Letter Re: Climate Change Myth and Reality

Jim:
Regarding the recent Odd ‘n Sods link to the article about “The Prophet of Climate Change”: This planet on which we live has been “globally warmed” before, during that episode of time sometimes referred-to as the “Medieval Warm Period”. This warming (which is acknowledged to have been even warmer than our present-day) occurred without benefit of (the) Industrial Revolution, or even of a large human population. It (the Warming) waxed into being beginning around 750-850 A.D., waned, and then moved into the next bit of planetary-cycle, often thought of as (the) “Little Ice Age”.

This globe on which we all reside has seen these warm/cold cycles wax & wane for long before humans became the (supposedly; insects are said to be more widespread) dominant species. As I indicated above, the cycles have come and gone with little or no previous influence from humanity. Hysteria (and, making an “time ‘honored'” institution of trading “carbon credits” worldwide) aside, from where do these supposedly “experts” think that we humans have put our planet into “irreversible” warming, and that “6 billion people will perish by the end of the century”?

The quicksand, as it were, of hysteria is that nobody thusly involved wishes to be on the back-end of the proverbial horse. “Jumping on the bandwagon” is a very old and time honored way of “proving” to ones’ peers that they (the jumper[‘s]) have “gotten with the program”. I should know; in my time I’ve shouted-down common sense, jumped on bandwagons, and altogether told intelligent & common-sense to “take a hike”. In my case, however, I’ve come to my senses and decided to “Investigate, (but) not pile-on the wagon of hysteria” (noted above, a sad-to-say, but increasingly-popular, social-phenomena). Truly yours, – Ben L.

Weekly Survival Real Estate Market Update

Isolation, Neighbors, Security and the Golden Rule
This week we’ll look into some characteristics of retreat shopping that normally won’t become an issue until you have actually spent time “in theater” and have narrowed your search to several possible retreat properties to purchase. After taking the time to look at the properties available through SurvivalRealty.com and/or working with an experienced local agent in your selected retreat region, you should eventually work your list up to perhaps a half dozen prospective retreat properties that are on the market. . Then it is time to whittle that list down, by selecting the “best of the best”.

First, let’s assume that you are purchasing a retreat that will someday become a full time residence, but maybe not for a few year, yet you’ll need to get it stocked and prepped so you have a place to go should the SHTF. Some things to consider would be the lifestyle that a certain property will afford you both pre- and post-TEOTWAWKI and the security of your supplies while your retreat is unoccupied.

The quality of your immediate neighbors will be very important, especially for someone that may have a young family in tow. Providing the family with a home in an area that will afford certain socialization opportunities for all the family members. That should be high on the check off list in the final stages of a retreat purchase, as friendly self sufficient neighbors will become invaluable during a crisis. So, how would one learn about the neighbors? Knock on their door of course. Your real estate agent might become a little unnerved but who cares, it’s your life, right? (If your agent offers to run rear security while you talk to the new neighbors, you got a good one, let’s get ’em on the Blog!). If you have narrowed your search down to one or two properties I would simply go neighbor snooping. Introduce yourself and be forthcoming (to an extent of course, don’t tell them you read SurvivalBlog, yet) and let them know you are contemplating purchasing the property nearby and wanted to get an idea of who is in the neighborhood. And remember, these neighbors will most likely have anywhere from 5 to 100 acres maybe more so make it an all day journey.

Ask them if they do any canning, hunting, fishing, if they home school, raise livestock, or grow organically, et cetera. (These are all good buzz words to check for self sufficiency.) Get a little dialog going then ask them a few questions about the locale and once they get going just smile and listen. You’d be real surprised at what you’ll here in a small town. Really. Also, be sure to ask them where they moved from and why, this will give you an eye into who they are and what their motivations may be towards newcomers. Your neighbors need not be SurvivalBloggers, they simply have to be trustworthy (easy to find in smaller towns) and demonstrate some sort of self-reliance skills (noted above). It does help if they actually like you enough to want to watch your property while your not there also.
Being isolated in a cabin 20 miles from the nearest paved road may sound like fun, and it may be better in a total social collapse but remember, you have to live your life in between now and then. Being able to walk a few hundred yards to ask a neighbor for help with a tough chore or to drop off a freshly baked pie will add a lot to your family’s life, whether you are religious or not. If you have kids you’ll need to be comfortable with little Johnny walking a 1/4 mile to his friends house and vise-versa knowing each neighbor along the way does a mental check off as they see your child run by their home and will call you if they don’t see him come back home by nightfall. A sense of community is important, don’t leave it out of your checklist.

Well, what about commute time (convenience) versus isolation and security? My take on the matter is that I would rather commute longer than I would like for the next who knows how many working years I have left, than to live too close to a cesspool of society that I know will come looking for a handout should something ever happen, thus possibly threatening the safety of my loved ones. If you have to drive an extra 30 minutes to your 9 to 5 job to guarantee that the urban sprawl will not surround your retreat in 10 or 15 years, then suck it up and do it. You’ll thank yourself one dark day in the future! Remember, any property you see that you think is “out there” from a city dwellers perspective, will have a gas station (or storage unit for that matter) next door to it in 20 years, as the baby-boomers move out of the cities and some of the rest of the horde get smart and punch out as well. Location, location and most importantly, location! Saving a dollar may cost you a pound of lead someday!

Next on the list would be the security of your very valuable supplies, be it firearms/ammo, food and clothing stores and/or general survival supplies that you have worked hard to get over the years. This is one item that a lot of retreat shoppers don’t concentrate on very much. They assume that somehow a magic survivalist angel will hover over their cached gear and keep it safe. Not a chance. Better to presume that everyone within 5 miles will know the old “Jones Ranch” was sold and that the new owner is some out-of-towner that just vacations there. One more reason to have good and trustworthy neighbors who have a visual on your property and are like-minded.

Now, should someone break in (an assume they will, because, they will) you’ll need to construct a storage room with a false wall and hidden entrance so all that they get is the old Readers Digest on the toilet. Personally, my thoughts are that no retreat should be without a basement, either full or a walk-out will do. Either way, you’ll want to pick a back corner and have it walled off with concrete and a safe door as well as a solar-powered climate controlled system. I’m sure there are countless articles on the Blog about how to do this so I won’t waste time in detail, but just make sure that the wall and door are completely covered from prying eyes and hands. It also would be prudent to have a trusted friend that lives in the area come check the place out every week or so just to make sure all is well and you don’t have a disaster like a broken pipe waiting to fill your house for months until you arrive for that holiday trip to the retreat. That person could also help with logistics. Why ship supplies to yourself then drive them to your retreat, when they can be shipped direct and placed in your retreat by that person (a neighbor you get to know over time?) Who knows.

So to recap, make sure your retreat will provide a good social base and trusted neighbors (location!) as well as having a basement or out building for a secure storage room(s) to be built, concealed, and maintained. If these two items are checked off during your final purchasing phase then you’ll be much happier should you actually have to live full-time at your retreat, either by choice or happenstance.
Oh, and the Golden Rule? Naw, it’s the one who has the most lead that rules! God Bless, – Todd S. in northern Idaho

Odds ‘n Sods:

Just a reminder for those of you that assembled the $20 First Aid Kits last year. (See JN-EMT’s prize-winning article.) It is now time to replace your medications and re-stock. Also, consider making up some first aid kits for your friends/family and giving them away as Christmas gifts. You never know when you might get it back when you need help.

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It was announced that the US supreme court court will hear an appeal of the Heller case, wherein Washington, D.C. residents sued to overturn DC’s gun ban. God willing, the court’s ruling will expand the U.S. v. Lopez decision and thereby negate some of the plethora of Federal gun laws that were enacted in the last century. My prediction for the upcoming Heller appeal decision and subsequent Federal court decisions: The court will indeed recognize the second Amendment as an individual right. Many of the extant Federal statutes will stand as-is, but the Lopez doctrine will be expanded, allowing intrastate gun ownership to flourish. Conceivably, full autos and suppressors could be de-regulated (exempted from Federal controls and taxes) for ownership that does not involve interstate transfers.

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I just got the following note from the long term storage vendor Mountain Brook Foods: “We’re moving so we want to get you moving. Take advantage of our 50-to-70% reduction on the limited inventory that is being reduced. We will move it from our place to your, Nov. 23rd thru 30th. For your readers in California if they are close to our Tracy, California warehouse they can come and pick it up [to save on shipping] on selected items.”

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Several readers sent us the link to a book excerpt from veteran economist and “soft” survivalist Howard J. Ruff: The Watershed Years

Note from JWR:

Happy Thanksgiving! Today is a national holiday celebrated in the US (and a few weeks earlier each year in Canada), to give thanks to God for his providence. We indeed have much to be thankful for!

Letter Re: Light, Noise, and Smoke Discipline for Retreat Security

Sir:
I was reading your postings on light security and blackout curtains for a home that would be secure in the nighttime. I thought about it on my way home after work, and realize that you’re right. I’ve
driven around my area during power outages and know who is home, due to their having generators running and lights shining, or even just those using candles or lanterns of various types. As I was pondering those things, I pulled into my driveway and looked at my home and a question popped up immediately. Here in the Northeast, (Maine) we’re in the heating season.
If anything were to happen, it would be a dead giveaway to know who is home or who isn’t by looking at the chimneys and observing smoke coming out. Especially when you’re just starting the woodstove.
It has a tendency to create a lot of smoke until the stack temperature begins to heat up and cause an updraft. Do you know of any way to decrease smoke from a chimney, or any way to camouflage the
emissions?
Thanks for your blog and all that you do. Rob in Maine (Proud owner of an autographed “Patriots” book!)

JWR Replies: Aside from burning only well-dried wood and using your stove’s damper judiciously, I don’t know of any means of minimizing smoke from a chimney. (It is rapid changes in damper position that seem to generate the most smoke.) If you are in the habit of cranking up your stove with an open damper for roaring hot once a week to burn out any accumulated creosote from the upper reaches of your stove, then do so only after dark. Ditto for cleaning out ashes and re-kindling the stove.

Two Letters Re: Storage Foods for Vegetarians?

Mr. Rawles,
Just a quick note which may be of interest to your recent correspondent who inquired about long-term storable vegetarian meal options… please pass this along and/or publish it, or not, as you see fit.
There are indeed vegetarian MREs in the standard army-surplus offerings, but there have also been been some specialized vegetarian long-term shelf-stable rations developed under the names of (among others) “Meal, Alternative Regionally Customized” (MARC) and “Humanitarian Daily Rations” (HDR). The MARCs were designed to feed prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, and the HDRs were designed for emergency feeding in natural disasters; neither contain animal products or byproducts, in an effort to make them, by design, as acceptable as possible to end-users with belief-based food taboos.
See, e.g., these web pages MARC and HDR.

Some judicious Googling will turn up some purchase opportunities for surplus MARCs, such as this supplier. (Where MARCs are [euphemistically] described as “Vegetarian Indian Food MRE Entrees.”
I’ve sampled a couple of these, and while they will not make you forget your favorite Indian restaurant (to put it mildly) they’re pretty damned good for what they are.
Standard disclaimers apply: I have no affiliation with any vendor of MREs, including anyone who’s linked above… I am just trying to pass along some possibly useful information to vegetarian/vegan readers of the blog.

I enjoy SurvivalBlog very much, by the way. I grew up in the country but have been living in New York City for many years now, and as a man whose only currently viable plan is “hunker down and shelter in place for anything that’s short-term survivable” (working on it!) I’m learning a lot, and I appreciate the calm, sane, rational approach you take to the subject matter.All best, – Barry C.

 

Dear Mr. Rawles,
First thank you for “Patriots”, your excellent blog, and your leadership.
Second, I have to laugh at the current blog discussion regarding preparing and vegetarians, with most input coming from non-vegetarians.
I’m 44 years old, have been vegetarian for over 15 years, and hold a first class FAA medical. Furthermore, my cholesterol has been routinely in the 130-150 range for years. To clarify, I’m probably the least “picky” eater I know. Basically don’t feed me anything with chicken, pork or beef in it and I’m happy. (Anything requiring a .gov warning to burn to a cinder before it’s fit(?) for human consumption.)
To the point: Protein is not an issue and never has been. (B vitamins and in particular B12 can be, though.) Supplementation with a good multivitamin is a good idea with any kind of diet.) Complete protein for a vegetarian is as easy as rice with beans, or corn with beans. Done. American Indians subsisted and prospered with “The Three Sisters”: corn, beans, and squash. Sounds good to me, and with proper seed selection is even a sustainable menu as well.
As for a stockpile, I’ll take rice and beans over cows or chickens any day! And as you already pointed out, I’ve been eating the stuff for years. When TEOTWAWKI happens, basically from a diet, gastric, and menu perspective, I really wouldn’t notice much of a change. That’s probably a significant advantage.
Ideas like buying prepackaged vegetarian “meals,” though well intentioned are kinda silly, considering the 50 pound bags of staples/seeds that are already available, inexpensive, and easily storable for years.
Thanks again and God Bless, – Ed in Oregon

JWR Replies: I agree that at a fixed-site retreat, pre-packed meals (such as MREs and MARCs) don’t make much sense. But when operating in the field, they save time, obviate the need to carry a stove and cooking utensils, and reduce the noise, odor, and light “signature” of a campsite. In my experience, 80% or more of the food supplies that a family needs to store can be found in bulk at very competitive prices at your local “big box” membership store, such as Costco or Sam’s Club. This sort of procurement is described in detail in my “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course.

Letter Re: Garage and Yard Sales as a Retreat Logistics Source

Hi Mr. Rawles,
I’ve been able to pick up a lot of gear at garage and yard sales. Most importantly, I’ve found many practical books at yard sales and junk stores that sell books for $1 or even just 25 cents each. I was able to pick up a home medical adviser from the 1920s for 25 cents. I have also bought numerous books on small scale farming, canning, food storage, and living off the grid from the 1920s for a dollar each. Much of the information would be relevant to a post-TEOTWAWKI, as it was written for farmers or rural residents that didn’t have access to electricity and largely lived off the land.

I have a few books about working on houses from the post-WWII years since it is before plastics, which has inherent benefits in a survival situation since they will be hard to find at Home Depot. They also have information on how to make repairs that today the answer would be buy a new one, or use a hard to find/expensive par. (Impossible in a survival situation.)

These are the books that I have found most helpful:
The Home Handyman’s Guide edited by Hubbard Cobb copyright 1949
Readers Digest Back to Basics Copyright 1981 (most important by far with general info on everything)
2004 Emergency Response Guidebook (there is a new version every year, its given free to public safety organizations)
The Weather Wise Gardner by Calvin Simmons Copyright 1983 ISBN 0-87857-428-X
The New American Garden Book Copyright 1954 edited by Dorothy Sara
The People’s Common Sense Medical Adviser by RV Pierce copyright 1895 [JWR Adds: Keep in mind that some of the home medical remedies described in books of this vintage (such as “take a spoonful of kerosene…”) are not safe or recommended! OBTW, a similar encyclopedia titled “The Household Cyclopedia“, circa 1881, is now available online for free download. Thanks to reader “TinCan” for sending SurvivalBlog that link.]
Various USDA agricultural yearbooks from pre-1935, these are also great because a fair deal of them is geared towards the farms that existed as family farms and were quite self sufficient.

Also, on another note, for people that live in suburbia it is important to block visibility from neighbors or the street when storing cached gear. For example, I was driving through my neighborhood today and there was a small horse trailer (in neighborhood where livestock is prohibited by the homeowners association) inside a garage. That sort of thing draws attention and others will start rumors “Why does he have a horse trailer inside his garage? What are they trying to hide?” When TSHTF neighbors will start talking more and maybe something may come up. I hope these books and the advice helps someone. Regards, -Sam

Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader John M. mentioned: “With Christmas coming up, this is a great time to ask friends and co-workers to save their empty popcorn and cookie tins. Placing small electronic items in the smaller cookie tins and then nesting those tins inside the larger popcorn tins is an inexpensive way to provide a measure of EMP shielding. And the price is right!”

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The special 33% off sale for the “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course ends on November 30th. Be sure to place your order soon. The course only rarely goes on sale.

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For those of you that just can’t wait for the release of the “I Am Legend” movie on December 14th, an early draft of the screenplay (before Will Smith got involved, and when the locale was still San Francisco) written by Mark Protosevich is available online. A hat tip to PNG for sending us the link.

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MM suggested this article by Chris Laird: Monster Western Credit Crisis – Prelude to a Depression

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“I haven’t used either my home fire insurance or my earthquake insurance. I am particularly pleased I haven’t used the life insurance yet…” – Jerry, 650k6

Note from JWR:

I am very pleased to report that the “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course from Arbogast Publishing is now on sale, at 33% off the normal retail price! This publisher’s special pricing will only last for just over a week, so don’t hesitate! To get the special sale price, all orders must be placed online or postmarked by November 30th. Get a copy for yourself, or one or more to give as Christmas gifts for your relatives that have their heads in the sand.

Letter Re: Electronic “Cash” in the Event of a Banking Emergency?

Jim,
What if the banks were closed for a Bank Holiday by the President, for let’s say one week. Question: Could one still use their credit card? Or is the system intertwined? Keep up the great work you do and service you provide the world. – David V

JWR Replies: In the event of a national banking crisis and bank “holiday”, I predict that all bank doors will be closed and that every form of electronic money will be inoperative (ATMs, debit cards, credit cards, et cetera.) You might be able to write checks at some local businesses, but don’t depend on being able to do so. There is even a smaller chance that some “Mom & Pop” stores will manually run a credit card slip for later processing, but that would be horribly naive of them. Nearly all merchants now use “Point of Purchase” (POP) electronic processing via a phone line to confirm credit card purchases, but the POP systems will surely be “down.”)

If you can afford to, I recommend that you keep at least $1,000 in greenbacks on hand at all times.

Charity During Hard Times, by Grandpappy

Hard times usually result in an overwhelming number of people who:
1. Do not have a job of any kind, and
2. Have no steady income from any source, and
3. Are usually either homeless or are living with close relatives.

During hard times these individuals need almost everything, including food, shelter, clothing, and basic medical care. During really hard times the large and growing number of homeless individuals greatly exceeds the carrying capacity of the local community in terms of voluntary charitable donations. There are just not enough homeless shelters and free food/soup kitchens that provide one meal per day to accommodate everyone. To survive during hard times these homeless individuals must choose between becoming thieves or beggars or both.
Therefore, during hard times the crime rate increases significantly. Since God was expelled from our school systems and our work places many decades ago, there are now a large number of people who have little or no respect for any type of authority, or for the rights of anyone other than themselves. These individuals do not evaluate their actions on any moral or ethical principles other than whether or not their action results in an improvement in their own personal welfare.

As our current hard times tragedy continues to unfold, any family that still has a home that contains a wage earner will quickly learn that if they are going to continue to survive they must not make themselves an obvious or easy target for thieves or a target for a continuous stream of beggars.

Each individual family will need to make their own decision on whether or not they can afford to be charitable. Some families are already in such serious financial difficulty that they are barely able to meet their own basic survival needs and charity is simply not an option. Other families may be a little better off and they may be able to afford a little charity every now and then. The difficulty is that homeless families do not need help every now and then; they need it continuously.

If a person or family makes the decision to dispense charity directly from their home or apartment, then they may experience the following problems:
1. Having anyone and everyone knocking on your door at any time of the day or night.
2. Receiving verbal abuse, or something worse, when you honestly have no charity to give away at the current time.
3. Experiencing the occasional angry face-to-face confrontation with an individual or family that is not grateful for what you do offer to give to them, and they accuse you of being able to give more and they demand that you do so or suffer the consequences.

For these reasons, among others, a prudent family will need to determine how they can be charitable without putting the safety of their own family at risk.

Fortunately, there is a simple solution to this charity question. After determining what they can actually afford to give away, each family can make donations of money, food, clothing, and/or medicine to a local food bank, homeless shelter, orphanage, or local church with the stipulation that the gift be used to help the needy families in the local area.

The donation may be made to one of these organizations that is located close to the donating family, or to one that is a reasonable distance away if anonymity is considered a prudent course of action. The advantage of donating to a nearby establishment is that the donating family can direct any beggars to its location. The family would not have to mention whether or not they personally donated anything of value to the charitable organization; they could simply say they heard that food was available there.

During hard times the beggar (hobo) information network works extremely well and everyone knows which homes always say “no” and which ones sometimes say “yes” and which ones always “give directions to the nearest charitable organization.” A family can put a simple note and a directions map on their front door (or gate) to help reduce the number of beggars who actually knock on their door. The note could be written in English and Spanish. Without opening the door, the family could ask who is knocking and what their business is, and then give directions through the closed door. Remember that an innocent looking beggar could also be a very skilled thief and/or killer. Always keep your doors closed and bolted during hard times and ask and answer questions through the door. Do not open your door even to those who pretend to have or who actually do have hearing deficiencies. The note on your front door should be adequate to answer any question the hard of hearing may have.

During serious hard times the local churches and their leaders will be confronted with an increasing and overwhelming number of requests for help. Many churches will respond by setting up committees to oversee the collection, storing, and distribution of food, clothing, and other supplies to needy families. Some churches already perform this function in their communities on an ongoing basis. The advantage of making your charitable donations to a church or other charitable organization is that they can more equally distribute the available charity to everyone who is in need. And when the charity is all gone, those who received it will know that more will not be available until some future time, whether it is a free hot meal the following day, or a few more free groceries one week or one month from now.
A nearby local church or other charitable organization is a superior method for equitably distributing charity to everyone who is need. The reasons are as follows:
1. They will receive charitable donations from anyone regardless of whether or not the individual is a member of the organization or church.
2. They are usually located within a reasonable distance of the families who are donating the charity.
3. They are usually within walking distance or bicycle distance of the needy families.
4. They distribute charity to local residents and individuals passing through the community and therefore they help to relieve local suffering and reduce the local crime rate.
5. They minimize the chance of one family receiving more charitable assistance than another family.
6. The local charitable organization usually knows if any work is available locally and they will pass that information on to the welfare recipients. This helps those in charge of dispensing charity to identify the families who have members who could work but chose not to. Families who accept work assignments and faithfully discharge those work duties will also usually be told where they can rent a meager but simple room to live in.
7. The recipients of the charity quickly learn where the charity is being given and it helps to minimize their investment of time and energy in receiving assistance.
8. It provides everyone in the local area with an immediate and helpful answer to anyone who is in need of assistance. No one ever has to say, “No, I can’t help you.” Instead everyone can provide directions to the nearest charitable organization.
9. Beggars will quickly learn that it is fruitless to beg door-to-door in a local area because anyone who has anything to give has already donated it to the local charitable organization.
10. When the total amount of available charity in an area is not adequate to sustain all the families in that area that need charity assistance, then some of those families will realize it is time to move on to another area where the overall conditions might be more favorable.

In closing may I suggest you read the book written by Pitirim A. Sorokin called “Man and Society in Calamity.” It contains historical information about how starving individuals have actually behaved during previous hard times. A condensed summary of his book can be read at my web site: Man and Society in Calamity – Summary.
Respectfully, – Grandpappy

JWR Adds: It is noteworthy that there are many stories dating back to the Great Depression about the methods that hobos used to “mark” the property of families and businesses that were willing to give charity to strangers. The recent upsurge in “warchalking” of free wireless access locations is reminiscent of this practice.

I do recommend being charitable, but like Grandpappy, for your own safety, I recommend that you be charitable at arm’s length. Working through a church as an intermediary is a time-proven method.

Odds ‘n Sods:

Dave M. sent us this: A perfect storm for gold as mines left empty.

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Here is some more hot air from the Treasury Department: Paulson Signals He Expects U.S. Dollar to Rebound. “And if you believe that…”

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I heard that Ready Made Resources has added very compact Deluxe Outdoor Survival Tool Kit to their product line. It includes a couple or my favorite pieces of field gear: a Blast Match and a SaberCut™ Saw. (The latter is a sort of “hand chain saw”. These cut tree limbs very fast!) OBTW, they also mentioned that they are now down to less than 500 infrared chemical light sticks. Civilian production is now restricted, so get them while you can!

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David Crawford, (the author of the survivalist e-novel “Lights Out”) is now drafting a new novel called “Lost and Found”. The first 20 chapters are posted over at the AR15.com Forums.

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"Let us speak courteously, deal fairly, and keep ourselves armed and ready." – President Theodore Roosevelt, San Francisco, California, May 13, 1903