Search Results for: exercise

Poll Results: An Exercise in Humility–a Poll on Embarrassing Mistakes

Mr. Rawles: When I think of our early mistakes, so many things come to mind! 1. Buying ten #10 cans of T.V.P. for Y2K. Ick! We could not give the stuff away. We learned never to buy large quantities of anything we don’t normally eat until we try it first 2. Buying cheap BOB backpacks. We thought that since we would most likely never need them, we could buy the cheap backpacks from Walmart. A few years later, when we decided to take a test run, we found that the packs were incredibly uncomfortable and the bottom fell out of one of them. We also discovered that it is near impossible to wear a fully loaded BOB on your back with a toddler in a front pack and be able to balance, hike, etc. 3. We just jumped in with both feet doing food storage instead of learning the proper…


Letter Re: Influenza Exercise Shows the Potential for Major Infrastructure

Jim, With all due respect (to Chris in Utah and the folks cited by Computerworld), “If a pandemic strikes the U.S., it will kill about 1.7 million people” is a fantasy, because it is based upon the 1918-1919 flu’s death-rate of 2.5%, and also that the United States’ population of the time was around one-third of the present number. It was said that, in “normal” times, flu killed some 0.25% of those afflicted. In 1918-1919, that figure skyrocketed to 2.5%. Triple the U.S.’s population (in regard to the earlier 20th Century figure), and the post-WW1’s death-rate goes to slightly over 2 million. But, as I indicated earlier, that’s with the 2.5% rate. In Indonesia and elsewhere, the death rate [for H5N1] is not even close to 2.5%. It is more like 53% to 60%. I made some further calculations (2.5 x 20, for starters, although that is a rather conservative…


Two Letters Re: Influenza Exercise Shows the Potential for Major Infrastructure Disruptions

James: In deference to Ben, his numbers are a little off. I have been spending a great deal of time studying everything I can get my hands on about a pandemic flu. (I am the Emergency Preparedness Specialist for my Church) If you go to www.pandemicflu.gov you’ll see that the “experts” expect a morbidity rate (those who will become sick) of 40% of the US population.and a mortality rate that would be about 20%. If you do some quick math: 360 million Americans 144 million Americans sick 28 Million Dead. One of the reasons that the numbers would not be as inflated as Ben states is that, while H5N1 is killing at a 50% to 70% range, when and if it mutates, the mortality and morbidity rates would be much lower. Any virus that wants to propagate itself needs to keep a higher rate of “Typhoid Mary’s” just to survive….


Letter Re: The More Naive Peakniks Need to Learn to Exercise OPSEC

Dear Jim: I found an interesting article about local Peak Oil preppers. It illustrates to a “T” the naivete of some of the Peak Oil crowd you have mentioned previously. In the article (“Oil crisis ahead? ‘Peakniks’ build for future”) there is a good balanced coverage of the problem. Featured is a local architectural engineer who is building a sustainable home called “FoodWaterShelter”. His full name, the street he is building on, his current neighborhood, his wife’s occupation, etc., etc., are all put out for public consumption. Heck, he is even in a photo. It took under a minute to find both of his addresses on the county tax appraisal web site, or the online white pages. This is bad practice in good times to put yourself in the public eye, as it is a definite risk factor to attract criminals. In bad times, it is terminally naive – has…


Fit to Survive (Part One): The Importance of Being Strong

…most of the joint problems we see today and can be avoided or corrected with proper training.   You may also want to perform what is called prehab for the shoulder.  Prehab typically refers to exercises that strength and correct muscular imbalances, for the shoulder this typically means the rotator cuffs.   Look up rotator cuff exercises on Google and perform them as part of your warm-up every time you workout.   If you work your shoulders properly you will have a lifetime of strength and vitality that will keep you away from surgery and pain free.     On a side note I want to talk about the American male’s most favorite exercise: the bench press.  The Bench Press has been around since the 1970s and since then we have seen a dramatic increase in shoulder problems.  The bench press puts the shoulder at an uncomfortable and weak angle to press weight from. …