Paul D. sent us a link to an article that profiles several families that have built extremely energy and water self-sufficient homes. Their elaborate do-it-yourself efforts and expertise are commendable, but: What is it about the Peak Oil crowd that makes them so incredibly naive about present day burglaries, and the potential for future home invasion robberies–to the point that they blithely mention their street addresses to newspaper reporters? My advice is to learn to be circumspect around reporters. Your stock answer should be: “For the privacy of my family, I’m not at liberty to discuss that topic.” Most reporters will respect that and not press you further.
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The latest from our Economic Editor: Wall Street Ends Turbulent Week Sharply Lower — Depression Possible, Says Soros — If GM Fails, Detroit Would Go Under — Bretton Woods II, a New Financial Deal — GM Might Not Be Able to Get the Financing it Needs in Bankruptcy — Mayor Daley: Prepare for Mass Layoffs — Meltdown to Agriculture; Food Shortages Loom
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SF in Hawaii mentioned the book “Emergency Sandbag Shelter and Eco-Village“.
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Michael H. and Loren both mentioned this Stratfor article: Worrying Signs from Border Raids. I should mention that one of the article’s co-authors was Fred Burton, a former State Department counterterrorism agent (with the then-fledgling DSS office.) He a authored the book “Ghost“, recently released by Random House. I read a review copy of Burton’s book, and found it fascinating–particularly because it was set primarily during the mid- to late-1980s, when Burton started doing CI/HUMINT work. Coincidentally, his organization had some of the same taskings in the HUMINT world that my organization was pursuing in the SIGINT world. Reading his book certainly brought back some memories.
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My Number #1 Son and several readers mentioned a Google Epidemiology Tool and a new Global Health Map. Both are based on news article keyword triggers. Because of their inherent secondary nature, they cannot be relied upon independently, but they do provide useful adjunct intelligence sources when tracking influenza outbreaks.