All That Is Necessary

Which Would You Choose For Your Wife/Daughter/Son?

Saw this at The Smallest Minority, by way of the Jawa Report:

So, again, which would you choose for your wife, or your daughter, or your son, OR YOURSELF?

U.S. Water System Hacked - From Russia

This is a brief post on prepping.  I read the following story by way of the Drudge Report:

Foreign hackers targeted U.S. water plant in apparent malicious cyber attack, expert says

Foreign hackers caused a pump at an Illinois water plant to fail last week, according to a preliminary state report. Experts said the cyber-attack, if confirmed, would be the first known to have damaged one of the systems that supply Americans with water, electricity and other essentials of modern life......

“This is a big deal,” said Weiss. “It was tracked to Russia. It has been in the system for at least two to three months. It has caused damage. We don’t know how many other utilities are currently compromised.”

Think you are safe al the time from "attack"?  How long could you go without running water?  Flushing the toilet?  Washing dishes?  Cooking?

Threats are everywhere.  A hacker in Russia damages a water pump in Illinois.  The Chinese are great at hacking, too.  Imagine if they really wanted to hurt the USA. 

Water systems, natural gas systems, oil distribution systems, etc.  All are vulnerable.

If you are not doing some prepping, even to cover two weeks of an interruption in various services, you are not thinking clearly, to put it nicely.

Break Time

Haven't been blogging much.  Need a break from all my pessimism. 

WIll spend the next day or so prepping for Hurricane Irene.  See, I always tell you that you never know when you will need your stock of goods!

Stock up now, while you can.

London Riots A Good "Prepper" Lesson

The ongoing riots and destruction in London and other major U.K cities are a perfect "teachable moment" for anyone still not convinced to store some food, water and cash for emergencies.  As well as a "get home" plan.

No one saw this latest rounds of riots coming.  If you lived in the communities you would have been caught completely by surprise.

No food at home?  Good luck finding a store open to sell you food.  No cash?  Really want to go to an ATM with riots around?  Family members spread around the city?  Got a plan on where to meet, or how to get home if the riots are between you and your home?

Good basic "be prepared" stuff, especially if you live in a city.  Even only enough food, water and cash for a week could mean the difference between a minor hassle and a bashed in head.

Think about it.

Buy Gold & Silver? With What!

A lot of sites I visit say to have your investments in gold and silver.  Even at the high current prices, they say precious metals will go much higher.  Maybe they're right.  But to me, and probably most others, it doesn't matter.  I could not afford gold or silver at half the price, or even one-quarter the current price.

I would place my family at the upper middle class category, for the time being.  Income enough to pay the bills and save a little bit in a 401K but too much income to qualify for ANYTHING from the government. (That's OK, though.  I'd rather not tie myself to any government aid.  It comes at too high a price.)  With one child in a state college and another entering in 2012 we are soon to be stretched like a rubber band to the breaking point.

So, gold and silver are out of the question.

What to do?  Well, luckily there is stuff even more valuable than gold and silver that is still relatively cheap.  I am talking about food, water, and everyday household supplies like toilet paper, aluminum foil, etc.  In the coming bad times this stuff will be better than gold or silver!  Stock up now while you can.

What else?  Education!  My wife and kids are fully aware of the mess the government has made of things and the potential for bad times.  We try and prepare as much as we can with the assets we have.

Believe me, I would love to have stacks of gold and silver coins, but that just isn't going to happen.  But that doesn't mean you are screwed.  Stock up on everything you use every day.  Simple.  You will be way ahead of 90% of the population.

JUST REMEMBER TO SHUT UP ABOUT WHAT YOU HAVE!

I Wonder What The Collapse Will Look Like

I have no doubt the economic collapse is coming.  You just need to read the news with an open, inquiring mind.  Our "leaders" and the ones who keep electing them have spent us into oblivion.  You know the score.  Our debt is unpayable.  It is the same the world over.

But that is not all.  Taxes, laws, rules, regulations, political correctness, islamic madness, welfare addiction, lobbyists, wars, etc., have all contributed to the toxic stew contributing to this coming collapse.  The collapse/denigration of the American spirit is the biggest contributor in my opinion.

I have read the collapse will be quick, as in days.  I have also read it will be a long, gradual slide that will take years.  I think it, as with most things, will be in the middle of the two.

The politicians will continue to spend.  That is what they do.  They can think of nothing else.  They will also pass laws restricting more freedom as things deteriorate, for our own good, of course.  The fact that their spending and laws helped cause this mess will never occur to them.  The citizenry will go along with these restrictions, as they have in the past, as necessary for the times.  But people will gradually notice things costing more.   Some products will seem harder and harder to get.  Our dollars will be worth less and less.  The feeling of DOOM will get stronger over a period of time.

The big question is how long this slide is.  My guess is it can last for a few years.  Then you get to a point something, anything, happens, and society "collapses" in a matter of weeks. 

But the hope lies beyond the collapse.  People aren't going to simply disappear.  Houses, factories, cars, etc., will all still be here, as will people.  My hope is that some lessons will have been learned and we can come roaring back leaner, stronger, better than now.

That is why I prepare.  Not because I believe it is the end of the world, at all.  (That would make no sense.)  But because I think we will come through this stronger than we were before if we learn and purge ourselves of the diseases listed above.

If you think so, too, then start preparing.A month's supply of water, food and ammo would be a good start.

BTW - never forget this did not have to happen.  Liberals/progressives/unions and their collectivist policies are to blame.

Circling The Toilet Bowl

Think about these two facts:

1.  This year "mandatory" spending alone will exceed government revenue.  (These are mainly social security, medicare, medicaid, interest and other welfare expenditures.)

2.  Almost half the population gets it's income, in some form, from government.

This means, per fact #1, every dime for everything else the government does will have to be borrowed.  Obviously, this cannot last much longer, but, thanks to fact #2, the likelihood of any cuts being made is virtually zero.  Liberals are incapable of seeing reality, and the republicans, even if the DID try and balance the budget, would be strung up by the welfare population.

You know how in a whirlpool, or a toilet bowl, the water travels slower on the outer edge and really starts to pick up speed as it heads toward the drainpipe?  Well, we are well inside the circle, picking up speed.

Based on history, and human nature, nothing will be done to get us out of the toilet bowl.

The best you can do is prepare and hope you come out on the other side.

I Can Save You Some Future Dollars Today

I happen to think inflation is already roaring ahead in the real world.  You know, the world where you need to buy food and put gas in your car and buy clothes and sundries?  I also think it is going to get worse, much worse.

How can I save you money?  By telling you to buy everything that will "keep" right now.  Yes, it is that simple.  Buy several years worth of underwear, shirts, other clothes, toothpaste, canned foods, tools, etc.  Everything that will not spoil soon.  Obviously some stuff you cannot stock up on, like milk, but most stuff you can.

I learned about this from an old article called The Alpha Strategy.  I just googled it and found there is a website with a nice short description of it.

If you do this when inflation hits the fan you can mostly sit back and know you already have what you need at yesterday's prices.

Not a bad little tip for the day, huh?

The Sun And Prepping - You Better Pay Attention

As you may well know, I am a bit of a prepper.  Am I completely prepared?  No way!  Money is a huge impediment, but we are far ahead of 90% of people out there.

Anyway, people who denigrate preppers or the prepper mentality say things will never get that bad.  Governments will take care of things.  The electricity will keep coming no matter what.  EMP blasts are not going to happen, blah, blah, blah.

Well, the thing is, a lot of things are totally out of our control.  Like, for instance, the sun.

Scientists warn of $2 trillion solar 'Katrina'

The sun is waking up from a long quiet spell. Last week it sent out the strongest flare for four years -- and scientists are warning that earth should prepare for an intense electromagnetic storm that, in the worst case, could be a "global Katrina" costing the world economy $2,000bn.

Last week's solar storm may have been the biggest since 2007, but it was relatively small in historical terms.

It caused some radio communications problems and minor disruption of civil aviation as airlines routed flights away from the polar regions, said Dr Lubchenco.

The most intense solar storm on record, which ruined much of the world's newly installed telegraph network in 1859, took place during an otherwise weak cycle. An 1859-type storm today could knock out the world's information, communications and electricity distribution systems, at a cost estimated by the US government at $2,000bn.

Solar flares are not a "maybe" occurrence.  They happen all the time.  Hopefully our scientists and engineers and businesses  will be up to the task of hardening systems and preventing the worst from happening should the "big one" appear.  But, what if they are not?  (And, quite frankly, given their history are you very confident they ARE up to the task?)

Oh, and if a 1859-type storm hits, I don't think the "cost" of the damage will the biggest problem for people.

So, even if you think humans are capable of creating Utopia on Earth, the sun may have other plans.

Rain Barrel Time

I figure I will re-run this post occasionally.   Since we, in central NC, are back in a "water-deficit" position I am sure restrictions are possible this summer.  So, if your area is like ours, you may want to get a water barrel on your property:

We have a nice big shed I built a few years ago and I figured it would be a great test of using a rain barrel.  We have droughts every few years and I was tired of watching plants die because I couldn't water them due to restrictions.  So I spent a total of about $120, including the barrel, which was most of the cost, some snap together PVC guttering and rigged up the set-up you see below.

The result?  A huge success.  A few decent rains and it fills right up.  ALL FROM THAT SMALL ROOF!  (Actually only half the shed roof.)  I was able to water everything, garden, plants, with no concern about government restrictions.

Water barrels are something almost every suburbanite can and should have.  They are very easy to install and there are a lot of kits available to hook them into your existing downspouts.  I just have the one 55 gallon barrel.  I can easily put the same set-up on the other side of the shed  Oh, and thanks to the screen on top of the barrel, no mosquitoes. 

This rain barrel has been great!  I haven't used my backyard house hose in months.

So, if you are thinking of starting on a bit of "prepping", a rain barrel would be a great place to start.