Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“So you never picked no peaches
You never rode no boxcar train.
Never worked out on the road gang
Or slept out in the rain.
But when you see a good man
Have to struggle, sweat and strain
And when a man can’t feed his children
Don’t it make you stop and think?

Are they gonna make us outlaws again?
Is that what it’s comin’ to my friends?
Why, I think I see why Pretty Boy Floyd done the things he did.
Are they gonna make us outlaws again?” – Are They Gonna Make Us Outlaws Again?, by James Talley

Notes from JWR:

I just heard from my editor at Penguin Books that they’ve started an additional printing of my nonfiction book “How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It”. This 12th press run will be another 28,000 copies, bringing the total to 175,000 copies of the U.S. edition in print. When I last checked, it was still ranked around #750 overall, and #80 among reference books, on Amazon. That is not bad for a book that has been in print for two years.

Thanks for spreading the word and making the book one of Penguin’s bestsellers. I am hopeful that both the book and this blog are helping families to get better prepared.

—

Today we present another entry for Round 36 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize: A.) 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 B.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $300 value.) C.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $275 value), D.) A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo, and E.) An M17 medical kit from JRH Enterprises (a $179.95 value).

Second Prize: A.) A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol. It is a $439 value courtesy of Next Level Training. B.) 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, C.) A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials, and D.) two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 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, and C.) Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security.

Round 36 ends on September 30th, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Experiences of a Novice Gardener, by J.B.

I don’t remember how I stumbled on SurvivalBlog.com.  I had a sense that things were going very wrong and I guess it was just a matter of clicking links that led me to this site.  I found a treasure trove of information on prepping, and a world of like-minded folks who shared my sense that something wicked this way comes.  SurvivalBlog helped me get organized in my thinking, and introduced me to prepping concepts I was unfamiliar with.  I have invested a lot of time and money preparing for WTSHTF.  One area I am weak in, however, is experience.  I read over and over how you need to get in shape (I joined a gym), and train and develop skills and put them to practice before you need them.  It was because of this that I decided to try my hand at my first, real garden.
 
This Spring, I ordered some seeds – both heirloom and modern hybrid varieties.  I put the heirloom seeds in storage and planned to grow the hybrids, since I was really most interested in the gardening experience.  My family likes squash, zucchini and corn, so that’s what I got.  I was also going to grow tomatoes, but planned on getting small plants from the local big box garden center once the weather was predictably decent.  I also order three blueberry bushes.  I figure at $3 per cup at the grocery, having a few bushes will pay off.  I started my seeds in empty egg cartons filled with potting soil, after pricking a few holes in the bottom of each dimple with a toothpick for drainage.  And drain they did, all over our countertop.  The potting soil I got was the consistency of pillow stuffing, with copious amounts of small Styrofoam beads; water ran through it like a sieve.  After a quick cleanup the egg cartons went on a desk with the carton tops underneath to catch the drainage.  Within a few days there were little shoots coming up – yeah! I can’t tell you how proud I was of those little things, showing my wife and daughter and thinking to myself that this gardening this was going to be a piece of cake.   A few days more under a fluorescent desk lamp and my seedlings were really taking off, so much so, I was worried that they may beat the reliable weather I was waiting on.  On about the 10th day, the seedlings, who were stretching toward desk lamp, became a bit lanky and began leaning over.  A day later and they were all falling over, apparently from growing too tall and having too shallow roots, and took on a decidedly less healthy appearance.
 
Thinking my shallow egg cartons and Styrofoam soil may be to blame, I went out and bought some paper “Dixie” cups and transplanted the seedlings.  I made a mix of potting mix with real dirt from my yard, with a little “wonder grow” mixed in.  This fortified soil was sure to give my fledgling plants the boost they now so visibly needed.  After a few days, it was clear that the seedlings weren’t feeling or looking any better.  Some had begun to die off and others still just wanted to fall over.  My wax paper cups were also soft and beginning to grow mold on the bottoms.  Something had obviously gone wrong, so I chucked out the whole lot, went and bought some 8 ounce plastic party cups and started all over.  This time I started some corn along with the zucchini and squash, and within a week, I was back in business with seedlings.  And in another week I was back out of business with sick plants, except for the corn which had just started to sprout well and seemed okay.  I was wondering about the greenness of my thumbs and decided just to go buy some starter plants at the local Wally World.
 
Finally it was time to prepare my garden bed.  I marked out a 10’ x 10’ space and began to strip perfectly good sod off my yard.  Stripping sod with a shovel put my out of shape body to the test (I had not yet joined the gym), but digging up hard Kentucky clay was a killer.  I started asking around to borrow a rototiller, but most friends my age were not into gardening and I found only one person with a 20 year old, 150 pound tiller that hadn’t been started in a long, long time.  I decided to suck it up and do it manually.  Thank God for Aleve.  Kentucky clay is just one step above concrete and is practically sterile.  I knew it wouldn’t make for a good garden, so I went and bought 4 bags of peat moss, four bags of composted manure and four bags of something they called “top soil” although it looked like 40% dirt, 30% sand and 30% finely chopped twigs.  I now regretted not borrowing the 20 year old tiller as I chopped clods of clay and mixed it with the amendments I had dumped on my 100 square foot plot.  After a couple days of this, my muscles were sore and I was thinking longingly about the produce section of my local grocer.
 
Time to plant.  Zucchini, squash and tomato seedlings went in the ground.  I was unsure of the spacing of the corn, but some local fields look tightly planted so I did a grid of plants around 16 inches apart.  A good watering with the hose and my garden looked young, fresh and off to a good start.  I planted the blueberries along the fence.  Each night after I came home from work, I would go out and water my garden, admiring the plants that were beginning to take off.  Maybe this gardening thing would be easy now that the back breaking remediation of my worthless dirt was done.  No such luck.  One morning, I was shocked to discover that something, probably rabbits, had started gnawing the leaves of my toddler plants.  A couple looked like “goners” but I left them in the ground.  I had seen rabbits occasionally, but was counting on my fence and dogs to keep them out.  They continued to sample from my garden buffet until I started sprinkling dog hair around the plants.  I had heard this trick somewhere and didn’t know if it would work, but it really seemed to help.  To my surprise, the “goner” plants recovered.
 
The combination of the fertilizer and near daily watering did wonders for the zucchini.  In no time, the plants, which I had set about two feet apart, were bumping into each other and continuing to grow like crazy.  In a few more days, they were crowding each other and forming a near impenetrable canopy of leaves.  They grew tall, too, so much so that when I watered them, they would lay over.  I was concerned about damaging them, but by morning they were all perky and tall again.  My tomatoes, on the other hand, were giving me trouble.  A couple of the plants had leaves that were curling up and generally looking strange.  I web searched “tomato leaf curl” and it said something about over watering and cool weather, but said it was generally harmless.  It wasn’t.  The leaves continued to twist and curl and the plant now took on a decidedly mutated look, as if it had been exposed to radiation or chemical contamination.  I decided to cut my losses and pulled them, replacing them with fresh plants from the big box store.  I had staked the tomatoes that weren’t mutating, but within a few weeks, they had grown above the stake and had begun to slump over.  I didn’t have a taller stake so I just let them slump.  The main stem looked twisted, but the plant survived and did produce.  My blueberry’s leaves have turned red as if it were a maple tree in the fall.  Another web search and I find they probably need something to acidify the soil, so I bought a bag for $8.
 
My zucchini had begun producing, and boy did it produce.  The warm weather and frequent watering was causing fruit to grow fast.  If I didn’t harvest it frequently, a too small to pick zucchini would become too big in just a couple of days.  The squash plants looked healthy, but weren’t setting any fruit yet, although they did have blooms.  My corn wasn’t as high as an elephants eye yet, but it was looking good.  Finally, I had reached the stage where the garden was doing what gardens were supposed to do.  All I had to do was keep picking zucchini and wait for the other crops to produce their yield.  Did I mention that four plants produce a lot of zucchini?  By this time, we’re realizing we aren’t as in to zucchini as we thought, and I’m also getting lax in checking the garden which results in enormous fruits.  I pick one that’s nearly two foot long and probably weighs 4 or 5 pounds.  My wife suggests I consider entering zucchini in the state fair.  Some squash is beginning to come on, but it’s the bumpy kind, which has tougher skins and we don’t like as much.  The blueberry leaves are now greening up and looking healthier, although they haven’t grown a single inch that I can tell.
 
One morning I look out at the garden and note that the plants aren’t looking as vibrant as they had.  Upon inspection, the combination of planting them too close and watering them too often has led to a mildew forming.  By this time, I ‘m sick of zucchini and don’t care.  The corn has ears big enough to harvest and we take about a dozen ears.  We love fresh corn and can’t wait to boil and butter them.  As we shuck it, we notice that many of the kernels haven’t formed, while others are not in neat rows and have a somewhat “mutated” look; being larger than normal.  Out of the dozen ears, two look perfect – store quality – and we cut the others to come up with a good batch of corn.  I notice that fresh corn is selling three for a dollar at Wal-Mart, but I am in this for the experience and our corn did taste really fantastic.  From stalk to table was less than an hour – talk about fresh!  Still, in the back of my mind I’m thinking about all the time and effort that went into producing about four dollars’ worth of corn.  One of my blueberry plants produces three, yes three, blueberries.  They still are not growing despite healthy foliage.
 
By this time, I’m not as excited about the garden and have started letting God water it on His schedule.  The peat moss I brought in had some type of pernicious viney grass that is now spreading out into my yard.  I have to pull it up with a rake and still it spreads.  The mildew is really affecting the squash and zucchini now and my wife is suggesting I “clean up” my garden.  I go out to take a look and the plants are now overrun with some type of flat little bugs.  I won’t be harvesting anything further from these plants.  My corn, which hasn’t had constant watering, is showing some stress now.  Weeds are rampant through my little patch as I have lost interest in pulling them every doggone day.  I discover one of my blueberries had dried up an died – oops.  I forgot about that one since it was in a different part of the yard.  The bent over tomato plant is producing, but some kind of bug is boring holes in many of the tomatoes.  My other tomato plants aren’t doing well; I think the lack of daily watering has shocked them.  I really don’t have any idea why they aren’t doing well, they just aren’t.  A friend at work is bringing huge tomatoes to work to give to people.  Mine (those that haven’t been eaten by bugs) are small and often cracked.  The two surviving blueberry plants still haven’t grown an inch, but they are nice and leafy and green.  Alas, neither has produced any berries.
 
What’s the moral of my story?  I’ve learned a lot about just how hard it is to grow food.  It was toilsome, sweaty manual labor just to get the ground ready.  A back yard full of compressed subdivision clay does not lend itself to gardening.  Rabbits, mildew, bugs all got their share of the produce.  I got a few pounds of squash, too much zucchini, a few decent tomatoes (so far), a dozen ears of corn and three blueberries.  I used a bit of 10-10-10 fertilizer and no pesticides.  What we ate was delicious.  Everything I got could be bought at the store for maybe $20.  I invested more than that in compost and peat moss.  Still, it was fun (at first) and I know more about gardening than I did in April.  If you think you are going to turn your backyard into a post-TEOTWAWKI farm, you are mistaken. 

I am a suburbanite, not a farmer.  Becoming proficient at growing crops is not something you can just luck in to.  Will I grow a garden next year?  I don’t know, probably some corn again.  I really would like to grow plants that come back every year, like my blueberries, blackberries or maybe a fruit tree.  I’m a little discouraged.  This is a lot harder than it looks.

Four Letters Re: Hurricane Irene Lessons Learned

Mr. Rawles,
I am in northwest N.J. I wasn’t affected as badly by the hurricane as others were, but I did learn a few lessons about my preparedness.

1. Inspect your gear on a regular basis. I live on a dead-end street, and the road goes over a country stream, which flows underneath through a 2-foot culvert with a paved berm built over the top of it. Yesterday, that country stream became a 40-foot wide river about 10 inches deep and flowing rapidly over the road surface. To get across that, I got out my waders — and discovered that mice had chewed some holes in them. They were still usable for getting through that water, but I can never use them again to go fishing. P.S.: inspect one’s bug-out bag regularly; also inspect food storage containers, including the back side and the bottom, to ensure they haven’t been compromised. I plan on doing this once a month going forward.

2. Mindset change: don’t skimp on temporary arrangements. I have lots of supplies for preparedness, but when the situation is going to be temporary — for example, power will be out for 6 or 8 hours, instead of multiple days — one thinks, “I don’t really want to drag out (gear, supplies, etc.) to set up, only to have to clean and put away everything tomorrow.” Wrong attitude. If you need light, set yourself up to have plenty of light. If you need an alternative cooking arrangement, set it up. Not only does it fix your mindset, but it gives you good opportunities to (a) train in “actual” survival, (b) test/inventory your stuff, and (c) train yourself in expedient setup/breakdown of your gear.

3. You never have enough light. Have a candle (safe to burn unattended) or other light in each room you’ll be using, multiple lights in any room or space where you’ll be spending most of your time or doing any kind of work, and always have a light source that you can carry with you at all times. For the last, I like a Petzl headband lamp. If it’s too uncomfortable to wear continuously, it fits easily in your pocket.

4. A fully charged laptop is a great tool to recharge your cell phone or smart phone during power outages. More: I got (and was able to give) lots of information with a smart phone during an extended power outage.

5. Perform (or augment) your preps at least two seasons ahead of time. Start stocking up winter items during the summer and vice versa. Not only will you be more prepared, but you’re likely to find better prices.

6. Change your fuel. I have a 2-gallon gas can that I use only for my chainsaw. When I was getting ready for the hurricane, I realized that the gas in the can had been in there for 2 or 3 years, so I had to get rid of it (my mechanic took it) and get some fresh gas. New rule I’ve implemented: first weekend of the month, I will empty the gas can into my car and refill it with fresh gas. Not only does it keep the gas fresh, but it ensures that I have 40-50 miles of emergency driving stored in a can in my garage.

7. Use your batteries. How many people stock up on batteries, rarely use them … and then discover, when the batteries are needed, that the expiration date was 6 years ago? In my experience, such batteries still work but have a markedly decreased useful life.

8. Set up some supplies/gear explicitly for temporary, “expected” emergencies. For example, if you know from past experience that you will always see at least one summer power outage lasting for 3 days, set up a specific section of gear for that situation. That way, you don’t have to go through everything — in the dark, no less — saying, “I need (this) from the pantry, and (this) from the downstairs gear locker, and (this) from my under bed storage.” Have one shelf set aside for “summer power outage” in this example

9. Do training scenarios to review your preparedness. Say to yourself “There’s a hurricane forecast for 4 days from now” or “Forecasters are seeing a blizzard occurring 3 days from now.” Where am I deficient? What supplies do I need to restock? What outdoor preps (clean gutters, clear dead tree limbs, secure gear from wind, etc.) do I need to accomplish prior to that emergency? Not only is this good training — but if you write it down, you author a prep manual to which you can refer and that you can use to instruct others.

10. Charge anything that can be charged the night before. Cell/smart phones are handy for emergency communication (presuming the comm networks aren’t knocked out). Laptops enable you to do some work. A portable car starter battery can be used for its intended purpose or it can run an inverter. If everything’s charged before the emergency hits, your peace of mind is a little better. I’ve made this a mandatory “day-before-the-emergency” prep.

11. Get more money. This one is presenting difficulty for me. Like many readers of your blog, I have been struggling financially for several years — you probably remember that I’ve commented a couple of times on this topic. I’ve done, I think, a pretty good job of preparing on a very limited budget. But there are some things, pricier preps, on which you can’t skimp: you either pony up or you do without. For example, I’m in a pretty good position on food and water but deficient on quality hand tools, fuels, and durable clothing (and I’d love to have one of those Berkey filters!). I can’t magically make the prices go down, so my only option is to generate more cash and then purchase as wisely as my budget permits. Have to explore this further, as I’m already working two jobs, 7 days a week, just to survive.

One positive reflection: someone asked me a few days ago, “What are you doing to prepare for the hurricane?” Other than gassing up the car, cleaning the gutters, and filling the aforementioned gas can, I didn’t need to do or purchase anything.

One other note for preppers: don’t ever let anyone get away with calling you a “hoarder.” There is an important distinction: Preppers stock up 12 weeks or 12 months before an emergency; but people who stock up just 12 hours before the situation are the hoarders.

Best, – J.C.

 

Jim,
Living on the east coast, Hurricane Irene was a concern. However, I wanted to share the wonderful sense of already being prepared (much thanks to your wonderful site). I called the wife and asked what I needed to pick up, she said: “nothing.” It was truly heartening to be able to drive past the crowded parking lots as the hordes swamped the supermarkets as the week progressed. Naturally I filled the fuel tank and extra gasoline cans. We had
minimal damage, trees and limbs down, and the power stayed on. My thoughts and prayers go out to those who were not so fortunate. – Ken

 

Good Day JWR,
I live and work in the people’s socialist republic of Neu Jersey, in the Central Region less than five miles from the Atlantic Ocean (the way the crow flies).  Being a prepper and working in the law enforcement field at a major penitentiary, I was in tune to what was going on from the initial projections.  Thursday and Friday before Hurricane Irene hit we were in statewide video conference after video conference.  All the figure heads were running around like a chicken without a head.  Each time one of them would ask me a stupid question; I would smirk and say something smart like “had you been paying attention to me over the last four years, we wouldn’t be in this situation now”.  To make a long story short, a smaller correctional facility in the Southern Region had to evacuate all 1,500 inmates – because they were housed in trailers.  Obviously that wouldn’t stand up to well to the more than 75mph winds.  In the end, all were successfully transported out with much fanfare, then returned with no bells and whistles today.  But, all department resources were dedicated to that effort – meaning the other dozen or so institutions were on our own.
 
We moved over 100 minimum security inmates out of our outlying camp and into the main facility Visiting Hall because they were housed in trailers.  We moved two of our medium security housing unit dormitories (another 100 inmates) inside the main complex to the Gymnasium due to the flooding.  Thankfully our food service staff had stockpiled approximately half a week’s worth of food and water and our maintenance staff was on site fixing damages that could be repaired in the storm.  Uniformed custody staff were held over (most volunteering due to the shortage of overtime in the last two years under Governor Christie) and the institution was run on an abbreviated schedule with no mishaps or problems other than a temporary power loss from outside the facility; which was counter acted by our in house generators.
 
On the personal front, I was dismayed at the Governor declaring a state of emergency on Thursday at noon.  Friday the major highways were shut down and nobody allowed South bound of certain points.  This was not due to a reverse lanes evacuation strategy.  Christie was on television over and over telling everyone and anyone it was a “mandatory evacuation” and that they better leave now.  Local police and fire and emergency medical services all went on abbreviated response postures.  Most followed FEMA guidelines that more than a 40 mph sustained wind equaled no emergency response.  Some municipalities established curfews.  Some emergency services ignored the FEMA response guidelines and ‘eyeballed’ the current conditions before determining if they would respond immediately or wait for better weather.  Regardless, the call volume significantly curtailed once the real storm front came into play.
 
During the tropical storm, there were/are many areas without power.  The typical areas subject to regular flooding are of course flooded.  Other areas not usually flooded had also experienced flooding.  We lost our cable service, thus no television, telephone, or Internet/E-Mail was working for about 24 hours.  Supposedly our telephone had battery backup for just such an instance, but that obviously was not the case.  Security problems would not have been an issue for us, but an actual serious fire or medical emergency would have been a problem.  Our cellular telephones never lost service, but had it gone on for a few days we would have been up the creek without a paddle.  Note to self: maintain at least ‘old fashioned’ Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) with at least one handset in the home for just such occasions.  If electrical power goes down, POTS still works.
 
My wife finally decided on Friday evening to go to the supermarket to pick up last minute things.  Surprise, surprise, the shelves were bare.  She works for a grocery store chain and came home Wednesday and Thursday and again on Friday stating this store and that store were closing and canceling deliveries.  Some are still closed as of this Monday evening due to no power.  While I have some food stores squirreled away and wasn’t really concerned, she most certainly was.  I used the moment as a teaching aid and informed her that this is the reason why I have been preaching regularly adding to the cupboards and pantry whenever non-perishable items are on sale.  Of course she never took me up on it, stating ‘yeah, right’ and the like.  So now I told her that she and the kids would not go hungry as I had plenty of MREs available and that now perhaps she would heed my suggestions.  She was praying this would get over quickly as MREs were not looking very appetizing to her.  Bottom line, store shelves were bare and were not getting restocked anytime soon.

Nursing Homes and group homes were evacuated in Southern New Jersey.  They sent them up to the Central and Northern Regions.  Rutgers University in New Brunswick put over 400 residents in two gymnasiums and the Mennen Arena in Morris County housed another 500 or so residents.  These were all moved by about 50 ambulances from Pennsylvania in on mutual aid compacts.  Likewise, the New Jersey Disaster Medical Assistance Teams was already deployed to North Carolina and the New Jersey EMS Task Force was deploying 100 ambulances to Virginia.  Apparently under FEMA edict, state resources cannot deploy to their own state in a disaster?  That sounded odd, but that’s what I was told.  The problem was there was not enough medical staff to go around, and the few who traveled with the ‘convoys’ were “not allowed” to assist other homes’ patients.  I am filing these little tidbits as well into my memory just in case I ever have to put a relative in a nursing or group home.  It was great that they were evacuated, but what was to be their fate upon reaching the evacuation center?
 
Locally, my town suffered numerous power outages killing street lights and snarling traffic after the storm.  Many homes were flooded and had to be evacuated.  Many stores and houses still do not have power, a friend only six blocks away was told they’ll be lucky to have power back by the next weekend.  The fire department is running around to numerous building foundation collapse calls.  Public Works is cutting down felled trees and big branches are being removed.  Sanitation is back on a normal schedule.  The police must be working beau coup overtime because most major intersections have officers directing traffic as the street lights were out.  We had battened down our hatches and secured all outside furniture and toys and the like on Friday so we had no major concerns other than perhaps some water leakage into the basement.  We didn’t even have that.  Other than our cable issue, we never lost power and had no other problems to speak of.  Being a prepper had us well ahead of the learning curve both at home and work.  While everyone was scrambling around like crazy, I was sitting back smoking a cigar and drinking a scotch.
 
Keep up the great work you do in keeping us informed and providing thought provoking topics to read and learn.
 
Sincerely, – The Last N.J. Conservative

Mr Rawles,
I’m not sure if you heard this news out of Pennsylvania but the Cabela’s at Hamburg was discounting generators by $180 due to public need.  I could be sinister and think they made more off sales from survival supplies to make up the difference, but they did go ahead and ship all available generators from across the country to the east coast.  I think this is a stand up company and they will get more of my business.
 
Thank you for your time. – Bradley A.

Letter Re: Converting Body Motion and Heat Into Electricity

Jim:
The piece that you linked to was simply copied from GizMag. (They did so with credit, as if that makes it okay.) It looks like volumatrixgroup.com is one of those sites that uses stolen blog posts to get hits for ads.

The technology itself is a scam under a thin veneer of science. Their “20W” figure is about three orders of magnitude too high, for one thing. That figure describes all of the energy losses in walking, including the energy losses inside muscles and joints and the energy that goes into warming the surface under the shoe. The part that goes into the shoe itself is probably somewhere around 5% to 15% of that, or 3W at most for both shoes.  You’ve probably heard of the Carnot efficiency limit, which shows that small differences in temperature are very difficult to use as a source of power. Near body temperature, each degree of difference allows about 0.35% of conversion efficiency, so the tiny amounts of thermal energy they’re proposing to convert, which normally cause your shoes to be a few degrees warmer than they’d otherwise be, can be converted to electricity at a maximum theoretical efficiency of maybe one or two percent. Much less, of course, after being processed by any real mechanism. 

So starting with maybe a few watts of thermal energy going into the shoe, the Carnot efficiency equation defines a limit around 60 mW of theoretical yield, and a good mechanism might produce 20 mW of useful electricity.  By comparison, other researchers came up with slightly better numbers in a relatively easy implementation– piezoelectric energy harvesting in the shoulder straps of military backpacks.   But it’s still silly. – P.N.G.

Economics and Investing:

The Next Banking Crisis Starts Here

The latest Calvin and Hobbes cartoon (August 30, 2011) sums up the prevailing attitude in modern-day America. (Thanks to P.D.K. for the link.)

Chuck from The McAlvany Intelligence Advisor pointed me to a special report series, where CNBC belatedly wakes up about the bull market in gold.

Items from The Economatrix:

Irene Likely to Lead to Higher Insurance Premiums

Euro Bailouts in Doubt as “Hysteria” Sweeps Germany

Three Years After Lehman, a New Debt Crisis Looms

Fear Sets In, Panic Begins, Ruin Perceived, Prepare for Gold $2100

Odds ‘n Sods:

Real Wrath of God Stuff: From Waterbury to Wilmington, Vermonters shocked by Irene’s destruction. Meanwhile, we read about the wisdom of stocking up and owning a water filter: Airlifts take food, water to cut-off Vermont towns. (Thanks to T.E.M. for the links.)

   o o o

The second person killed by bears this summer at Yellowstone Park: Michigan man killed by grizzly in Yellowstone. Somebody ought to remind folks that it is again legal to carry a gun in a National Park, as long as you are in accordance with state law. (That is, in a state where open carry or concealed carry is legal.)

   o o o

K.A.F. forwarded this: U.N. Warns of Bird Flu Resurgence, New Asian Strain

   o o o

Steve H. sent this link: Arsenic, Uranium and Other Trace Elements, a Potential Concern in Private Drinking Wells

   o o o

Joshua flagged this news item: ATF Director Reassigned; U.S. Attorney Out Amid ‘Fast and Furious’ Uproar. [JWR’s Comment: Good riddance to bad rubbish. Now it is time to shut down the entire rotten agency.]

Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 36 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize: A.) 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 B.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $300 value.) C.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $275 value), D.) A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo, and E.) An M17 medical kit from JRH Enterprises (a $179.95 value).

Second Prize: A.) A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol. It is a $439 value courtesy of Next Level Training. B.) 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, C.) A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials, and D.) two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 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, and C.) Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security.

Round 36 ends on September 30th, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

My Home Energy Backup System, by David L.

Introduction
My home energy backup system was originally conceived to make a little bit of power for a very long time.  Rather than backing up the whole house with a generator for a relatively short power outage of just a few hours or days, I wanted a system that would function in an extended power “grid down” scenario.  I was working from the self declared principle that when the grid is down at night, a single light bulb makes a huge difference in how you feel.  In addition, I wanted to preserve critical refrigeration and freezer functions indefinitely.

So why I am I doing this?  Two words come to mind: Resilience and Instability.  Without turning this into a political manifesto, it doesn’t take a genius to see how dependent we all are on certain “systems”.  Those systems make food appear on the grocery store shelves and plastic junk at Wal-Mart but for the most part, we don’t really know how it gets there.    What happens to grocery store deliveries if diesel prices triple?  Will the dollar always be worth something?  How many more jobs will ship overseas?   Was the President of the United States really serious when he declared that coal-fired electrical plants should be taxed out of existence because of their “carbon footprint?”  So in my mind, resiliency means thinking about how you would accomplish something if the primary or customary way of doing that something were suddenly unavailable.  Instability implies that interruptions to these systems are now so much more likely that they are not insignificant as most people have assumed all their lives, and warrant a second look by everyone.  Why is instability higher than ever?  Our economic system depends on exponential growth of debt to continue that system.  All engineers know that anything that grows exponentially is ultimately unstable and to top it all off, our system is now showing signs of great distress.  Think of it this way, our economic system is like a balloon.  When you start inflating it, you don’t worry about popping it.  However, we have been inflating our “balloon” for such a long time and with so much hot air that it can’t take much more.  Since economic systems are quite complex, no one knows what or when something bad will happen – something to warrant the planning I talk about in this article and the expense it entails – but it seems past the time to be preparing for that something.

Now on with the rest of our program… I had heard of people in Florida who had whole house backup generators fed by 1,000 gallon propane tanks buried under their driveways.  After hurricanes hit the area, these systems were exhausted in a few days – mostly running mammoth central air conditioners.  (Keep in mind that at $3 per gallon, it takes $3,000 just to fill up one of those tanks.) Many of these people were then without power for weeks.  Their systems failed them because their expectations for the length of the disaster were low.

I came to believe that making a small amount of power was my goal and I sized everything around the 2,000-2,500 Watt (W) range.  By that I mean that after spending thousands of dollars, I can only generate between 2,000 and 2,500 watts of continuous power and at 120 VAC that equates to a generated current of roughly 20 Amps (A).  You can walk into a home improvement store and buy a 6,500 watt generator for around $1,000 that delivers about 50A.  Given that most households are supplied by their electric utility with 200A service, have I lost my mind? 

Yes and no.  There are certainly a lot of things that a 2,500 W power system can’t do – like run your central AC (240 VAC), make hot water with your electric water heater, run an electric stove, and you might even be hard pressed to run some powerful hair dryers while operating other electrical devices – so what gives?  Ah, but you can do a lot of other very important things with 2,500 Watts of power, such as, running LED lighting.  At 6 Watts per light, I can light my whole house and not even make a dent in my 2,500 W power budget.  I considered all kinds of fancy refrigerators including those that run on propane, kerosene, and others marketed to off grid folks as super energy efficient.  In the end, I realized that a new model year 2011 nineteen cubic foot upright refrigerator/freezer with the freezer on top is about the most efficient appliance you can buy.  Realizing this tidbit only cost me $700 – delivered- from Lowe’s, and I used the money I saved over some multi thousand dollar device to add some extra photovoltaic (PV) panels to my roof.   I’ve watched this refrigerator run and after the compressor starts up, it consumes 1A AC @ 120V.  That’s 120 watts  or 2,880 Watt Hours (WHr) per day.  However, I would say that being very efficient and well insulated, that this refrigerator is only running its compressor at most half of the time.  Therefore I use about 1,440 WHr max per day for this appliance. 

So lighting and refrigeration/freezing are very much within the 2,500 W limit.  What about air conditioning?  I live in the south and it gets hot and humid here.  I don’t like to sleep in that kind of weather so I have a very generously-sized 3 ton central AC system (15 SEER) to keep me nice and cool 24/7.  However, in a grid down situation, that system will be useless to me unless I want to cover my ¾-acre lot with solar panels – probably not going to happen.  Maybe someday I’ll further investigate a geothermal heat pump.  I see claims that they can run on the equivalent of a refrigerator compressor and actually be viable on solar but with a $20,000 – $50,000 equipment and installation price tag that’s a long shot.  So I decided to try to run a window AC unit off of my alternative energy system so that means first complying with my 2,500 W self-imposed limit.  Let’s see… a ,6500 BTU window air conditioner to cool one good sized bedroom draws about 6A @ 120V when the compressor is running, so that’s 720W – check – still within the limit but there’s another problem…

 

Starting Appliances
Many appliances have electrical motors.  This includes power tools like circular saws and refrigeration compressors like you find in air conditioners, refrigerators/freezers.  Electrical motors have two power requirements:

  1. The amount of current to start the motor and
  2. The amount of current required to keep the motor running

Items one and two are very different.  Item one can best be described for compressors as the locked rotor amps (LRA).  If you are nosy enough when you go window air conditioner shopping you might be able to view the label on the compressor through the slotted venting on the side of the air conditioner (take a flashlight).  If you can see the LRA number, you may be discouraged – I was.  On my 6,500 BTU window air conditioner that runs on no more than 6A, the LRA is 24.  That means that my system has to provide 24A AC of instantaneous current (2,880 W) for a couple of seconds to start that compressor.  If your power system can’t provide that then you just bought yourself a very expensive fan – the compressor won’t start – ever.

A generator like mine, that surges to 2,500W can produce just over 20A – not enough.  By the way, the LRA on my Trane 3-ton central AC compressor is 83A.
Obviously, you need to buy a bigger generator – one with higher running watts and surging (starting) watts – right?  But bigger, reliable generators cost a lot more money and here’s the kicker – they use more fuel and fuel is something you’re trying to make last a very long time in a grid-down scenario.  And if you’ve seen those “economical” generators at the home improvement stores, just walk away.  I’ve heard them described as disposable as well as fuel hogs.   So, if a generator is on your list of got to have backup items for long term usage, you want one that sips fuel, is quiet, built to last, and that can run your essential stuff.

A note on fuel:  The generators at home improvement stores run on gasoline.  So if you plan to run one of these for weeks on end, you’re going to need a lot of gas – more than 5 gallons per day depending on the generator’s power generation capacity.  Gasoline also has a relatively short shelf life before it goes “stale” and we all know it’s volatile – as in “ka-boom”.  However, almost all gasoline generators can be converted to run on propane.  Propane stores in those nice, cute barbeque cylinders and it lasts for a very, very, long time.  A 20 pound barbeque propane cylinder stores about 5 gallons of propane. 

Moving on… Why don’t we convert that pesky window AC unit to start on less AC current – yes you just might be able to do that.  It turns out that the generator that I have is very popular with RVers because it’s fuel efficient and extremely quiet – 59dBA at load.  It’s so quiet that I can sit next to it while it’s running and talk on my cell phone.  In a grid down situation, that’s a good thing because a running generator says, “I have stuff and you don’t”, “come on over and steal that stuff” as well as irritating you as it drones on for hour after hour.   Continuing, these RVers were having trouble starting their 13,500 BTU roof-mounted AC units with my Yamaha inverter generator.  2,500W of surge just wasn’t enough to do the job so on a web forum discussing the problem, I was introduced to the supplemental hard start capacitor.  You connect this new capacitor in parallel to the compressor start capacitor that your air conditioner already has inside and voila – your AC unit starts on less current.  (I purchased the hard start cap on Amazon for $10 + shipping)  Using a clamp on ammeter capable of reading AC surge current, I measured my window air conditioner drop from 24A to 13A of starting current.  The first of many problems solved but I’m not interested in just long term generator operation because of the fuel issue.  (I should note that when you open your window air conditioner, you could electrocute yourself if you don’t know what you’re doing so if you aren’t used to working with electrical wiring, don’t do this yourself.  I’m a college educated electrical engineer with a master’s degree from a top 10 school, which is another way of saying I’m book smart but prone to electrocuting myself when I work on stuff in the real world – but at least I know the danger.)
 We need to move on to solar.

Building a System
To run indefinitely I would need a fuel source that never runs out – the sun seems like a good choice and while the sun will eventually burn out, scientists still expect the sun to outlast me.  So I decided to invest in some solar panels.  Not so coincidentally, I sized my solar array system in the 2,000 watt range and bought a 2,500 watt inverter.  Inverters have a distinct advantage over generators in that all of the ones that I considered can supply nearly double the rated wattage for surge requirements.  My 2,500W inverter actually surges to 4,000W which is 33A AC at 120V.
I decided to build a system fed by all three energy sources available to me:

  1. Solar
  2. Dual Fuel Generator (Gasoline or propane – propane as a better long term fuel choice)
  3. Utility or Grid Power

The system would have a battery storage component so that I could save the solar energy generated during the day for use at night.  The battery component of the system is also nice because even without solar, you can charge the batteries when the grid is operating and then use the power later when you need it.  This is a scenario that might play out if the grid were being switched off – as in rolling or scheduled blackouts.
Also, I didn’t intend to install enough panels to make tying back into the utility grid to sell my excess power worthwhile.   By my calculations, If I wanted to sell my 6kWHr of power generated each day back to the electric company through a grid tied inverter, I could expect about $0.11/kWHr in my area.  That’s $0.66 per day or around a $20 per month reduction in my utility bill.  Saving $240 per year wasn’t enough in my mind to warrant the additional expense and complexity of the grid tie inverter.  This also made me realize just how much power a modern home consumes since my monthly bill in winter is around $240 and in the summer about $400.

[JWR Adds: Also, keep in mind that grid-tied PV systems are much more vulnerable to EMP than stand-alone systems! This is because of EMP coupling through long utility power lines which act as antennas for EMP. They can carry EMP far beyond line of sight from a nuclear detonation.]

Mode 1 – Solar
In solar mode I have eight 230 watt solar panels feeding a maximum power point tracking (MPPT) charge controller.  I’m using an Outback FlexMax charge controller and its job is to take the DC voltage and current from my solar array (~70Vdc @ 25Adc the way I have them strung) and convert it into the voltage that my battery bank and inverter need – namely 24V.  When the system is running on just solar, the refrigerators and lights draw power form the battery bank during the night and during the day, that usage is replenished by the solar panels and the current needed by the appliances is also provided by the panels.  As long as the batteries can run the appliances all night and with some margin to spare and then fully recharge during the day, you never run out of electricity.  My battery bank uses more expensive gel cells because I didn’t want to fool with adding water to standard lead acid batteries.  Yes, I’m easily distracted and maintenance isn’t my first love.

I don’t want to discharge my batteries more than about 25 – 30% during the night because the deeper you discharge the batteries in between charges, the fewer charging cycles you will get out of your batteries before they have to be replaced.  I have about 14,400 watt hours of battery capacity so the 50% rule would allow me to use 7200 wHr before recharging.  Restricting my usage to only a 25% discharge allows for 3,600 WHr.  That 3600 WHr will run my two refrigerator/freezers and one upright freezer and a number of lights all night long.  My 1920 W of solar panels will realistically produce about 6,000 WHr of power per sunny day given their angle to the sun, our latitude, etc.  As you can see, I have a sizeable margin built in for cloudy days and generally bad weather.  So my panels should be more than adequate to recharge my batteries during the day.

In solar mode, the generator connections and grid power supply connections are shut off.  If I have calculated everything properly, and nothing breaks, the system should run for a long time.
What happens if I want to run that window air conditioner?  It consumes 720 Watts per hour if the compressor is running 100% of the time.  If it is the only AC unit running in my home during a grid down situation, I’ll assume the compressor is running about 80% of the time.  This equates to 576 Whr.  Over a 24 hour period I will need 24 * 576 = 13,824 WHr.  Either I’m not going to run this window AC 24/7 or I need another operational mode because my solar panels are only going to make about 6,000 WHr/day.  Enter the small, reliable and quiet generator.

Mode 2: Generator Power – working with small generators
Let’s say I really want to run that window AC unit – and believe me, I really want to.  This is where the 250 gallon propane tank – professionally installed and plumbed – in my yard comes in.   (Or the other various small sized tanks I have stored outside as well – 20 to 40 gallon tanks that make my generator portable and don’t require me to store a lot of gasoline).   Always store and use propane tanks outside in a well ventilated area. 
My Mastervolt MassCombi inverter is actually an inverter/charger/transfer switch all-in-one unit.  The inverter is intended for marine applications where shore power can be iffy.  It can be set to current limit its AC input to match the shore power (generator) output of roughly 15 amps or any other low capacity AC source.  If the appliances connected to the inverter are consuming less than 15Aac, then the balance of the AC power is converted to dc and used to charge the batteries but here comes the best part.  If an AC motor attempts to start and more surge current capacity is required, the inverter will automatically pull the extra surge current from the battery bank and add it to the power coming from the generator – pretty cool.

During the peak daylight hours, the solar panels will produce enough power to run the window air conditioner, the refrigerators, and a number of other small appliances.  When the sun goes down, I can switch into generator mode and continue to run the window air conditioner, if my fuel situation permits.  This situation lasts for about three months every year when it is so hot and humid that air conditioning feels like a necessity – although a grid down scenario will redefine “necessity” for all of us.

I don’t run the solar charge controller and the inverter/AC-charger at the same time so as to not cause a conflict between the two chargers.  When the sun is out and shining, I run the solar charge controller.  If I need additional power, I run the generator at night and shut off the charge controller.

I could add more batteries and more solar panels and essentially eliminate the need for the overflow generator but to produce 13,824 WHr of electricity per day (just for that window ac unit) and to have some margin for rainy days, I would need about twenty 230W panels and twelve 12V 200 AHr batteries.  The panels cost about $650 apiece and the batteries are about $500.  This doesn’t include additional infrastructure like a bigger battery box, additional charge controller, wiring, fuses, mounting hardware, etc.  The cost works out to an additional $10,000 – more than I want to spend to run a $149 window air conditioner.  And not to mention, I don’t have a good place to put twenty solar panels as I don’t want them visible from the street and the front of my home faces south.

By the way, that little 2000W generator of mine makes up to 48,000 WHr of power each 24 hour period that it runs which is another reason that if you have a small battery bank and solar already, it doesn’t take much of a generator to back it up.  A little Yamaha or Honda 1,000 Watt inverting generator sips fuel (runs 3.8 hours on 0.6 gal of fuel), is very quiet (53-59 dBA), and with a continuous power rating of 900W will produce up to 21,600 WHr of power in a 24 hour period – all for less than $1,000 plus fuel.  Have that generator converted to run on propane by a reputable company and add some solar panels, batteries, and an inverter and you have a small system that can run a lot of stuff for a long time.  Stash a few of those 20 lb barbeque propane cylinders outside to run your little generator and you are now in better shape than probably everyone else in your neighborhood when the lights go out.

Remember, I spent $650 * 8 = $5,200 on solar panels and I only make roughly 6,000 WHr with them on a sunny day.  By the time I add in a battery bank, fuses, inverter, copper wiring, etc., I figure I’m paying about $2 for every watt hour of solar generation and storage capacity.  Of course in a grid down situation, I might make a little more power as I would have more incentive to adjust the tilt angle of the panels monthly to track the sun through the sky.  I might also cut down that pesky tree that is partially shading my panels in the morning.  So in the end, solar is expensive and makes a fraction of the power that a generator can for the same dollar investment – but solar will do it quietly and almost forever – even when the fuel supplies run out.

Mode 3: Utility Mode – Creating an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS)
As I mentioned in the last section, my inverter is also an AC to DC charger and transfer switch all in one.  By that, I mean when incoming AC power is detected – and that can be from a generator or your main utility – the inverter runs in charging mode.  This means that it supplies the connected loads with the incoming AC power as a simple pass-thru and converts any remaining AC power to DC to charge the battery bank if the batteries are not already fully charged.  If the AC load of the appliances increases, the battery charging current is automatically decreased.

When my MassCombi detects that AC power has gone away, it automatically switches from AC charger mode to inverter mode in a fraction of a second and starts using DC power from the battery bank to invert into AC power.  In this manner, the system acts like an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) for the devices plugged into the system.  It also is a pure sine wave inverter which means it makes electricity which is just a clean as that coming from the utility.

Even if I didn’t have PV charging capability, this system would buffer the effect of rolling blackouts.  When grid power was present, the system would charge the batteries.  When grid power was absent, the batteries would supply the connected equipment.  As long as the power was on more than it was off and my battery capacity was sufficient for the appliances I am trying to run, this should work.  As the hours of “grid down” increase, the demands on the batteries will increase until the point is reached where some type of supplemental power is required – either a generator or solar or both.

Mode 4:  Bypass
When I wired my system I installed new dedicated electrical outlets to various rooms in my home to deliver the electrical power from this new system.  The lamp in my living room is plugged into one of these new outlets.  When the grid goes down, my lamp stays on.

However, if I am doing maintenance and want to keep the connected appliances running, I can turn off all the solar breakers, shut off the inverter/charger, disconnect the batteries and still route grid power through my system to the new electrical outlets.  This is a handy but non-essential feature.

Letter Re: Home Heating in the American Redoubt States

Sir;
I enjoy your site and have learned a lot from you and others of a similar mindset.  I enjoy the fact that the info you present is from the perspective  of  a Christian. 

I have been looking at land in Wyoming and while there is some very affordable land I have to wonder how anyone is going to heat their abode when “cheap oil” is gone.  I cannot find land that is in my budget that has any trees.
I have spent most of my life in the southern US and some time in Central America and I cannot imagine a winter in Montana or Wyoming with out a lot of firewood (or a big tank of propane).  Just wondered if I was missing something that was obvious to you mountain state people. Thanks, – Alan W.

JWR Replies:  One of the greatest self-sufficiency advantages of living inside the American Redoubt is that the majority of the populace cuts their own firewood. This means that unlike some other northern regions (such as the northern Plains) when the Schumer hits the fan, fuel for home heating will not be a critical resource, at least as long as a small quantity of gas for chain saws holds out. If someone doesn’t have a sufficient number or a suitable species of trees on their own property, then they will usually cut their firewood on nearby National Forest land. Home firewood cutting permits are very inexpensive. (Typically, $5 per cord, sold in a four cord increment, with a $20 permit.)

In the vicinity of the Rawles Ranch, most families heat their homes with Red Fir or Western Larch. Both of these trees make excellent firewood. The National Forests have long term renewable supplies of both–essentially unlimited, given the low population density in this region.

One other possibility for you in Wyoming is buying a property that has a surface coal seam. Such properties are surprisingly common, and they don’t sell at a huge premium over otherwise comparable properties that lack them. Just be sure that your purchase contract explicitly includes mineral rights! While it is not as hard as eastern anthracite coal, western coal burns fairly well. After quarrying, it should be stored in a shed to protect it from the rain.

Letter Re: Indeed, Inflation is With Us

Mr. Rawles:
When making a quick run to the grocery store to take advantage of some sales, I was amazed at the rise in some of the prices.  The same can of salmon that I purchased for $1.00 in preparation for Y2K was on sale for $2.69 – a “savings” of 90 cents from the normal retail price.  The same bag of sugar that I purchased for about $1.29-1.59 was $4.69.  So, I went out on the Internet to see what has gone on.  Here are several charts I found on MongaBay.com that show the alarming rises in the price of staple foods and commodities:

Prepping is just not about saving your life.  Preparation for Y2K has saved us a huge amount of money over the last ten years.  [When ” a loaf of wheat bread or three loaves of barley will cost a day’s pay” (Revelation 6.6), those who are prepared will fare much better.

Blessings on your house from ours, – Gracie

Economics and Investing:

Over at Forex Crunch: Dark Clouds Over European Banks

Euro bail-out in doubt as ‘hysteria’ sweeps Germany. (Thanks to J.B.G. for the link.)

B.B. suggested this article: German minister warns of seven-year global recession

David H. sent this: Commentary Lays Bare the Problems of Qualitative Easing…and The Banks

K.A.F. liked a piece by Ron Paul, over at the Fox News site: Bernanke Is Out of Options to Save Economy

G.G. sent this: More people having to delay retirement: The number of Britons forced to delay retirement into their late 60s and beyond has doubled over the past year as the rising cost of living hits home, a major study has revealed.

Items from The Economatrix:

The Winner Economy and the Loser Economy

Climbing the Wall of Ruin–America, The Bell Tolls for You

Insurers Drive Stocks Higher; Dow Gains 254

Hurricane Irene:  A Mixed Bag For Retailers

Contracts to Buy Homes Fell 1.3% in July

Odds ‘n Sods:

K.A.F. flagged this: Copper Thieves Leave I-95 In Palm Beach Co. In The Dark

   o o o

F.G. sent this: Yes, we’re the cops. Yes, we’re breaking the law. And yes, we don’t care.

   o o o

Michael Z. Williamson (SurvivalBlog’s Editor at Large) wrote to mention that he will be a member of several discussion panels or a solo lecturer at the upcoming Labor Day Weekend DragonCon, in Atlanta. Several of these panels should be of interest, such as: “Year Two” (You’ve survived the first year of the “apocalypse”. Now what?) and “Beans, Bullets, Band Aids: Bring On The Apocalypse.”

   o o o

Josh spotted this: Riot police fire tear gas on protesters in Athens, Greece

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"It is hardly too strong to say that the Constitution was made to guard the people against the dangers of good intentions. There are men in all ages who mean to govern well, but they mean to govern. They promise to be good masters, but they mean to be masters." – Daniel Webster