage for sure. I guess a generic plan is about all one can do unless you know that in your mind a certain event will happen, you can take your pick, economic collapse, NBC, CW2, Invasion, Environmental,  Big rock falling from the sky, who knows.

      I know that one disaster that is increasingly becoming more prevalent are burglary, theft and muggings. Why you may ask, well it's pretty simple. People are not working. I.E. our wonderful stimulus has failed, our taxes are going up, The government is spending like no tomorrow. I could go on but why bother, Look when people don't have something to do I.E. work then some will go off and be stupid and commit crimes and that means that your SA (situational awareness ) needs to be put in high gear. If you look like a target you will be a target, if you leave your keys in the ignition your going to have your car stolen eventually, you kind of get the point right? Look you need to be a hard target and better yet be a grey target. If you can limit your to exposure you can limit the chance of being that victim.

     The reason why I call the above a disaster is because if you have ever been robbed of had your home broken into than you know how traumatic it can be, and that to you  is a disaster.

Supplemental to follow
Part 2 

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