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1. I grew up in the Midwest in a drought prone area. I didn’t realize the pros and cons until I moved to an area of the country that receives copious amounts of rain. Each climate has its drawbacks. In this area (lots of rainfall), the top soil gets washed off much more quickly, and it is difficult to replenish it quickly enough, so it’s very easy to get deficient in minerals. In the Midwest, where there isn’t nearly as much rain, the soil tends to have more minerals, since it doesn’t get washed off so quickly.

2. re:
   North America electric grid

   Meanwhile, USS Zumwalt and USS G. Rudolf Ford are full-steam ahead… mostly.

   * * * * *

   re:
   2A
   Some government judge said… something?

   * * * * *

   re:
   Grasshoppers

   There is the master, and there is the grasshopper.

   Patiently, the master has all the time in the world until the grasshopper understands.

3. Re the Grid. Just finished reading “Light’s Out” for the second time by Ted Koppel and it is probably one of my greatest fears especially knowing there are numerous nefarious folks out there probing daily to infect and compromise our system. Does anyone besides myself worry that this administration has fired the top cyber security guy in the white house? Nothing personal, mind you, because the position itself was eliminated.

   As much as we complain about the NSA and its cousins, who else is going to protect us from those who would destroy us? The president doesn’t believe his intelligence agencies, believes our adversaries, insults out institutions and our allies and I feel like the chickens in the henhouse with the door open. The military folks on this site know that good intelligence is absolutely necessary as is opsec but how long can we go on when the institution itself is being attacked every day?

   The grid goes down in anything except a small regional area for any length of time, and we are really on our own folks. Nuclear war, pandemics concern me less than the current attacks on our grip which are relentless and ongoing.

   I live in sunny (baking now) southern California where the gun laws are awful. It would be a huge surprise if the full 9th circuit court upheld the 3 judge panel, but I’ll keep my fingers crossed nevertheless. Want to eventually move to Arizona where the gun laws are excellent. Hopefully before the grid goes down. There’s more water in the north and it’s cooler.

   1. I am also concerned about some things being done by this administration. I love One Second After. Maybe I should read Lights Out too. An EMP is actually my greatest hope for our country. I don’t know what it is going to take to defeat the evil in our country. People aren’t awake enough to do a revolution, they simply don’t care. So if there was an EMP, only the self sufficient people would survive. I wish there was another way, maybe I will find it one day.

      1. I encourage you to read the book. Buy used on Amazon like I do. Because of his history as a newsman he had access to anybody important in the field. It
         was eye-opening yet written well which meant it was easy to read.

         And after reading it I think you will not wish for an EMP to make the evil go away. That’s not really our job. Evil really destroys itself. Our job is to be prepared as best we can with like minded folks. It may be only on a website for now but wisdom, experience and learning will be available when the “opportunity” arises.

         Sure, I get discouraged, too, but I find it doesn’t last that long. Reading this and similar blogs helps.

      2. Yes lights out was a good book. I had always been concerned about EMP or solar flare, but the book really made clear how much danger we were in from cyber warfare as well.

4. If you are planning a move out of California soon you might want to consider the potential for a Grid-Down event and plan accordingly. Southern Arizona without electricity is virtually unlivable. Northern Arizona still gets pretty warm and dry and has problems with wildfires. Living next to a four-season watercourse provides confidence that water will be available.

5. Let me see. I’m supposed to believe the self same people who have lied to Congress, lied to the President, lied to the media and, by extension, lied to the American people.

   I”m supposed to believe the same Deep State that is working diligently to subvert results of the 2016 elections.

   I’m supposed to believe the same Deep State that desperately wanted the lunatic Hillery (Hitlery) Clinton to be their commander in chief. Really! Why on God’s green earth would I ever believe these proven liars?

   There are a lot more dangerous countries to worry about than Russia. There is nothing to gain for the Russians by them attacking the grid. Cui Bono, who benefits the most by an attack on our grid? The Deep State, certainly. Iran, marginally. Saudi Arabia, likely. Even North Korea, maybe but not likely. But what does Russia gain? I can’t think of a single gain for the Russians.

   The biggest threat to our power grid, whether by cyber attack or EMP, is your “ten miles square”, Washington, DC.

6. The problem with California:

   Power Crisis! Where can I plug in my Tesla to recharge so I can get to my destination?

7. Re: non food stockpile items- Tracking use/purchases of items now is a good start HOWEVER it will be more difficult to determine the items we DON’T use everyday or even every week. For instance how many Coleman lantern mantels do you use in a week? Kerosene Lamp wicks? Or odd things like extra glass chimneys for kerosene lamps that inevitably will get broken by Mr Murphy? How many gun cleaning brushes or oil will you need post SHTF. The premise that we need to think about what we use today to plan for SHTF is somewhat faulty. Think what you will USE POST-SHTF that you don’t necessarily use everyday and you will be glad.

   Re: Russia- what the heck is the deal with people siding with Russia? Putin is a bad guy plain and simple. Not everyone in the intelligence field can be painted with the same broad brush. Might I remind readers that SurvivalBlog’s founder has an intelligence background.

8. Today’s Russia is not yesterday’s USSR. Their military budget is one-tenth the size of ours. I recall full well the “Cuban Missile Crisis” when the USSR would have put nuclear missiles in “Cuber”. So: What justifies our expansion of NATO right onto the Russian border? Why is it different from 1962’s evil Soviet deed?

   Me, politically? Some would say that I’d call Attila the Hun too liberal.

9. I don’t defend any country’s government, not Russia’s and not our own. My argument is that all those who are attempting to make a case against Russia, and are for hostilities with Russia are the self same people who have been lying to We the People for more than two years now. If you think you are being played, and I do, you probably are. If you think the folks who have been lying to the American people for the last 2 years are all of a sudden honest loyal Americans, well, I have this bridge in Brooklyn I’d like to sell you.

   We are being played. We hack Russia, Russia hacks us. So what. That’s just politics and statecraft. Is Russia hacking our power grid, the folks saying they are have ZERO credibility. Look at Iran or Saudi Arabia first. Or for that matter look at the NSA or the CIA, they have more to gain by taking down our grid than Russia or any other nation-state.

   This is what is called critical thinking.

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