Irma need a rake.

Some people around here are so woefully unprepared for a catastrophe it's not even remotely funny. Irma just came though and did quite a bit of damage. Our area wasn't nearly as bad off as some, but we may not have power for another week to 10 days.

That being said, when some power was restored and a few restaurants opened, 3 hour waits ensued.

3 hours for a checker burger. No thanks.

hoards of people are keeping the grocery stores busy and shelves empty.

At least most peoples' water is still on, or they'd be fucked.

Been a while

It's been a while, but I'm back. Time flies when you're working your ass off and have a family to raise.

In any case, I'm back, and man, how much I, and things, have changed since I've been gone. reading these old posts took me back!

Age is a bitch, but wisdom comes with it, and I suppose I'll take that payoff.

See ya soon.

Additions...

..are time consuming.

And so mine must be.
I've been busy.


Thinking.
Adapting.
Developing.
Planning.
Orchestrating.
Leading.
Enlisting.

Well, Thinking of a way to make TADPOLE sound bad-ass took me 15 seconds, but...

Anyway, my pieces will be farther apart than they used to be (minus the months in hiatus), but closer than they were (plus the months in hiatus) which means, er... a few days. I've decided to actually think out my posts instead of randomly patch together concepts in 15 minutes, as has been my MO since being here (er... well, minus the months on hiatus...). More in a  few days. Hopefully they'll be a bit... hmm... 'broader'. My thinking is usually non-linear, so my abstract writing is hard to decipher sometimes... or, maybe it's too simple... I write like I think: In quick indeterminate bursts that are meant to obfuscate my reality... or yours.

In any case... see you in a few days.

We see only reflected light deep within our caves...

Plato's The Allegory of the cave has always made me think about life outside of my little cave. The Basarwa man from the desert of Africa will see things far differently than the man in Oregon.

We're all in our own caves, seeing reality and the stories before us as truth. But, how do we know?

It's become clear to me over the past several months that the things we read and watch are nothing but a reflected light show, entertainment to keep us chained in our caves.. passive, docile, obedient, complacent.
I had my suspicions, of course, but thinking hard about this was warranted.

An example of this would be the 'Government Shutdown' pre-game show we had before the weekend. How many times have they done this? And, how many times have they 'compromised' at the '11th hour'? Bread and circuses, to be sure. We've not advanced past the Roman way of thinking really, have we?

As an example:

Law and Order: STFU and CSI: WTF-EVER have not helped us from our caves, have they? Have they made us better people by watching them? Have they helped us become more than we can be? I'd say the opposite is true. These 'Idiot-Box' shows have enslaved a lot of people, made them 'feel the need' to talk to authorities without a lawyer for any. and. every. single. reason. They've made people into blithering idiots in a lot of ways.

This whole 'Flock Mentality' is going to get a lot of people hurt and/or killed before the proverbial day is done.

Will people ever see the flickering reflections for what they are? Will they ever feel the need to turn around and look behind them, to see the machinery involved in enslaving them? Will they ever walk into the daylight and look at the splendor and truth in sunshine? My hope is yes. Yes they will. But: Probably only as a last resort, and probably many of them kicking and screaming on the way out, as babies who don't want to take baths.

At that point, when everyone wakes up at once, the proverbial 100th monkey, Will things be different? Or will we construct new caves, and watch new and improved lights flicker?

Adapt or Die.

.

The Internet

We take for granted how much information is truly out there. From Googlegangers to String Theory, and everything in between. All there, at the click of a mouse and a few finger movements, for anyone to see.

Dangerous, Exciting, Terrifying. May you live in interesting times, indeed.

I love knowledge. Knowing is being prepared; even if it's just theoretical knowledge that you haven't put to the test, at least it's something you can go on.. a direction, if you will.

There's a great website I like to visit often: How to Make Everything. Sure, it's not much to look at graphic-wise, but I'm not looking for fancy pixels. I'm looking for information on a vast scale.. And, again, sure, some of the links are dead, but most work, and there's a lot of them. Mostly for the distribution to 3rd world countries (which, ironically, we may be one of those soon...), the site is free for the perusing and free downloads of all information within. The sister site is here, with over 13 Gigs of information. Agriculture, Metalworking, Macro and Micro Economics, you name it, it's in there.


Another great site is offered by NDSU (North Dakota State University) Extension Service. 

Full of plans ranging from outhouses to large houses, and all points in between. These are in .PDF format, so you'll have to save and open.

Hope this helps in preparing.

If knowledge is power, than What Hath God Wrought?

Gun Show Bounty

Got back with a few nice grabs!

Pack. Complete with two side mount pouches, butt pack, and frame. $25 (I'm finally updated from Alice, and at a way decent price..)

A sweet Day Pack I picked up for the boy. $10

New in-box Goretex boots, with 2 sets of booties. $10

So, for $53 (admission $8) I was able to come home with some good deals. Made a contact with a guy who makes really nice knives.. interested in learning the process. All-in-all, a great day!

Gun Show!

Finally! A Gun Show I can go to and maybe spend a little cash! I'll update later today and share what I came back with.

Wish me luck!

NIA Alert

The National Inflation Association came out with an alert that I'll forward.. Since I don't have everyone's email address, I thought it'd best be shown here. All credits to NIA, and such.

My comments after.
------------------------------


July 13, 2010

Empty Store Shelves Coming to America

The National Inflation Association today issued a warning to all Americans that empty store shelves will likely be coming to America as a result of government price controls during the upcoming hyperinflationary crisis. This morning, NIA released a video preview of what hyperinflation will look like in the U.S. This extremely important must see video is now available on NIA's video page.

NIA's six-minute video released today goes into detail about an event that took place just outside of Boston, Massachusetts in May of this year. This story was widely ignored by the nationwide mainstream media, but NIA believes it was one of the most important news events of the first half of 2010. Although this particular crisis in Boston was due to decaying infrastructure, NIA believes a currency crisis will lead to the same type of panic on a nationwide basis.

NIA hopes that this video serves as a wake-up call for Americans to take the necessary steps to prepare for hyperinflation and become educated about the U.S. economy. In Zimbabwe during hyperinflation, Zimbabweans were forced to transact in gold and silver. It's only a matter of time before the U.S. dollar becomes worthless and the only Americans with wealth will be those who own gold and silver.

Citizens of Boston were able to survive their recent crisis with the help of the National Guard, but the National Guard won't be there for Americans during hyperinflation. 40.2 million Americans are currently living off of food stamps, but food stamps won't have any purchasing power during hyperinflation. The United States' day of reckoning is ahead. We cannot go on living with record budget deficits and accelerating national debt growth forever.

Just yesterday it was announced that for the first time ever, a major credit ratings agency has given China a higher credit rating than the U.S. While most credit ratings agencies including Moody's, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings still rate U.S. debt as AAA, NIA believes the real credit rating of the U.S. should be junk. The only way one could possibly justify a U.S. credit rating of AAA is by taking into account the Federal Reserve's ability to monetize our debt through inflation. However, printing money to pay off debt is a lot worse than defaulting on it. Inflation is very deceptive, it destroys the value of savings while transferring wealth from the poor and middle class to the rich.

The U.S. has a budget deficit just from Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid alone. NIA urges President Obama to implement dramatic cuts to these entitlement programs immediately, while simultaneously reducing the size of government across the board. Time is growing short for Obama to rein in government spending. The longer Obama waits to reverse course, the harder it will be for the U.S. to recover from the calamity that is about to unfold.

Please forward this message to everybody you know. It is essential to the well-being of all your family members and friends that they watch our new video entitled "Empty Store Shelves Coming to America" by going to: http://inflation.us/videos.html

Please continue to spread the word about NIA by telling your friends and family to subscribe for free.

--------------------------------------

This may not come as a shock to most of you. I'm in concurrence with the authors. It's extremely important to prepare now while there's still money to prepare with that's worth a damn.

Erm... wait, no, that IS hilarious!

I caught Glenn Beck today, and I saw the funniest thing I've seen in a long time. It's funny 'cause it's true. We're so screwed it's hard not to laugh.

Look who's coming to dinner!

I'm a little late to the party, I've been ridiculously busy these past few weeks, so my apologies.


But, what in the sam hell is this?

In addition to the litany of bad policies contained in the Dodd Financial Reform bill is this nugget on pages 1039-1040.  In short, it extends government reach to every deposit account of every citizen.

Ok, If and/or when that happens, I'll be sure to let my bank know I'll no longer be using them.

Not that the healthcare bill doesn't already have certain key points such as this in it, but this would wrap it all up quite nicely for them, wouldn't it?

Intrusion doesn't even begin to describe what's about to transpire in our country. It's past intrusiveness, and well on its way to them living in our houses whilst eating our food and shitting in our toilets without even asking to come in before doing so.

Either get them a blanket and make them comfortable, or shove them the hell out of our house. Only two choices I see at this moment.

Look whose coming to dinner, indeed.

Although, some dinners may be laced, so watch your back, you unwanted guests.

QotD

Quote of the Day:

"When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men living together in society, they create for themselves, in the course of time, a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it."
-Frederic Bastiat

Deem This, You Crocodilian* Wench!

I saw someone anonymously comment on another blog a bunch of stuff, but I found this quip to be quite genius.

           "   ...Perhaps I'm confused here, but if they want to toss the rule book out the window, then they have no basis to turn to me and say, "Play by the rules.""

Indeed.

Madam Speaker, I deem you, and your crocodilian* cohorts, completely irrelevant henceforth.


*please note, this in no way references crazy talk about 'reptilians' or any other such nonsense of that particular scifi/conspiracy genre. I refer to her as a crocodile because, well, she looks a lot like a primal lizard, and I have no doubt she sounds and acts like one behind closed doors. Much like Stacy Keech's character in one Cheech and Chong movie, sans the mary jane. Furthermore, I will surmise that you probably can't read this, but if it so happens that you can, please feel free to do some photoshopping of Pelosi and send it to youtube marked "Reptilian Conspiracy Exposed!" or something of that nature. That stuff is hilarious!

Defining Poverty

Defining Poverty: New tools to help us become... .... tools.

The Obama administration is setting new standards for determining who is "poor" in America, announcing a new formula to supplement the one established during the 1960s.  Why the change?  Because Obama's definition of poverty seeks to include "modern" expenses like child care and health care.

Go here for more.  Also, and more to the point, here.

Quip:

The Supplemental Poverty Measure, which will be used in fall 2010 in a Census Bureau report, will not completely replace the old measure. It will be used to calculate an alternative poverty rate, but the new formula will not be used to determine eligibility for government programs.

Emphasis added, of course.

Wait... Alternative? Alternative to what, exactly?

So, riddle me this, Batman. Since it won't be used to further government welfare, what will it be used for? Toilet paper? (Maybe for me, but...)

Hardly.

I surmise this will be used as a propaganda ploy by the POTUS to show why we need UniversalSuckCare now, more than ever, because so many people are impoverished!!

Balderdash, is what it is.

Deja Moo - The feeling that you've heard this bull before.

Water Treatment -- Shocking!

When I heard about treating water with pool shock, I was floored.

I've since done away with bleach bottles all together, and now use pool shock to create my own bleach. 3.77 for a small bag of shock, and one teaspoon makes a gallon of strong bleach.

Bleach starts losing its potency as soon as it's bottled. a 6 month gallon of bleach will start losing 20% of its  potency every year, until it's nuthin' but salt, and water.. BUT: Granular bleach, aka Pool Shock, aka calcium Hypochlorite, will stay in its crystallized form for a hell of a lot longer.

Here's what the EPA has to say about it:

You can use granular calcium hypochlorite to disinfect water.
Add and dissolve one heaping teaspoon of high-test granular calcium hypochlorite (approximately ¼ ounce) for each two gallons of water, or 5 milliliters (approximately 7 grams) per 7.5 liters of water. The mixture will produce a stock chlorine solution of approximately 500 milligrams per liter, since the calcium hypochlorite has available chlorine equal to 70 percent of its weight. To disinfect water, add the chlorine solution in the ratio of one part of chlorine solution to each 100 parts of water to be treated. This is roughly equal to adding 1 pint (16 ounces) of stock chlorine to each 12.5 gallons of water or (approximately ½ liter to 50 liters of water) to be disinfected. To remove any objectionable chlorine odor, aerate the disinfected water by pouring it back and forth from one clean container to another.

http://www.epa.gov/ogwdw/faq/emerg.html

Since reading Ron Fontaine's article regarding this, I studied and researched, and it's all true. I've been doing this for about a year now, and the savings on bleach bottles alone is worth it.

A 1-pound bag of calcium hypochlorite in granular form will treat up to 10,000 gallons of drinking water.. something to think about.

Thought I'd pass this info along. :)

Wally-World and canned goods

I went for a long overdue stock shop two days ago, and Wally world had a hell of a deal on "Stone Mountain" brand canned goods (veggies) at .50 cents a piece! I only found corn, peas, and green beans in that brand, though.

2 for a buck is good for them, since they've raised prices (Inflation!) on canned goods 3 years in a row. Right now, wally brand canned goods (veggies) in my area are .76-.78 cents a pop... Needless to say, I doubled-down on that deal and bought twice as much as I was going to... not sure how long they'll have them, or how long it'll last, so I'm passing the word out!

Project: Chicken! -- Eggs!

We now have two layers! Waiting on that third one shouldn't take more than a week or so. I'd upload pictures, but I keep eating them.

I'll remind myself to take a few pics before scrambling ;)

Logan has been chasing off unwanted cats, as well. And squirrels. And birds.

He's becoming quite the large one.

BTW: anyone know how to powder an egg? (Dehydration, that is) Please feel free to post some ideas... I'd like to try it.

Revo.. wait, what?

So the clientele at work is rather diverse. We get all sorts through there, and I hear all sorts of things, but the one thing most of them seem to have in common is the word revolution.

It's weird to hear coming from a 70 year old man, and 5 minutes later come from a spanish landscaper.

"Wait, what?" is my usual response.

The context of the word is as vast as the people who frequent the establishment, but none more prevalent than the connotation of the original intent of the word.

What's unusual to me is it seems to be on the tip of everyone's tongue these days.

Memes work in mysterious ways.

New Family Addition

Or!

Project: Logan!

I moved my mother to Tennessee a few weeks ago, and when I came back, we had a new dog. Half Border Collie, half Australian Shephard. He's a sweet lad, and it seems the herding runs deep, because he likes to try and herd the chickens, which is quite hilarious!

here're a few pics of the ol' chap.

He's sleeping, of course. Long Christmas Day.

No eye color change, but that might not happen, either.

11 weeks old, he already knows how to fetch (mostly, lol) and herd chickens (well, chase, but still...). The weird thing is, he has a fairy saddle (dark mark on the snout) just like the cat, Emma.. plus: They're almost completely opposite colors (cat mostly white with a few brown and black marks on the chest, tail, body and face).

Logan fits in well.

Funny story about his name, actually.

The Boy (step-son) wanted to name him Dogzilla (erm... no.). My step-father came over and said, "Hey, Wolverine!" I chortled, then remembered the second X-Men movie where Logan (Wolverine) killed an intruder with his claws in the kitchen. This discussion happened in the kitchen, so I said, "Ha! Logan!" and now you know the REST of the story. :P

Jeffersonian School of Government

Sorry I've been absent this week... it's been ratather hectic at work, and a guy who got hired with me put in his 2 weeks, so I'm preparing for a wicked time by myself. That's alright though... I live for this shit!

Anyhowl, I came across these quotes today, and I thought I'd pass them along.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned – this is the sum of good government.

---

Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves are its only safe depositories.

---

Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny.

---

I have recently been examining all the known superstitions of the world, and do not find in our particular superstition (Christianity) one redeeming feature. They are all alike founded on fables and mythology.

---

I have no ambition to govern men; it is a painful and thankless office.

---

I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them but to inform their discretion.

---

I own that I am not a friend to a very energetic government. It is always oppressive.

I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than those attending too small a degree of it.

---

If the present Congress errs in too much talking, how can it be otherwise in a body to which the people send one hundred and fifty lawyers, whose trade it is to question everything, yield nothing, and talk by the hour?

---

It is always better to have no ideas than false ones; to believe nothing, than to believe what is wrong.

---

It is error alone which needs the support of government. Truth can stand by itself.

---

It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world.

---

Politics is such a torment that I advise everyone I love not to mix with it.

Power is not alluring to pure minds.

---

Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add “within the limits of the law” because law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual.

---

Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the form of kings to govern him? Let history answer this question.

---

That government is best which governs the least, because its people discipline themselves.

---

The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.

---

The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground.

The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions that I wish it to be always kept alive.

---

Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of liberty.

Whenever a man has cast a longing eye on offices, a rottenness begins in his conduct."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Hope you liked it.. I did.

Free Will and Slavery, via Outer Limits

I loved this show when I was a wee lad... just so happens I've been revisiting a few old episodes.... this one, though, has taken the proverbial cake in the context of current events...





Oh, the best parts are at the end, as usual.

Blind faith does not a smart man make.