A Pessimistic View of the Current Situation

I am usually fairly optimistic. Recent events, however, have challenged my generally positive outlook. My crystal ball is a little hazy so making concrete predictions about the future is not going to happen here, but today I will outline what I see as the current state of our life in America and tomorrow I will offer some suggestions about what can be done about it on the individual level:

• Unemployment is high, especially for college graduates. This doesn't bode well for a couple of reasons. One, whenever you have very high unemployment for young people it means they are not working and gaining experience. This causes recovery to drag and sometimes come to a standstill if unemployment hangs on for years because it creates a gap between the older, educated masses who want to retire and the younger people who don't have the skills and/or experience to take over where the older generation left off. Second, with the Boomer generation soon to be retiring en masse, many will be depending on Social Security. Now who is going to be putting funds into the Social Security system if the younger generation is unemployed/underemployed?
• People are getting out of real estate, whether by choice or by circumstance. The people who are losing their homes due to foreclosure, aren't doing so by choice, but because of their situation, and because many others are walking away from home loans that are underwater, there is a chill running through the housing market (which impacts most other markets) that won't be remedied any time soon. This also impacts people who have a great deal of equity in their homes and are having a hard time selling at anywhere near a normal price due to the glut of foreclosures and short sales on the market. On a side note, a handful of real estate investors that I know seem to be liquidating their properties as quickly as possible. Hmmm
• The government, from the local level to the federal level has, as my southern granny used to say, done lost its mind. Judges that don't know the constitution. Cities, counties, and even states that are on the verge of bankruptcy (with the federal government not far behind). Government programs run amok (**cough** TSA). Prisoners held virtually forever a la the Guantanamo detainees. Are we going to house, feed, and clothe these people forever? Try them, sentence them, and get it over with already.
• The US has the highest rate of documented incarceration of its citizens. Great. In addition to paying for every other boneheaded program the government can dream up, we also get to pay to support all of the people who are incarcerated.
• The US is knee deep in a war they are not fighting to win (our guys on the front lines could win the war, they just aren't being allowed to). Now we are heading full force into Afghanistan, and, well I guess the people who plan these wars have not read much about the history of invaders in Afghanistan.
• The world is getting smaller by the day, technologically speaking. Outsourcing to countries where you pay a couple dollar for a product or service instead of a couple of hundred is now not too far from the norm. How does that impact Americans? Not favorably overall. Yes you get cheaper products but all of the money spent goes to support the people of another country, not our own.

Tht's enough negativity for one day. Tomorrow we will discuss how to mitigate these conditions in our lives.

Apocalypse Man

I was flipping through the channels looking for a bit of news before bedtime and came across a new show, Apocalypse Man. The premise is that there has been an apocalypse and it is TEOTWAWKI (ie: marshal law, total disorder and lawlessness, societal breakdown, etc). Looks like I will be up for another hour or so. Here's what the host, a former Marine, had to teach us:

• Follow rail lines instead of the major roads when there is total social collapse, there will be fewer people here.
• In your backpack carry gloves, a good flashlight, a crowbar/breaker bar, rope, etc).
• Move quickly and watch out for people who will try to take what you have.
• When using your flashlight, carry it tactically so you can use it as a weapon if needed.
• Head to a city to find materials for survival.
• Sometimes bridges and roads will be destroyed or otherwise unusable. In the show, the host used rope with butterfly knots tied to a crowbar which he used as a grappling hook to scale his way from one side of the open bridge to the other. You don't want to swim the river because there will be all kinds of pollutants in the water due to the sewer and power processing plants being shut down.
• When you travel, along the way in old buildings. Always clear the building when you enter it to make sure no one else is there. The second floor is a good place to shelter because you can hear people coming from below and you can also jump from the window if needed.
• In you shelter, cover your tracks so others won't know you are there.
• Use a steel wool pad which you rub with a 9 volt battery as a fire starter.
• Build a fire in your shelter but block it with concrete blocks so people can't see the fire if they come into your room. Damp cardboard over the top of the fire will absorb some of the smoke.
• To escape a building in an emergency undetected, go down the elevator shaft. The host suggests jumping onto the cables of the elevator and shimmying down the cable.
• Check out residential districts. Most people will be gone. Watch for looters.
• Houses with windows and doors in tact that are still locked probably haven't been looted yet. Speed, surprise, violence, action are the rules of making entrance. Make a quick entry.
• Scavenge basements, that's where most families store their emergency supplies.
• Collect canned food. If the tops pop back and forth, don't eat it.
• Check the garage for tools, equipment, a bicycle pump, camping gear.
• With no power you need to find information. Check out the library for info from books (maps, medical books, mechanical books, etc). In New Orleans after Katrina the library was one of the few places NOT looted.
• Maps of the city can provide information about more resources and the best way to travel from point a to b (ie: road maps and sewer maps).
• When crossing open ground, go fast. A better way is to go underground through the sewer system. Pop the sewer lid with a shoelace and metal wrapped around your flashlight. The lid may weight 100 pounds or more. Sewer drainage systems basically follow the roads above.
• Sewers may be cleaner because there won't be commercial/household use of the sewer system.
• To set up a home base, the host is heading to the hospital for power. Most hospitals have back-up generators. First, switch off all of the breakers so when you fire up the generators it won't light up the hospital like a Christmas tree. The selector switch on the generator should be on auto.
• You will need to find fuel from underground fuel tanks at a gas station. Go for the diesel fuel (95% of cars in America run on unleaded not diesel fuel so there should be some left).
• Use a hose and the bicycle pump to siphon fuel from the tank. The host also found a car battery at the gas station which he took with him.
• A car battery can be recharged and provide ongoing power. Fuel and power are the most important commodities during a disaster.
• Once the generator is started, charge the car battery.
• The security office makes a good home base. With power, the closed circuit TVs in the security office will allow you to see what's happening around the building.
• Catch water from the roof.
• For food, if you have cans without labels, you eat whatever is in the can that you open.
• Make contact with others by using a short wave radio. Check the phone book for the local taxi dispatch center. At the dispatch center, take CBs, a tape recorder, a 12 volt battery, handset, transmitter, a whip antenna, co-ax cable.
• Use rooftops and fire escapes to cross the city undetected.
• Get to the roof of a high building to set the antenna for the radio. With an unblocked signal, you can transmit up to 25 miles.
• Attach the transmitter to the 12 volt battery. Put the radio on channel 9 which is monitored by emergency services. Put the antenna up in unblocked area, connect it to the radio. Record a message on tape recorder (include name, status, specific destination) and let it play on a loop; be sure to tape down the mike button so it will continue to transmit after you leave.
• When you give your destination, set up at the location a day prior so that you can scope out the area before others come.
• CB radios were the only form of communication used successfully during Hurricane Katrina.
• Find an older, diesel car and use the charged battery to get the car going. Newer cars have to much safety and electronics--they won't work. Hot wire the car.
• You can make your own fuel for the car from grease found in a restaurant's grease trap. You need to cook down the grease (using a covert fire). Heat grease, skim off the surface, then use methanol (antifreeze) and lye (household drain cleaner) in 5 part grease, 1 part methanol, and 1/2 tablespoon lye. Mix lye and methanol then add to grease. Cool then pour fuel through a t shirt to strain it into the tank.

Interesting show. Like anything you see on TV, pick out the pieces of information that will be useful to you in a survival situation. Don't watch a show and think every survival situations will follow a TV script. Which is why the more information you have, the better off you will be during a disaster.

A Dozen Basic Life Tips

A dozen things that everyone should know:

1. Don't start a fire with gasoline.
2. Always wear your seat belt.
3. Never co-sign a loan for anyone.
4. Exercise every day.
5. Don't drive drunk, or even buzzed.
6. Stay away from drug dealers and other people whose lives revolve around crime.
7. Wear a helmet anytime you ride a bicycle, motorcycle, etc.
8. Have a cash emergency fund.
9. Eat (real, not processed) food. Not too much. Mostly plants. (Michael Pollan)
10. Never use credit, pay cash for everything. (Dave Ramsey)
11. Don't take work so seriously. Feel free to quit if you don't like your job. There are plenty other jobs out there. Probably something you will like better.
12. Don't follow the crowd.

Safety and Preparedness at Work

I'm sitting at my desk with another law enforcement officer's funeral playing on TV in the background. That makes six law enforcement officer funerals for those who died in the line of duty in our area in the last couple of months with a seventh coming up later this week or next week. Not good. This year has been a statistical anomaly considering that overall line of duty deaths for the entire county are at their lowest point (124 this year) since 1959. That's 124 total deaths for 2009 for the entire country with six concentrated within a two month span and in a two county area of our state. Which brings us to today's subject: preparedness at work.
Aside from law enforcement, people die at work with surprising regularity. Sometimes people die from natural causes while others die from accidents, random shootings, and targeted attacks. Some begin the process of dying at work (ie; a needle stick from a person who has AIDS or inhaling asbestos, etc) and this impacts their life and their lifespan in the future.
We often equate preparedness and safety precautions with our home because we are the ones who are responsible for safety in our homes yet we delegate this duty to our employers when we get to work. Don't assume that your workplace is safe just because you have OSHA hovering over your industry. Here's how to be prepared and safe at work:

• Keep an emergency bag at work, just like you have a BOB at home. It should include a change of clothes, some food, water, and emergency supplies in case your building goes into lock down, you are snowed in, or you are otherwise unable to go home after work.
• Use the safety gear that is the standard for your industry...and maybe consider going above and beyond. I remember when gloves weren't even used in hospital settings now medical professionals wouldn't think of touching a patient without them. I remember when bullet-proof vests were only used for SWAT teams and your average cop wouldn't have even considered wearing one. I remember when road workers wore their usual dark colored clothing while working in the middle of the freeway, now their clothing lights them up like big fluorescent banners. Safety gear comes about usually as a result of someone being killed or injured. Through a QA process it is determined that if Mr X had been doing/wearing/trained to Y, then he would still be in one piece.
• Take training seriously. If you have ever been in the military, you will know that no matter what service you are talking about, EVERYONE drills. Continuously. The military figured out that a disaster or emergency situation is not the time that you want your people trying to figure out what to do. You want your people to train so often and so well that whether you have an emergency or not, your employees will be able to respond immediately, accurately, and efficiently. Good training and good drills will create this desired outcome.
• Seek out safety and preparedness information at work. Some workplaces have an extremely high level of preparedness and safety for their facilities and their people. Other business have nothing. Find out what your employer has done in terms of workplace safety and preparedness and if you see areas where improvements can be made, volunteer to help out.
• Teach others. If you see someone not following set rules or you see someone doing something that could be dangerous to themselves or others, say something. I'll never forget a story a friend of mine told me about a time he was piloting a commercial aircraft with a couple of hundred people aboard. He thought air traffic control had said to hold at a certain altitude, the co-pilot thought he heard the same thing, and a brand new, very junior officer thought he heard something else. He meekly brought this to the pilot's attention and ended up saving the flight from a mid-air crash.
• Encourage a QA (quality assurance) process. After any negative incident, it is good practice to gather those involved along with management, the safety officer, etc. and review what happened. More often than not, the group will determine that there were things that could have been done that would have prevented or limited the impact of the incident. This is how policies get developed and implemented--see a problem, determine how to correct the problem in the future, write a policy to educate and enforce these changes.
• Be aware of potential problems. If an employee is getting divorced and her soon to be ex is a psychopath on a good day, this is a sign that there could be some possible workplace violence issues. Take note and take precautions. If the parking garage is dark, dreary, and secluded, make sure the powers that be know about this potential area of risk and that steps are made to make it safer for everyone. If other things (location, type of business, etc) could cause potential problems (robbery in the case of a liquor store, random shootings from zealots with guns in the case of an abortion clinic), make sure that adequate safety precautions are take for the staff, facility, and clients.
• Call in an expert if needed. If you oversee or work for a large organization, there is often a dedicated, trained staff to handle your workplace safety and preparedness needs, however if you have a small business, trying to have an untrained staff handle such important tasks may not be the way to go. If needed, don't hesitate to call in experts in the field of workplace safety and preparedness to help make sure your workplace is as safe and prepared as possible.

Your List of Go-To People

Sometimes you need help from other people. Do you know who these other people should be? Do you know how to contact them? If you were in a completely new and potentially litigious/dangerous/life changing situation, such as happened to the two bloggers when the TSA agents showed up on their doorsteps a few days ago, would you deal with the situation yourself or call in the Cavalry so to speak? Here's a list of people you may want to cultivate in order to help yourself out in any of the above mentioned situations. At a minimum, you want these people's office phone numbers, email addresses, and cell numbers (additional contact information such as their home phone numbers, Twitter/FaceBook/other social media contact information if they regularly monitor these services are also helpful). It is also a very good idea to cultivate good relationships with these people--the stronger the relationship, the more likely they will be to help you out in a crisis.

• Accountant. Anytime you deal with finances (you own a business, invest, buy property, have a trust, etc) you want an expert to be able to provide you good financial information. Accounting and tax rules change quite frequently and unless you are in the business, you may miss something important. A wise accountant is worth his/her weight in gold.
• Lawyer. Or maybe a couple of them. I have friends who practice in a variety of areas of law so depending on the situation/need I will call up one of these guys for assistance. A good lawyer is also invaluable.
• Doctor. One of your priorities is to keep yourself in excellent health so you can continue to function normally. Usually you will make an appointment and see your doctor in their clinic, however there are circumstances where it is nice to have a doctor who is also a personal friend on speed dial. A friend, who happens to be a doctor who specializes in tropical medicine, has provided useful information on more than a few occasions. And did you know that in most cases if you present at a hospital with a gunshot wound, the hospital is mandated to call the police and report the situation? Sometimes it is nice to have a physician who makes house calls.
• Dentist. Ditto the above. Usually you don't need dentists in crisis situations but it can be very convenient if you are pressed for time, to have a dentist that will see you anytime, anywhere.
• Local law enforcement. Most people try to avoid the local LEOs at all costs, however it is a good idea, if possible, to have contacts with your local police/sheriff's office. The higher ranking the officer, the better.
• Politicians. Although politicians usually have a less than stellar reputation, there are many situations your Senator or Congressman can help you with. Having friends who are local, state, and federal level politicians, despite their reputations, can be quite useful and are always good to have on speed dial, just in case.
• The media. Again, you usually don't want the media around but there are times when having the media--hopefully a friend who will be sympathetic to your cause--on your side can be very useful. Contacts you may want to cultivate in the media include reporters for your local newspaper, national media contacts (think CNN, New York Times, etc), bloggers who have a huge reach, and anyone else who can spread a story quickly and efficiently.
• Money people. I am not talking about loan sharks or payday lenders. I am talking about friends who can front you a large sum of cash, on a moment's notice, with no questions asked.
• People who get things done. These people are few and far between but infinitely useful. I am actually one of these people which is why I happen to have so many contacts. People who get things done are those who can fix a situation, any situation, and generally create a positive outcome. I have a couple of people whom I can call on, any time, any place, with any situation, and with very little, if any guidance from me, they can figure out how to fix a problem. If you are being hauled off to jail and have one phone call, who would you call? If you have a major crisis in the middle of the night and you have one call, who would you call? If you are in a legally dicey situation in a third world country and have time to make one phone call before TSHTF, who would you call? You may have more than one of these people depending on the situation but you want to be sure that they are people you can trust with your life and who know how to fix a wide range of problems.
• Fed types. A local FBI contact, someone placed well with Homeland Security or the myriad other agencies that made up the government can also be useful for information and advice.
• Those who aren't going to win any citizenship awards. Whether it is a drug dealer, mercenary, muscle, or what have you, when being politically correct is not expedient/effective, sometimes you need other people who can help you. A note, that playing with fire may get you burned, so proceed with caution.
• Mentors. In every field, there are people who are much better at what they do than I am. These are the people I use as mentors. Over the years I have developed relationships with people in a wide range of fields--military, firearms, business, etc--who are excellent at what they do. These are the people I call on when I need help with a specific project/problem. Note that I don't choose these people by how much they brag about themselves. I choose these people based on what I see--are they skillful at what they do, are they humble, are the "less talk and more action", do they produce favorable outcomes?

The way to have contact with these people is to socialize or work with these people. You can't just call up someone out of the blue and make friends with them because you think they will be useful sometime in the future. It doesn't work that way. Instead, you build relationships like you would with anyone else, by meeting people "on their turf" which may mean a golf course, a Chamber of Commerce meeting, your kid's soccer game, or an expat hotel. Relationships take time to develop and it helps if you do favors for people and otherwise build their trust. You want to avoid people who have negative traits (bragging a lot about themselves, can't keep confidences, speak negatively of others, those who lie/cheat/steal) as these people will do the same to you that they do to others.
For the most part I rely on myself. I don't like owing people--whether financially or otherwise--and I prefer it if people owe me. There are times, however, when a crisis happens and I need to call in reinforcements. It is good to be able to have these reinforcements on speed dial.

The Latest TSA SNAFU (Or, How to Protect Your Home and Yourself)

If you've been online in the past few days you probably saw this article about a couple of TSA agents who went to two blogger's homes and intimidated them, threatened them, and even took one guy's computer. TSA stupidity notwithstanding, this would have never have happened if the bloggers had followed a few simple rules:

1. Your home is your castle so treat it as such.
2. Whether you are at home or away, your doors should ALWAYS be locked. Unless you are using a specific door (ie: you are barbecuing so the door to your deck is open or it is hot and you leave your doors open--with very secure screen doors which are locked) always keep your doors securely locked.
3. The only people who should be allowed into your home are friends, family, and people you specifically invite into your home (ie: the cable guy whom you have made an appointment with).
4. You should have a low tech (peep hole) or high tech (closed circuit camera system) way to ascertain who is at your door.
5. It is your right to not open your door to ANYONE. The only people you may want to consider opening your door to are law enforcement IF they have a warrant with your name on it (it's your choice to open your door or not but if they have a warrant, they are legally allowed to break your door down if they have reasonable suspicion that you are in the house or the warrant is to search your residence) or, if you see that there is local law enforcement standing there with a coroner and chaplain (it won't be good news but you should probably hear what they have to say). Everyone else (door to door salesmen, Girl Scouts, TSA agents shouting threats, "official" looking people from the utility company, or anyone else you do not know) should make an appointment or you should just let them think that you are not home. Personally, if I don't know the person at my door, I don't answer the door. They can think I am not home. If it is very important, I figure they will leave me a note or a business card so I can follow up later.
6. Note that if you do let people into your home, you should delineate where they are allowed to be in your home. If a repairman needs to fix your furnace, they don't need to be upstairs in your kid's rooms.
7. Anyone else (life insurance agent, friends of friends who just came to town, etc) should contact you by phone to set up an appointment and be met at a neutral location such as their office, your office, or a coffee shop.
8. A couple of caveats: someone may be ringing your doorbell to see if you are home before they break into your house, in this instance, watch what they do. If they don't leave after you didn't answer the door consider calling the police...and prepare to defend your home. If someone from the utility company shows up at your door, call the utility to find out what they want before you decide whether to open the door to them or not.
9. Make sure everyone in your household knows these rules and make sure they are enforced. Your home is only as secure as you make it.
10. NEVER open your door to people who are threatening you. Whether it is the TSA, local law enforcement, bill collectors, or anyone else, if they are threatening you and don't have a warrant IN HAND, don't open the door. You may want to call 911 and have these people removed from your property.

This may all seem a bit paranoid, but these are simple safety precautions. Unless you have developed some level of trust with someone, there is no reason for them to be in your house. There are more than enough news articles about strangers who entered someone's home under pretense to either scope out their home for a future burglary, stole prescription meds out of their medicine cabinet when they asked to use the bathroom, or worse, figured out the age, gender, and bedrooms of the homeowner's kids then came back and kidnapped them. The security of you and your family far overrides the need to be polite to strangers.

Happy New Year (and a Website Update)

Just a quick note to wish everyone a Happy (and prepared and prosperous) New Year! The CNI website has been updated as of today and lots of old/disabled/broken links have been removed from the huge link list while a bunch of new and useful links have been added.
On a side note, I hope everyone was able to start their new year of with a bang. Mine entailed a midnight run and a short 5k this morning. Which is the reason I always encourage people to actually get out and do stuff--you learn a lot of useful preparedness stuff when you actually partake in semi-related activities. Case in point, I learned that my Goretex jacket works great in a downpour and my rain pants don't so, in the event of a disaster that would require me to be outside for many hours in a downpour, I wouldn't have known that my rain pants were crap and would have been kicking myself for not being better prepared. I am also learning some things I had forgotten, like how to take care of blistered feet...