Three Letters Re: Forget Codes: Using Constructed Languages for Secure Communication

Jim:
The article on constructed languages [by Snow Wolf] was fascinating. Just two concerns: An outsider might be able to crack your code based on repeated grammar. As was mentioned in the letter, “sentences follow the common subject-verb-object pattern”. This pattern is predictable and could help a very intelligent decoder. Also your activity can be observed after communication, helping one define terms.

Both of these concerns can be mitigated with re-aligning, as mentioned in the letter. So take care not to overlook that step.

Finally, if every tip in this article (such as re-aligning and custom grammar) were practiced, and on top of this was layered a nice encryption method, such as was described in the 9/11/12 letter, you’d seriously give an enemy a run for their money!

I know this is true, for during WWII, Navajo-speakers were employed for code talking; that is, the messages were first translated into Navajo and then encrypted. Navajo almost fully qualifies as a constructed language. The following is from Wikipedia:

“Navajo was an attractive choice for code use because few people outside the Navajo themselves had ever learned to speak the language. Virtually no books in Navajo had ever been published. Outside of the language itself, the Navajo spoken code was not very complex by cryptographic standards and would likely have been broken if a native speaker and trained cryptographers worked together effectively. The Japanese had an opportunity to attempt this when they captured Joe Kieyoomia in the Philippines in 1942 during the Bataan Death March. Kieyoomia, a Navajo Sergeant in the U.S. Army, but not a code talker, was ordered to interpret the radio messages later in the war. However, since Kieyoomia had not participated in the code training, the messages made no sense to him. When he reported that he could not understand the messages, his captors tortured him. Given the simplicity of the alphabet code involved, it is probable that the code could have been broken easily if Kieyoomia’s knowledge of the language had been exploited more effectively by Japanese cryptographers. The Japanese Imperial Army and Navy never cracked the spoken code.”

Jim,
The recent submission, “Forget Codes…” while interesting, seems to neglect one rather important point: what the author is suggesting IS a code, and a fairly simple one at that!

Rather than substituting symbols for letters or letters for each other, this code is substituting words for other words. That the substituted words are made up isn’t of any consequence at all.

What is proposed is thus a substitution cipher and like all such ciphers, can and will be cracked by a determined individual or group. It is more complex than the simple Caesar Ciphers we used as children to keep our “secret clubs” secret, but it’s not a secure cipher by any means.

All that is needed to crack it is a sufficient collection of enciphered phrases and some indication of their meaning. These meanings could be gotten by intercepting the enciphered communication and observation of events before or after the communication. The group using the code could even be baited by an enemy into using words – for example, if I walk down the road near their BOL and drop a handful of ammunition on the ground, I can bet the encoded word “ammunition” will be used by their patrol when they report back in. Knowing their word for ammunition could be valuable, no? If the situation is such that I could safely allow myself to be observed while walking down the road, I might also get the words “man”, “stranger” or “dropped”. From there the process of deciphering unknown words snowballs.

Using the examples provided by the author:

puq tf urr (There’s a man in the house.)

cg wzn (A stranger is coming.)

igy cg tf urr (Shoot the stranger in the house.)

aok cg tf f (Watch out for a stranger in a vehicle.)

puq fh bx tf urr (A man with a gun is in the house.)

…and with NO reference to the key, which is now out of sight, I can see that the word “house” is used in sentences 1, 3 and 5. The only code words used in all three sentences are tf and urr. One of those means house. Those sentences also have something else in common, as there is another word repeated – that is the state of “in-ness” – being in the house. A look at sentence 4 disambiguates: it is lacking a reference to “house” and is also missing the word “urr”. Urr thus means “house” leaving “tf” to refer to in-ness. As further confirmation it refers to someone who is “in” a vehicle and contains the word “tf”. Tf thus definitely means “in”. A little more thought along the same lines reveals that the “man” in sentences 1 and 5 is represented by the word “puq” and that the remaining words in sentence 5, “fh bx”, mean “with a gun”. A larger sample would be needed to tease those two words apart. It would probably only take another sentence or two before the word “with” appeared without “gun”, answering that question.

The plaintext is the key! Given enough samples, the key can be extracted from the text.

This cipher could be very useful if dealing with a short-term situation with a transient enemy but would become useless against a long-term neighboring enemy very quickly and suggesting that it could resist the efforts of a government is craziness.

The only way a cipher like this can remain secure is if all of the facts conveyed using it also remain unknown to the observer. This is a common weakness among substitution ciphers. Whether it is letter, digram or trigram frequency analysis for letter substitution ciphers – or analysis of the use and reuse of code words for word substitution ciphers – the weakness is the same. With a more secure cipher knowing some of the plaintext (or in this case, the information conveyed) doesn’t get you even one step closer to deciphering the /next/ bit of text.

Those interested in the subject of encryption would do well to check out “Cryptanalysis – A Study of Ciphers and Their Solution” by Helen Fouche Gaines. It is a well regarded “beginning to intermediate” text on many cipher schemes, some quite difficult to crack. Applied Cryptography by Bruce Schneier contains great coverage and explanations of security and encryption, especially with regard to electronic communication.

Finally, as far as I know there is only one cipher that is known to be unbreakable if properly implemented, and that is the “one time pad”. When I say unbreakable I mean unbreakable even by the wealthiest and most powerful governments. It is extremely simple but suffers from a few difficulties and limitations, the primary one being that the keys must be exchanged before any encoding can take place. Two others are that it requires the generation of a very random collection of data used as the encryption key (the pad) and pads can *never* be reused (or you’ll introduce the very same weakness I illustrated above). It is well worth looking into and if you decide to use it, generate and exchange pads *now*. If you can’t build a device to collect cosmic noise for random data then decent pad data can be (or used to be) gotten from www.random.org. In the event someone intercepts your pad data, it is unlikely they will also be the person out to raid your BOL!

Best, – Matt R.

James:
I was surprised to see you publish the article on “Forget Codes: Using Constructed Languages,” it has to be one of the single most dangerously flawed pieces of writing I have seen on your web site. It seems based on an understanding of cryptography and mathematics set shortly after the Victorian era of heiroglyphics decryption. We have come a LONG way since then. The author is WRONG, and following his advice leaves ones communications completely vulnerable. I do not leave my argument up to a difference of style or opinion. I do not base my argument on petty infighting of Glock vs Everything else, or other arcane arguments that appear on Internet fora. My argument is based on undergraduate level mathematics and statistics. 

Yes, constructed language will serve to keep conversation “secure” in the setting of overheard conversations in the local watering hole. For that matter, I can’t follow the conversation of the waiters at my local Cantonese restaurant. Constructed language might even serve a small groups security purposes in the local AO. However, make no mistake, the concept is tragically flawed when discussed in terms of security and cryptography.

By its very nature, what is being discussed is a substitution cipher. Yes, the author suggested playing some games in the construct and lingui/grammatical foundations. There is also an attempt to change “hash” on a pseudo-random basis. Or to even change keys on some time period (t.) Ultimately, should we follow the authors advice and not even substitute for each word in the dictionary, but instead a common subset of oft used nouns and actions, we are talking about a frequency breakage of a mere (in the authors suggestion) 300 factors. Lets be generous and quadruple this to 1200 words. Or change the hash 3 times, and come up with a factor of 3600. We would not even require computer horsepower to break this “code” using modern mathematics. It can be done by anyone with a basic background in statistics, a few pages of notepaper, and 5-10 pages of message intercepts or transcripts to analyze.

I heartily agree with the philosophy of grounding ourselves in secure communications. But please dear reader, do NOT create a security system that is based on radically flawed assumptions. Heck, do not even trust me on this topic. If you are serious about security, do your own research. You will likely find, that the constructed language concept was debunked shortly after Turing moved beyond water filled tubes and the first computers began number crunching. I should also note that there are now linguistic breakages, as opposed to purely statistical (I hate his politics, but Chomsky is brilliant on language commonalities.) Turing machines used brute force, now we have algorithms to assist, along with the Moore’s Law logarithmic increase in brute force of computing power.

If you are truly interested in secure communication, there are many excellent and free resources.
-The book Cryptonomicon by Stephenson is an excellent novel, and contains an appendix on creating a Solitaire code based on decks of cards.
–Bruce Schneir, one of the worlds experts on cryptography has an excellent blog, and free monthly newsletter. In it, he discusses politics, security theater, snake oil ideas in security, cryptography, software, etc. Free, excellent, and from one of the modern day godfathers in the field.
–Human Rights Watch (say what you will about their politics) has an excellent resource for folks working in hostile environments, who require secure comms from the field.
–PGP and Open PGP (likely breakable by large resources such as the NSA) are free, and there are numerous reputable resources discussing its implementation.
-Read up on Onion routing (not entirely secure, but a good step amongst many needed,) one time pads (very secure, but laborious, and should be implemented with a second authentication factor,) key lengths, and hash functions.
–Open source philosophy of security i.e. public testing of all mathematical and programming functions. Also see: ISECom.

In closing, I could completely pull apart the suggestion of security via constructed language using mathematical arguments, and logical analysis. Lets just leave it at this – PLEASE do some research before you accept that suggestion as gospel to be deployed in securing your loved ones. My entire purpose is to save lives, and letting that article stand is like me not shouting FIRE in a burning building. It is a flawed course of action, potentially fatally.

Wishing gods blessings, of peace and health to all. – CypherPunkPrepper

JWR Replies: I agree completely that substitution ciphers and constructed languages only provide a very weak form of encryption. They might suffice if your opponent is just a criminal looter gang, but they absolutely will not hold up to the scrutiny of any government agency.

Recipe of the Week:

Enola Gay‘s Survival Bars (aka Filled Oatmeal Cookies)

My Survival Bars are “Filled Oatmeal Cookies”. They are wonderful “stored foods” cookies, full of fiber and packed with nutrients. They are our cookie of choice for a quick breakfast. They are great if you are out hunting or hiking. They require no fresh ingredients!

They are also good! Our neighbor girl says they are the best cookies that I have ever made (and I make a lot of cookies!) I got the recipe from my dear friend “Lady Day”. Here is the recipe.

1 1/2 C. Shortening (or lard or butter)
1 1/2 C. Brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp. Vanilla
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda mixed with 6 T. hot Water
3 C. Oatmeal (I use thick cut)
3 C. Flour (may use white or whole wheat)
1/4 tsp. Nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp. Salt

Combine shortening, sugar, and vanilla. Mix well. Add soda in water, nutmeg, salt, flour. Stir in oatmeal. Add more water or flour to make a nice, workable dough. Roll out thin. Cut out with round cookie or biscuit cutter (or whatever shape floats your boat). Lay cookies on cookie sheet, place desired filling on them (1 tsp. or so) and top with another cookie. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. There is no need to seal the edges. My preference for filling is raspberry or blackberry jam. However, any kind of jam would be wonderful or you could use a raisin filling (good stored foods item).

Raisin filling:
Grind or chop fine 1 1/2 to 2 C. raisins, dates or prunes. Add 1 C. sugar and 1 C. water. Bring to a boil. Mix 2 tsp. cornstarch with a little water for thickening.

Chef’s Notes:

I often make these cookies with a drizzle of frosting on them. This certainly isn’t necessary, but sometimes I want them to be a little fancy.

JWR Adds: For the original recipe post (with some photos), see Enola Gay’s great Paratus Familia blog site. (One of our favorite blogs.)

Useful Recipe and Cooking Links:

Over at Sustainable Preparedness: Recipe for Canning Beans

Patrice Lewis recently posted a great curried chicken recipe.

Currently Available as Free Kindle e-Books:

The Art of Perfect Bread Baking

Desserts for Winter

How to Cook Steak: The 5 Step Formula for the Perfect Steak

Do you have a favorite recipe that would be of interest to SurvivalBlog readers? Please send it via e-mail. Thanks!

Economics and Investing:

The Scariest Jobs Chart Ever. (Thanks to R.D.F. for the link.)

Over at The Motley Fool: Three Facts About the Economy That Should Freak You Out

Hyperinflation Alert: QE Infinity Is The Only Thing Delaying A Complete Systemic Collapse But Now The Fed Is Out Of Short Dated Bonds

Items from The Economatrix:

Labor Department “Working Hard” To Ensure Jobs Report Released On Time

Firings Highest Since 2010 As Ford To Dow Face Slump

Russian Ship Missing With 700 Tons Of Gold Ore

Real Fiscal Cliff–Currency And Bond Collapse

Food Stamp Creation 75X Greater Than Job Creation

Economists Say Jobs Data To Have Little Impact On US Elections:  Reuters Poll

Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader Dana H. suggested this in The Wall Street Journal: Lessons from the Ultimate Safe Houses

   o o o

In New York’s Public Housing, Fear Creeps In With the Dark. J.W.R.’s Comment: Now extrapolate this to a situation where there is no natural gas pressure, and no water pressure for the fire hydrants. Oh, and what if there was no prospect of grid power being restored for weeks… Somehow, I think I’ll be much safer here in TUWS.

   o o o

A Utah Perspective on Sandy (No, not Sandy, Utah, but rather Hurricane Sandy): Caught in the dark: What Sandy can teach you about preparedness

   o o o

Some of Mayor Bloomberg’s “Free Gasoline” is being transported in containers that would give a Fire Marshall apoplexy.)

   o o o

FEMA’s vaunted “lean forward” strategy that called for advanced staging of supplies for emergency distribution failed to live up to its billing in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"The idea that living within your means is a form of austerity, and not (other than in exceptional circumstances) the elementary moral duty of people of honor, shows that, underlying the economic crisis is a profound moral crisis in western society." – Theodore Dalrymple (A retired prison doctor and psychiatrist, contributing editor of the City Journal and Dietrich Weissman Fellow of the Manhattan Institute.)

Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 43 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize: A.) A gift certificate worth $1,000, courtesy of Spec Ops Brand, B.) A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795, and C.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $350 value.) D.) a $300 gift certificate from CJL Enterprize, for any of their military surplus gear, E.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $300 value), and F.) A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo. and G.) A $200 gift certificate, donated by Shelf Reliance.

Second Prize: A.) A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training. Together, these have a retail value of $589. B.) A FloJak FP-50 stainless steel hand well pump (a $600 value), courtesy of FloJak.com. C.) A “grab bag” of preparedness gear and books from Jim’s Amazing Secret Bunker of Redundant Redundancy (JASBORR) with a retail value of at least $300, D.) A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials, E.) Two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value) and F.) A Tactical Trauma Bag #3 from JRH Enterprises (a $200 value).

Third Prize: A.) A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21. (This filter system is a $275 value.), B.) A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206, C.) Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy. This is a $185 retail value, D.) A Commence Fire! emergency stove with three tinder refill kits. (A $160 value.), and E.) Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security.

Round 43 ends on November 30th, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Letter Re: Possible Survival Uses of Theatrical Blood

As the Halloween season came and went, I had to accompany my  boys to the seasonal Halloween store that opens up for about 2 months in some obscure, rented building. My trip with them looked at masks, costumes and an aisle or two dedicated to make-up supplies as well. I passed by the face paint, the hair coloring and the fangs, but then my eyes spied a series of tubes containing “blood”, and then small bottles of it and even a couple of very large containers all containing the bright red, sticky, usually non-toxic theatrical blood. Being a prepper at heart, my mind usually runs items I see through a mental rubric for deciding if something has any “prepper value” for my survival or my ability to barter. Through this mental maze, there exists a matrix of questions that falls under personal defense and tactics. Could theatrical blood have any tactical value to my survival situation? Yes, I think it could. Knowing that the day after Halloween the products would be 50% off helped make it all the more affordable.

My first idea was for first aid training. My sons have practiced bandaging a large wound, pressure points and even splinting a compound fracture of the humerus or femur. All of these events were practiced clean in a very unrealistic setting where they were told to “imagine” the wound that they were working on. The addition of the fake blood would add a note of realism to the scene. The nice clean area they were bandaging gets transformed into a gooey, sticky red mess with sand, leaves and other debris from the ground worked in. As preppers, first aid could include puncture wounds, gunshots or even an accident caused by broken glass or twisted metal after a natural disaster are not farfetched at all and should be considered. Some theatrical blood, suitably applied could up the realism of the simulation by a notch or two. Emergency first aid may not give someone the time to go put on latex gloves and they may have to get the blood of a family member on them. Would they be squeamish about this?  Now is a good time to work through that. Other damages can be simulated as well. Step on an old nail and it goes right into the bottom of your foot? Cut into a finger while using a knife or hatchet? The addition of the fake blood just adds one more level of realism to the training procedures.  Beware though! Some brands of this kind of fake blood mixture warn that they can permanently stain clothing and fabric so keep that in mind when you decide what clothing you want to practice in or you may have an unexplainable red stain on your new set of Multicams  (or whatever type of clothing you practice in). It’s a good idea to do this outside to avoid any kind of stain on the carpet inside of your home that cannot easily be removed.

Secondly, I believe that theatrical blood could be used tactically. I am well aware that as preppers we might face all kinds of opposition from those who lack the foresight to set aside money and time to stock up on needed items and prepare for the worst beforehand. Basically, we want to get out to a spot, set-up a base or a retreat and just be left alone by everybody else. The truth is, the hills will eventually be swarming with all the unprepared who have some kind of notion that to survive they must flee the city and miraculously find everything they need out in the woods. These folks may have only one tactic available to them and that would be to try to take what I have worked so hard for away from me and my family. They may come at me with guns (perhaps the only plan that they have for survival) or they may have numbers on their side. They may have the advantage of better or more firepower than I can muster or a much bigger defense force than what I have available, so any advantage I have could be a lifesaver. I can imagine scenarios where I could use the theatrical blood to appear severely wounded, diseased or even dead. Situations similar to ones I have seen in Enemy at the Gates and The Road depict a desperate scenario where these ways may be the only way to be spared being shot at or harmed by marauders. If temporarily being taken prisoner or being put under guard by someone as the rest of the horde searches through your meager supplies (the rest are cached, right?), how much threat would you pose to them if you already had a horrible gut injury or a bleeding head wound? Would they pay you as much attention as they would if you were perfectly fine and uninjured? They may not even worry about you running off or suddenly rising up against your guard and overpowering him to make a getaway. Coughing up “blood” could convince a group that you are ravaged by some kind of biological malady that they don’t want any part of. A false “blood” trail could lead a tracking team expecting wounded or dying prey directly into a well-planned ambush.

These are the tactics of deception that can be employed by the disadvantaged defender. Some might take offense at these ideas and say that these kind of tactics are not very warrior-like but I would reply that when the chips are down, it’s life or death and fate has left you little choice between living another day or getting yourself killed by some half-wit who wants your can of Spam, a little deception could easily save your life, your family’s and maybe even your supplies too. – Art X.

JWR Replies: Theatrical blood is indeed useful for training moulage, but I would be reluctant to try most of your mentioned “tactical” uses, other than as a last resort. As much as possible, I advise that you keep your encounters with strangers at far shouting distance, rather than “improv theater” distance. There is always the risk that someone who is otherwise moral and upright might choose to “put them out of their misery” with a shot to the chest or head. But your mileage may vary.

Also, keep in mind that most people know that real blood dries to a brown color (because the iron in blood oxidizes), while fake blood dries to a fairly bright red.

Four Letters Re: Hurricane Sandy After Action Reports

Dear Editor:
I live in southeastern Connecticut. I am far from wealthy and I live in a section of town while certainly is not what one may consider a ghetto, neither is it in any way “nice”. I would not label myself as a prepper nor a survivalist, instead I have common sense. I have a good stock of food and water, preparations and gear in case I have to leave, not for some cataclysmic disaster but because I live in a world that has hurricanes and natural disasters.

Our Governor here in Connecticut recommended that my area evacuate. I did not. Though I am on the coast, my apartment is at a higher elevation and sure enough I did not suffer any of the flooding many others are dealing with. I watched closely every weather channel report, internet weather and government report and I was fairly certain that I would be okay where I am and sure enough I was. I did lose power however, though only for a day.

The reason for writing this and passing it on is an observation of what preparing really is. I have a basement apartment. Because of it’s construction I can hear most anything going on outside. The winds died down around 3 in the morning. At 4 a.m. I could hear multiple voices and footsteps in the leaves. the voices were hushed and the steps…hard to explain, gave me the impression of sneakiness. Before I continue I wish to point out I am Christian. While I believe in defending myself, my friends and family, I also believe in following Christ’s footsteps in word and deed. Having said that, I went and got my shotgun and placed it out of sight but next to the door and my hand right beside it and calmly opened my door in time to see a twenty something male and four others round the corner and stop in surprise at my smiling face. We all looked at each other for a few seconds and very calmly and in a measured voice I asked them what they were up to. Their claim was that they were just checking out the damage. “While in the dark at four in the morning?” They didn’t say anything. 

“Well you know, it would probably be best if you moved on, you’re on private property here and I don’t think it’s safe for anyone.” All with a tight smile and friendly voice. And my hand out of sight on my shotgun. 

“We don’t want any trouble.” 

I responded: “Neither do I.”

At this point I let them see the shotgun. I didn’t raise it, point it anyone, just swung it over to rest next to my leg. “Look, your in someone else’s yard, in the dark after a major storm. Somebody might think you’re looting and who wants that sort of nonsense, just go home before we are all in trouble.”
“Sorry mister” and they were on their way. I watched them round the corner and as far as I could tell meandered down the road. I sat out on the porch until  sunrise with that gun across my lap.
I saw a policeman yesterday, an acquaintance. Around 6 a.m. on that same morning  of my little run in, a few streets over at the cop had a call. A man confronted a group of young men in his front yard. He came out of his house with a bat and took a swing. He got beaten pretty bad and sent to the hospital. I wonder if he just came flying out of his house set upon violence and such. 
Part of my common sense is that I go for walks in my neighborhood.  Have been since I had to move here. I make sure everyone see’s my face, I often greet people with a smile and a hello. It is a rough neighborhood. A couple of streets over there are drug houses. I walk there too. I am easy to recognize. I am over a very large man both in strength and overweight (thus the walking). I figure people are less likely to mess with a friendly person they recognize. Plus I get to see who’s around. 
I am pretty sure I recognized on e of those guys. the cop questioned me closely about it. I think I recognized him from walking the neighborhood. Probably said hi or waved at some point. 
“A soft answer turns away wrath” and I firmly believe that, I cant see Christ accosting someone in His yard with threat of violence. I cant see Him judging, in fact He made it clear for me that I should not judge. Yet He also gave me a brain. He gave me a temple of the Holy Spirit, my body, which I need to protect. He was once accosted by a mob, before it was his appointed time and the Bible says He walked through them and they could not touch Him. I do believe the Bible raises a clear admonition to defend oneself  So If my pretty smile and soft words did not diffuse the situation that shotgun had a buckshot in the chamber and the safety was off. I was fully prepared to pull that trigger. Yet I did not charge out on a warpath. Like I said common sense. But the soft answer did turn away wrath. Thank God.
We do in emergency what we do in practice. I have had the good fortune to have excellent teachers of self defense with my fists as well as with firearms. I also have rooted myself in His word and teachings. It pulled me through. I made sure that when the time came my skills were sufficient and I could rely on them. My faith was also strong enough that I could rely on Him. Some call that prepping, surviving. I say it’s just common sense. 

I went to work the Monday of the hurricane as it wasn’t going to hit us until late afternoon. My boss sent us home at noon time. Gas stations were packed, grocery stores were packed, there were even long lines at drive up fast food joints! Can you imagine? Training of our skills, and more importantly of our spirituality, can not be a last minute rush job. It needs to be done everyday day upon waking up and upon going to bed. It needs to be done with supplication and prayer. What we do in practice is what we do in danger. I’ve read that so many times. My teachers have drilled that into my head and now I truly know it. I wonder about the guy that got beat. Was he just scared that something bad was going to happen to him and his family? Was this just a result of fear? I do not know. I know I was not too worried about the hurricane. I had done my homework, had food, water, candles, books, ammo. I did not fear for my family or friends, I trusted that they were in Christ’s loving hands. And while my adrenaline was pumping for sure during the moment I can’t say I felt fear in the confrontation, though I admit afterwards my mind kept mulling over what could have happened, how badly it could have gotten. I would say I felt fear after. Okay, I admit, I had a shaky feeling all over for about an hour. But not in the moment. Was it God’s strength? My preparedness? I think it was both and it makes me sad for all the people I see that get into these situations that lash out in anger brought on by fear.

I maintain I just use common sense. But common sense says to prepare, to train your body, your mind, and most importantly your spirit. So I guess I am a prepper. I prepare myself for life.
Christ be with you, – S.H.

James:
A quick note to put my 2 cents in, if I may: I was a regular guy who thought a bit about prepping for years, but didn’t really do much of it. After the current resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue took office, I began to develop a collection of firearms and ammo, with the belief that guys like him will actively seek to make such things harder to get. Then, I happened on the show “Doomsday Preppers” on television. I know the show seems a bit “Made-for-TV”, if you will, but it did spur me to some action, including reading SurvivalBlog, daily. I can’t get my wife and kids to drop everything and move to Idaho (yet), but I was able to sell them a bit on the notion that we could do some preparatory things and be smart, even if they weren’t ready to start canning and burying supplies in the woods. In the last couple years, I’ve got them all shooting a bit, and we’ve made sure there’s some food in the house for events like this. Then along comes Sandy…..

We live in Southern Ocean County, about a mile from the water, on a pretty good hill in a residential subdivision. I work as a public utility superintendent in a town in Western Monmouth County, central New Jersey, 45 miles north of home. I hate the notion that I could be at work in this type of event for several days, that far away from them. But it is what I have to do, for now. I have a small 12-volt battery setup with a solar charging system, useful, bought it because of what I’ve read and learned on SurvivalBlog. Also the tricks I’ve read about here- buying solar landscape pathways lights, stockpile flashlights and batteries, I bought a generator and some gas and made sure I taught my 13 year old son how to do everything in my absence. Gave Momma the keys to the gun safe, discussed safety and security with everyone, and went to work Sunday evening. Did not get home until Wednesday night.

Our house was without power for only 48 hours, and flooding was not an issue for our property. But it was enough to get them all on board, moving closer to accepting what Dad’s been saying. Power is still out in large areas of New Jersey, and things are getting ugly- Looting and robbery in millionaire’s neighborhoods as we speak (it’s now Nov. 2nd, Friday night.) No phone, no power, no way to call the police….Sorry!!

Lessons Learned/Reinforced:
   1. Have food and water for as many as live in your house, plus the in-laws, plus your kid’s friend who stayed for the entire event. What is happening now is everything is clear, stores are re-opening, but have no stock, shelves are still bare. And people are nuts- Fully stocked stores are only 50 miles away, and unprepared folks are panicking as if they’re going to die in line at the grocery store, pulling guns on line at gas pumps, etc. So if you want to be prepared for a week-long emergency, you need 2 weeks’ worth of food. And gasoline for the generator, firewood, etc.
   2. Have bottled water- I work in the water utility business, and I’m telling you these systems are more fragile than you think, and are susceptible to all kinds of malfunctions even in normal times. Have at least a case for each person in the house at all times, so you can survive a week, brush teeth, make a pot of coffee, etc. I’m talking about minor stuff, not even nearly for TEOTWAWKI, for $25 you can get 5 cases of [bottled] water. Everyone needs to do this. No excuses.
   3. Maintain a secondary system of power, heat, etc….Generator, fireplace, whatever, have multiple options if possible. Right now in New Jersey, there are two kinds of people: prepared people, and miserable people.
   4. Security- You cannot call the cops, and they’re not getting there anyway- You’d better be able to shoo away the vultures, so to speak. As I mentioned, there are gangs going door-to-door in very affluent neighborhoods, some of the wealthiest in America, simply kicking in doors and taking stuff- if you can’t stop them, they’re doing it. These are neighborhoods where people like Bruce Springsteen and Bon Jovi live, where they never fear for anything, because “They don’t have those sorts of people there”. Roads and bridges washed out means no access to services- Hundred of homes have burned down while fire crews watched helplessly from across the washed out roads, and Coast Guard and NJ State Police are patrolling Long Beach Island as looters try to get there by boat under cover of darkness. Thieves are ingenious and crafty, and we must be as well.
   5. The big lesson of all 4 of those points is this- The government is a mess, and cannot help you. You must be prepared to sustain yourself and your loved ones. Even if, like me, all you have so far is a means of keeping everyone alive and relatively well for a week long power outage, it’s a start. We will learn and continue to build upon this small start, but my family was extremely happy that when the lights went out and Dad was gone, they had food, water, a generator, security, etc. Dad felt a lot better knowing when I could not call them, and could not get to them, they had supplies and were going to be ok.
In the big picture sense, the New Jersey and New York are NOT prepared for these events like the Carolinas and Florida. This will be a wake-up call for many, and it will ruin many others. I hope the riots aren’t too bad, but I do believe they’re coming. Thanks for SurvivalBlog, it is a tremendous help to many of us in lots of ways! – M.B.

Jim:
Good morning. Here’s Storm Update #4 from Princeton and Atlantic City, New Jersey areas.
 
Saturday Morning. No power at our home in the Princeton area. Lost another neighbor yesterday. The one with the rental genny, family of five, they left for their mother’s home in Pennsylvania. Last night was cold, and I imagine dealing with one space heater in a bedroom was not comfortable, coupled with the shower situation. We are all on well water here. So, if the genny isn’t hard-wired into the system, no power for water. If I had to figure the circuit connection on the fly, I’m guessing I could MacGyver it – though it would obviously not pass inspection and there would be a risk factor – but they had other options and this is not Mad Max world. Again, my wife and I offered our home, but they politely declined. Another neighbor to text when our utilities are restored.
 
Yesterday, we gave both of our daughters a break. My wife initially planned to drive them to a horse stable about 10 miles way – this is where my youngest helps around the barn, mucks, cleans gear, and brushes/feeds/grooms the horses. In exchange, she gets to ride – though we do contribute small payments to the owner (a middle-aged woman who has managed horses her entire life), who more often than not refuses to take our money. After the stable, there would be a play date with another family – they were on the way back to our home. I had the discussion with my wife about gasoline for the SUV. I’ll take the hits here for having a guzzler, but when it comes to driving my most precious possessions in the Universe, I got my wife the biggest four wheel drive vehicle I could with height clearance, a massive engine and room to spare for all of us and the dog. To my surprise, my wife acknowledged the gas concern (over the years, she has an amused, but accepting tolerance for my prepping), but she felt the benefits outweighed the costs. I agreed, and noted that our use had already lowered the gas level so we would have to find a refill.
 
Back to the stable, with 20+ horses needing daily care, the owner had a back-up generator for water, but this was unnecessary as power was restored two days ago. Well, upon arrival, the owner informed us that the utility company had cut the power to restore other areas of priority. Her genny at the main farm building (a good distance away) was pulling water slowly, and the she was busy ferrying water in her pick-up truck and caring for the horses. The kids helped for a while, but no riding. When they arrived at our friend’s home, they were greeted by the sight of 34 trees on the front of the property (more than 15 wooded acres) blown over by Sandy. My theory is that a mini-twister must have touched down, but perhaps it just took hours of sustained high winds. Power was out there too, but they had a great time exploring the grounds. I should mention that the mom is a scientist who regularly spends months in the Amazon jungle. I trust her with my family.
 
While my wife was out, I rigged up power to our water softener system, and ran it through a regeneration cycle. Our well water is super hard – lots of minerals, but fine for drinking. The water softener has other effects for soap, laundry, the pipes, etc.  Next, I hopped into the garden, grabbed two leeks and an onion, dinner was going to be a stir fry. The genny also needed refueling. One issue, no matter how careful I am when pouring the gas/funnels, I cannot seem to shake the odor of gasoline. Yeah it would be nice to have a pump, and perhaps I will rig one up when I have spare time. For now, the family tolerates it, and after scrubbing, the aroma eventually fades. Aslan, our pooch, also got in a great run in our backyard with a neighbor’s dog. They were visiting their home across the street to check status, and then returning to their parents in a section of Princeton that has power.
 
My wife and kids returned, and I later reviewed pictures of the fallen trees. After raising the garage door for my wife (no power and it’s heavy even with the spring tension), I noted that the SUV’s gas gauge showed just over half full. I was also thinking about the empty gas cans from the genny usage. The report was that gas lines were still absurd. Our town was e-mailing updates and our friends in the area had formed a close network that was using Twitter to communicate open gas locations. The Airport was offering [AVGAS] gasoline for genny use only with (lead and other additives in the fuel) for $6.00 a gallon! Knowing that I might have to fill the SUV, I opted to stay with regular gas stations – for now.
 
My wife and I agreed that late tonight (Friday still) might provide a decent window for short lines, so long as the stations stayed open. Short story – I left the house at 10:00 pm and found one of our local stations, waited in line for an hour and twenty minutes. It was unreal, and so was the “look” of the people filling up. As I got closer, I could see folks pulling all manner of gas containers from their trunks – from one gallon grime-encased plastic to ten gallon suitcase sized plastic that was difficult to lift. I half expected to see milk jugs. When I finally got to the pump, I was told either the car or the gas cans, but not both. They were running low. I told the attendant to fill the SUV. In the interim, I removed four five gallon safety cans and one five gallon plastic container from the trunk, and got ready to fill them. He came back and looked on dubiously. I followed my gut. I said, “I’m a local, come here all the time. You must be part of Horhay’s extended family or a friend.” He nodded affirmatively and said, “Family.”  I continued, “Here’s money for the gas, we’ll round it up, you keep the rest. These cans are powering the genny for our home.” With that, I started filling, and he left for another customer – they had six pumps going. By the way, I paid $5.00 per gallon of regular. Free market economics at work: supply and demand. I peeled off $200.00 in twenties – these are the largest denomination that I keep on hand – this was for 25 gallons in the cans and 12 gallons in the SUV.
 
On the way home, I got a text from our neighbor friend April – she was looking for gas for her car but had bypassed the crazy long line at the same station I had just left. I advised her immediately – she’s young – I told her to get back in that line ASAP and wait it out. Back home, as I skimmed online news after midnight, I saw that the Governor has enacted gas rationing, aka Jimmy Carter style. Beginning today, there is now an odd/even license plate system for filling up. The last number in the plate has to match the odd or even of that day of the month in order to be serviced. That’s going to go over well. Forget commuting to work, and traveling up and down the state for family, unless you have enough gas to get back or can wait a few days for a reliable station.
 
Turning to the Jersey Shore, mom has gone dark. She was supposed to make her way from Pennsylvania to the hotel near our home in Margate, NJ. We have called her mobile phone and the house line several times with no response. I’m not worried yet, but this morning I will track down the hotel and see if she checked in. One of our local crew who lives in Ventnor City (shut down for infrastructure, but residents allowed back), the town next to Margate, described the area in a text message this way, “It’s the Twilight Zone down here.” He sent a picture of our garage – the waves had knocked the doors out and sand/seaweed/muck was piled high. No one was at the house, and he couldn’t get in to see the first floor or basement. He is going to visit our house again today and see if mom is around. On a separate note, I saw a post on Facebook from another Shore friend, stating that she reported potential looting. There was a private truck driving around her neighborhood and loading up with appliances and similar items at the curb. One Facebook commenter told her to relax, this was acceptable. She replied, “Yeah, but not at 11:00pm, and they were driving way too slow and using a flash light to shine in peoples’ yards.” She notified the police. I have not received an update on this yet.
 
One final comment for the preppers of the world: The Oyster Creek nuclear power plant confirmed near-total cooling pump failure, and power failure. The back-up diesels saved the day on the spent fuel pool. Salem I, which had the emergency steam release, has been quiet. No further news that I can find. In a real long-term grid down scenario… there are more than a hundred nuclear power plants/reactors in the US alone. And so I ask, with all seriousness, are we doomed under such circumstances regardless of our plans?
 
I understand that other parts of NJ and NY are in far worse shape than here, and that a Nor’easter might be approaching early next week. However, I keep thinking that things will change in the Princeton area with the flip of a switch, i.e., power restored. But until then, we are in crisis mode, and there are strange concerns occupying my mind while this lasts.
 
This is neither exciting, nor fun. But I will remain upbeat for my family. – Bill H.

Letter Re: Self-Reliance Versus Governmental Reliance Mindsets

JWR:
Stories like these only help to illustrate the wide range of problems that come to the surface when the thin veneer of society is striped off due to an event like Superstorm Sandy.  The compression of people in high density population centers like metropolitan New York etc, is just asking for chaos and confusion when their normally well organized and managed structure of life is quickly changed for the worse. Our world is now comprised of what is known as the inverted technology pyramid.  When one side is  weakened in can quickly topple over and leave the entire structure out of commission.   This weather event is a wake up call for those nodding in and out between slumber and full consciousness.  If you have not figured it out by now, now is the time to wake up and realize the full potential for the absolute horror that can present itself from a major calamity or event unknown.  Luckily, this is an isolated event in one part of the nation.  What if it were an event that somehow involved our entire nation or hemisphere- then what?

Those who snooze lose!  If you are sitting on the fence about the concept of committing to  personal preparedness, now would be an excellent time to make your decision one way or the other.  If you will study human nature you can see that most of it is completely predictable.  One example is the New York woman who appears on a television report. She is  well dressed in a high rent district demanding that the Mayor visit her part of town.  What pray tell is he supposed to do for her I ask.  Pass a law, spread magic pixie dust around, or pat her on the head like some abused puppy? Our society has for the most part become so completely dependent upon “someone else fixing our problems” that people like this stand the best chance of extinction.  Being prepared and being self-reliant are essential to riding out a crisis and having the best chance to make a complete comeback after the dust has settled, the water retreats and the skies shine clear again.   Don’t wait around for someone else, or an agency or a miracle.  Get motivated to think for yourselves before it is too late. – R.B.S.

Economics and Investing:

Obama’s 2008 campaign rhetoric on deficit reduction, versus reality: Conservatism Is Calling

U.S. Winter-Wheat Condition Worst in 27 Years as Drought Lingers . (Thanks to B.B. for the link.)

Biggest NY harbor oil terminal resumes partial operations

Items from The Economatrix:

More Tungsten-Core Gold Bars Are Turning Up

Consumer Spending In US Increases 0.8% As Incomes Climb

State Budgets In Jeopardy As Nation Nears “Fiscal Cliff”

The $100 Billion Storm:  17 Things You Need To Know About Hurricane Sandy

Odds ‘n Sods:

UPDATE: Wiser heads (than Doomberg) have prevailed and the marathon race has been cancelled. His Honor The Mayor’s True Colors: Bloomberg Diverts Needed Food and Generators Away From Desperate Staten Island to NYC Marathon. (Thanks to reader J.B.G. for the link.) They are running a marathon through this? ‘It’s like the Wild West’: Lawlessness and fear take over the outer boroughs as millions in misery endure a sixth day without power

   o o o

Reader “Nexus” mentioned another piece of evidence of a insidious, lamentable and systemic decline in our Constitutional rights, reported by Declan McCullagh: Court OKs warrantless use of hidden surveillance cameras

   o o o

President of Troy, Missouri, bank pulls gun, nabs robber.

   o o o

New comet might blaze brighter than the full Moon

   o o o

Ed Yardeni: Hurricane Sandy Exposed An Obvious Flaw In US Infrastructure

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
Let us hold fast the profession of [our] faith without wavering; (for he [is] faithful that promised;)
And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some [is]; but exhorting [one another]: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” – Hebrews 10:22-25 (KJV)

Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 43 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize: A.) A gift certificate worth $1,000, courtesy of Spec Ops Brand, B.) A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795, and C.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $350 value.) D.) a $300 gift certificate from CJL Enterprize, for any of their military surplus gear, E.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $300 value), and F.) A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo. and G.) A $200 gift certificate, donated by Shelf Reliance.

Second Prize: A.) A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training. Together, these have a retail value of $589. B.) A FloJak FP-50 stainless steel hand well pump (a $600 value), courtesy of FloJak.com. C.) A “grab bag” of preparedness gear and books from Jim’s Amazing Secret Bunker of Redundant Redundancy (JASBORR) with a retail value of at least $300, D.) A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials, E.) Two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value) and F.) A Tactical Trauma Bag #3 from JRH Enterprises (a $200 value).

Third Prize: A.) A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21. (This filter system is a $275 value.), B.) A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206, C.) Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy. This is a $185 retail value, D.) A Commence Fire! emergency stove with three tinder refill kits. (A $160 value.), and E.) Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security.

Round 43 ends on November 30th, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Forget Codes: Using Constructed Languages for Secure Communication, by Snow Wolf

Egyptologists tell us that the last hieroglyphic inscription was carved in 394 A.D., and within a few decades all memory of the ancient Egyptian language was lost. For the next fifteen hundred years the world’s greatest scholars tried to translate hieroglyphics, but it was only when Jean-Francois Champollion had access to the Rosetta Stone in the 1820s that the dead language spoke once more. The Rosetta Stone, which had an identical inscription in three languages, was the key which allowed Champollion to begin translating the forgotten language.

You may be wondering what this has to do with preparedness. I believe it has a great deal, as indicated in the 9/11/12 article about using codes in emergency and survival situations. The ability to communicate privately is critical to our security as well as being a basic human right, and its importance is too often forgotten as we pursue beans, bullets, and Band-Aids.

When considering communication in the modern world, there are two unpleasant realities we must face: first, every transmission—text, email, phone call—can be intercepted. The second is that, as JWR pointed out, it’s unlikely any code we make can withstand military and government decryption methods. This means that those of us who wish to communicate privately must adopt another strategy: instead of codes, we must use constructed languages for written and spoken communication.

A constructed language (CL) is simply a language which is not, and never has been, used by a natural population. The idea of constructing or making up a language may seem strange, but in fact several well-known CLs are already in existence. The oldest is Esperanto, which was created with the intention of providing the planet with a universal language. The next significant CL came from Star Trek. In one of the movies the creators decided to add spoken Klingon, which was created by a linguist and deliberately made to sound as alien as possible while still being pronounceable by human actors. A few phrases were repeated in the movie often enough to be learned by devoted Trekkers, and soon the Klingon language had its own alphabet, vocabulary, and grammar. Today there are online courses and Youtube videos about the language, and a few fans can actually use it to communicate. The movie Avatar followed this pattern, using a constructed language called Na’vi. And yes, there are some fans who speak it; information on the language and a Na’vi dictionary can be found online.

If you want privacy, you can’t use Klingon or Na’vi; you must have a new language which has no connections to past or existing CL languages. This new language, if properly devised, will be as incomprehensible to anyone who sees or hears it as ancient Egyptian was to the scholar of 1700.

To create an effective CL, you must make several decisions. First, how many words are needed to communicate effectively? English has an overly abundant supply of synonyms (words with similar meaning), such as large, big, spacious. This duplication is unnecessary in a CL. You can probably function well with 300 words or less; you must decide what words are essential for your group.

Second, you must decide what methods of communication you wish to use with your CL. Will you signal it with Morse code? Use it in emails? Speak it aloud? Spell it with the manual alphabet? Signal with flags? If you intend to use your language only through such methods, all of which have a sign for each English letter, the CL should be based on the traditional Roman letters on your keyboard.

If you want a language which can be spoken aloud, it’s wise to use sounds normally found in English; these will be easiest for your group to pronounce and remember (if you don’t believe me, listen to Klingon). While it’s possible to create a CL which uses such strategies as the tonal structure found in Chinese, this is a new concept for most Americans and would hinder the rapid acquisition of the CL as well as being impossible to indicate in Morse and all other letter-based communication systems.

The next decision is whether to create a grammatical syntax where meaning is determined by word position, as in English, or by inflectional endings such as those found in Latin and Greek.

A word position structure means that words must be arranged in a particular order for correct comprehension. “The horse sees the woman” doesn’t mean the same as “The woman sees the horse”. Both sentences follow the common subject-verb-object pattern; the meaning is determined by which noun comes first and which comes second. In modern English, the position of words determines the meaning of the sentence.

In Latin, however, meaning depends not on position but on inflectional endings which distinguish subject from object. Here’s a simple example using Latin words with familiar English cognates.

Equus means “horse”; (equine)

feminam means “woman”; (feminine)

videt means “sees” (video)

“The horse sees the woman” can be written in Latin without regard to word order:

Equus feminam videt.

Equus videt feminam.

Feminam equus videt.

“Equus” is in the nominative singular, indicating it is the subject of the sentence. “Feminam” is in the accusative singular, which means it’s the object of the verb “videt”. The position of the words is irrelevant because their grammatical function is conveyed by their endings. Although the first sentence pattern was most commonly used by Romans, all three sentences would be equally comprehensible to Caesar and Cicero.

Using inflectional endings in your CL will make it more complicated to learn because, with few exceptions, English no longer uses such endings and most Americans are unfamiliar with them. Therefore, a positional CL is probably most practical.

Here’s a simple example to show how a positional CL can function. Imagine a group which wishes to communicate by Morse code, email, texting, flag signals, or the manual alphabet. Here are some example words:

aok = watch out for (verb) cg=stranger (noun)

igy=shoot (verb) f=vehicle (noun)

wzn=come (verb) bx=gun (noun)

tf= in, into (preposition) urr=house (noun)

fh= with (preposition) puq= man (noun)

You now have the capacity to signal or text information:

puq tf urr (There’s a man in the house.)

cg wzn (A stranger is coming.)

igy cg tf urr (Shoot the stranger in the house.)

aok cg tf f (Watch out for a stranger in a vehicle.)

puq fh bx tf urr (A man with a gun is in the house.)

The enemy can intercept these CL words, multiple them, count them, and turn them inside out, but they will not be able to understand the communication without the key, which ideally should exist only in the heads of those using the CL.

When creating a CL, you also make decisions about structure and grammar. You probably noticed the sample CL has no articles (a, an, the); these words are superfluous and can be eliminated. The present tense is also absent because it’s not necessary for comprehension and, for this particular CL, I chose to omit it entirely. Decisions such as these can be made by the creators of a CL according to their own preferences.

For the first example I deliberately used regular keyboard letters. However, if you wish you can make words such as these:

&Knv )Yy

m% a!*

While this may look more complex, it isn’t; it only gives you symbols for which there is no Morse or oral equivalent. Some may believe that the more symbols which are utilized, the less likely a communication can be decoded. This is incorrect; a CL cannot be decoded or deciphered because it is neither a code nor a cipher. It’s a language, and therein lies its impenetrable strength. Remember ancient Egyptian; there were thousands of papyri and carved inscriptions to study, but without a key none could be translated.

Another secret to making your language incomprehensible to outsiders is to

frequently realign the words and meanings. This is done by randomly changing the meaning of the words, which is simple if you’re communicating via computer. Aok becomes “gun”; cg becomes “under”, etc. Realignment is important because you don’t want those intercepting your communications to associate your CL words with group activities. The ultimate security precaution would be to realign meanings after each communication.

Obviously, the ideal CL is one which can be used on a computer, texted, sent by Morse code, spelled with the manual alphabet, and spoken aloud. If you have this, you can communicate with absolute security under the eyes and ears of the enemy.

Below is a short, very simplified CL I prepared for SurvivalBlog readers who would like to try this method of ensuring their privacy. This CL differs from the example above because these words are in syllables found in English, which makes it easy to pronounce (tf would challenge even Henry Higgins). The CL words have been divided into syllables for easier pronunciation. Vowel sounds (short or long) can be determined by the group preference. No meaning has been assigned to any linguistic unit, which means even I, who created this CL, wouldn’t be able to understand what you say, write, or signal.

Sample CL for SurvivalBlog Readers

Words

  1. sil’rah’me 14. tim’ba

  2. ru’hi 15. se’kot

  3. oh’bash’in 16. row’un

  4. ed’rek 17. ve’dok’ah

  5. pah’sas’din 18. tah’yis’vee

  6. in’tah’ba 19. yo’ee

  7. me’tick’suh 20. nu’me

  8. ir 21. it’ak’see

  9. ad’wit 22. dan’sis

  10. ha’kal’too 23. ma’ut’zo

  11. ak’tem 24. pes’hara

  12. yah’dah’sa 25. haf’den

  13. ka’ah 26. oh’ye’see

 

Grammatical Structure

  1. Plurals are formed by adding ne at the front of nouns; i.e., if you assign ma’ut’zo a noun meaning, the plural will be ne’ma’ut’zo.

  2. The present tense is indicated by the root form of the verb; if you assign ed’rek the verb meaning of “run”, no further initial or final letters/sounds are needed to use the verb in the present.

  3. The past tense is formed by adding a initial al to the verb; i.e., if oh’ye’see becomes the verb “listen”, al’oh’ye’see will mean “listened”.

  4. The future tense is created by adding an initial er; i.e., if row’un is given the meaning “come”, er’row’un means “will come”.

  5. Negatives are formed by adding pa before the verb. This prefix can also be used as a general negation, thus including the concepts of “no”, “none”, “nothing”, “not”, “don’t”, etc. If dan’sis means “come”, “pa’dan’sis” means “don’t come”.

  6. Questions are formed by adding kas to the beginning of the sentence.

 

To put these last two grammatical structures together, if you wish to communicate “Are you coming?” it would be kas’row’un. If the other person wishes to say “No”, the answer would be pa or pa’row’un.

IMPORTANT: Be very aware that speakers of a CL will almost certainly tend to use normal English vocal intonations when speaking. Our voices rise and fall in distinctive patterns as we ask questions, make statements, express surprise, fear, anger, urgency, etc. These vocal patterns are a clue to anyone listening. The solution to this security weakness is to learn to speak all words in a monotone voice, rather as if you were reading a list of unrelated words. You should also be careful that your voice doesn’t indicate the end of a sentence.

I hope many of you will try using the CL I’ve provided. But before you begin communicating important information, you must pass a test. Here it is:

You can’t use this sample CL as written. Why not?

Answer: Because of the grammar section.

No one can know the meaning you assign to the CL words in the sample; however, if you follow the grammar, anyone aware of this CL will be able to say, “Ah-ha there’s the prefix ne. That means the word following is a noun.” For this reason, ALL THE GRAMMATICAL RULES MUST BE ALTERED BEFORE YOU CAN SECURELY UTILIZE THIS CL.

To do this, just use your imagination: form plurals by adding om to the end of nouns—or to the middle, if the word has more than one syllable. Or don’t form plurals at all; if you want to say, “I need eight bullets,” the word “eight” indicates plural; the noun “bullet” doesn’t need to be changed at all. Form the future tense by adding the word wom at the end of the verb. Make questions by adding ra’hi at the end of the sentence. Remember: no one, including me, will know what meaning you assign to each linguistic unit; ak’tem can mean “wife”, “nuclear weapon”, or “move slowly”.

Learning a new language, especially one you’ve never heard, may seem daunting, but it’s essential to group security and survival. We all know the government is listening to phone conversations, reading emails, and recording communications. If a national emergency ever arises, this spying will intensify and your group will be unable to communicate privately. The powers that be are determined to take every shred of privacy in America; let’s use constructed languages to reclaim an inalienable human right.

JWR Adds: I can vouch that even an informally constructed language can baffle outsiders. Some members of my family still speak Boontling–the folk lingo of Boonville, California. (My ancestors settled there in the 1850s, after crossing the Plains by covered wagon.) We still pike to Boont or Uke by kimoshe for boshin’, bahl tedricks, shattaquaws, gormin’ matches, hobneelches and visits to the Rawles Dusties, but try to avoid nonch-harpin, Haines-Crispins, spilldukes and sharkin’ matches.

Four Letters Re: Hurricane Sandy After Action Reports

Good day, Mr Rawles…

Here in West Virginia, we have experienced a wide variety of weather from Hurricane/Superstorm Sandy.  Last Friday, it began raining well ahead of storm making landfall. Rains continued off and on thru the weekend, gradually increasing in steady rains all day Sunday and well into Monday. Around 7 pm our local time, that rain turned to snow and that’s when things began to get interesting. 

I tend to be a light sleeper so it was the ‘sound’ of power going off at 2:34 am on Saturday morning that awakened me for the day.  I got coffee started with the percolator then sat by a window watching and listening as trees and branches snapped due to winds and the weight of a foot of heavy, wet snow that fell since dark the night before.  Once your eyes have a few minutes to adjust to the sudden darkness, it is quite uncanny how aware of things you become.  Sounds are amplified, movements are detected more quickly, response time to your surroundings are automatic, perhaps mechanical in a way. I think I like this!

As of this writing (Friday), we do not have power nor do we expect it to be restored anytime soon.  On top of the more than 2 feet of heavy, wet snow that Sandy delivered, there are literally hundreds of trees and power lines down throughout the state.  Our county suffered structural damage to some main power stations (including transformers). Yesterday, I was told by the Dept. of Highways that the county road about a mile from our house would not be plowed due to downed power lines. At the same time, the power company stated they could not begin to work on electric lines when the roads had not been cleared. Go figure!

For us, our preps and food on hand prior to the storm will keep us sustained for a very long time. Heat is not an issue. We have free natural gas on our property, plus more than one heat system that does not require electricity to function.  Water is also not an issue. We have a gravity fed spring, not a well, that does not require electricity to get our water. Cisterns collect thousands of gallons of this pure water and gravity flow delivers it to our home. Water pressure isn’t optimal (like having city water) but it’s a reliable clean water source (one of many). I can live without being pressure washed in the shower. We have not yet finished our secondary power source installation for maintain electricity but it is still in the works. Currently, we run our generator 2-3 times a day for a couple of hours at a time to keep the freezers and inside refrigerator cold. We keep fuel topped off at all times as well as have plenty of other fuel sources on hand for lights, cooking or whatever else might arise. After the first 2 days following the storm, we were able to clear paths to the main roads and can still get to town for things if needed. 

About five months ago, our area endured an unexpected, black-swan weather event (a derecho) over the summer. Five counties in this area were completely black and without electricity.  It left thousands without power for days, some even weeks. Our electric was out for more than 10 days in a 100 degree heat wave.  I would much rather endure loss of power during winter than summer. That event left many without food and water simply because they failed to heed even the basic guideline of having a minimum of 72 hours worth of food and water on hand in the event of a crisis. Folks did not connect (in their brains) that a lack of power to the city water systems would result in their water supply to suddenly stop flowing. They questioned why didn’t the city just have generators in place to take up the slack (they did). These same people also didn’t realize lack of power meant no way to pump fuel to power the generators. Panic ensued from many who finally realized their ATM, debit/card cards weren’t going to work. The shock of businesses not accepting checks, only cash for payment of goods or services was enough to bring out the ‘zombiesque’ in many people. I was prepared to begin canning hundreds of pounds of meat, etc. even with the summer heat, rather than throw it away. Many people I talked to hadn’t even thought about canning and these are people who grow gardens and routinely do some food preservation each season. Duh-mazing! Fortunately, we were able to keep enough fuel on hand for the generators in order to prevent such loss.

Superstorm Sandy was not a sudden surprise. There were many advanced warnings. Local, state and federal officials spent hours on television, radio and Internet pleading with those in harms way to evacuate or be fully prepared to hunker down with sufficient supplies for possibly a long while. In our area, we are used to snow storms…bad ones are not uncommon here. Yet, people still fail to plan or prepare, fully expecting someone to come rescue them when the going gets tough. The term ‘normalcy bias’ immediately comes to mind.

Now, we are in the middle of another natural disaster and there are still plenty of people who are clamoring about officials not having some kind of plan in place for everyone. These are the same folks who were demanding they get their food replaced from the summer storm losses.  There are people in our area (and others) who do not even have enough common sense to make a natural, outdoor cooler from all this snow to their cold/frozen goods in for preservation. I have been continually shocked at the complete absence of critical thinking, especially from folks who I really thought ‘knew better’.

I read recently that a first responder in the New York/New Jersey area said, “We simply cannot save people from themselves.” I don’t believe I fully realized just how critical mindset is in a SHTF situation until now.  Sure, I talked about it, saw things first hand with how mindless and crippled society has become but I never really grasped the brevity of that until this storm.  Granted, this is not a TEOTWAWKI situation or even a long term SHTF event (thus far). We are fine in our supplies and, thank the Lord, have not endured loss other than some structural issues with our farm fencing due to falling trees. Our current setup is better than most but yet it is very painful to see other human beings suffer, often times simply due to their failure to do anything to protect themselves or their family.

For those of you out there who are still reading and planning but not yet doing anything, please, please, please get off that carousel of inaction and begin putting that gray matter to use! Don’t be one of those people who freeze up during a catastrophe or one of those who crawl back into bed, hoping they will wake up and everything will be okay. You have been awakened for a time and a purpose. Don’t waste the opportunity to do better for yourself and your loves ones. Just remember, “indecision is still a decision”. Are you ready? – C.A.T., the Transparent Shepherdess

 

Good Morning,
We faired very well, thanks to our preparations, which were enhanced by the knowledge gained from your fantastic web site these last several years.  Being “old Yankees” farm raised, we always knew that we needed to be as self-sufficient as possible.  We have thirteen older house cats, one feral outside, and one of our cats is insulin dependent.  Hence keeping his insulin at proper temperature is very important.  We have standard size refrigerator/freezer, a smaller one, and a small upright freezer.  We always have frozen freezer packs and containers of ice and many thick foam coolers, so we are set for many days.  Sterno stove is great for warming and even cooking, as well as backup with twig camp stove, small pellet camp stove and charcoal grill.  We ate very well:  grass fed beef, organic vegetables from local farm, and have months worth of No. 10 cans or all kinds of food and MREs.  Hundreds of gallons of drinking and flushing water as we are on a well.  Filled up both cars before the storm hit, and being retired no need to go anywhere, nor plans to do so.   

The living room has propane gas stove and three 100 gallon propane tanks.  We just completed installation of 15,000 watt Wenco generator and 500 gallon propane tank.  The “maiden voyage” of Wally Wenco and Polly Propane was 100% effective, plus we were able to provide basic services to the tenants in the 1200 sq. ft. guest house.  Neighbors notified they could come for hot shower, etc. if need be after the storm.  We ran the Wenco only a few hours AM & PM, to conserve propane.  Had plenty of flashlights, batteries, two crank radios, hundreds of books, hundreds pounds of dry and canned cat food, and the “means” to defend ourselves.  So, these two old ladies were just fine, and the year before had 22 trees removed from near the house on this almost four acre lot in a small town, so the house was safe!  Power went out Monday afternoon and came back Wednesday night.

Because we have always been financially frugal, maintain our older vehicles, and do not spend our money on fancy electronics, clothes, etc., we were able to upgrade our survival comfort with the propane generator.  We know that a long term survival in a true TEOTWAWKI for us is not possible, but we have that covered also, especially as just a few miles from us is a nuclear plant.  Were we a few decades younger, we would be living in the American Redoubt, because we have “knowledge” that would be useful, and physically be able to survive.  We are still trying to convince our younger relatives to be more prepared, because someday we will not be around, though they know that our long term food and other supplies are a legacy we can leave them for America’s uncertain future! – L.H. in Lyme, CT

Jim:
Good morning. If still of use to your readers, here’s Storm Update #3 for Princeton and Margate City, NJ, that I just sent to our friends.
 
Friday morning. No power still.
 
Yesterday, after my early run for gasoline, we did the first laundry since Sunday. I cranked open the window and rigged up the extension cords to the genny. Our daughters hardly issued a complaint with helping to fold – a chore they dislike – but under the circumstances, I’m guessing there’s something extra nice about fresh, warm, clean clothes. I continued cleaning-up the property and then helped my wife (Steph) make lunch. We heard back from our eldest daughter’s piano and singing teachers… they were willing to accommodate lessons cancelled by the storm if we could get there. Both are within a few miles of the house and a minute away from each other. The piano teacher gives lessons from her home and the singing teacher uses a local Church. Both had power restored. Needing a break of normalcy, my wife and I agreed. I would stay at the house with our youngest, while she ventured with the other. My wife was also going to see if the local farmer’s market was open.
 
Steph went to the farmer’s market and did her first ever shopping by flashlight. There was a line, and the store was allowing five people in at a time with an employee escort for each with flashlight to assist with shopping. Cash payment only. They only had non-perishables and the shelves were sparse. Several items she wanted – mostly soups – were gone. She did find a wonderful organic butternut squash soup among other groceries, and a bag of carrots. These were part of our dinner mix last night. On the way there, she sadly observed the destruction around Princeton. Trees down everywhere, debris, cars and houses hit, but lots of lucky falls as well – a few feet in either direction and the tree damage would have been far worse for many people.
 
In the afternoon, mail was delivered. I spoke at length with our delivery person. The workers that had reported for duty were sorting mail by lantern/flashlight, first class was backed-up for this week, and if they didn’t find more gasoline, mail would not be delivered for a few days even if the power was restored.
 
About an hour later, our next door neighbor knocked… they were leaving to find a hotel. This is a neurologist who works at a major medical center. Not wealthy, but he could have afforded a house generator system if like minded. I offered our home (these are also good folks), but they didn’t want to be a burden to anyone. They simply asked that I text them when power returns. Coincidentally, I checked in via mobile text with my best friend from Maplewood, NJ, telling him my concern that all of our neighbors were vanishing to hotels or extended family, and the reply text stated that he was in a hotel in Philadelphia with his family.
 
So, at this point, we have three categories of people. Those without generators who left days ago, those who have generators but not hooked up to the critical systems (leaving for lack of water, food, sanitation, heat, etc.) and those with hard-wired generators staying put as long as the natural gas flows or gasoline is available. Remember, these aren’t hardy country folk or preppers. They aren’t used to grid down or even making do with less. My friend in Maplewood – I’ve known him since 5th grade – he can afford anything he wants and still no house power system or supplies. I wonder how many people have now received the wake-up call? Perhaps Sandy is a blessing in that regard. Still, as much as I’m grateful not to be overwhelmed by cold and hungry neighbors, the evening walk with Aslan our dog was eerie. Empty houses greatly outnumbered the occupied. What would these people do if there was no external refuge in which to retreat? Would my family be a target even among friendly neighbors? Last night, I began thinking more seriously about the Mossberg secured under our bed… I train/shoot at Range 14 at Fort Dix in NJ.  I’d also like to put in a half-way plug here for solar lighting. My experience is that even the top of the line flood/spot lights will have a failure rate approaching 50% after a year. However, beyond a sizable alert dog, there are few better crime deterrents here than good exterior lighting. Our house is bathed in a blue glow of solar lighting for most of the night. I understand this cuts both ways in terms of standing out… but there are other homes with accent solar lighting on walkways/driveways, so perhaps it does not make us that much of an oddball, especially with the interior of the house dark.
 
We received a message that there would be no school on Friday – today. The roads and lack of operating stoplights are still a safety hazard, and it turns out the school’s fire safety system shorted out during the storm. They estimate that it will be fixed by Monday, November 5th, and that classes will resume then. Things in Princeton are improving each day, and we hope to have power back soon. Other parts of NJ are still chaotic as you get more urban (Jersey City, Hoboken) and closer to the Shore.
 
Turning to Margate City, under immense pressure, the barrier island access restriction was partially lifted by the Governor late yesterday. Several of my Shore friends – the locals – were finally getting into town to survey the damage. The ones that stayed had been giving us a reasonable heads-up on conditions. No food or water available on island (but the local bar was serving drinks) and the word is that wherever the water surge line stopped at your house is the measure of damage. Margate has modestly varying heights of property, bulkheads and dunes for protection. But when ocean meets bay, pretty much everyone is in a jam. Mom is stubbornly making her way back to our family home on the beach block. Bull dozers are clearing walking paths through the sand on a street by street basis. We should have a full report later today on the interior water damage. Ventnor City remains voluntarily closed due to the infrastructure issues, and the access restriction for Atlantic City still holds – at least that’s what I last heard.
 
I’m going to start the day’s work. Best to all. – Bill H.
 

Hi Jim,
Where I live in southern Pennsylvania, it rained solid, although very lightly most of the time, for 6 days straight. Today it’s finally letting off. We did have some high winds on Monday and Tuesday, but we haven’t had any flooding (despite living in a valley beside a stream) and no wind damage. The power did go out for a few hours Tuesday morning while we were sleeping, but otherwise it was a non event here.

Having lived through a high wind storm a number of years ago that took out our power for a week, we’re a little more prepared than we were then. We now have a 500 gallon propane tank and a gas range (cooking stove), a wood burner with plenty of seasoned wood, and a hand pump for water if needed.

A few notes about that might interest readers:
Regarding the gas range, we can light [the cooktop burners] with matches, which means we need to have a large supply of matches on hand for extended power outages. Also, we didn’t realize the oven [portion of the range] won’t light without electricity because it has a fancy-dancy electronic control mechanism. Fortunately we don’t use the oven much, but we now know better and next
time we’ll make sure the oven is usable without electricity.

Also, our
house and well are situated in such a manner that we have a Bison hand pump in our basement. In the event of a power outage, all I have to turn is turn a few valves and we can pump as much water as we need. We also can hook up a hose from the pump directly into our water system. It won’t be enough to shower, but it’ll be enough to flush toilets, which certainly beats using buckets to flush!

Lastly, where I work, we have a lot of customers that were hit hard by Sandy. I’ve been astounded by how unprepared they were. It’s very clear many did not make any effort to have disaster recovery tests. They need RSA security tokens to access our system, and we’ve had numerous calls from customers stating “when we evacuated, we left our tokens at the office”. I’ve also heard “our server is under water”. I hope they had an offsite backup! If nothing else, this [relatively] “minor” Category 1 storm should help them be prepared for the next one.

Regards, – C.G.