Odds ‘n Sods:

The public comment period on The 2007 Farm Bill (including funding for NAIS) ends on December 31st. If you object to NAIS biochipping of farm livestock and pets please be sure to register your comments.

  o o o

Economic commentator Mish Shedlock (co-editor of the free Whiskey and Gunpowder e-newsletter) offered the following on the value of U.S. five cent “nickel” pieces: “The Mint had to be crazy to announce that a nickel is worth 7 cents. I got to thinking about this a bit more, and a nickel is really 0.05 dollars plus a call option on the price of copper and nickel (the metals) in the nickel. If that option is ITM (in the money) enough, the mint cannot prevent people from hoarding them, which will in turn drive up the cost of producing them. In fact, the actual price does not even have to get high enough; the mere expectation that metal prices will get high enough could cause hoarding. Of course, the Mint tried to negate that call option by making it illegal to melt the coins, but that will not stop hoarding if the expected or actual price of copper and nickel gets high enough. All the Mint really accomplished was telling everyone that a nickel is backed up by something useful, even if a dollar is not. Eventually, this is likely to force the mint to debase the nickel by replacing the copper and nickel in the nickel with steel or aluminum.”

   o o o

Reader “Swampthing” notes that the The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) has the goal of a total ban on all hunting and fishing. He suggests: “I think your readers should pay attention to every move they make, no matter how benign it seems.”

Letter Re: Is Radio Direction Finding a Potential Threat for Survivalists?

Merry Christmas Jim,
For added COMSEC, I strongly advise those with transceivers to leave the microphones unplugged. This is a sure way to limit giveaway radio frequency (RF) emissions.
For those who have to make transmissions, for example contacting family members, the use of [highly directional] high gain multi-element “beam” (yagi) or log periodic yagi antennas at the base station would reduce the RF signature. The higher the gain a “beam” antenna has the more elements there are on the boom and therefore the narrower the signal spread will be, in degrees, off the front of the antenna. An antenna that has 11-15 elements versus one that is constructed with 4 [elements] has a tighter pattern both vertically and horizontally. This, therefore, reduces the probability of intercept of the signal. [With highly directional antennas,] interception is not eliminated but the more line of sight the signal is, the harder it is to locate. This works better at the higher frequencies i.e.. 130 vs. 17 MHz and 440 vs. 151 MHz etc.
All the base station operator has to do is point the antenna (the end that has the shortest elements) at the receiving radio, be it a fixed station or mobile. Knowing the exact compass point is even better. As you stated liberal use of pre-arranged codes and frequency changes accompanied with pauses (time outs in transmissions) after frequency changing is helpful especially if the radios are dual band models where cross band transmission is employed. [Where station A transmits on frequency x and receives on frequency y, and meanwhile station B transmits on frequency y and receives on frequency x. Thus anyone intercepting the transmission will only hear one half of the conversation.]
I would venture to guess that there will not be many spread spectrum analyzers floating around the countryside during a meltdown but there will be scanners aplenty so I strongly recommend folks possess dual band radios. Just remember: Keep the microphones unplugged until needed. – Joe from Tennessee

Letter Re: FCC Eliminates Morse Code Requirement for Ham Radio Licenses

Hi Jim and Family,
I thought I would pass along a bit of news for Hams. The FCC has done away with the Morse code requirement for all U.S. Amateur Radio Licenses. The current No Code Tech license will change to include the Tech Plus license privileges. I can see advantages for knowing Morse code for communications. One thing it will punch through almost all interference and cover more distance on less power. However the FCC must have thought that the code requirement had become more of a hindrance to Hams as opposed to a benefit for each level of license. The changes should become effective sometime in February according to the Amateur Radio Relay League (ARRL) site. Here is the ARRL web page with all the information on the ruling.
I know a lot of Hams who bemoan the fact that the code requirement has gone away. I do understand their point. And unfortunately a part of communications history has passed. However I can see a benefit in one way. More Hams will more than likely seek a higher license level. And those who learn the code will do so not just to fulfill a requirement but for the love of the code. Those who did manage to learn for advancement did not necessarily keep up their skills and the code was not a big part of their abilities. Hence those who have a love of this mode of communication should preserve the code. 73s and Merry Christmas, – The Rabid One

Letter Re: A Retreat Construction Alternative–Grancrete

Hi Jim,
I saw this today and thought it was a very interesting construction technique: Grancrete.

I also saw a site on sandbag construction some time ago and I thought that it was also interesting

Either one could be used to construct a low cost shelter that could range from “bullet resistant” to “bullet proof”, depending on thickness. The grancrete could even be sprayed in successive layers to develop the desired thickness as it will adhere to itself unlike concrete.

I hope that you and yours have a wonderful Christmas and a happy and prosperous 2007! Regards, – Tim P.

Odds ‘n Sods:

Jason M. pointed out this article: Arizona has ended Nevada’s 19-year reign as the nation’s fastest-growing state, fueled by immigrants and Americans moving from other states.

   o o o

From our friend Noah, over at the DefenseTech blog: Some of the Blackwater and Triple Canopy boys are running a bit amok.

   o o o

John the Bowhunter mentioned this one: California home sellers face several more months of pain, leading housing economists said Thursday. I think that they are overly optimistic, it will more likely be years rather than “months” before the market recovers.

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“The idea that government doesn’t grant rights is offensive to those who wish to control our lives. Therefore, to gain greater control, the idea of natural rights, God-given rights and Christian values must be suppressed. The idea that rights precede government was John Locke’s natural law philosophy, which had a significant influence on our nation’s founders, but they chose to refer to natural law as rights endowed by the Creator. The attack on Christian ideas and Christian public displays is part and parcel of the Leftist control agenda in another way. Certain components of the Leftist agenda require that our primary allegiance be with government. As such, there must be an attack on allegiances to the teachings of the church and family. After all, for example, if you want popular acceptance of homosexual marriages, there must be a campaign against church teachings that condemn such practices. Emboldened by their successes in the courts and intimidation of public officials, Leftists will no doubt make other demands; there’s no logical end point except complete Christian capitulation. There are Christian symbols and exhibits in many Washington, DC, government buildings that will come down, such as: Moses with the Ten Commandments inside the U.S. Supreme Court, George Washington praying in the Capitol Building, Abraham Lincoln’s speech mentioning God carved inside the Lincoln Memorial. Religious programming on the radio and television will come under attack. After all, there’s Federal Communications Commission permission to use the ‘public airwaves.’ If Leftists say they have no such intention to go after television, radio and other public expressions of Christianity, what they really mean is that they haven’t softened us up enough yet. I’m not quite sure of just how we should respond to the ongoing attack on Christianity and American values, but we’d better do something quickly.” – Dr. Walter Williams

Note From JWR:

Today we present another Retreat Owner Profile. I have slightly fictionalized some details to protect the anonymity of “Mr. and Mrs. Oscar.” If you truly “live the life” of survivalism with a well-equipped retreat and you wouldn’t mind seeing your Profile up on this site, please e-mail me the details in the same format as the other Profiles, and I will consider posting it. (I have room for just a few more in the alphabetical archives.) Note: I’d particularly like to include Profiles from survivalists that live overseas.

Retreat Owner Profile: Mr. and Mrs. Oscar

Home/property: Located in eastern Wisconsin. 160 acres of mixed pine and oak forest. 32,000 trees planted in the last two years. Entered in tree management program. House 2,800 square feet. Principally heated by a soapstone stove with propane hot water backup. Built in 1981. Outbuilding shed/library/reloading room. A 40×30 pole barn. Shed has cast iron “cooking/heating” stove, wood fired…propane backup. 1,000 gallon propane tank. Inverter in place for addition of 6,500 watt diesel generator to be installed spring ’07. 200 gallons gasoline stabilized and in place. 70 gallons kerosene. 500 gallon diesel tank to be in place at addition of generator. Several solar panels in inventory and more to follow. Plan to get off grid by ’09 if there is time. Have 15 springs and an artesian flow into 18 acres of wetland with a five acre pond adjacent to home. Pond built as trout rearing facility by DNR in 1941. Trout/walleye/perch/crappies abound in crystal clear cool water. Site not nearly defensible as wished but 2-3 miles of barbed wire in inventory with staking to be erected when time comes. Dozens of caltrops on hand for roadway interdiction Security system in place with video system to follow. Another large pole building will be built in ’07-’08 for further storage of vehicles/tools.

Age: He, 59 and She 55. Children grown and gone but back to farm regularly.

Income. In excess of $400,000 annually.
Professions: She is an M.D. with 22 years on the job. He is an Instructor in Administration of Justice at a local community college. He is a Viet Nam vet and witnessed the Tet offensive firsthand. Saw Saigon a city in chaos, a society in collapse. He graduate with B.S./M.S. in education. Graduate of Oregon Institute of Technology (Gunsmithing) 1976. Practiced full time/part time 25 years in the trade.
Investments. The land and the trees, stocks and bonds, and “investment grade” weapons.
Property will be paid off in March of ’07. Plan is to invest in off grid power upgrades
Vehicles. She, a Mercedes. He a Ford 4WD pickup. There are two BMW motorcycles, one a 2002 1100RT, The other is a perfect condition 1985 80ST. The ST should need no protection from any EMP threat. Many small engine gas powered garden implements of the DR type. She has an Vespa scooter. Bicycles were bought last month. 11-06.
Weaponry. He is a state certified instructor with pistols, rifles, shotguns and submachine guns. He also teaches vehicles contacts and emergency vehicle operation and chemical munitions. They have incorporated a small business corporation to obtain registered Class 2 and Class 3 weapons. There are currently: 1 Ingram M10 in .45ACP with [suppressor] can. 1 Swedish “K” 9mm SMG, 1 Sterling Mk4 9mm SMG, 1 Thompson .45ACP SMG, 1 FN-FL heavy barrel select fire .308, 1 SAW M16 with can, 1 M-1A with glass, 1 FN Belgian .308 with glass, 1 Bushmaster .308 with Nightforce glass. 3 SKS, 1 AK-47 semi, 2 M-1 Carbines (U.S.G.I.) 1 Marlin Camp Carbine 9mm and 1 in .45 suppressed. 3 Remington Senderos one .223/1-.308/1-.300 W.M. All with Nightforce glass. One Barrett .50 BMG single shot with Nightforce glass. The Bushmaster will be suppressed in 01-07. There are many, many more “sporting arms.” 11 other suppressed items. Many handguns. Currently there is a FN 5.7×28 with can and four 30 round mags and four 20 round. There is a FN M90 5.7×28 rifle. A FN .223/M2000 is in the pipeline. The 5.7×28 weapons are astonishing in their performance and penetration. There are 6 fighting shotguns of various manufacture, all 12 gauge. We all shoot a lot.
Ammunition. Thousands and thousands. A full compliment of reloading capability.
Fuel: Gasoline. Kerosene, previously mentioned. We have six cases Coleman fuel. Many cylinders of bottled gas for stoves and 200 pounds of charcoal. (diversify, diversify)
Future improvements were previously mentioned. They all depend on what is affordable and when and how the poop hits the prop.
Crops/garden: 2,700 square foot garden. To be planted this next season (Spring of ’07) with non-hybrids only. We can 300-400 jars annually the rest gets the deep freeze. We murder big and small game regularly and plan to try drying/jerky experiments with game in ’07. There are 20 fruit trees planted with 20-30 more to follow in ’07. We put up 20-30 pints/quarts of berries from the woods this year.
Property tax was typical of Wisconsin. Two years ago it was in excess of $6,800. Cut to about half by entering the tree management program.
Animals. One old Bouvier a new one to follow in ’07. A Labrodoodle for hunting. Two cats. No animal husbandry however we are looking at rabbits and chickens. Perhaps a Rhodesian Ridgeback in ’08 for a set of teeth for the farm.
Communications. Two receivers capable of AM/FM Ham. Four handhelds and one base Marine Band. We are well inland from the Mississippi and expect no interference. CB base and portables. 6 FRS walkie-talkies. Will obtain 2-to-4 field telephones when found for sale. Already have two miles of commo wire for same on hand.
Food. 1 year freeze-dried for 2 adults. At least 1 year of same in wet pack. 12 cases MREs, with more to follow. Much bulk stored wheat/rice/beans. 300 gallons of water in plastic. Capability to filter and clean 50,000 gallons from pond.
Hobbies. We read quite a bit with over 1,500 books in the library. He has been into preparedness for 30 years. She for 5. We can/garden/shoot/bird watch/tend the forest/study foraging ( a noted forager with a new book out lives within 6 miles…we will take his courses next spring). Reloading/hunting/woodcutting (Four cords on hand and ongoing).
Background. She a native South Dakotan. Now an M.D. A Christian. Enjoys hunting. A voracious reader of all things. He a former police officer (14) years who found teaching Law Enforcement was infinitely better than the frustration of being a practitioner. He, an atheist with respect for all peaceful faiths/beliefs. He teaches a course on terrorism for a local community college.
Concerns: There is a growing population of predators (animal) in the area. There have been five credible sightings of cougar in the district. We have a compliment of bears. Our county has been a dumping ground for “problem” bears from other parts of the state. Thanks a lot! Six wolves have been sighted this deer season on the property. Coyotes abound. I have no problem with a “healthy” predator population. It is a sign of a healthy environment. I worry for livestock/chickens/rabbits and the dogs. Feral pigs are a growing problem south of us. No doubt to be here any time. They are destructive.
Further preparations must be started for the improvement of the defenses.
There will be an influx of at least eight adults and one child if the poop hits the prop. More prep for those. Several “by in” to preparedness. Most (the spouses) do not.
There is a lot on our plate as with anyone in the process of preparing. We would like to meet with others of our ilk. How to do this is a conundrum. We have obtained a large amount of trapping supplies. Two close friends are trappers with years of experience. We will learn.

Odds ‘n Sods:

President Bush says that the U.S. needs to expand the Army and Marine Corps to fight extended campaigns overseas.

   o o o

Our correspondent in Brazil (“The Werewolf”) spotted an article from the Yukon Territory with advice on bears in your backyard. as well as this one: What to Do When You Encounter a Bear The Werewolf said that he found the bits at the end, about “Predatory Attacks” downright funny.

   o o o

In a recent conversation with my friend Dr. S. Hans Paine, he mentioned both the WebMD.com web site as a general medical reference, and Epocrates.com for prescription drug information. Lots of information is a available free at both sites. He recommended that medical professionals get the paid subscription upgrade to Epocrates which includes greater detail, including information on herbal equivalents to modern pharmaceuticals.

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil constitution, are worth defending at all hazards; and it is our duty to defend them against all attacks. We have received them as a fair inheritance from our worthy ancestors; they purchased them for us with toil and danger and expense of treasure and blood. It will bring an everlasting mark of infamy on the present generation, enlightened as it is, if we should suffer them to be wrested from us by violence without a struggle, or be cheated out of them by the artifices of false and designing men." – Samuel Adams

Note from JWR:

The high bid is still at $260 in the current SurvivalBlog benefit auction, This one is for a big batch of 16 survival/preparedness reference books, courtesy of the fine folks at Ready Made Resources. (They are one of our first and most loyal advertisers. Be sure to visit their site and check out their huge inventory of preparedness-related products. BTW, they have additional copies of each of the titles listed below, as well as more than a hundred other titles.)

Letter Re: Minimum Safe Distance From The Big City for Retreat Locales?

Dear Jim:
Re your recommendation that a retreat for TEOTWAWKI needs to be “at least one tank of gas away from the big cities–preferably at least 300 miles, if possible” to escape at least the worst of roving looter gangs. I agree 100% — I see getting out of the [path of the] flow of looters as the # 1 problem. Just like real estate – LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION. You can store food, and learn how to grow food in time (or barter stored wealth) but no matter how good you are, sooner or later you’ll take casualties if you are in the [path of the] “looter flow.”
The question I am wrestling with, is — if you can’t move full time to your retreat, what is the minimum distance you can afford to be from a major metro area, say 1 million people?
Obviously the further away the better for safety — but you also want to be as close as possible as well:
You want to be close enough that you could get to it bugging out on foot, in a worst case scenario.
You want to be close enough to be able to commute there regularly to upgrade, do maintenance, check on your property, etc., etc. … (It would be heartbreaking to find your remote retreat burglarized after bugging out, because you hadn’t been there in months.)
You want to be close enough to be able to talk your spouse into bugging out of the city when the situation looks like it could go bad, but there is no clear go decision.
The closer it is, the easier it is to talk your spouse into the value as a weekend home as well as for survival.
It’s a very tough tradeoff decision.
Obviously you can come in closer, less un-safely, if your retreat is in a very inaccessible and/or hidden spot, e.g., dead end road, hilly, wooded terrain, not visible from the road, and not within hiking distance of nearby roads. Inaccessibility is probably more important than straight mileage. For example, 300 miles out of Dodge, but just one mile off the Interstate Highway is still useless.
You could even get creative with building below grade, camouflage, etc., etc. to be even lower profile. Also if you have a well trained team with sufficient numbers, and your perimeter security is very tight, you might want to chance being closer.
What else could you do to lower the distance needed? Bottom line – how close is no good, vs. how close is a reasonable tradeoff? Yours truly, – OSOM

JWR Replies: As I’ve written many times before, it is best to live at your intended retreat, year round. I realize that this isn’t feasible for everyone. If you can’t live there, at least pre-position the vast majority of your beans, bullets and Band-aids. Have a trusted friend be your full time caretaker. Be prepared to “Get Out Of Dodge” on very short notice. And if things start to look dicey, do not hesitate to bug out and beat “The Golden Horde” out of town.

One thing that you could do to to reduce the distance required is to studiously avoid natural lines of drift. (Such as major highways, river valleys, railroad tracks, and coastal liitorals.) There are potential retreat locales perhaps just 75 miles from major cities that might be bypassed because they are on disadvantageous terrain. (Think in terms of hilly country with just a few small access roads, islands, properties that are on the far side of natural obstacles such as rivers, or that are in large river delta regions.) Take a few weekend drives in the rural areas near where you live. Do some careful map study and then do some driving to meticulously search for the hard-to-access areas. By concentrating on such bypassed areas, you will be off the path of more than 90% of potential looters. But even still, anywhere less than 200 miles from major metropolitan areas will be a gamble, in my estimation. I don’t want to take that sort of risk, so the Rawles Ranch is more than 400 miles from the nearest metropolitan an area with more than 1,000,000 people, and 130 miles from the nearest city of 200,000. It is also in a carefully selected area that is both away from refugee lines of drift and that is not downwind of any expected nuclear targets. Yes, it is a long drive for us to go and visit relatives or even just to shop for a truck or for a major appliance. But the good news is that it is so beautiful here that nearly all of our relatives all want to do the driving to come and visit us. See my newly-released book Rawles on Retreat and Relocation for details on retreat locale selection and envisioned nuclear target structures. In the book, I provide detailed recommendations on specific locales within those 19 states. The book includes my top picks in Idaho (my mostly highly rated state for retreat potential) that have never been posted or published elsewhere.

Letter Re: Is Radio Direction Finding a Potential Threat for Survivalists?

Mr. Rawles:
Hey, I was just wondering what everyone with radios is planning in order to conceal the location of their transmissions from people who could potentially use the signal as a beacon to guide them right to your antenna. It might be fairly difficult to build a tracker, but I suspect there are pre-made devices to direction-find a fairly strong signal (e.g. ham radio). Thanks, – James D.

JWR Replies: The only people that have effective radio direction finding (“DF“) equipment and the requisite expertise to operate it are A.) The NSA and a few other government agencies such as the FCC–mainly for tracking down unlicensed pirate stations, and B.) ham radio operators themselves, who practice playing “fox and hound”. (Here is a sample of a site dedicated to the latter –quite a sport.) Hams tend to be very law-abiding folks. I can’t imagine many of them going renegade and turning into looters. However, I can foresee many looter gangs showing rudimentary SIGINT skills and using portable public service band (“police”) scanners. So it is wise to use low power and directional antennas. Never mention surnames, locations, lat/long, map coordinates, or street addresses “in the clear.” In my estimation, it is not likely that looter gangs would be sufficiently sophisticated to use DF gear. But never take anything for granted. It is conceivable that someone that worked in the SIGINT community could sell their services to a large looter gang, in a “slow slide“ situation. Be prudent and take the proper COMSEC measures. If and when the Schumer hits the fan, you should construct your own brevity codes and change your call signs and frequencies frequently. Oh, by the way, I describe radio intercept, radio direction finding, and COMSEC in considerable detail in some of the closing chapters of my novel “Patriots” , which recently went back into print. Among others, one of the methods that I describe in the novel is bouncing signals from a directional antenna off of large metal structures such as large barns or grain silos, to confuse DF operators. I also discuss HF transmissions, which have near vertical incidence when propagating in long distance skywave mode. It takes very sophisticated equipment to DF those signals. (As opposed to short distance groundwave HF signals, that can easily be DFed.)

One further note: We now live in the age of Bluetooth. If and when TSHTF, if you have a wireless network for your home computers, you should plan to turn the transmitter off and use it as a strictly “hard wire” Ethernet device. A clever looter might leave a laptop turned on in his vehicle, sensing when the vehicle passes an active wireless network. (Even if you keep blackout shutters up–making your house look like all of your neighbors that are without power–an active wireless network could mark your house as a lucrative target.) Ditto for cell phones and cordless telephones. Assuming that the phone circuits are still working during a period of lawlessness (not likely, but possible), be sure to switch to “land line only” for the duration.

Odds ‘n Sods:

Dr. Geri Guidetti of The Ark Institute mentioned that she still has a good inventory of her book "Surviving A Bioterrorist Attack: Prevention, Treatment and Management." I highly recommend that you get a copy. It could be a life-saving resource!

   o o o

Denver digs out from an early winter storm. Governor Bill Owens is advising motorists to stay off of the state highways. Meanwhile, Christmas travelers are stranded at the Denver airport.

   o o o

Reader B.H. sent this one: Report Reveals 2.2 Million Borrowers Face Foreclosure on Subprime Home Loans. It looks like and ugly end to the U.S. bi-coastal housing bubble.