Category: Emerging Threats

Letter Re: Seven Common TEOTWAWKI Misconceptions

Jim, The recent article by Brian T. regarding common TEOWAWKI misconceptions is largely true as relates to the bad boy bikers, drug addicts and such. He is particularly correct as relates to BOBs. Where will they go, and can they carry it? What will they do when and if they get there? He’s accurate with regard to traffic jams and all that surrounds that subject. What he has failed to address, however, is the broader definition of who the “golden hoards” actually are. They are actually your friends, family and unprepared next door neighbors and theirs, and theirs, and theirs. …


Seven Common TEOTWAWKI Misconceptions, by Brian T.

Predictions are like, well, you know what, everybody has at least one.  Many or most predictions made are wrong and the content here is no exception.  I am not a modern day Davy Crockett or Daniel Boone but I have spent a few days in the woods, and hopefully after reading this you will not think I am still lost in them.  I did not fight in any war but had my share of the military experience and the same can be said for law enforcement.  I never bugged out but did backpack and still am a gym rat who …


Beware of Homeland Security Training for Local Law Enforcement, by An Insider

I’ve been in law enforcement for the past 18 years.  I have attended a variety of training over those years.  During the 1990s, most training I attended was community-oriented, sponsored by local agencies or private companies specializing in police training.  Themes common to training of the past included topics such as Constitutional rights, community partnerships, youth-oriented programs and problem-oriented policing. During the past several years, I have witnessed a dramatic shift in the focus of law enforcement training.  Law enforcement courses have moved away from a local community focus to a federally dominated model of complete social control.  Most training …


Three Related Disasters (Part 2), by Joe Refugee From Tokyo

Days Two and Three I slept well the night of 11-3-11, which was good, because I hadn’t the two previous nights. A premonition, perhaps? Like the day after September 11th, there was an eerie feeling everywhere. The weather was nice, at least in Tokyo, but a cold front was coming in from the North, so the folks near the Tohoku coast were going to be suffering even more. It was obvious that the damage was off the charts, but the television downplayed the likely deaths, and a big question was whether the government had learned from its poor performance during …


Useful Tidbits on Radiation and Journalists–The Season of Isotopes and Misanthropes

Many readers have been sending me questions about radiation. One, from a reader in Los Angeles asked: “Mr. Rawles, Should I sleep in my basement for the next few weeks?” Please don’t over-react, folks. I must state, forthrightly: 1.) The gamma emitters at the Fukushima reactors (and more importantly, their spent fuel ponds) are a long, long way from America. 2.) In my opinion, the only significant risk to health here in CONUS is possibly a chance that a bit of radioactive dust (with isotopes like Strontium-90 or Iodine-131) could end up deposited on pasture grasses and then subsequently become …


Letter Re: Nuclear Incidents in Japan – The Truth and the Rumors

Hello James, It is with a heavy heart that I watch the nuclear incident unfold in Japan. I am watching my nightmare come true, and I pray for the safety of the people in Japan. As you know, my article that was published in your blog last September was primarily written to alert the public about the possible EMP effects on nuclear power plants. While the initiating event may have been different, the results of the loss of all AC power at the site results in virtually identical consequences. Events are playing out very similarly to those that I had …


Some Experiences with Hazmat Cleanup, by Pat O.

I spent three years working through college as part of several emergency response teams dealing with hazardous materials (Hazmat) containment and cleanup.  There are simple lessons that can help prepare for various emergencies and materials that might be encountered.  This is not a do-it-yourself type of endeavor nor is it safe unless you are properly trained, equipped and monitored.  Safety is most important and your responsibility: Never put yourself or others in danger when a substance or environment is unknown or dangerous.  Take basic precautions and obtain all information about any potentially dangerous materials you may encounter or store as …


Letter Re: Silver Coins with a Very Low Likelihood of Fakery

Hi James, I’ve been suspicious about the possibility of silver coins being faked ever since reading your links about tungsten “gold” and think I’ve come up with an answer.  As long as you’re not looking for collectibles, just buy second-quality silver coins – modern ones like Liberty one-ounce silver rounds, not numismatics.  You know, the coins that are scratched, dented, and discolored.  They clean up just fine with a little Wright’s silver polish.  Who the heck is going to counterfeit dents, scratches, worn spots and discoloration?  Also, they’re [relatively] inexpensive.  These are the “junk silver” version of (.999) silver coins …


Letter Re: A Bank Run Reality Check

Mr. Rawles, After reading the letters about banking reality, I would like to add what I have learned from working at a reputable bank in the Midwest.  The bank never has enough cash on hand to supply all their “demand “ or checking accounts, no matter what their legal fine print says.    The amount of cash is mandated by the Federal Reserve for the banks in their region.  Each week the Fed tells the branch how much cash they can order, how much excess cash must be sent back to them, and how much cash they will need to …


Two Letters Re: A Bank Run Reality Check

Dear Mr. Rawles, While the quantity of FRN currency and coins on hand at a bank branch certainly makes or breaks one’s ability to withdraw one’s funds in a “run” situation, the overriding factor of which most depositors are completely unaware is that only checking accounts are “demand” accounts, meaning that you have a legal and immediate right to all of your money when you demand it. If you read the account disclosure fine print for your certificate of deposit (CD) or savings account, you will find that the bank is under no obligation to return your money when you …


Letter Re: A Bank Run Reality Check

James Wesley, I have been trying to take the blinders off my wife’s family.  While they are not ready to don tin foil hats with me yet, they definitely don’t think I am quite as eccentric as I was before.  A failing economy can do that for people.  I did have an interesting conversation with my Sister-in-Law though concerning banking.  She is a branch manager of a bank;  a very large banking institution.  I don’t want to say the name, but as of 20 minutes ago, they have over 24,000 branches and ATM locations around the world.  I asked her …


Letter Re: List of Countries by Real Population Density

James, I have been playing with the numbers based on the population figures and wanted to give you this update. I did a study of the total land under cultivation in 2002 (rather than just the potentially arable land, and not including grazing land).  42 of the 50 states exceed the figure of 245 people per square kilometer. [JWR Adds: States with less than 600 people per square kilometer of active-worked farm land might pull through a societal collapse, with plenty of sweat and by God’s grace. But anyone who is planning to survive whilst living in a state with …


Looking For the Wave: Our Experience with Hawaii’s 2010 Tsunami Alert, by An Oregonian

Here on the Oregon coast we have included precautions for a Tsunami in our emergency preparations.  This last spring while on vacation on the north shore of Oahu we experienced some valuable lessons when the Tsunami alert was raised after the earthquake in Chile.  This experience has helped us and hopefully will provide food for thought for others. We have family living on the north shore of Oahu, in Laie that we were staying with during our trip.  About 4am in the morning as I was sleeping on the porch, a woman knocked on the door to inform the family …


Three Letters Re: List of Countries by Real Population Density

Jim- Dr. Hugh asked the question about population density in the US States.  Below is the answer. Since I couldn’t finagle Wolfram Alpha to do this in people per square kilometer, I did it in square miles. For reference: If you convert Dr. Hugh’s figure of 245 people per square kilometer to people per square mile and that equates to 634.5 people per square mile Keeping that number in mind, I used this Wolfram Alpha equation, and learned: Rank State Pop. Density 1 New Jersey 1,185 people/mi^2 2 Rhode Island 1,007 people/mi^2 3 Massachusetts 835.2 people/mi^2 4 Connecticut 737.7 people/mi^2 …


America’s Transition to Preemptive Law Enforcement

There is a disturbing trend in American law enforcement and in our courts: They have been enforcing nonexistent laws, misapplying laws, arresting people who are obviously innocent, and arresting people on suspicion that they might be thinking about doing something illegal. This is similar to the policing philosophy in England, where police often preemptively detain people and seize household goods “for the safety of all concerned”. In my estimation, this is just one notch below arresting folks for “thought crimes” (a la Orwell’s novel 1984) or “pre-crime”, (a la Philip K. Dick’s novella that became the movie Minority Report.) Here …