09:51 – We’re doing stuff around the house today. We got half the flour repackaged yesterday. Today we’ll get started on the sugar and rice. We’ll use 2-liter bottles for both of those. They’re granular and free-flowing, so the narrower mouths of 2-liter bottles aren’t as much of a problem.
Something must have been out in the yard last night. As soon as Colin and I went out the door he went into super-sniff mode and spent the better part of 10 minutes sniffing around before he even took time to pee. I’ve never seen deer in our yard, but I’d guess we probably get them. We did when we lived down in Winston in a suburban area, so it’s pretty likely we have them up here. Maybe bear for that matter. We’re surrounded by fields and trees.
I’m seeing articles that claim we’re closer to nuclear war than we’ve been since the early 70’s. I doubt that’s true. Putin is not stupid, and his advisors must have told him that Russia’s nuclear arsenal is old, decrepit, and well past its expiration date. Both solid-fuel missiles and nuclear warheads have pretty short shelf lives. They must constantly be taken out of service and re-manufactured if they’re to be reliable. Russia has a small economy, probably smaller than, say, Italy’s. Russia can’t even afford to maintain its military vehicles, artillery, and so on, so it’s extremely unlikely that they’ve been performing periodic maintenance on their missiles and warheads. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union 25 years ago, they’ve probably done next-to-no periodic maintenance. My guess is that if they ever did launch, more than half of their missiles would fail on the launch pads. They’d probably lose another half to separation failures after the booster phase, and still another half to re-entry failures. In short, I suspect they’d end up being able to deliver an eighth or less of what they launched. And of those warheads that did survive to re-entry, I suspect a high percentage would fail to detonate.
In short, if Russia does use nukes, I suspect it would be a small number of handpicked warheads on short-range missiles, and it would be in the Middle East rather than an intercontinental attack. And Putin would face a strong US retaliation with missiles and weapons that do work. As I said, Putin isn’t stupid.
The safe way to bet is that the American ruling class is not warning the serfs of impending nuclear attack for the benefit of the serfs. The warning is in furtherance of the ruling class’s control over the serfs. That being the case, Russian intentions and capabilities are irrelevant.
Since we have no defense at all, even one warhead getting thru would be BAD ™.
Putin doesn’t have to be stupid or crazy, he only has to believe it’s worth it.
nick
BTW, I’m sure there are those among the ‘elites’ who would look forward to a return to middle ages feudal society. A europe largely spared from a US / USSR could finally return to its rightful place, each kingdom ruling absolutely.
I hope nuclear war is on the horizon, but I’ve been wrong before. What really matters is tensions with Russia are worse than they have been in a very long time. We have reset our relations with Russia, and the architect of that reset is poised to be our next President.
The US sponsored attacks against a formal ally of Russia (Syria). WTF did the US politicians *think* would happen? They didn’t think, that’s obvious.
The weird thing is that the Russian response was so delayed. They really waited to long – I’m not sure Assad’s government can still be saved…
Rus had some stuff to do first, like set up the alternative to SWIFT, get some funding in place with the Chine and mullahs, move some assets around, etc.
you use proxies because you care a lot less about them than your own people, so I’m not sure it matters if they “save assad”.
n
And sometimes the self defense advice “just don’t be there” is in fact good advice.
Olympic sprinter Tyson Gay’s 15-year-old daughter is shot dead in late-night shoot-out at Kentucky fast food restaurant
Tyson Gay’s 15-year-old daughter has been fatally shot in Kentucky
Trinity Gay was shot in the neck at Cook Out restaurant in Lexington
Gunfire was exchanged between two vehicles but she was not in either
“…Police responded to reports of shooting at the restaurant just before 4am…”
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3841390/Sprinter-Tyson-Gay-s-15-year-old-daughter-shot-dead-Kentucky-restaurant.html“
“And Putin would face a strong US retaliation with missiles and weapons that do work.”
So if Russia launches one or two small battlefield nukes at site/s in Syria or thereabouts, we’re gonna RETALIATE from here??? They nuke our proxies and then we nuke THEM? Something does not compute. We don’t belong over there in the first place and neither do they, although they have a stronger case, since it’s much closer.
“Since we have no defense at all, even one warhead getting thru would be BAD.”
I was an extremely lowly serf working for NORAD forty years ago and we certainly had a radar and missile defense THEN. I feel like I can assume it’s been radically upgraded since.
“I hope nuclear war is on the horizon, but I’ve been wrong before.”
Mr. Dave must be in a bad mood this morning.
@ofd, what about all those anti- anti ballistic missile treaties?
Thought we decided to practice [nuke] war no more?
Or did the mx get produced? Do we have patriot batteries outside cleveland? Chicongo? Albuquerque? (We might have anti-missile batteries outside DC, they always take care of themselves first.)
I’m not so sanguine about OUR ability to keep missiles ready to fly either. With budget being sucked up by boondoggles, and the idea at higher that there is “absolutely no place ever, no not ever” for nukes, (see the coverage of T and his briefing) I suspect we’re way behind on our nuke maintenance too.
Oh, and you need a CIC who is WILLING to retaliate. He’s the one with the codes…
n
(unless the subs are weapons free and can launch on their own authority….)
(and who would believe the warning of inbound on DC? By the time they believed it, it’s too late for MA, VA, and MD….)
Chicongo
Double extra LOL!
So CYNICAL.
You may be right, but my sense of it all is that the military HAS kept their toyz up to date for the most part and there ARE anti-missile batteries still extant, plus the ICBMs and an amazing radar and space surveillance system. Treaties, schmeeties. I am myself cynical about our gummint abiding by any of our treaties.
And then there are the subs, which are EVERYWHERE and I would imagine that several are in close proximity to Russia now as theirs are to us. We seem to be back playing that game in earnest now. Cat-and-mouse. Being on the edge. I bet our top military guys are super-jazzed right now.
I would also bet that the CIC is not the only one with the codes. If he or she is balking at retaliation, and this sort of thing would all take place within minutes, then some general or other is likely to do the gig. At which point they may just shove the CIC aside and take over completely; I’m also guessing that some of them have a plan for that, especially since Obummer took office.
And all that social engineering and cadets wearing high heels and lesbians in fox-holes with Delta guys will go right out the fucking window.
As it will in the larger society, finally. We will be on a major war footing and martial law at home, probably. SJWs and progs will best hide themselves and STFU.
And sometimes the self defense advice “just don’t be there” is in fact good advice.
Exactly. Five daughters later and I would never let my 15 year old run around at 4am. Who let’s a 15 year old girl out at that hour? It’s not safe for most, but a 15 year old girl? Geez.
Holy crap, MrAtoz, FIVE daughters??? I’m putting you up for a medal!
Daughters, no. But yours truly was occasionally be-bopping around in the wee hours at that age. I got in trouble for it, of course, with my parents, especially my dad. I didn’t really go nuts with it until the last year or two of high skool, out every night late.
The victim in this case and the dad seem like fairly normal folks who got bushwhacked by this event; my sympathies. That really sucks to just be a bystander and catch a round.
Oops, I was still asleep when I posted earlier.
I hope nuclear war is NOT on the horizon.
I just figured you were *really* tired of what’s going on.
I am really, really tired of current events. But not that tired of current events.
San Antonio is a mess. The traffic is horrible. Those access roads along I-410 in town have their good points and their bad points. The bad outweighs the good in my opinion. Maybe it is the level of traffic. All the people I have met such as in the hotel and some stores are of hispanic background and have been most pleasant and helpful. Pretty much as I remember.
What I did see that I have never seen before is “Rent to Own Tires and Wheels”. So I guess if you don’t have enough money from welfare to purchase your $500 (each) wheels to go on your 20 year old Honda that is not worth $800, you can pay for them weekly using money from taxpayers.
After being in San Antonio for a few days I have zero desire to move back. Too flat, too hot, too crowded, too much traffic. The place sucks. Maybe I feel that way about most metropolitan areas and it is not unique to San Antonio. Even where I lived in Live Oak (Northeast San Antonio just inside the 1604 loop) has grown into a snarl of traffic and stores.
Funeral is Thursday, full military honors. He was WWII, Korea and Nam vet having served in the USN and USAF. MIL wants all kinds of things produced with pictures and writings about his time. Real pain in the butt trying to scan pictures. Finally out of frustration I disconnected the scanner in the hotel business center and connected to my Surface to do the scanning. Printing required in different size than original thus the need to scan. Walgreens for the printing as they do a really good job, recommended.
Dinner tonight with friends, probably steak, as I am tired of Mexican food at this point. Guy is a gun freak and would put all of you to shame. Has a room in his house with probably 200 weapons of all kinds including from small derringers to fully automatic weapons. There is one big ass gun that requires a tripod. I want to mount on my truck for the trip home along with about 200 rounds of ammunition. Might get me through Houston on the return trip.
Will be making the return trip on Friday is the current plan. Will try and stop and visit Mr. Lynn on the way through Houston. Next three days will total and complete boredom.
along with about 200 rounds of ammunition.
Make that at least 2,000 rounds.
Glenn Beck: “Moochelle Obola just gave the most compelling political speech since Reagan.”
The guy is totally doped out. Or drunk again. Just because she said tRump is a fukstik. The Blaze is going up in flames.
After you have done the Riverwalk, the Alamo, and the Tower… I can’t think of much. The zoo was nice the last time I went. Almost 20 years ago.
Podesta email: “better if a guy named Sayeed Farouk was reporting that a guy named Christopher Hayes was the shooter. ”
Yawn. MSM have any comments? Zzzz Zzzz
Wake up Boobus Americanus! These are the people that want to “rule” over you.
Mr Ray, you probably didn’t recognize the words, but near the “rent a tire” places, there are usually “rent a bang” places. Not guns, but music. Rent your car stereo and speakers. That’s right, shitty old hooptie Impala, without an undented piece of sheet metal on it, rented rims and tires, and rented stereo, amps, and speakers too.
Apartment in a complex with ‘first and last paid, all bills paid’, full of RentaCenter furniture, obama phone, SNAP card, school lunches, big hair and expensive nails, designer sunglasses and a Fendi bag, and everything on and in that $800 Impala, with the 100% no money down financing, is rented. But smoke a blunt, and get some more neck and facial tats and complain that there are no ‘goot jobs’.
What can’t go on won’t. This we know for certain.
nick
“He was WWII, Korea and Nam vet having served in the USN and USAF.”
I am honored to have served with guys with that status during my time with Uncle. E9s on the AC130 gunships and also some of my first shirts and sergeants-major.
“Maybe I feel that way about most metropolitan areas and it is not unique to San Antonio.”
That’s how I feel, and it’s been at the point where I even hate going into the “city” up the road (pop. 6k) or down to Burlap (pop. 50k). Large cities the size of Boston or NYC or San Antonio squick me out. Traffic, crowding, noise, no thanks. Of course the whole country’s population has doubled since we were kids and it’s reflected mostly in the cities and ‘burbs but also in what used to be small towns.
And now a local real estate baron and former Federal pen inmate wants to build a fucking marina on the bay here the other side of the surviving pier with 154 berths and an 80-space parking lot across the shore road on an existing vacant lot that he apparently owns, along with the adjacent pub/restaurant. This came up at a town development board meeting this past Thursday and when a local resident asked that it be tabled until all the info had gotten out to the public, he was shot down. This may be a bag job; I’ll be at future meetings accordingly. Previous proposals to build marinas have been shot down when it came to a town vote. I can just imagine the future traffic on land and water when I already hate the traffic that’s here now in the summer. Maybe wife and I really will move to Ireland.
Or Iceland.
“Make that at least 2,000 rounds.”
+1,000 Literally. lol.
“Guy is a gun freak and would put all of you to shame. Has a room in his house with probably 200 weapons of all kinds including from small derringers to fully automatic weapons. There is one big ass gun that requires a tripod.”
What makes you think that he would put ALL of us to shame?? He sounds like a collector, and he must also have a Class III FFL. And the dough to buy that many, but I know of some gun writers for gun mags who probably have that many or more. Some guys have a dozen ARs, apparently. And my guy out in the sticks up here manufactures them with his full-scale CNC machine. (low-key monthly custom orders).
“Glenn Beck: “Moochelle Obola just gave the most compelling political speech since Reagan.””
He’s repeating what the usual suspect libturds have been saying; they make it sound like she’s Pericles or Cicero. And Beck is certifiably insane or he’s on some really interesting drugs.
“After you have done the Riverwalk, the Alamo, and the Tower… I can’t think of much. The zoo was nice the last time I went. Almost 20 years ago.”
I was last there over 40 years ago and they’d just built the Riverwalk; it was cool; I was gobsmacked by how small the Alamo was next to the buildings around it but later read the history and realized it was only one building of the fort then. And you can get the same effect if you visit Boston and look at Paul Revere’s house or the old State House.
“These are the people that want to “rule” over you.”
Not for long. They may get another run of it with this next election but their time is coming to an end within our lifetimes. It won’t be pretty. We should study up on what old guys did during previous revolutions and civil wars.
And what Mr. Nick said:
“What can’t go on won’t. This we know for certain.”
I bought some pickled asparagus yesterday at Costco yesterday. It says that I must refrigerate it after opening. Is this true or is the bottler just being careful ?
@RBT said: “Putin is not stupid, and his advisors must have told him that Russia’s nuclear arsenal is old, decrepit, and well past its expiration date. Both solid-fuel missiles and nuclear warheads have pretty short shelf lives…”
Sad to say but our missiles and warheads are way out of date. There has not been money in the budget for decades to maintain them, let alone build new ones. Oh wait, we gave up our ability to build new ones a long time ago too by signing away our rights to nuclear warheads in various “treaties”, back in the 1980s. One of the reasons the majority of our submarines sit in port these days is that there are not enough viable/useable nuclear missiles (cruise and sub-launch) and torpedoes for what is considered a minimal load-out of arms.
@”OFD” said: “You may be right, but my sense of it all is that the military HAS kept their toyz up to date for the most part and there ARE anti-missile batteries still extant…”
Sorry Dave, but I still have inside contacts that tell me we are at 25%, in some items below. That is one reason Russia is rattling their swords and also a reason that North Korea is playing around.
Yes, we do have a first strike capability but no longer a strong second. BTW, Russia has never had a real second strike capability, their modus opererandi is “blow your load all at once”.
Regarding PTSD …
Context Processing and the Neurobiology of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Progress in clinical and affective neuroscience is redefining psychiatric illness as symptomatic expression of cellular/molecular dysfunctions in specific brain circuits. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been an exemplar of this progress, with improved understanding of neurobiological systems subserving fear learning, salience detection, and emotion regulation explaining much of its phenomenology and neurobiology. However, many features remain unexplained and a parsimonious model that more fully accounts for symptoms and the core neurobiology remains elusive. Contextual processing is a key modulatory function of hippocampal-prefrontal-thalamic circuitry, allowing organisms to disambiguate cues and derive situation-specific meaning from the world. We propose that dysregulation within this context-processing circuit is at the core of PTSD pathophysiology, accounting for much of its phenomenology and most of its biological findings. Understanding core mechanisms like this, and their underlying neural circuits, will sharpen diagnostic precision and understanding of risk factors, enhancing our ability to develop preventive and “personalized” interventions.
http://www.cell.com/neuron/abstract/S0896-6273(16)30640-7
Wow, I actually could mostly follow that and it made sense, as opposed to the BS sciences, psuedoscience non-sense I posted from our school district late a few nights ago.
I guess to most people, that passage above, and the random word salad that my school district uses would be equivalent.
Or maybe I don’t have the training to disambiguate the non-sense of the psuedos into a shared meaning construct….
n
I pulled “context processing” out of it as meaningful.
A car backfiring is not a gun firing, for example.
“”I bought some pickled asparagus yesterday at Costco yesterday. It says that I must refrigerate it after opening. Is this true or is the bottler just being careful ?””
Or how about the Claussen kraut and pickles that are refrigerated in the first place?
Under calm conditions, I’d just fridge it, but are there contexts where the trade-off of needing the food outweighs the safety angle? Or, in a crisis like SHTF, wouldn’t it be better to err on the side of caution, since a round of tummy upset could bring on fatality in relatively irrelevant ways!
And… hmm, yum! Like the prospect of pickled asparagus!
I know y’all are all big fans of Facebook, but maybe some inside knowledge will help me out. Some moron signed up for Facebook with an email address that is / was important for me (I’ll assume it was just a typo). How do I kill the Facebook account, to stop the daily email demanding more and more of my personal information?
Refrigerate the jar. They aren’t really pickled.
“”Refrigerate the jar. They aren’t really pickled.””
Kinda what I thought. My Claussen kraut example is supposed to be a good source of probiotics, alive and not a good idea to particularly turn loose (with warmth).
Good luck with that. I just have a filter throw anything from facebook into the trash.
“” How do I kill the Facebook account, to stop the daily email demanding more and more of my personal information?
Good luck with that. I just have a filter throw anything from facebook into the trash. “”
Done did that. Figure it puts that email address at considerable risk, though.
Transferring the bizness contacts off that address, of course.
Any other ideas?
I tried a nasty little thing that I won’t describe until the dust settles… but of course Faceshit has my IP address on that bit of nasty. My mistake…
I switched from Firefox to Opera after reading RBT’s comments some months ago who said Opera didn’t consume as much Win10 CPU resources as Firefox. Lately, Opera seems to follow Firefox’s tendency to consume CPU and, at times, is just as slow as Firefox. Just wondering if anyone is also having this problem also. Thanks
@”OFD” said: “You may be right, but my sense of it all is that the military HAS kept their toyz up to date for the most part and there ARE anti-missile batteries still extant…”
Sorry Dave, but I still have inside contacts that tell me we are at 25%, in some items below. That is one reason Russia is rattling their swords and also a reason that North Korea is playing around.
I do not think that we have any anti-missile capability for ballistic missiles.
I have been reading about our nuclear weapons lately. Apparently Bush the II and Obola have both passed on reactivating the Pantex nuclear bomb recommissioning plant in the Texas panhandle due to “cost concerns” of some $10+ billion per year. Meanwhile, tritium has a half-life of 12 years. I have no idea how much tritium is required to convert a fission bomb into a hydrogen bomb but, it is a certain amount. Once the tritium has decayed past that minimum amount, I guess that the nuclear weapons are just fission bombs. Still scary but not multiple megaton bombs.
It’s just getting started.
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politics-government/article108627627.html
A friend shared a general recipe for refrigerator pickles some time back.
I just put whatever veggie (cucc, zucc, ginger…) in undiluted vinegar with lots of salt, and if I don’t eat it pretty soon, I just have to toss it. Little or tiny jars, minimal waste.
I just bit into some “pickled” bok choy which just didn’t seem right, so didn’t even try chewing; it had been in there a while (oops, over two weeks?).
This is basically just a marinade or whatever, so spice it up; no way it’s a long term “preservation” angle.
Refrigerate the jar. They aren’t really pickled.
Thanks. Yeah, I read up on the process. Sounds more like a cooking process than a pickling process.
“”It’s just getting started.””
Agreed. Fire-bombing an office that probably has no occupants, even with tagged Nazi stuff, is pretty trivial… but we will soon realize that it is just the first step off a slippery slope of violence.
“” How do I kill the Facebook account, to stop the daily email demanding more and more of my personal information?
Good luck with that. I just have a filter throw anything from facebook into the trash. “”
I have filed a trademark infringement case with Facebook in the past. They are very good at investigating things but they use every bit of wiggle room that they can. I still think that I was correct but they got to the point of “sue us”. I would file a complaint with them though.
And this is not their first rodeo. They see all kinds of attacks, EVERY FREAKING DAY. They will shut you down immediately if you start screwing with them.
First step? Black Pathers intimidating white voters a couple years ago didn’t count? Vandalism of cars with bumper stickers supporting Republican candidates didn’t count? Group attacks on Trump supporters outside the arenas with his rallies didn’t count?
If only…
http://beforeitsnews.com/eu/2016/10/breaking-you-have-been-served-hillary-just-got-the-worst-news-of-the-campaign-2613546.html
I sit or hobble corrected on the readiness of our armed forces nukular forces and weapons systems, as others here seem to have more up-to-date intel on that stuff. I would guess that the Russian systems are in even worse shape, probably MUCH worse. But I hope none of our nincompoops or theirs start pushing buttons and lighting off nukes.
“Lately, Opera seems to follow Firefox’s tendency to consume CPU and, at times, is just as slow as Firefox.”
I’m running FF 49 on a Linux Mint 18 box and it’s pretty fast. Haven’t tried the Opera on it yet. It may be your system rather than the browsers; may want to clear out cookies, temp files, history, etc. on either one. When we ran whatever browsers on Windows they were all slow. And I was a nut about keeping that o.s. cleaned up.
@Mr. Spook; you may have to contact FaceCrack staff and tell them what you told us here and have them delete that account. Otherwise, yeah, spam-filter any of that email you’re getting and lose that email addy unless you can get them to help out.
“… but we will soon realize that it is just the first step off a slippery slope of violence.”
And we don’t know who did it; could be local yoots out for a bit of fun; the Repubs themselves; a third quasi-state actor to stir the chit; or actual bad-guy domestic terrorists. If the latter, or if perceived as that, then yeah, this is indeed a slippery slope. Sooner or later it will be people that get hurt or killed and then it will escalate. The other side seems to have no compunction and no worries about doing whatever the fuck they want, including physical attacks on Trump supporters at public events, and probably lying about any Russian involvement with hacking their data. At some point there’s gonna be retaliation. And away we go.
Meanwhile Syria could be the site of the powderkeg that kicks off World War IV, thanks mainly to our asshole political “leadership.”
http://thesaker.is/by-way-of-deception-thou-shalt-lose-your-empire/
Like the guy says, with Trump there’s a chance we can slowly and carefully back off this world empire shit. With Killary, we’re gonna light up the northern hemisphere, one way or another. Assuming she survives long enough to get it going faster.
And certain voters up here and I’m sure everywhere else believe the opposite and intend to vote accordingly. The guy who said “pussy” ten or twenty years ago is more dangerous and a bigger threat.
“”And this is not their first rodeo. They see all kinds of attacks, EVERY FREAKING DAY. They will shut you down immediately if you start screwing with them.””
I’m not sure what they can shut down… They have put my personal (non-business) bank account at risk, my health info, and so on, with demands for personal info.
I never had anything whatsoever to do with Facebook, but some guy apparently set up an account with my email address (giving the moron the benefit of a doubt, just a typo) and now Facebook is beating me up with harassment in the form of frequent emails demanding more personal info.
There is really no option to terminate a Facebook account without giving them even more personal information. You have to prove you are you (even if you are not) to stop the attacks.
“”@Mr. Spook; you may have to contact FaceCrack staff and tell them what you told us here and have them delete that account. Otherwise, yeah, spam-filter any of that email you’re getting and lose that email addy unless you can get them to help out.””
Yeah, well. Working on that.
Figuring that most of the family and friends who have that address put it at risk since they use Facebook, I guess I’ll keep the address, but I’m notifying various money and health and such related sites of a new address.
Note that Facebook almost certainly groped a friend’s contacts and sent me his info and photo and so on, along with a bunch of strangers’ such info, just on the basis of the email typo that that moron put in.
Degrees of separation! If you know somebody who knows somebody who knows somebody (ad infinitum) who’s on Facebook, then Facebook will try very hard to get and USE your personal information.
I have long avoided Facebook, and I have long insisted that it is an evil entity, but I am just now realizing that my opinion was much too kind regarding this demon.
“”I’m running FF 49 on a Linux Mint 18 box and it’s pretty fast. Haven’t tried the Opera on it yet. It may be your system rather than the browsers; may want to clear out cookies, temp files, history, etc. on either one. When we ran whatever browsers on Windows they were all slow. And I was a nut about keeping that o.s. cleaned up. “”
What is this “Windows” of which you speak? I know of no such thing.
Meanwhile, FF49 on Mint 17.3 and it’s OK.
Script blocker; tend to just “temporarily allow” scripts even on some trusted websites.
Hostile hosts file (which somebody here said was an old-timey approach); what is this “advertising” of which you speak.
Opera’s now-Chinese owners pretty much queered that for me.
I might try Chrome/ium again; it’s OK on Chromebook, Guest mode… I think.
I use Midori browser for some stuff.
I am NOT a computer professional! I did take an intro Fortran course in ’69…
Critiques welcome.
@”OFD” said: I would guess that the Russian systems are in even worse shape, probably MUCH worse.
Sorry again @OFD, I don’t recall exactly when, 10 to 20 years ago, we gave Russia some of the really good stuff, not just the “uranium” that did get reported in the press. This was because it was unfair that we had so much and the Russians so little. So instead of us using the “stock” to refresh our nukes, we gave it to the poor underprivileged Russians. After all, the U.N. said it was only fair.
Russia has been overhauling its few remaining submarines and has a new class that hit the water this year. This article sugar coats and minimizes what we do know about it.
http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/russias-next-super-submarine-almost-ready-war-15610
I still have faith in our submarine service, but if something doesn’t change for the better soon…
I almost always fall back on to the character played by Slim Pickens in “Dr. Strangelove” and I tend to tuck my head between my knees (to the extent that I can flex like that)…
Years ago, I used to say that I hoped that there was a true Russian patriot who would not push that button, since it meant a really bad result for Russia (and the whole world) and in fact there was that guy, on a Russian submarine…
With our recent talk of cities, perhaps it is synchronicity that Bayou Renaissance Man has reposted his lessons learned from Katrina.
http://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2008/08/lessons-learned-from-hurricanes-katrina.html
Some points that have been debated here to some degree:
-there was a ‘golden horde’ who fled thru the surrounding communities
-we got the watered down and slow motion version of it here in Houston. Just last year a kindergarden teacher told us the elementary school was finally getting better “now that all the Katrina kids were thru.” Our AC guy reminisced just yesterday about the violence and disruption the Katrina Kids caused in his high school.
-don’t get on the bus
-don’t split the group
-don’t wait for .gov
-don’t come to .gov’s attention
-others will show up on your doorstep
-your opsec is not as good as you thought
Anyway, go there and read the whole thing. It’s a good refresher.\
nick
Uh-oh… Again I’m scared I killed OFD.
Trump! Hillary! Does this revive OFD … and everybody.??
I seriously feel so totally out of the picture about being able to do anything at all about all the election shit that I just can’t even pay much attention. Well, yeah, not really, but it’s all passive…
In a state that presumably has the electoral college locked in, like, so what? What can I do that is even “token” ?
[ I did hear something that Maine has laws to split its electoral college votes. Wow.]
Worth a repeat or two:
-don’t get on the bus
-don’t split the group
-don’t wait for .gov
-don’t come to .gov’s attention
-others will show up on your doorstep
-your opsec is not as good as you thought
-don’t get on the bus
-don’t split the group
-don’t wait for .gov
-don’t come to .gov’s attention
-others will show up on your doorstep
-your opsec is not as good as you thought
Thanks, Nick !
Still alive here and above ground; kinda reeling from the news given by Mr. DadCooks; I guess I’m possibly more up-to-date on cop stuff and medieval epic poetry. I’ve been outta the military for so long, and even the Sandbox vets in our group have been out quite a while, some a couple of decades already (tempus fugit irreparabile). I was following mil-spec nooz to do with SUT and small arms, mainly, and blithely only skimmed the surface, as it were, of our much larger weapons systems news. Mainly, in fact, the fighter-interceptor stuff ’cause that’s what we have just down the road about 30 miles. Anyway, being an idiot, I sounded off like everything was cool and we were OK and presumably able to stand off the Russians and Chicoms if not actually obliterate them. I sit chastened and corrected and saddened.
On the browsers stuff; be advised that using Chrome means using Google, which is just about as bad as FaceCrack as far as spying on us and gobbling up our personal data. OTOH, we’re all, most of us anyway, “made,” long since. No matter what we do on our innernet connections.
“Anyway, go there and read the whole thing. It’s a good refresher.\”
Yup. Gummint almost always more of a problem than a solution.
Have a bunch of your stuff hidden safely, a core supply, and weapons properly
secured.
Have a bunch of cash ready to hand and forget the banks.
Etc.
Again, the only major threat up here would be a gigantic blizzard and/or ice storm with the power gone for weeks. Plus local goblins roaming around and breaking into places.
I’m lobbying for a generator, primarily to run the well pump. Other than that, we could do OK here w/o power for a while. Enough batteries, FLASHLIGHTS, lanterns and oil lamps and candles and matches. Three cords of firewood and the stove can cook stuff, either on top or below with minor finagling. Plus we have the charcoal grill. I need to get up to better ability with the pistol as a combative defense weapon and likewise Mrs. OFD; both of us can manage shotguns. And I can run a rifle OK but hopefully things won’t get that bad for a while. Or ever. My crafty plan is to work on my own firearms handling stuff and bring her along just a bit behind me, with local classes during the times she’s home; it takes a good bit of juggling schedules.
Meatspace is so important. I’m on pretty good terms with my next-door neighbor, who has a bunch of tools and mower/tractor machines. OK with my fellow ‘Nam vet across the street who mainly keeps to himself and I know he’s also handy with tools. Only recently got introduced and had conversation with several of the denizens of the assisted housing across the street; they seem more or less OK, though I watched the couple having a loud dispute for a while a week or so ago out back. And that’s it. Not enough. I really gotta get over to the town hall meetings and to the monthly range meetings at a minimum. A lot of us vets from nasty experiences tend to isolate, and lately various organizations have come to life up here that seek to draw us out, mainly to fun outdoor sports type activities. I haven’t gone yet, for various reasons, but probably should attempt to make it to one of those, too, as soon as I can get my back fixed.
http://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2008/08/lessons-learned-from-hurricanes-katrina.html
Some points that have been debated here to some degree:
-there was a ‘golden horde’ who fled thru the surrounding communities
-we got the watered down and slow motion version of it here in Houston. Just last year a kindergarden teacher told us the elementary school was finally getting better “now that all the Katrina kids were thru.” Our AC guy reminisced just yesterday about the violence and disruption the Katrina Kids caused in his high school.
-don’t get on the bus
-don’t split the group
-don’t wait for .gov
-don’t come to .gov’s attention
-others will show up on your doorstep
-your opsec is not as good as you thought
Nice freaking list.
-don’t live below sea level.
-don’t live below 30 ft above sea level (that is the conservative storm surge around here for a Cat 5 hurricane, could be as much as 35 ft storm surge).
-if you don’t have a vehicle, steal a school bus to get out (pick up some passengers to help buy fuel)
Another item from that list that I have been noticing lately:
“-Another thing – don’t bring only large bills. Many gas stations, convenience stores, etc. won’t accept anything larger than a $20 bill. Some of my guests had plenty of $100 bills, but couldn’t buy anything.”
My friend at our local Chikfila told me five years ago to not bring another $100 to their store. The Chikfila owner was just on the verge on banning them.
WRT hundred dollar bills
I carry and use cash much more widely now that I’m in the secondary economy than when I was employed in a variety of fields with more traditional work arrangements.
I carry a couple of hundreds, and then a couple hundred more in smaller bills. The hundos are fine when you are purchasing over $100 at one time. Many people with big trucks will remember when filling the tank cost more than $100 or most of $100. SHTF doesn’t make gas CHEAPER. So you are probably ok to use them on larger purchases. Anything small, and there is a psychological problem with giving up a lot of bills as change for one bill in payment. Irrational I know, but none-the-less true. No one likes to give out a bunch of change, esp when more may be unavailable. (and no one likes to concentrate the risk of lose thru counterfeiting in large bills.)
One side step- just before RITA, which followed closely on KATRINA, I made one last run to get gas. Lines were everywhere, and many places were sold out. What worked for me was a no name station in the ‘hood, and using ‘Pay at the Pump’ with credit cards. The majority of buyers were lower income, had to go into the store and prepay. I pulled up to the pump, swiped a card, and got one last tank before they ran out and shut it all down. So there is at least one counter story to using cash, if the grid is still up.
Back to hundreds- I also carry separately, about 5- 10 hundred dollar bills. This is for big purchases and normally doesn’t come out of its safe spot. If you have a chance to buy a garage full of ham radio stuff (for example) for $1200 cash, and you have a daily limit on your debit card of $300, you better have some cash to ‘fill the gap.’
I contend that my buying and selling, my participation in the secondary economy WHILE THE GRID IS UP, is good practice for any post SHTF economy.
It took longer than I thought it would to get used to using and carrying cash, especially more than a few hundred bucks. (I’m currently neither poor nor wealthy, and while I’d put big purchases on cards without any agonizing, whipping out $1000 in cash was somehow different.) It’s a bit like carrying a gun daily. At first you are very conscious of the gun, it’s weight, placement, shape, etc. New CHL holders worry about concealment and often unconsciously ‘fiddle’ with the holster or gun, or concealing garments. Carrying cash can cause the same awareness. You might keep touching the pocket with the bank envelop in it to ‘be sure it’s still there.’ This brings unwanted attention to you! People who know what to look for can clearly see these ‘tells’ and victimize you.
Much better in my book to do this practicing grid up, and under ROL. Get used to carrying (gun or cash.) Don’t take those initial bad habits from nervousness into the world for the first time post SHTF.
Like most things in prepping, there is a spectrum. You need $100s to efficiently move or store larger amounts and purchase larger items. You need smaller bills to efficiently pay for smaller items. (and a common tactic on the seller’s part is to claim they have no change, F you, do you want the item or not? Which if you have only a hundred dollar bill means you over pay! Many people in a desperate situation will throw a bill on the counter, and just take whatever they’re given. It’s better than nothing, and prices are high anyway. And what, are you gonna pinch pennies in a zombie apocalypse?)
Again, Peter’s real life experiences are a good reality check against all the theorizing in the world. Get and carry some smaller bills!
nick
I did take fourteen $100 bills last week for my ’97 Honda Civic. I thought about it for a while and much preferred that than a check (I would not have taken the personal check). Those $100 bills went promptly into the Wells Fargo ATM so they would check them.
“Get and carry some smaller bills!”
Yup, been working on that. Also getting $100 bills.
And so used to CCW that I sometimes forget it’s even there.
“…-don’t live below 30 ft above sea level…”
Check. We’re 90 feet above sea level here, though it doesn’t look or feel like that on the lake shore. And Lake Champlain flows NORTH to the Richilieu and then into the Saint Lawrence.
At work for development and testing we use turbo.net to test multiple browsers, etc.
Virtualized, containerized goodness,
https://turbo.net/
.mg