Letter Re: Combating the Darkness Within

Jim,
Reading Paul’s “Combating the Darkness Within” article, I can see that he has a scientific mind, lacking faith in God, or maybe even belief! And this is one of the first things you need in the survival mind set, a true faith in God, and guidance from the Holy Spirit, and without this guidance, no matter how prepared your are materially, your chances of making the right decisions when the time comes are questionable at best, without God’s spirit guiding you. This is why you always store a little more than what you need for [charity for] your family, friends and neighbors! With the right spiritual guidance, your oil bottle and your grain bucket may never go empty!
 
I am willing to help those in need, if they come asking! But I’m also just as prepared to kill those that come to take by force, or try to do harm to me, my family, or my friends or neighbors! And I believe God will forgive us for this type of killing. We have an obligation to protect our own, and those around us when times get rough. My suggestion to Paul is spend a little more time in the Bible and not so much time in books like “The Lucifer Effect”! Read books that build your spirit up, not take it down. Or [those that] make you question whether or not you have a dark side, which we all do, but strong faith keeps our compass needle pointing north at all times, if you get my meaning. – J.M.

Economics and Investing:

Diana W. sent this: Cost to Make Penny and Nickel Rises, Annual Loss Reaches $116.7 Million. [JWR’s Comment: Presently, the U.S. Treasury is in effect giving you some of your taxes back, by minting nickels at a loss. Stock up ASAP, before this window of opportunity closes! (Debased steel nickels are coming soon!)]

Mike T. suggested this: Bill Gross Warns Of Financial Market Implosion And The End Of Economic Life As We Know It

Bailout concerns mounting for Federal Housing Agency

F.G. mentioned some interesting background: Cracking The Credit Card Code

Items from The Economatrix:

10 Predictions for Work and Economics in 2012

Signs Point to Tepid Consumer Spending for 2012

Economists Seek Bleak Year Ahead

Jim Sinclair: The Gold Panic and What to Expect in 2012

Odds ‘n Sods:

SurvivalBlog’s Editor At Large Michael Z. Williamson found a link to plans for a homemade poultry plucker.

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Simon Black: Six Certainties About The Coming Years

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A reminder that just until January 15th, Safecastle is offering the maximum allowed discount on all Mountain House can varieties: 25% off. Order soon!

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NDAA Follow-up: New law would strip Citizenship of native-born Americans.

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Census: Number of U.S. youth shrinks. [JWR’s Comment: The article doesn’t mention the all-too obvious fact: About 1.2 million abortions are performed in the U.S. annually.]

Notes from JWR:

Safecastle’s Freedom Awards Finalists are now posted on Safecastle’s blog site for public viewing and voting. By the way, one of the finalists is K.M., for his article “What is a Well-Stocked First Aid Kit?” (that appeared in SurvivalBlog.) Please post your vote at the Safecastle site for your favorite article or video, before January 20th.

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My sincere thanks to the dozens of readers that have sent voluntary Ten Cent Challenge SurvivalBlog subscription payments, in response to my recent annual reminder.

Rolling Back Civilian Disarmament Laws in America

Firearms freedom is on the march across America. In recent years, there have been many legislative successes for American gun owners, and I’m pleased to report that some of the best have been in the American Redoubt states. Onerous gun laws that had placed too much arbitrary discretion hands of a few political appointees have been rolled back. Meanwhile, “Castle Doctrine” and “Stand Your Ground” laws have been enacted, and strong assertions of State Sovereignty have been enacted. This animated graphic from the Wiki world, showing the advance of non-discretionary (“Shall issue”) CCW permits, is guaranteed to make Chuck Schumer and the other rabid gun grabbers go apoplectic.

The best news is that in Wyoming, permitless concealed carry went into effect in July, 2011. In Wyoming, it is now legal for adult citizens to carry a loaded gun or concealed–in your car, on your quad, on your horse, or afoot–with no permit required. (Previously, this right had only been recognized if the gun was carried in plain view.) This change emulated Vermont’s long-standing policy, and followed similar legislative moves in Alaska and Arizona. This used to be called “Vermont Carry”, but it is catching on and has now been dubbed Constitutional Carry. (As our friend Tamara aptly put it, the new term was needed becuase “Vermont-Alaska-Arizona-Wyoming Carry is too much of a mouthful.”)

Some bad news is that efforts to enact this in three other Redoubt states were either tabled or vetoed in 2011. But at least open carry is unrestricted in most Redoubt locales, and CCW permits are non-discretionary in all of the Redoubt states.

In Oregon, a bill before the state legislature would have granted “rights given to concealed handgun licensee to any person who may lawfully purchase and possess firearm.” HB 2790, introduced by Representative Kim Thatcher, did not gain enough support, so it died in the House Judiciary Committee.

In Idaho, a permitless concealed carry bill (Idaho Senate Bill 1126) also died in committee. There are hopes to introduce similar legislation in 2012.

Another disappointment was in Montana, where a “no permit” carry bill passed by a good majority in the legislature but is was then vetoed by the state’s Democrat governor. Because the Montana legislature only meets in alternating years, there won’t be a chance to enact a Constitutional Carry law until 2013. It is predicted that a veto-proof majority will then be gathered. The big legislative success Montana is that the “Made in Montana Guns” law is in effect. This law clarifies that intrastate manufacture of guns is outside of Federal jurisdiction. Any gun marked “Made in Montana” can be sold without any Federal paperwork, as long as the maker and the buyer both live in Montana.

I am hopeful that laws Constitutional Carry will sweep the nation, following the fine success of enacting CCW permit laws (now in place in some form in 49 states) and Castle Doctrine or Stand Your Ground laws (now in place in some form in 31 states). I can foresee that starting with the western states and perhaps Florida and Texas, nearly all Americans will be able to fully enjoy their Constitutional right to keep and bear arms.

Beyond these recent developments, I ‘m hopeful that some of the antiquated laws on automatic knives, sound suppressors, explosives, short-barreled weapons, and fully automatic guns will be rolled back at either the state or Federal level. The consensus seems to be that “gun control” was a failed experiment. It is high time that re-assert our rights. As I’ve written before: Much like a muscle that atrophies with disuse, any right that goes unexercised for many years devolves into a privilege, and eventually can even be redefined as a crime.

Mike Williamson on the Flash Mob Trend

SurvivalBlog readers should take the time to read through a fairly lengthy piece about flash mobs that was recently published in Wired magazine. I note several threats, including: Random “bombings” of activity. Organized criminal events. Organized social events that get out of hand. Police over-reaction. Civil rights over-reaction.

It would be a good idea for all teenagers to be aware that even a legitimate, law-abiding gathering can be turned into a riot by a few troublemakers and a measured police response. If the crowd looks too large, or questionable, then leave early. If you have to ask if it’s safe to remain, then it probably isn’t.

I wonder how my friend Larry Niven feels about having predicted the flash mob trend. – SurvivalBlog Editor At Large Michael Z. Williamson

Two Letters Re: Fire Protection 101

Dear Mr Rawles,
In regard to the article by Firefighter Charles on fire protection, I imagine (and, indeed hope) that I won’t be the only person who suggests a qualifier to the advice on what to do with a fire in a cooking pan.  My understanding is that one should NEVER put water on a pan which holds oil or fat, because the resulting explosive burst of steam and fat will leave anyone attempting the exercise with extensive, serious burns.

I realize that Firefighter Charles dealt with grease fires earlier in the same paragraph, but wondered if it might be helpful to make the point about fires in pans of oil/fat explicitly.

With many thanks for your helpful site and my regards, – Philip M.

Thank you Mr Rawles and Firefighter Charles. While much of the information provided by Firefighter Charles is very good basic info, I feel there are some serious and potentially deadly errors presented here. I would like to explain:

1: NEVER throw flour on a fire. You risk creating a small fuel air explosion. Think grain silo dust explosion. Flour is finely ground plant material and is combustible! If it creates a cloud through your toss or by being blow upward by the thermal plume created by the fire, it can “flash”. Sugar is glucose and equally flammable. I have seen a few Pop Tarts break in toasters and really get going.
Baking soda, not baking powder [or flour] should be used. Salt is also acceptable.
Most professional chefs leave a pan cover or wet towel on the side of the grill that is large enough to cover the pan.
NEVER move a flaming pan from the stove to a sink or exterior. (Bad Chef Ramsey) If you move to quickly the contents will splash out or the flame will flare out over your hand causing you to drop it. Pouring flaming oil down the sink will damage most modern plumbing. If you start the faucet over and through the heated flaming oil (600 to 800 F) the water will “explode” into steam (212 F) and aerosol the flaming oil for the first few seconds.

NOTE: If you are using a propane turkey fryer indoors, then stop doing so! I have seen one entire house and two garages lost this way. If you have not properly measured the oil level or it is caused to boil over you just may get to restart building your structure from scratch. (Ref NFPA 10, IFSTA Life safety educator 2nd edition and NFPA Fundamentals of Firefighter skills 2nd edition)

2: Crawling low to get away from smoke is the way to go, but I got the impression that active unprotected firefighting was partially encouraged. Be advised: Smoke does kill most fire victims. It does so through three ways: carbon monoxide, cyanide and heat. Trying to crawl through a modern house fire is suicide. Construction and interior materials have changed since the 70s. Houses are now weather sealed for energy efficiency. Interior materials are now synthetic petrochemicals (20% benzene) in a solid stable state. A fire breaks down the synthetics with thousands more BTUs than old wool and wood. The smoke is not allowed to vent and is heating other materials in the structure which now begin to thermally break down, melting and vaporize.

The gasses created are too hot to breathe and will sear your eyes and lungs shut. Temperatures at 18″ and higher can exceed 600 F. The most common byproducts of the incomplete burning (black smoke) are carbon monoxide (which will disorient before killing you and is the reason most die), hydrogen cyanide (which will kill you and has yet to be properly treated after smoke inhalation in the US. Europe has had it in their protocols for the last decade, they got something right!).

This all happens in less than 5 minutes from open flame. If you are upstairs where the smoke and heat will flow first, you have 90 seconds to get out.
Due to the heat and byproducts (benzene) in the super heated gases, you will have flash over soon. The temperatures will reach over 1200 F. A fully suited firefighter has less than 14 seconds to escape that atmosphere or he will cook in his suit. It is rated to protect the wearer at 5 minutes at 500 F, and the time greatly diminishes with each 100 F increase. You will not make it, and the radiant heat will bank down on anyone too close to the exterior openings. Get out and get away. (Ref NFPA Fundamentals of Firefighter Skills 2nd addition, IFSTA Firefighter 5th edition and Brannigans Building construction for the fire service)

3: Combination detectors are fine. Ionization detectors have a radioactive element with a 10 year half life. The data of manufacture or expiration should be on the unit. If not, replace it. Photo electric sensors do not expire. Firefighter Charles is right, you should have both types.

Detectors mounted on [upper walls near] ceilings must be mounted at least 4″ from the ceiling but no lower than 12″ and at least 12″ from wall corners. If mounted on the ceiling itself, they should be at least 12″ from any wall and 3′ from ceiling fans or ducts. This is due to air flow disruption and smoke layering issues. (Ref NFPA 72)

4: Unless the fire is small and you have an extinguishing method on hand CALL FOR HELP FIRST! Evacuate, then fight the fire. (If SHTF [or you live in a remote area] then disregard, we probably aren’t coming quick enough if at all). The leading cause of injury and fire loss in an occupied (you inside) structures is delay in fire department notification (ref FEMA and FM Global Insurance). If the fire is larger than 3’x3′ it is past “incipient” stage and will rapidly spread. The rule of thumb is for every 18 degree F increase the fire will double in size or damage potential. This changes with the size and type of the fuel (your stuff) and the container (room-house) it is in. More stuff in less space = quicker hotter fire.

5: One more thing you can do to make your house safe is to keep doors closed and storage in containers. By limiting the areas heat and smoke can travel and the total surface areas that can be affected fire growth is slowed.

Once again, thanks for the info Firefigher Charles, and “Omnis Cedo Domus” my brother! (Everyone Goes Home, the national firefighter motto) – P.A.F.

Three Letters Re: Self-Defense Advice

Mr. Rawles, 
Reading your blog on Thursday, I was interested in the Self-Defense Advice posts. I absolutely agree that unless you have mastered the basics and developed the muscle memory that comes with it, learning Self-Defense from a book or from a video or from an online program is difficult to near impossible. That said, if you have the muscle memory and skills that come from training for a number of years, and you have someone of equal or greater skill level to work with you, it might be possible to obtain information from a book or video, but it is important to remember that a novice cannot learn the material needed from a book. A novice or beginner needs direct, physical, in class training. Grandmaster John Pellegrini and Master Yeager are both very fond of saying, “To see is to be deceived, to feel is to believe.”

I was very fortunate to train under Master Yeager (affiliated with Grandmaster Pellegrini and Combat Hapkido) when I was younger and I first trained in Tang Soo Do (for the sake of brevity consider it a variant of Tae Kwon Do), then when I was old enough I joined the Combat Hapkido classes (adult’s only at the time). Here I feel it important to note that Combat Hapkido is specifically designed for the purpose of self-defense. It covers a great deal of situations from empty hand defense against grabs, holds, thrown techniques, stick, gun, knife, defense against multiple attackers, and situations where you might be incapacitated by space, where your back might literally be against a wall, where you might be in the isle of an airplane and unable to move out of the way, or in a situation where you find yourself on the ground with your attacker in a dominant position. Combat Hapkido also stresses the importance of incapacitating your attacker(s), and if you attend a seminar you will probably receive a great deal of legal information since many techniques are very damaging physically when executed at full speed. Our school also required us to learn how to defend ourselves with the Escrima stick or Arnis sticks. We would also work on drills that used a knife, or cane, or improvisational weapons (rolled up newspapers, a pen, keys, or a CD case) to defend ourselves. Combat Hapkido is very much a street oriented self-defense style designed to get you out of a confrontation as quickly and safely as possible, our school’s mantra on night we trained self-defense was, “I am going home”. I have attended several seminars with Grandmaster Pellegrini, and other instructors in the Combat Hapkido system and can attest to the effectiveness of the style in a self-defense situation, so if it is an option I would highly recommend without reservations at least checking out Combat Hapkido.

However, Combat Hapkido may not be a possibility for everyone, in which case my recommendation differs little from Mr. Rawles or F.P.’s, Tae Kwon Do or Tang Soo Do, are excellent traditional styles that will teach you basics on kicking and punching and will often help with strength and conditioning. However, for the complete novice without any training in self-defense or martial arts whatsoever, I would recommend finding a martial arts “dojo” of any style that does not focus on competition. If it is a competition school the chances are that it is concerned about trophies and titles and not about preparing someone to use the techniques against a determined attacker on the street who isn’t going to play by tournament rules. Ask to watch classes, talk to the instructor about their school’s focus, the style and purpose of the style that they train in, and I would also recommend leaning toward styles that focus on empty hand fighting rather than styles that are geared toward weapon’s fighting like Kendo. And if all else fails find a boxing gym or a mixed martial arts studio.

Ultimately on the topic of self-defense is is a matter or developing the attitude and fortitude necessary to use the information that you learn. You can know all the techniques in the world, but unless you have trained yourself to the point of being able to react without thinking to threats, and to literally have the will to break and arm or a knee then all the training in the world will do you know good. This is where good instruction and good classmates come in handy, they will drill you repeatedly till you can do the techniques in your sleep, and they will provide you with the most realistic training possible so that when something does happen for real you will not be unprepared. So take your time selecting a dojo, and stay away from “belt factories”, find a school that is difficult to rank in, because chances are they require the dedication necessary to make you capable of defending yourself. Regards, – Coastal Texas Prepper

Captain Rawles:
I fully agree that you can not learn self defense by reading a book or watching a video. However, when I think of paying $100 a month each for eight kids to attend a dojo I know that reader must be crestfallen. I know there is no substitute for a good instructor to give you hands on instruction, but in the past I have trained regularly at home with a partner using the following instructional dvd’s:

Gracie Combatives: If you are going against a single opponent without a chance of someone else coming up and knocking you on your head, this course on the fundamentals of ground combat can’t be beat. Royce and Renner Gracie have put out a first rate lesson plan with moves clearly explained and demonstrated, action drills, then they lace them together in simulated combat drills. They focus on the moves that win the highest percentage of fights and the basic moves that they say if practiced according to their plan will have you ready to defeat an unarmed and untrained street opponent of literally any size when you can pass their blue belt qualification test at the end (and I believe them). Because small guys rarely pick fights with bigger guys, and a bigger guy has a good chance of getting on top of you if the fight goes to the ground (and statistically, 80% of fights end up on the ground), the first few lessons teach you how to turn the tables from the bottom: Whether the opponent is mounted on you, or, preferably, if you are able to attain the guard position (opponent on top, but with your legs wrapped around his waist – actually a very strong position with a plethora of attack options, after practicing these moves you might actually pull an opponent on top of you if there is no other way to get him to your territory. They also offer the option to film yourself and a training partner performing the moves, send it in for evaluation, and if upon their evaluation they decide you’ve done them properly and in the proper  time and order they will award you a Gracie Jiu-Jitsu blue belt, without ever having to step into a dojo!) I know this sounds like a sales pitch, but I’m not affiliated with them in any way. If I could choose only two methods of self defense this would be one of them.

If I could choose only one instructional set to train with, and I only had six months to train, I would choose a system called the F.I.G.H.T. System of Haganah. I would make this my primary choice because there is no guarantee that you will never be in a situation where it is two (or more) against one, and the last thing you need is some guy to clobber you on the head as you are on the ground winning a fight with his friend. This training takes from the Israeli systems of Krav Maga, Kapap, Lotar and Saldud. Krav Maga is the best known Israeli defense system, which was developed for the IDF to defend against every day attacks by disenfranchised Palestinians who were either unarmed, or armed but too close to draw and shoot when they begin their attack. Kapap [which stands for Krav Panim El Panim which means “face to face combat”] is their knife defense. Saldud is the sport martial art. The instructor demonstrates defensive strategies and tactics for virtually any situation you are likely to encounter. He teaches stacking for multiple opponents, attack in retreat,  realistic knife defense for a few angles of attack, and more. Another thing I like about the system is it teaches you to go from any unpredictable attack situation and end up in one of a couple of basic positions that inhibit your opponent’s ability to harm you while you finish him off by either a takedown or snapping his neck (this set is not recommended for those who can’t control their temper — if they are dead set on studying martial arts they should realize that the only chance they have of avoiding life in prison is to find a good instructor  and listen to him when he lectures about power and responsibility. If he doesn’t give the occasional short lecture, and the attendant attention to fits of temper or signs of insecurity change schools because that one will not serve you).  In my humble and limited opinion there is no better system that, if you train with a partner, will have you up and ready quickly. Starting from zero and each training for only six months, I’d bet every time on a student of this system against an equal student of any other system (besides a ground grappler, but this system also teaches defense against the common takedowns, and as of a couple of years ago they had plans for supplemental dvd’s addressing ground defense)

A nice addition to this set if you can swing it, would be Combat Survival Commando Krav Maga. The instructor Avi Monik is one tough hombre who was in the thick of it in Israel, and even tells us about his experience helping Imi Lichtenfeld create the Krav Maga system. This system has a ton of useful techniques, and even touches on some training drills. The section on Ground Defense is no joke, you’ll learn a couple of techniques the Gracies won’t teach you and that would get you thrown out of a tournament, but that’s Krav Maga: it means Combat Contact and it’s not for sport or people who can’t control their tempers. There is actually way more content in this set, but I recommend the FIGHT system over it because their system is simpler to learn, more integrated, with a feel of completeness that Combat Survival’s sometimes seemingly (to me) disjointed system lacks. However, this is a very close second.

Above you have my recommendations for down and dirty, basically street defense ready in six months if you practice four hours a week with a partner and a little intelligence.

I may be doing Krav Maga a disservice due to not really having a lot of experience with the system besides a few months training from the videotapes from a friend, but I will state the following: In six months I’d bet on the Krav Maga student. In six (or sixteen) years, I’d probably bet on a dedicated student of one of the more traditional martial arts. All physical, mental, and dedication attributes of the students starting equally, Tae Kwon Do is one that could have a fair chance to take on Krav Maga some time after six months, all things being equal (and depending on what a particular instructor focuses on in the first six months). Tae Kwon Do is a fighting art that doesn’t mess around. It was originally developed from a need for unarmed peasants to knock mongols from their horses and kill them (hence the amazing high kicks) but it doesn’t stop there. I have no videos to recommend for this art though.

Wing Chun Kung Fu is the first art Bruce Lee trained in, and in spite of his later disavowal of systems, forms (katas), and the like, in my opinion the incomparable Mr. Lee would not have achieved his legendary level without a firm foundation of thousands of hours practicing those forms he later appears to have disavowed and training on the wooden dummy. Wing Chun (Called Gangster Fist in the back alleys of Hong Kong, I’m told) is an art that was designed specifically for a small person to defeat a larger opponent, and if you are a dedicated practitioner you will succeed in that endeavor. I know of one Kickboxing champion who switched to Wing Chun after discovering the system. The sixteen disc set by Randy Williams is the best of the two I own. He demonstrates everything you’d need to know to develop proficiency in the art, starting from basic single sticky hands, to the basic forms of the art, to partner drills, etc. If I ever get the time to dedicate myself to learning a new art, Wing Chun is the art and Sifu Williams DVDs will be the ones I use.

Other noteworthy members of my instructional collection, some which I’ve spent a lot of time training with, and some just watching, include:

Caesar Gracie Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.  After finally watching (on disc) Royce Gracie carry away the first several UFCs where the only rules were no biting and no eye gouging, period, and not being in a position to go to a dojo and learn a new art (the seemingly undefeatable art of ground grappling), this was my first set of instructional DVDs. For about a year I trained separately with two other men almost exclusively in the techniques that Caesar Gracie teaches here. If Gracie Combatives had not superceded it, this would have been up on top instead. If you can get this set used, and can’t afford the $100 for Gracie Combatives, get it! It’s almost as good, but without all the same moves (For example, Caesar teaches the ulma plata, a move where, from the guard position (on bottom) you use your leg to twist your opponents arm up behind his back and towards his head, which is a great move if the opportunity presents itself and you can swing it, but leaving it out of Gracie Combatives detracts nothing in my opinion)

Small Circle Jiu-Jitsu. Professor Wally Jay has modified traditional Jiu-Jitsu in a way that he says allows a small, weak person to defeat a much larger and stronger opponent (even more so than traditional Jiu-Jitsu) by focusing on the weak points of the body and the nerve centers. I actually spent a lot of time with this and I like much of his technique, but without confidence built up by years of training, the adrenaline will kick in and destroy someone’s fine motor skills, making pressure point fighting impractical — however, aside from that, there is a lot of great training, and if you come across it, you could do worse than training with these techniques.

Self Defense Encyclopedia. Sang H. Kim has put out a lot of Tae kwon do videos which I have not had the fortune to view. This one, however, is a single 36 minute video with a worthy overview of self defense techniques. If it’s all you can get, and you practice these techniques, it will not be a waste of your time.

Vee Arnis Jitsu is a small set put out by Espy TV which has a dynamic instructor who teaches some realistic defenses for numerous practical street fight situations. Watching this guy inspired me to learn to flow from joint lock to joint lock.

I should add that unless some guy just made up his own style, any style of martial art has survived the test of time and can be valuable to train in. My opinions above are a result of my limited knowledge and reflect only on the video training materials I have viewed, not on any particular school or individual instructors abilities.  I hope you find some value in this. – Al in California

James,
I just had to write a response to this letter. Martial arts training is very good for building discipline, and self confidence. Its also excellent physical training/ exercise, but lets look at this from an extreme survival situation.  empty hands wont save you every time.
Any one who is smart enough to see what the potential future of this country might be, should be willing to consider this advice: Learn how to fight with a knife.
Not one of those cheap gas station lock blades, but a real quality knife that is built to last. Your fighting knife will never need to be reloaded, it will never misfire. And unless your opponent has a loaded gun, there is no good defense against it.
 
I have spent more than five years in Afghanistan and Iraq, and learned some hard lessons in that time  period.  Please take my advice, and you can avoid a hard lesson in the future. – Casey B. 

Economics and Investing:

Fallout in America from Europe’s debt bomb, as a hedge fund perishes: WJB Faced 25% Interest on Debt Ahead of Brokerage Shutdown

AmEx (American Expat) sent us this: In Greece’s Sour Economy, Some Shops Are Thriving

Cue the dramatic gloom and doom music: Hungarian Yields Soar, CDS Hits Record As Bill Auction Fails

Greek Prime Minister warns of March default–Lucas Papademos says Greece may default on its debts in March unless unions accept further cuts to salaries.

Items from The Economatrix:

Against Euro And Yen, Dollar Defied Reality

Peter Schiff:  Now’s A Perfect Time For A Gold Rally

What’s In Store For The Housing Market In 2012?

Financial Predictions For 2012

Odds ‘n Sods:

From Kevin S.: Three Simple Internet Privacy Tips (And 1 Super Secret Ninja Move)

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Will your defensive architecture stand up to a sledgehammer? Consider this: Possible One-Man ‘Wrecking Crew’ Responsible For Countless Destructive Robberies In Harlem

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Several readers sent this: Oklahoma Woman Shoots, Kills Intruder: 911 Operators Say It’s Okay to Shoot

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AmEx (American Expat) sent this: Drought Doomed Ancient City of Angkor

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R.C. flagged this news item: Moving trends: More people leave Northeast

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“The likelihood America will become more and more like Detroit is growing – rapidly. Politicians now control the banking sector, most of the manufacturing sector (including autos), and a large amount of media. They are threatening to take over health care and the production of electricity via cap-and-trade rules and subsidies promoting solar power. These are major threats to the wealth and well-being of America. America is under siege by corrupt socialists.” – Porter Stansberry

Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 39 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 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $275 value), and E.) A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo.

Second Prize: A.) A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol. It is a $439 value courtesy of Next Level Training. B.) A FloJak F-50 hand well pump (a $349 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, and 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.) Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy. This is a $185 retail value, C.) A Commence Fire! emergency stove with three tinder refill kits. (A $160 value.), and D.) Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security.

Round 38 ends on February 29th, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Combating The Darkness Within, by Paul B.

I am a new arrival to the survival community.  Until recently I was just another mindless suburbanite going about my daily routine blissfully ignorant of the world around me.  It was only by chance that a series of events happened in my life that opened my eyes to needs of survival preparation.  I won’t say that I was completely clueless about survival, but rather it simply wasn’t real to me.  Yes, I knew that tough times are just over the horizon but I simply believed that I would make it through somehow.  Ironically, it was the housing crisis that completely changed my life.  My wife and I moved to another town in 2008 so that I could start a new job and when our house didn’t sell we found ourselves in a financial struggle that has lasted to this day.  Somewhere in the midst of all this I came to the realization that what we were going through was a microcosm of the greater survival struggles that lay ahead.  Survival had suddenly become very real in my life.  When I thought about these things and how my own actions, or lack there of, had made our situation so much worse I realized that I needed to begin preparations so that future struggles aren’t so chaotic.  This is why food storage and similar topics have become so important to me.  I want to be ready for whatever life brings.

Aside from being a scientist by trade I am also an amateur writer and wannabe author.  I’ve written a number of short stories and even a full length novel but none have managed to create much of a spark in the literary world.  I find that writing has become the therapy that helps me get by and is certainly cheaper than professional counseling.  Recently, I wrote a very long piece about some observations I had made concerning survival based on my struggle for financial survival.  All in all I thought it was pretty good and considered submitting it here for publication on the SurvivalBlog.  I decided not to do so because it is a rather ponderous work and really doesn’t have anything new to say.  Some of the bullet points are to expect the worst of humanity, beware of wolves in sheep’s clothing, expect to do the hard things, always expect a situation to be as difficult as possible, and expect the experience to change you.  I expanded these concepts with specific examples I had observed in how I was handling my situation or in what I had seen in others.  Some time after writing this I realized that very little of what I had written had anything to do with physical things or tangible objects such as food or money.  One might think that while experiencing a financial crisis I would have written at length about money or financial preparation, but ultimately I only covered it briefly.  The entire work was mainly a piece on human behavior; either other’s or my own.  For me the things that were of most significance weren’t physical but rather moral and spiritual.  What I did and what others tried to do to me were what I remember most.  With this in mind I wonder sometimes whether survivalists are asking the right questions when considering future survival and TEOTWAWKI or SHTF situations.  Should we be focusing only on tangible things like the best survival weapons or how much food should I store, or should we also be asking ourselves, “What will I become?” or “How will I behave?”  Ask yourself, “What will I become as a person, a parent, or a spouse when my world comes crashing down around me and how will those around be behave as well?”  Having a firm understanding of the answer may well determine whether you succeed or fail at survival.

What Is Survival? 
            When we make survival plans are we simply trying to ensure our physical survival or are we also attempting to maintain the envelope of normalcy that surrounds our lives and makes us who we are.  As people we are the sum of our circumstances.  We think, act, and believe in ways that are dictated by our own values and the world around us.  Some of the things in our world that make us be ourselves are the rule of law, contemporary culture, established religions, our families, our upbringing, our friends, our jobs, etc.  We are also motivated by our perception of our world and of ourselves.  Can we truly expect to be the same people and act as we always have once our world is stripped away and we are thrust into a situation where the future is completely unknown?  How could we?  Shouldn’t we expect that when our world changes we will also change?  The greatest question is whether we will change for the better or for worse.

Are you an evil person?

            I’m in the process of reading a book entitled The Lucifer Effect by Phillip Zimbardo and I strongly recommend it to all survivalists.  The title of this book is also the name of a process by which ordinary people are transformed into doers of evil by the circumstances around them.  The bulk of this book is a narrative about something called the Stanford Prison Experiment.  For anyone who isn’t familiar with this experiment it was done in 1971 and consisted of a mock prison where prescreened young men played the rolls of prisoners and guards.  In the years since this experiment took place it has become a classic model of how people can be transformed by their situations.  In the case of the Stanford Prison Experiment the guards became sadistic, brutal, and even sexually abusive while the prisoners became ever more obedient and compliant to the point of suffering severe emotional distress.  Another interesting aspect of this experiment is that it spilled over into the community of individuals conducting the experiment and even changed their behavior in remarkable ways.  The remainder of the book is actually the more interesting part with an analysis of the experiment data and other real world situations where seemingly ordinary people have done evil.  As I’m reading this book I can’t help but see correlations between the Stanford Prison Experiment, the Lucifer Effect, and a TEOTWAWKI survival situation. 

Before I get too much further into this I should bring out one of the key concepts of this book and that is the difference between dispositional and situational evil.  Dispositional evil is the concept or belief that people who do bad things are bad people to begin with.  Conversely, is the belief that good people will do good things regardless of the situation.  Situational evil is the belief that good people can be turned evil by the circumstances they are in and the degree to which they become evil is directly proportional to the severity of the situation and the power they possess.  I believe the truth is somewhere in the middle and both factors play a role in human behavior.  Regardless of how much situations play a roll in our behavior it would stand to reason that we should explore such possibilities as part of our survival preparations.  Consider this quote from The Lucifer Effect:

Good people can be induced, seduced, and initiated into behaving in evil
ways. They can also be led to act in irrational, stupid, self-destructive, antisocial, and mindless ways when they are immersed in “total situations” that impact human nature in ways that challenge our sense of the stability and consistency of individual personality, of character, and of morality.

If the world as we know it does end and we are all thrust into survival mode then wouldn’t this be the ultimate “total situation” that would challenge our sense of stability and morality?  Could such a situation induce or seduce good people, i.e. us, into behaving in evil ways.  If evil is too strong a term then how about unspeakable.  Allow me to give an example in my own life. Recently, I discovered Marjory Wildcraft after hearing her interviewed on Coast to Coast AM.  The next day I visited her web site and signed up for her newsletter.  I also watched the preview for her Food Production Systems for a Backyard or Small Farm DVD and something very profound struck me.  As I watched the segment on raising rabbits it occurred to me that part of Mrs. Wildcraft’s survival scenario is the slaughter of young rabbits for food.  The sight of that adorable white rabbit on my computer screen associated with terms like “harvesting” and “roasters” really disturbed me.  Jokingly, I said to my wife, “I can’t kill little bunny rabbits,” although I wasn’t joking.  The thought of it really disturbed me.  My wife’s response was even more disturbing.  She looked at me stone faced and said, “You would if you got hungry enough.”  At that moment I realized the power of our situations to change us.  For me the act of killing a small animal is unspeakable.  After reading how to kill a rabbit on-line I find it even more unspeakable, although I fully understand that if I got hungry enough I wouldn’t be able to kill that little bunny fast enough.  Certainly, killing a rabbit for food is not evil but it is something that many would consider to be an unspeakable act yet it is something that I believe we would all do gladly if it meant surviving another day.

Respect My Authority!

Another concept that is explored at length in The Lucifer Effect is that of power.  The acquisition, maintenance, and administration of power are the key factors in the transformation of individuals from good to evil.  Consider again TEOTWAWKI.  In such a situation the powerful will be those who control survival resources such as food and water.  And, this power will be absolute power over life and death and will be happening without any rule of law.  Can anyone argue that suddenly being thrust into a situation where one controls whether others live or die wouldn’t have a profound impact on that person?  We all want to believe that we would be loving and benevolent stewards of our resources but can we really be certain of this until are actually in that situation?

Don’t Rock the Boat!

Another concept explored in The Lucifer Effect is that of obedience and the evil of inaction.  The book explores a number of different situations in which blind obedience led to or helped facilitate evil even to the point of parents murdering their own children such as in the case of the People’s Temple in Jonestown, Guyana.  Not everyone can have power so in any situation there are those with power and those who must obey that power.  In a survival situation the prospect of death will be an overwhelming factor to ensure obedience.  How vigorously would someone protest another’s abuse of power if it meant being cut off from basic resources or cast out of one’s survival community?

If It Feels Good, Do It!

Another concept that I will touch on that is explored at length in The Lucifer Effect is that of ethics, both absolute and relative.  People will find a way to justify their behavior in any situation and survival will be a tremendous justification of almost any act.

What Would You Do?

You’re a man, a father, and a husband.  You’ve made survival preparations for your family and finally the day comes when you must put your plans into action.  It’s chaos in the streets but you are safe at you bug out location.  Something has happened and the world has degenerated into bedlam.  You’re worried and the stress has pushed your marriage and family to the brink.  You have some survival resources but you don’t really know how long they will last or if things outside will ever get back to normal.  You also worry that someone will discover that you are doing alright and realize that you have the things that everyone now needs.  The thought of an armed intrusion or overwhelming odds scares the daylights out of you.  So, you wait and hope for things to get better.  Suddenly, onto your doorstep wanders a young woman holding a small child.  You can see that they are in distress and that the child will soon die without food and water.  What do you do?  Let me throw in one more thing:  She’s young and beautiful. Consider this continuum of options.

  1. Do you give the young woman what she needs, knowing that it only shortens your own survival time [in an environment where there is no source of resupply]?  You know that you can’t let her leave afterwards because she might tell others about you, what you have, and where you are so she would become a permanent addition to your community draining you of even more resources.
  2. Do you turn her away with the justification that her child is going to die any way and you can’t spare the food?
  3. Do you allow her to stay with the hopes that maybe you can develop a relationship with her behind your wife’s back?
  4. Do you kill your wife and replace her with this younger model?  After all, who is going to say anything?  There are no cops.
  5. Do you openly extort sex in exchange for food with your wife’s full knowledge?  What is she going to say?  She’ll keep her mouth shut or find herself out in the cold.
  6. Do you put a bullet in the young girl’s brain and then her child’s on the belief that it is ending their suffering and saving them from having to face this ordeal any longer?
  7. Or, do you do 5 and then 6?

We all want to believe that we would take the first option, but can any of us be certain how we would react until we face such a situation?  I believe that there are people who could justify any of those options through ethical relativism and their new-found power would only serve to corrupt their thinking. 

Let’s assume that you are the young woman.  You love your child more than life itself?  Would you turn your head and allow some lecherous old man to do unspeakable things to you knowing that it will save your child?  Would you gladly stand by or even conspire for the disposal of the current wife so that you can take her place?  What if you were the wife?  In your fear of losing your source of survival would you cover your ears and ignore the screams of a young woman being brutalized in the next room?  Would you stand by and refuse to come to her aid in complete obedience to your husband if it meant you and your child might meet the same fate if you tried to help?  These may seem like harsh questions but one day we may all face such harsh situations.

Who Are They?

The last concept that I’m going to touch on that is explored in The Lucifer Effect is that of “Others.”  What does that mean?  The concept of an “Other” is any group that can be identified, denigrated, dehumanized, and de-individualized.  Evil against other people doesn’t start immediately.  It often starts with the creation of an “Other” group and the process of transforming them from human beings into objects worthy of ridicule, scorn and extermination.  Consider Nazi Germany and the extermination of the Jews.  The Nazi propaganda machine had so successfully transformed the Jewish people into wretched objects where the extermination of which was greeted with cheers and gleeful participation.  Such has happened many times since in places like Rwanda and Cambodia and it even played a role in racial discrimination in our own country.

Why point this out?  It doesn’t take much reading on the many survival sites to realize that survivalists are a proud bunch.  I have seen countless articles and rambling forum entries about how much better “we” are than “they.”  In this case the “they” are the unprepared, the unenlightened, or those who have not converted to the survival ethos. 
Imagine if the husband in our above scenario had this same opinion about the unprepared.  How much worse would his reaction to the young woman be?  Would he think that his treatment of her is what she deserved for not being better prepared?  I’ll answer that with a firm yes.

Once the SHTF you’re going to see a great many “Others” become targets.  I’m talking about minorities, liberals, elderly, Christians, or simply that bully who was mean to someone in the fifth grade.  Unfortunately, we will all carry our baggage with us into a survival situation.  The biggest mistake that we can make is to assume that just because we are enlightened about preparedness that we are somehow more moral, more trustworthy, or somehow better human beings than the vast unwashed masses.

Yeah, So What?

Is there anything that I can offer as an application to survival?  Perhaps the greatest is to know yourself and those around you.  Don’t allow anyone to control your survival resources but you.  Make a connection with people through charity and other good works now that gives you a more compassionate heart.  And lastly, perhaps we should all make as much effort in fixing our broken society as we do in preparing to leave it in order to keep the world from ending altogether.

JWR Adds: What Paul has discussed is some serious food for thought. In the context of a post-collapse world, just the fact that you have stored up tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition, while most of your neighbors have just have a couple of hundred rounds on hand might someday give you the equivalent of a rich man’s bank account. If you haven’t already, I beg you to accept Christ Jesus as your savior, as a key part of your personal readiness. Charity and self-control are seen in their full as fruits of the Holy Spirit. The Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit indwells us, when we become Christians. I can think of no better way to be sure that we are up to facing tough decisions, in traumatic times. Get right with God!

Letter Re: Converting a 1973-1991 Suburban to Cummins Diesel

James,
Thought your readers may be interested in the articles on Converting a 1973-1991 Suburban to Cummins diesel engine. The staff at Diesel Power magazine is publishing a set of articles during the course of this year on the details of converting an Older suburban into what they call the ‘Doomsday Diesel Suburban’. The first article linked) covers swapping out the existing powerplant and converting to a Cummins diesel. Regards, – Allen C.