Work, Sleep, Chew and do it all again.

      So what has changed? not much really. The world, this Country and everywhere else other than that remote island where they will eat you if you trespass! all are on the same trajectory of circling the drain. Take your pick of anywhere in the world and you can find something either popping off or about to pop off, from the Middle East to Europe to South East Asia and the good Old US of A. Elections are meaningless, policy is meaningless, Divine intervention are as good as wishing upon a star. As is now and in the past as well as in the future you can count on just yourself and those that are on the same page as you in your tribe. In daily life or if some event takes place you and your tribe will still need to cover the basic 5 things, Food, Water, Shelter, Protection and communications. Forget about a specific event or calamity the end result is you will be doing pretty much the same things that are covered in the 5 basic things. Are you in a city? I would strongly advise you to not be. More people, more problems period . 

Chickens, Family, Rural and a pantry to die for is a damn good start for any number of reasons.

Later

Scott

2023 SHIT SHOW

So I guess I have to get something in here to say I did something in the year 2023, SO here goes.

If you have not been under a rock (that might actually be an improvement) then you would already know that not a damn thing has changed in the world,  it still sucks and is still going to shit at an ever-increasing rate and I am still shocked we have not already let all worst-case scenarios fly. Maybe 2024 will be it because what do we have left but the big one and that to me is China vs. Taiwan and the rest of the world and that should make Russia / Ukraine or Isreal vs. the Middle East look like a 5-year-old playdate. Either way, I say stock it deep and don't sell for any price, and hold on to those you love because hell who knows anymore. Take care all and we will see you in the afterlife or the wasteland or whatever comes first now where is my wine.

Prepology 

Russia, China, Ukraine, Taiwan and Uncle Sam

 

     Russia, China, Ukraine, Taiwan, and Uncle Sam are in the news more and more and will be pumped for all they are worth for the distraction value they bring in taking as many eyes off  Covid and the domestic failures of the current administration as they can. We have a weak POTUS right now and both Russia and China see that far better than those in our own country.

     As things stand right now I will throw my thoughts out here and now, when it comes to Russia moving forward with its invasion of Ukraine it will happen and we the United States and the EU will do nothing more than protest and at the most put into place additional sanctions but nothing more.

     The reason why in my opinion the EU will not get involved directly is that Russia has an energy strangelhold over them, Sanctions of some sort maybe but sanctions mean nothing when the natural gas gets turned off and you freeze to death. Russia while not quite the powerhouse it once was is still a very formidable adversary that you do not want to tangle with especially when they are in their own region. 

     With respect to the United States getting involved over the Ukraine issue I am leaning toward a very slight chance that the US gets directly involved, I do see sanctions as well as the funneling of arms to Ukraine as far more likely ( We are already doing this ) In summation the EU and the US just do not have for the most part anything to gain by going up against Russia in Ukraine and to be honest I think that by the time the world would be able to reach to the invasion it would be all over and Russia would hold most of the country and no world power wants to dig out a Russian bear. 

     China invading Taiwan for me is the larger global concern I believe this invasion will happen in my opinion, and the United States will be involved. Taiwan makes close to 90% of all semiconductor chips and has long been considered Chinese soil and they want it back for both reasons. We have all seen how China respects human rights and laws, ponder the plight of Hong Kong, Uyghurs, Tibet, and any other of the dozens of atrocities they have committed so you can only imagine how the people of Taiwan would be treated. Add to that the stranglehold the Chinese would put on the rest of the world when they have control of the semiconductor industry, this can not happen. 

     As I have said I do believe the invasion will happen and China will choose very carefully when they attack and again the United States, as well as several other countries will be drawn in. China must strike very hard and very fast to achieve this, they must overwhelm the defenses of Taiwan's land, naval, and air forces before US naval carrier groups can aid in defense. Japan has pledged support and following that England, as well as Australia, could lend support if in a position to do so. Indian may be a player as well considering their growing economic ties. 

     There is no doubt that one or maybe both of these potential conflicts may happen and the implications of the top 6 militaries (US, Russia, China, India, Japan, South Korea) all for the most part being involved will be huge, add into this 4 of these nations have nuclear capability and the potential for escalation while always there can not be discounted.

Stay frosty my friends.

Prepology

 

So 2021 told 2020 to hold my beer

      So 2021 told 2020 to hold my beer and that begs the question of what 2022 will bring.

     2021 ended up as much of a $hit show as the previous year "14 days to slow the spread" has turned into years now and if the control freaks have their way it will last much longer. We also have the .gov spending money on projects that will not be completed until several years into the future! Are they taking a precautionary outlook in our best interests or do they want to keep a massive amount of peeps on edge over this. 

     The .gov could not fight it's way out of wet paper bag no matter what party is in office, they have done one thing well though and that is to get the masses to be as divided against each other and be very dependant on big daddy gov. Never should you be more afraid of big government and the last 2 years should be all the proof you need. 

     If any person in this country can say with a straight face that they honestly believe things in this country are in good working order well I have a bridge to sell you. I have said before that we in this country are living on the shirt-tails of the past, we no longer produce or even lead the way in many new technologies but we import and debt our souls into everything new and shiny and all the while dumbing ourselves down to the lowest common denominator. 

     I find it hard to predict what will happen in these next few years but I do not see us coming together on much of anything either foreign or domestic. Take your pick on the issues: Civil strife, China, Russia, North Korea, Economics, Venomous Ducks, Disease or Plague, Mother-in-law, Middle East, Food Shortages, all jesting aside the world is a very fragmented place and we are for the most part just along for the ride while a very small few decide what shitstorm gets thrown our way next. 

     2020 and 2021 has shown us that almost anything can happen and will happen, from lockdowns, shortages, to unemployment, nothing screams vulnerability more. All this and being prepared is still looked down upon but it does seem to be slowly creeping into the mainstream until things get better and then all will be forgotten again. While everyone waits for the "Big one" I am equally concerned with the slow slide that is happening all around us, at the micro-level it may not seem like much but if you look at it in the macro it is clear as day. While the direction of humanity may be clear as day far too many people go out of their way to not see it or outright deny it, everyone wants to feel safe without actually being safe. 

     If you are still with me after what may be considered a gloom and doom article then great because I never try and leave an article on a sour note, I always try and leave on a better note, That said I will give my opinion on how to make it better. I can not overstate how important location, location, location,  and a primary subcategory to that is GET OUT OF THE CITIES. There are few better things that you can do than put as much distance between yourself and cities. 

     Cities equal people and there are no other species as ruthless, vile, dangerous, and evil, look at any black Friday shopping event when the doors open and people fight over the television that is half price! just imagine if that was food they were after. If we were in another lockdown with shortages again, think of the toilet paper aisle on steroids. I will not trust my fellow man when times are tough in a city when we are so deep in the new ME ME ME world. To me a city only offers me one thing and that is high-level trauma centers, everything else you can workaround. 

     Rural living can bring a peace and security level that you just can not get in a city, people again are the focus. Far less people live in a rural setting and those that do want to be there and in my opinion are cut from a different cloth. The bonds you can and will make will be far stronger and by default, you will look out for each other. The advantages of being able to live in a more self-sufficient way will also bring a sense of pride and confidence, we have lost that as a society. Rural living does have it's challenges but life is full of challenges and anyone that puts in an honest effort can meet and surpass any and all challenges thrown their way.

     I hope this may spur in some a reflection of where you are in both life and location and help you make good choices that will benefit how and where you live, decisions and actions have consequences that either help or hurt you so choose wisely.

     "May you live interesting times" while a famous quote is now an understatement, I would add dangerous but opportunity, much like the red pill or the blue pill..... you decide!

Prepology.

     

U.S. VS. China Battle on Trade

I am down 6K in the market, And I DO NOT CARE.

     Unless you have been living under a rock or deep in your bugout hole you might have heard we have a little tiff with China about trade and it will probably get worse, Good.

So down 6K and I say Good, Why. Simply stated we needed this to happen a very long, long time ago, We have been the suckers of the world for the past 100 years and with respect to china the last 30 at least. Now I am by no means an economist, guru, or any other specialist in the field but from where I sit I know and most everyone should know that we have been getting the short stick when it comes to China trade, Until now. China is being challenged by a president who is beholden to no one and has a business background that very few presidents in recent memory have, Like him or hate him we needed this the cycle to break.

Far too many Americans and businesses do not have the intestinal fortitude to rock the boat, they are perfectly happy to accept the status quo of relations, the idea of this,  lets call it what it is a minor pain is what I am completely happy with in order to get a better long term and fair deal so yes I do not care that I am down 6K.

China needs growth to support it's growing working middle class and this does hurt them both directly and indirectly, there is a lot of noise about who really pays for tariffs, in reality we all do the US and China, the workers and the consumers and yes they are big numbers being thrown around, millions and billions. In the end though at the consumer level they are pretty small and well within our means to absorb and lets be honest you might not even notice it, business will go on as usual and you will still buy "Stuff" that you may not really need in the first place, Think about that.

I saw a massive amount of hate at what happened with the tweets on Friday that sent the markets south and all I could think was everyone getting all upset about their temporary loss and their greed not getting fulfilled, Pissing and moaning about money versus doing what is right and it really goes to show where our priorities have gone in this country for some but not all of the country. The markets go up and they go down and it seems that when it goes down everyone gets riled up especially new traders but in reality it is very healthy for some volatility and it always recovers to new highs, if a deal were signed tomorrow the markets would explode and money would be made and all would be forgotten at least till the net time.

Take care all.

CW2 who wins, A video by John Mark

A video here today with well over 1 million views that brings up another aspect related to prepping to think about. In my opinion there is no one single aspect of prepping that you should be planning on but more of a broad approach that is general enough to cover many things versus that one thing that may not happen.

Thoughts on 2019 and beyond.

     Back in the 80's when I was able to first look at the world with a somewhat educated brain cell I could see that the Soviet Union and the United States of America wanted to play a game of catch with ICBM's.  Being a kid of that era where World War 2 and Vietnam were still very fresh in a lot of peoples minds I turned into a sort of history junkie as it relates to conflicts.

     I have come to a conclusion that people like to control other people and force themselves either directly or by proxy and it seems that the end is always the same, we dominate, subjugate and kill ourselves to force a way of life and even an opinion with reckless regard.

     We have a whole host of things to worry about as part of the preparedness community and for me that was initially nuclear warfare and while it still is on my list along with a whole host of other things that I am sure many of you share I usually take the sum of all those potential scenarios and come out with a common denominator of a plan that will work best for all events. I am now working to further tailor that plan to include what I see is a huge disconnect and deepening division of the general populace of this country especially as it relates to politics and what that might entail.

     As a core basic it is my belief that a general plan should include the following basics:

• Food
• Shelter
• Water
• Protection
• Communication  

     This combination while very general should cover what you will need in most situations, again this is just a basic outline and it will vary greatly depending on geography, population density, personal capability and so on. 

     Survival is not always about heading for the hills or  rooftop or even getting deep in the bunker, surviving is also about having that situational awareness to know that something is not right and you need to do something in a rapidly executed fashion. If it dos not feel right DO SOMETHING NOW!

     Circling back to the current political climate and division we are seeing a level of non-tolerance to the opposite at levels that I think will spiral even further out of control, it seem that cooperation and even talking to an other side is falling by the wayside and turning to censorship and outright violence at the drop of a comment. With the advent of social media and a I want it now and do not want to work for it we have a specifically educated population segment that goes down a very narrow road that has been proven time and time again to self destruction and this should not happen when as a very technically astute society have in the palm of our very hands the knowledge of the world if we just type www. But we don't, we instead decide that our own moral superiority gives way to the reality and fact that history repeats itself. 

Secession?

Secession:
       (derived from the latin term secessio) is the act of withdrawing from an organization, union, or especially a political entity. Threats of secession also can be a strategy for achieving more limited goals. (Stolen from Wiki)
   

     As I know many of you out there are well informed and quasi news junkies I am sure that it has not passed your attention as of late the 20 or so petitions that have been filed with the White House web site seeking to secede from the union. I find it not surprising at all especially after this years election, had it gone the other way I am sure we would still be in the midst of a national riots over "voter fraud and racism" all said and done the election is over and now the consequences will come into play and reality is going hit us in the wallet worse than it already has been. I see the divide here in the country between makers and takers and the takers just won hence the secession talk. The theoretical ball is now rolling and In my humble opinion think it deserves an honest debate and looked at on the merits.

     This country was built on a diversity between states, yes we held some things as a basic common but you knew that if one state didn't suit you specific taste you were free to move to another.  We still have that to a certain extent but to a far lesser degree.  We now have a federal government and partial populace that wants to dictate to you what your life will be or what you can and can't do, what you have to buy as a result of being a citizen of this country or pay fines and go to jail ( Think healthcare ) or how about this, a law on what size of a soda pop you can buy ( Think New York ) Small things add up, and more laws come down the pike every day.

     Parallels can be drawn here from when we wanted our independence from an English King, that King is now Washington DC and the central government, I cant say if secession is the answer but I do know that the federal government holds too big of a stick and they are not afraid to use it against any one or many states as they have already shown. I would like to see us get back to a more  local state government as it was in the past, elected local officials tend to be somewhat more grounded in you issues and problems when they are in the same stew pot with you in the same city or state verses someone who is elected and sent to the closed off city of a Washington DC where they loose touch the instant they get there but as I have said maybe the idea of secession will spur some attention, maybe, maybe not. For myself I do believe it will end up being fought tooth and nail by the federal government and they will do everything in their power to squash it because they know if even one state leaves more will follow and the loss of revenue and control from a producing state such at Texas for instance would have far reaching consequences, I for one wouldn't be able to pack my bags fast enough to get there if they decided to pull out.

In closing I would love to hear you opinions, thoughts, concerns or any other tidbit you may have.   


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Supreme Court Ruling

The Supreme Court is set to release it's decision on what has become  known as Obama care this Thursday at around 10am EST, what ever the ruling is there is sure to be  enormous amounts of emotion, pain and contempt. This has been seen as a landmark legislation for the president by some and an absolute invasion of personal freedom by others with respect to the individual mandate requiring everyone purchase health insurance. For my 2 cents I believe that SCOTUS will strike down the individual mandate section of the law as it should if for no other reason that if you can be forced to purchase the product of health insurance today the what will be next? This amounts to Government acting as your parent and you being a minor and you are not. You and you alone should be able to make such a decision and not a government body as to what you buy, A very clear line needs to be drawn here and I hope that it is but as a society that seems to more and more crave the hand of big government to take care of them I fear we are on a very slippery slope, Time will tell.

In closing I have a question, What do you think the ruling will be come 10AM tomorrow, Constitutional or not Constitutional?
  

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     Sorry everyone for being away from the keyboard for such a long time but work has been killing be here the last few months, I do feel fortunate that my industry is as resilient as it is compared to many others that are still in the tank and IMHO will remain so for quite a while. A fault of mine is in seeing a lot of the negatives on any number of things and the economy is one that I really pay attention to. Reports seem to be coming out in many places that things are looking up and good times are just over the horizon well I hope so but for my two cents I am not buying it, I think we are just seeing a small bubble brought on in some part to appease the masses so they will be happy little voters come election time. In the grand scheme of things I am not convinced that we have even seen rock bottom yet, Why? because we have not fixed the problems that have dragged us down yet. This country has a huge spending problem that will bite us in the rear and that is not an if but a when.

     15 Trillion dollars + is one hell of a lot of money and we are adding to it every single day, we borrow 40 cents of every dollar to prop ourselves up every day and no amount of taxing the rich will even make a dent in our problems, we could take everything they have and it would still not matter. 100 billion is what apple has to play with and that's a lot of money but do you think it would make a dent in our problems? Not even close.

    Whats the solution? I wish I knew but I do know that almost everyone will not like it even though it is our own fault, I do not blame the politicians or the big companies I blame we the people because we ultimately put them in power or we continued to support them with our money. We have failed ourselves and it was done over a long time and it will take an even longer time to repair, but it will happen. All countries and all governments fail at some point and we are not any different, this country has already been rocked by a civil war and weather you want to attribute it to the slavery issue or the states rights issue or a combination of both the fact remains that the event shows  it can happen here. There are any number of issues that could spark a return the utter chaos that would ensue and completely change this country in ways that are almost unfathomable.

     I know that I am preaching to the choir here in many respects but I feel that a rosy outcome is not in the countries future as there are too many things working against us and please do not think any one election will change anything this is beyond that, The numbers have already dictated the outcome.

Prep hard everyone, for so many reasons.  

  
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Official words

Recently released words that the .Gov look for when they spy on your communications and hence get you on the list.

List me you pricks.

Domestic Security
Assassination Attack Domestic security Drill Exercise Cops Law enforcement Authorities Disaster assistance Disaster management DNDO (Domestic Nuclear Detection Office) National preparedness Mitigation Prevention Response Recovery Dirty bomb Domestic nuclear detection	Emergency management Emergency response First responder Homeland security Maritime domain awareness (MDA) National preparedness initiative Militia Shooting Shots fired Evacuation Deaths Hostage Explosion (explosive) Police Disaster medical assistance team (DMAT) Organized crime	Gangs National security State of emergency Security Breach Threat Standoff SWAT Screening Lockdown Bomb (squad or threat) Crash Looting Riot Emergency Landing Pipe bomb Incident Facility
HAZMAT & Nuclear
Hazmat Nuclear Chemical spill Suspicious package/device Toxic National laboratory Nuclear facility Nuclear threat Cloud Plume Radiation Radioactive	Leak Biological infection (or event) Chemical Chemical burn Biological Epidemic Hazardous Hazardous material incident Industrial spill Infection Powder (white)	Gas Spillover Anthrax Blister agent Chemical agent Exposure Burn Nerve agent Ricin Sarin North Korea
Health Concern + H1N1
Outbreak Contamination Exposure Virus Evacuation Bacteria Recall Ebola Food Poisoning Foot and Mouth (FMD) H5N1 Avian Flu Strain Quarantine H1N1 Vaccine	Salmonella Small Pox Plague Human to human Human to Animal Influenza Center for Disease Control (CDC) Drug Administration (FDA) Public Health Toxic Agro Terror Tuberculosis (TB) Tamiflu Norvo Virus Epidemic	Agriculture Listeria Symptoms Mutation Resistant Antiviral Wave Pandemic Infection Water/air borne Sick Swine Pork World Health Organization (WHO) (and components) Viral Hemorrhagic Fever E. Coli
Infrastructure Security
Infrastructure security Airport CIKR (Critical Infrastructure & Key Resources) AMTRAK Collapse Computer infrastructure Communications infrastructure Telecommunications Critical infrastructure National infrastructure Metro WMATA	Airplane (and derivatives) Chemical fire Subway BART MARTA Port Authority NBIC (National Biosurveillance Integration Center) Transportation security Grid Power Smart Body scanner	Electric Failure or outage Black out Brown out Port Dock Bridge Cancelled Delays Service disruption Power lines
Southwest Border Violence
Drug cartel Violence Gang Drug Narcotics Cocaine Marijuana Heroin Border Mexico Cartel Southwest Juarez Sinaloa Tijuana Torreon Yuma Tucson Decapitated U.S. Consulate Consular El Paso	Fort Hancock San Diego Ciudad Juarez Nogales Sonora Colombia Mara salvatrucha MS13 or MS-13 Drug war Mexican army Methamphetamine Cartel de Golfo Gulf Cartel La Familia Reynosa Nuevo Leon Narcos Narco banners (Spanish equivalents) Los Zetas Shootout Execution	Gunfight Trafficking Kidnap Calderon Reyosa Bust Tamaulipas Meth Lab Drug trade Illegal immigrants Smuggling (smugglers) Matamoros Michoacana Guzman Arellano-Felix Beltran-Leyva Barrio Azteca Artistic Assassins Mexicles New Federation
Terrorism
Terrorism Al Qaeda (all spellings) Terror Attack Iraq Afghanistan Iran Pakistan Agro Environmental terrorist Eco terrorism Conventional weapon Target Weapons grade Dirty bomb Enriched Nuclear Chemical weapon Biological weapon Ammonium nitrate Improvised explosive device	IED (Improvised Explosive Device) Abu Sayyaf Hamas FARC (Armed Revolutionary Forces Colombia) IRA (Irish Republican Army) ETA (Euskadi ta Askatasuna) Basque Separatists Hezbollah Tamil Tigers PLF (Palestine Liberation Front) PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization Car bomb Jihad Taliban Weapons cache Suicide bomber Suicide attack	Suspicious substance AQAP (AL Qaeda Arabian Peninsula) AQIM (Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb) TTP (Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan) Yemen Pirates Extremism Somalia Nigeria Radicals Al-Shabaab Home grown Plot Nationalist Recruitment Fundamentalism Islamist
Weather/Disaster/Emergency
Emergency Hurricane Tornado Twister Tsunami Earthquake Tremor Flood Storm Crest Temblor Extreme weather Forest fire Brush fire	Ice Stranded/Stuck Help Hail Wildfire Tsunami Warning Center Magnitude Avalanche Typhoon Shelter-in-place Disaster Snow Blizzard Sleet	Mud slide or Mudslide Erosion Power outage Brown out Warning Watch Lightening Aid Relief Closure Interstate Burst Emergency Broadcast System
Cyber Security
Cyber security Botnet DDOS (dedicated denial of service) Denial of service Malware Virus Trojan Keylogger Cyber Command	2600 Spammer Phishing Rootkit Phreaking Cain and abel Brute forcing Mysql injection Cyber attack Cyber terror	Hacker China Conficker Worm Scammers Social media

A good article on the above on Blacklisted news


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Prepping Frustration

     I have noticed from several blogs and forums the frustrations of new preppers to the art of preparedness, it happens. Prepping to many people can be a bug that bites many people pretty hard and fast and therefore it can be discouraging when they try and compare themselves to others who have been in it longer. For myself I would rather use the analogy of a marathon because it can be a very long race to getting prepared with the difference of there really never being a finish line so you need to work it in a steady pace and try to not overwhelm yourself, it takes time for some things to come to fruition especially if it is skills that you are working on. Speaking of skills versus gear I have my own process on those, Gear is sometimes the easiest to procure because it is mostly a mouse click away and it is a pretty good way to get your foot into the door. Skills though can sometimes take years to master but unlike gear they are always with you and you generally never loose them. Now one wonders why a person would not just stock up on some gear and call it good? That requires another explanation.

      In the grand scheme of things I generally put a person with gear as able to survive smaller, shorter less intense scenarios, typically these would be events lasting from a few days to no more than a week or two, Think of how long your BOB would last you here.  Now  lets look at an event lasting several weeks to maybe several years, is your gear going to last and provide for you for that time frame? most likely some items will but not all and that's where good skills will come in such as medical training, gardening or even basic hunting skills, do you see the differences?  

     Keep in mind that I believe a person or group that has a mix of both gear and skills will be better off in the long run but it is a balancing act for sure and again it can be very overwhelming so If you find yourself getting frustrated than one thing I found that has helped me is to temporarily move to another thing on the list such as a different skill or the research of another item or even take a break altogether, bear in mind that this can be very consuming but try to no let it consume you completely. Another thing to try is to divide and conquer ( You should be anyway ) This really is something that is very hard to do by yourself, is your spouse on board? Are your closest friends involved?     

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Misc thoughts

A few things I came across:

• Education does not equal intelligence
• Intelligence does not come from Education

In my travels throughout this country I can attest to both of the above statements, as for myself I have no idea where I fall either. Maybe somewhere in the middle? I do know one thing though and that is there will always be someone smarter and always someone the lesser, I would like to be the former though.

From my semi-educated side I am one to believe that while history may not in fact exactly repeat itself it sure does a pretty good job of paralleling itself. Having an interest in history on my side has allowed me to see some things in a certain light and that has given me a new appreciation for the old saying or "Ignorance is bliss"
Having said that there are any number of things going on in our country that I wish were not, or at least I wish I did not know about them but me being a searcher of news and info it is unavoidable that these things come to my attention.

Damned if you do and damned if you don't. You would think that with all of our higher education learning facilities we would refrain from the continuation of policies and mistakes that seem to plague us, but in reality all we seem to do is to make up new excuses as to why we need to continue repeating them with the expectation  of a different result. Maybe were too smart for our own good, I have no doubt that far too many things are over thought, Scotty was in my opinion right "The more complicated the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the drain" This can crossover to many facets of our lives, some of us realize it but many do not and for those of us that do we are often ridiculed out of ignorance and denial.

Solutions? I believe they are out there for me and you but what may be good for the goose may not be good for the gander, many of are highly individualistic and independent and our own solutions may fall out of the norms of society but that does not make it wrong, just different. I try to put decisions not into legal terms but I do keep in mind two things, 1 an I going to pick someones pocket? and 2 Am I going to break someones leg? Thank you Mr. Jefferson.  I think that both of these as applied to life will keep your conscience clean and hold you in good standing with your fellow man but we all know that life is now far more complicated and maybe that is the problem in the first place. We seem to be that victim of our own successes. 



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Countdown to Winter

     Winter will be upon us in the blink of an eye, many of the trees here in my area have already changed their color and some have also completely lost all their leaves, time to get ready.

I would like to focus today on being prepared with respect to your vehicle, we spend a great deal of time in our modes of transport and we should be prudent with some basic supplies that we should keep in them. It should go with out mention that first and foremost your vehicle should be in proper working order to start with, regular maintenance should always be in your mind because nothing can be more disheartening than being broken down due to something that could have been taken care of at an earlier date, common sense really helps here.

Two things that I really like to keep track of are proper radiator mixture and your battery condition.

An improper radiator mixture has the potential to ruin you whole day, you do not want to walk out in the morning only to find that your radiator has been split due to freezing, or worse yet you blow out your freeze plugs in your motor. Don't laugh people it happens every year but it is one of the easiest things to prevent with a little forethought so please get your antifreeze checked.

Another area to pay close attention to is your battery condition, this really comes into play during cold weather as a battery looses some of it's performance as the temp drops. It really sucks to jump into your car and turn the ignition only to hear CLICK CLICK CLICK. Fortunately this is another issue that can be headed off pretty easily, most reputable auto parts stores will provide a free battery load test that can measure the quality of your battery performance according to the manufacturers specs. Free maintenance here so please take advantage of it. Also while your battery is being tested they will usually look at the cables and more specifically they will look at the connections as this is where corrosion usually develops.

Now luck being what luck is, both good and bad that little guy Murphy will make an appearance and screw things up one way or another. Having a few basic supplies in your vehicle can make the difference between having a minor inconvenience or a major life threatening situation. Face it we all have a few nooks and crannies available to us that we can store a few thing to get us by in the case of a breakdown, why would we not. Below  is a rough list that can be tailored to your needs and location.

• Spare tire, yeah it happens. You have a jack as well right? Lug nut wrench? While you at it are you sure you can change the tire by yourself? Try doing it in your driveway and see, it would be much better to fail their where you can get help in doing it right than finding out the hard way on the side of the road.
• Jumper cables? That's like AMEX, you should never leave home without them. As with this item there is a proper way to do it and the internet is riddled with instruction on there proper use, your local auto parts store will help as well. Some jumper cable manufacturers also have written and pictorial instructions that come with their product.
• Communications, I generally like to have at least two forms and the first being my cell phone and 9 time out of 10 this will work for you. My backup for me is a CB radio due to the fact that it is a stand alone system and it works when cell phone may not, the limiting factor though is that you need to have   someone with in range of you for it to work. Another good option if you do have to travel in bad weather is to let someone know where you are going and what time you are supposed to be there and check in when you do get there because if no one knows you missing than they can't report it, simple common sense. 

The next group of items I would recommend are the ones you can really tailor to your own needs.

• Blankets, If your car stops running it will get really cold real quick.
• Snack foods, what can I say, comfort foods come to mind.
• Water, this can be a tough one due to freezing so you may need to add it daily before you go out or go without.
• A small first aid kit because you just never know, I would also include a 1 to 3 day supply of any special medications you may be on.
• Flashlight, maybe a combination flashlight, radio, signal device, more here is better.
•  Spare jacket, socks, gloves.

As you can see the above list is very basic and it can be expanded upon greatly but everyone has different needs and circumstances to consider.

Do you have a list of items that you like? please feel free to chime in.

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     Yeah it's been a while, darn life and work keep getting in the way here and my brain has not been able to do more than the snide remark in other areas but no matter, not much has changed.

Really it does seem to be true that the more things change,  the more they seem the same. Case in point we seem to have lost a few dictators here of short, hooray the world will be a better place.... Really, Really. It seems that when one dictator is take out there are almost always a half dozen in waiting, oh the message might be different but the proof is usually in the pudding and it usually takes a little bit of time to see how things REALLY play out, Meet the new boss same as the old boss comes to mind. I think that covers the middle east pretty well.

Here on the home front or the good old US of A life goes on, the economy is still a problem and in my opinion will remain so for a good while, some would argue that we have not hit bottom yet, I am inclined to agree. We have the obligatory 800# gorilla on our backs that is called the economy, debt, unemployment and social disorder. Now either one could be a book in itself and most likely will be someday. You could say that those issues have culminated into the "Occupy -your city here-" for good or worse a small part of the US populace have decided to do their own Arab spring of sorts, I think they will be allowed to vent for a little while and then be asked to leave, they won't so they will be arrested and forced out such was the case in Oakland and other places. Where any on it goes is anyone's guess but I am sure it will all cost a boatload of taxpayer money that we can't already afford, what a wonderful circle huh.

For what it is worth and for those who have read me in the past I will admit that I usually sit one the pessimistic side of things, it is what it is I guess. It is not too hard to see all the bad in the world and I scratch my head as I take it all in and a good chunk of it looks like it gets worse all the time, now granted there is a lot of good out there too but as a whole are we really in better shape? Now me being a parent I do want better for my kids and I try to foster an environment that would lead them to that direction. I keep my opinions about where I think the world is going out of their daily lives as much as possible hoping for the best but planning for the alternative. As far as what that alternative is your guess is as good as mine but for me the end result is the same no matter the situation you will need basic items to keep your proverbial ass out of the fire so to speak.

Most of what I try to push in the prepared area are the basics, Water, food, shelter, communication, medicines and protection. What order these come in is usually dependent on the exact situation but what ever the situation is they will usually involve needing many of the above mentioned items. I like to think of them as very cheap insurance, whats a life worth? Especially compared to you having a few extra items around that can help you out in a pinch, the answer Priceless.




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Irene, The Unprepared and Under-prepared

     No one is immune from a natural disaster in this world, at some point you will be exposed, that's a fact you can not change.

     While the above statement holds true and you can't change it you can lesson it's effects on you and your family with a little forethought. If you look at the situation this week and weekend on the east coast you know that far too many people came up short with some very basic items. This is nothing new and it happens every single time there is some sort of disruption in our daily lives and it just does not need to happen.

     We as in with many other things take far too much for granted and it has a nice way of turning around and biting us in the AZZ, I am guilty as anyone else being the procrastinator that I can be sometimes. I believe we dodged a pretty big bullet with this hurricane, yes there were fatalities but not quite what some people were predicting and less in this case is always better.

     One good thing that did happen was that many who were asked to evacuate did so, better to err on the side of caution if you can, still there will always be die hard's that will want to remain behind and that is their choice. With that choice though please be prepared and keep in mind "what are you protecting" stuff can be bought again so is it worth it?


   
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Dow Jones, today's causality

     Well today did not go to well for the American stock market, the Dow ended up -634.76 points to cap the day or -5.5% down.

     Asian markets took a beating as well last night and so did the markets in Israel, Global economy at it's best. You can say that the downgrading by S&P last Friday really rocked the world's financial markets and in a way that might be a good thing, yes I know people lost money and that sux but if you invest in what amounts to legalized gambling then there will always be those risks. The reason I see it as a good thing is that we have been  living beyond our means for some time and the reality of it all has finally come home to bite us in out collective ass.

     We never seem to learn a good lesson until it is too late, we are going learn a lesson off of this one way or another, I hope. I am not going to hold my breath though, common sense seems to have left the building a long time ago especially when it is something government is involved in.

     To me we are just one step closer to being in a world of hurt, I would love to know when or how far it will go but a psychic I am not so I will just go with the good old gut and ear-ball it. I will say though that we are in for some changes in the future and they are not the good hoe and changes that were muttered years ago by a certain person, time will tell. 

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This months jobs numbers, up, Really?

     So everyone is all excited about this months jobs numbers of around 117,000 + or -

Well on the front side yes it would look like things are moving forward for a change, pun pun.  I have one small problem though that ruins the party, the above number does not take into the account the fact that you have new people coming into the job market every month as well.

That number of new employment seeking individuals is roughly the same as the jobs added this month so I wouldn't call this report good at all, it just means we stopped the bleeding for one month and who knows what next month will bring. Now a good month will be a quarter or a half million jobs added followed by about four dozen months of the same numbers and I just do not see that happening either.

So where does this lead us? No where good that's for sure, the only place it will lead us is to where sooner or later and I am betting the latter we wake up and force Government to get the hell out of the way and quit meddling  and regulating us to death. It is tough enough to do business in this country as compared to other countries, now do not get me wrong I do not want out of control business practices that would harm the environment or workers but you have to be able to compete and we make that pretty hard right now. Another aspect that we really need to do is to shift our purchasing choices to more products made right here, that means jobs here. I really believe in taking care of our own workers first, I want to keep the money here. Will that product cost more? most likely yes but what is the cost of not buying it, lost jobs is the cost and you will pay for it dearly in other ways, food for thought....

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Question, Are We Really Broke?

     I was asked a question the other day, " Is the US really broke "

Now everyone has their own opinion on this and they are pretty varied. My answer to the question was pretty short, in fact I turned it around with my own question " You do know that the US BORROWS  about 5 BILLION  dollars a day right? "

Now I am no rocket scientist but to me when you have to borrow money everyday to support your habit and yes it is a habit then you have problems, namely that your broke right?


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Sunday Misc Thoughts, Debt Ceiling, Jobs and Adult supervision?

     For those of you who are familiar ICS-100 or other parts of the incident command system you know about "span of Control" now apply this to our Washington D.C. situation and we are clearly exceeding it on many fronts.
     A civilization needs it's rules and laws or else you have anarchy and a pretty poor standard of living, The District of Criminals or D.C. is making decisions for us that for a while now do not seem to be in our best interest, an echo from our past as I seem to recall we fought a war to break free from another ruler a couple of hundred years ago. Are we ready for another change? I think so. I have the feeling that being elected and moving to D.C. has an immediate negative affect on the I.Q. of said elected person, they seem to loose touch quite quickly with those who sent them there and thus fail to represent, Shocker huh. You have all heard that "all politics is local" well it should be but it is not, more and more it seems to be dictated by a few in D.C. that have lost all sense of reality in what it means to be a common working stiff, Oh they think they know whats best for us but do they really?
       
     As is painfully obvious right now these ( Insert Colorful Adjective Here ) have no concept of basic math and therefore have no clue in how to balance a budget hence our growing debt problem, you have to do it, I have to do it, most states have to do it, so why not our government? A common theme running around is that the rich need to pay more or corporations need to pay more, tax this or tax that well good luck with that because the rich already pay the bulk of taxes, corporations pay as well, GE didn't pay anything you say, yes they do but by other means, sales, property, payroll and other forms of taxes, keep in mind though that they employ people, but if you tax them more you will earn less and there product cost will go up and you will have one big vicious cycle.
     I have some novel concepts, how about for one we spend less, SHOCKING. how about we stop giving BILLIONS away to other countries, WW2 is over we won, how about we close all of the bases in Europe and Japan and let them be adults and spend their own money of their defense instead of us subsidizing them. Iraq, Afghanistan? we will in now way change thousands of years of culture or religion so why try, if we were to leave today or in ten years the end result will be the same they will both plunge into civil war the minute we leave, the only reason we are still there is that the Big O doesn't want it to happen on his watch.

     Entitlements, the nastiest third rail of all, Government promises that they can't keep and should have never made, Social Security I.E. Ponzi scheme on steroids who's time should end, too many people collecting when they have never paid in, not adjusted for inflation or a falling dollar, not adjusted or never meant to support you for twenty or thirty years after you retire. Sorry government was not created to take care of you, your supposed to have a brain for that but we have become lazy and greedy to the extreme as well as dependent on someone else taking care of us and we are now more happy than ever to vote in the people who will give us more of this.

     Granted there are still quite a few people out there with their heads screwed on tight but some still fail to recognize the fact that voting for the other party will change anything, I have long ago come to the conclusion that both the R's and the D's are but two shades of the same color yellow, as in chicken yellow and gutless to boot when it comes to dealing with the problems. We have example after example of how countries fail but we seem to at every chance decide to follow their lead down the wrong path, We are the United States we do not know failure, well we are not so United anymore and we will know failure, to what extent is unknown.

     Jobs, whats there to say, the numbers are IMHO still under reported , the funk seems to be with us still. There is demand out there for products and service, unfortunately too many people are buying those products that are made in other countries , hell I will be lazy on this one so as to not duplicate a previous post just go here and you can see my thoughts on the situation.

Repost on the Buy American Circular Firing Squad

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