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Preparing for the worst


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2011 Feb 7, 1:19am   31,339 views  110 comments

by francophile100   ➕follow (0)   💰tip   ignore  

I've been reading about the events in Egypt and I found myself wondering what would happen if the US entered some kind of period of social/political unrest. I was surprised at how quickly the Egyptian government could shut off the internet, close the banks, etc.

Thinking back to the period after 9/11 I was also surprised at how everyone here panicked, and how quickly habeus corpus, and civil rights in general, were tossed to the side like trash. I don't have any faith that the US would act any better if something hugely disruptive came around again.

I was thinking of making my own "survival kit." I'm soliciting comments as to what you would keep on hand, like how much cash (it's useless in my savings acct. anyway). I plan also to get my radio operator's license (HAM). I'm not going to get any guns (there are kids in the house), and I reject on principle that kind of Armageddon-head for the hills mentality, but I want to be able to lie low, communicate with my family, keep people safe and fed, and get out of town if the need arises.

I already have the basics of food, water, battery-operated radio, etc. for earthquakes, but I'm thinking about a more disruptive scenario.

What do you think?

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69   elliemae   2011 Feb 16, 1:04pm  

BW says

I have had the misfortune of living through several disasters, including the Rodney King riots, the Northridge Earthquake, Hurricanes Andrew, Frances, Jeanne, and Wilma.

Note to self: In an emergency, don't be anywhere near this guy. :)

rewrew7 says

You are right though, as soon as the power goes out, people start shooting one another for granola bars. It’s a completely risk free activity.

Thanks - I shot a woman in the lunchroom 'cause she had a granola bar... then I reread this post and realized that the power hadn't yet gone out. So I ran around the building counterclockwise several times, reversed the rotation of the earth while listening to a Cher CD, and turned back time to before I shot her. Then I got pissed off when I didn't have enough change for the vending machine and shot her again, just because I could (but I did pry the granola bar out of her cold, dead hand...).

wcalleallegre says

This is a mind blower from Patrick with a survivalist mentality. I thought he had so much trust in the government when he was a super supporter of Obamacare.

Uh, Patrick isn't the OP. It's francophile. Patrick doesn't censor stuff unless it's so damn offensive we all threaten to riot in the streets. wcalleallegre says

I would go with the 4 G’s………..God, Groceries (one yr supply), Gold and Guns.

How do you get a year supply of God?

70   finehoe   2011 Feb 17, 12:00am  

ohomen171 says

Norway and Sweden use the Kroner!!!

So why did your list include Finland (and Denmark, which pegs its currency to the Euro)?

71   ghpacific   2011 Feb 17, 12:42am  

francophile, I like to read The Surviving in Argentina blog since it is written by someone who is experiencing societal collapse for real. http://ferfal.blogspot.com/ Take it with a grain of salt though since Ferfal is rather determined to survive no matter what. Steve Patterson has a good podcast too at http://twobeerswithsteve.libsyn.com/ Things haven't collapsed yet, but prices of goods are pushing us all in to a corner.

72   fdhfoiehfeoi   2011 Feb 17, 3:04am  

tatupu70 says

Is Pat.net like a siren call for all these guys? Why do they all end up here?

I was briefly excited about your offer to sell sliver, but reading this post realized the only silver you own was probably purchased at the mall from a swarthy guy with a beard named Akmad.

Patrick.net attracts people tired of BS who are facing reality... But some like yourself prefer to keep their reality bounded by the real estate market. Enjoy your soylent green rations!

73   pkennedy   2011 Feb 17, 4:07am  

Vancouver (approximately 2M) in Canada had a slide into their water reservoir a couple of years ago. My friends who were there said every store ran out of water on the first day. The water was non-potable, meaning no amount of boiling was fixing it. By day 3, every store had adequate water supplies again. No government intervention, no rationing, businesses simply ordered it in, and it happened.

Cash isn't necessary, some is nice to have for a couple of days, but banks will have their wireless ATM devices out there quickly. You won't need cash for very long during any emergency. I'm sure everyone has seen those little portable visa machines kiosks have, they aren't tied to anything other than a cell tower.

If your city is without power for more than a couple of days, you won't want to stick around, regardless of how well you've got things setup. Who would actively live in new orleans after that disaster? No one. It would be clear right away that it wasn't going to be "fixed" within 1-2 months. The only people left there were wackos, or the poor,. Just watch some of their interviews "Where is the government to help *ME*!!!!" Everyone on this forum would say how do I help myself, not where is the government to give me free stuff. The people who were in New Orleans after the disaster (who didn't heed the warnings, but were sane), figured out how to leave quick enough, using the mentality of how do I help myself.

An earthquake in the bay area isn't going to take everything out. It might ruin San Jose, or destroy SF, but get 50 miles from the center of the earthquake and damage becomes minimal. If San Jose was destroyed to 0% livability, I would expect 80% of homes would be livable in Walnut Creek. If you lived in San Jose and worked in SF, are you going to sit in your house for 3 months, while they "rebuild" and not go to work? Are you going to put up with huge delays to get to work? Driving for 3-4 hours a day because the main highways are destroyed? Bringing in water by yourself from the nearest city so you can wash up? No. You're going to temporarily move to another part of the city and wait for things to get better.

If the entire Bay Area is destroyed, WHO would live here? Housing isn't going to return in a few years. Jobs will simply leave, if every business has to restart, they aren't going to wait 5 years to do so here. They're going to leave. Everything you expect in the bay area will be gone in that case. You'll be left in a desolate city, living a desolate live, vs your current life. You would move to another city that would offer you the same amenities you're used to, not wait 10-30 years for things to return to normal.

If you need a gun to protect your family, then you're going to just shoot them before this is over. If you're guarding your little house in San Jose, then your entire family has to remain indoors, and they are going to drive you crazy with "Lets leave this crappy city! I have no friends here! I can't go out side! No tv! No internet! WAAAAAAAAAAAH every day, 24 hours a day you'll have someone berating you to leave. You'll have no choice but to move. If you let them out, and things are as bad as you envision, they'll simply be kidnapped and you'll have to turn everything over to get them back. Simply look at other countries for what desperate people will do, and you'll be dealing with that. If your neighbours have no food, no water and no options, no amount of "guarding" will protect your family. Your neighbors will either leave, leaving you in "downtown detroit" when you're used to living in moderate safety and luxury, meaning you'll want out too. You'll have to keep everyone in your house to keep them safe. At which point to smoke you out, they simply need to start YOUR neighbors house on fire and let it move on over to yours. Now you're all outside, with a family with nothing, just like them. Maybe you have a gun still, but when you evacuate your house, how do you take your 5000 rounds of ammo, your family, water and all your food? You don't.

There is a reason we have all moved from farms to city life. It's a much easier life style. All around the world this happens. Farming is *NOT* easy. You might survive one year, but it only takes 1 year of drought to destroy you. It only takes one mistake. You aren't a farmer. You don't have 30 years of farming experience from your parents pounding it into you, your friends discussing things, etc. You've got minimal experience. Your chances of success are basically 0.

If you're on this farm, with your 5000 rounds of ammo, how are you going to go outside to actually farm? People simply have to sit on the edge of your farm with a gun and wait for someone to come outside. Pick you off one by one and you're done. If it's become that lawless, then they'll be free to do this. If you don't go outside, your food dwindles down to nothing, and your farm fails.

74   tatupu70   2011 Feb 17, 4:45am  

NuttBoxer says

tatupu70 says


Is Pat.net like a siren call for all these guys? Why do they all end up here?

I was briefly excited about your offer to sell sliver, but reading this post realized the only silver you own was probably purchased at the mall from a swarthy guy with a beard named Akmad.
Patrick.net attracts people tired of BS who are facing reality… But some like yourself prefer to keep their reality bounded by the real estate market. Enjoy your soylent green rations!

Sorry--I was joking about the silver. Nickels were never made of silver...

75   Huntington Moneyworth III, Esq   2011 Feb 17, 4:57am  

I think people should be "Preparing for the Best".

Take an arts and crafts class. Read a good novel. Enjoy a fine meal with some fine wine once in awhile. Go improve your golf game. Do some volunteer work.

There is a HUGE oppurtunity cost to focusing too much on preparing for the worst. No one needs four years of canned groceries, piles of gold, or assault rifles.

The doom and gloom end-of-days'ers are wasting a tremendous amount of time and resources on something so utterly foolish and improbable that they can practically watch in real time their peers successfully advancing ahead of them in money, careers, lifestyle, and social status.

Reminds me of the penny-wise, pound foolish old man who wastes $50.00 in gasoline driving around town searching for the gas station with a $0.01 a gallon cheaper gas. "Summa bitches won't take any more money from me!" he shouts to the world.

Survivalist mentalities and principles are very EXPENSIVE.

76   Huntington Moneyworth III, Esq   2011 Feb 17, 5:04am  

Below is pure and epic win.

Survivalism in the 21st Century does not mean guns and fall-out shelter supplies. 21st Century survivalism requires:

*critical thinking
*higher education
*high tech skills

The Stone Age has come and gone. It's not coming back folks.

pkennedy says

Vancouver (approximately 2M) in Canada had a slide into their water reservoir a couple of years ago. My friends who were there said every store ran out of water on the first day. The water was non-potable, meaning no amount of boiling was fixing it. By day 3, every store had adequate water supplies again. No government intervention, no rationing, businesses simply ordered it in, and it happened.
Cash isn’t necessary, some is nice to have for a couple of days, but banks will have their wireless ATM devices out there quickly. You won’t need cash for very long during any emergency. I’m sure everyone has seen those little portable visa machines kiosks have, they aren’t tied to anything other than a cell tower.
If your city is without power for more than a couple of days, you won’t want to stick around, regardless of how well you’ve got things setup. Who would actively live in new orleans after that disaster? No one. It would be clear right away that it wasn’t going to be “fixed” within 1-2 months. The only people left there were wackos, or the poor,. Just watch some of their interviews “Where is the government to help *ME*!!!!” Everyone on this forum would say how do I help myself, not where is the government to give me free stuff. The people who were in New Orleans after the disaster (who didn’t heed the warnings, but were sane), figured out how to leave quick enough, using the mentality of how do I help myself.
An earthquake in the bay area isn’t going to take everything out. It might ruin San Jose, or destroy SF, but get 50 miles from the center of the earthquake and damage becomes minimal. If San Jose was destroyed to 0% livability, I would expect 80% of homes would be livable in Walnut Creek. If you lived in San Jose and worked in SF, are you going to sit in your house for 3 months, while they “rebuild” and not go to work? Are you going to put up with huge delays to get to work? Driving for 3-4 hours a day because the main highways are destroyed? Bringing in water by yourself from the nearest city so you can wash up? No. You’re going to temporarily move to another part of the city and wait for things to get better.
If the entire Bay Area is destroyed, WHO would live here? Housing isn’t going to return in a few years. Jobs will simply leave, if every business has to restart, they aren’t going to wait 5 years to do so here. They’re going to leave. Everything you expect in the bay area will be gone in that case. You’ll be left in a desolate city, living a desolate live, vs your current life. You would move to another city that would offer you the same amenities you’re used to, not wait 10-30 years for things to return to normal.
If you need a gun to protect your family, then you’re going to just shoot them before this is over. If you’re guarding your little house in San Jose, then your entire family has to remain indoors, and they are going to drive you crazy with “Lets leave this crappy city! I have no friends here! I can’t go out side! No tv! No internet! WAAAAAAAAAAAH every day, 24 hours a day you’ll have someone berating you to leave. You’ll have no choice but to move. If you let them out, and things are as bad as you envision, they’ll simply be kidnapped and you’ll have to turn everything over to get them back. Simply look at other countries for what desperate people will do, and you’ll be dealing with that. If your neighbours have no food, no water and no options, no amount of “guarding” will protect your family. Your neighbors will either leave, leaving you in “downtown detroit” when you’re used to living in moderate safety and luxury, meaning you’ll want out too. You’ll have to keep everyone in your house to keep them safe. At which point to smoke you out, they simply need to start YOUR neighbors house on fire and let it move on over to yours. Now you’re all outside, with a family with nothing, just like them. Maybe you have a gun still, but when you evacuate your house, how do you take your 5000 rounds of ammo, your family, water and all your food? You don’t.
There is a reason we have all moved from farms to city life. It’s a much easier life style. All around the world this happens. Farming is *NOT* easy. You might survive one year, but it only takes 1 year of drought to destroy you. It only takes one mistake. You aren’t a farmer. You don’t have 30 years of farming experience from your parents pounding it into you, your friends discussing things, etc. You’ve got minimal experience. Your chances of success are basically 0.
If you’re on this farm, with your 5000 rounds of ammo, how are you going to go outside to actually farm? People simply have to sit on the edge of your farm with a gun and wait for someone to come outside. Pick you off one by one and you’re done. If it’s become that lawless, then they’ll be free to do this. If you don’t go outside, your food dwindles down to nothing, and your farm fails.

77   phoenix.426   2011 Feb 17, 9:11am  

"Take an arts and crafts class. Read a good novel. Enjoy a fine meal with some fine wine once in awhile. Go improve your golf game. Do some volunteer work."

Don't you think that's what we've all been doing a little TOO MUCH of?? My goodness.

SoCal Renter says

I think people should be “Preparing for the Best”.
Take an arts and crafts class. Read a good novel. Enjoy a fine meal with some fine wine once in awhile. Go improve your golf game. Do some volunteer work.
There is a HUGE oppurtunity cost to focusing too much on preparing for the worst. No one needs four years of canned groceries, piles of gold, or assault rifles.
The doom and gloom end-of-days’ers are wasting a tremendous amount of time and resources on something so utterly foolish and improbable that they can practically watch in real time their peers successfully advancing ahead of them in money, careers, lifestyle, and social status.
Reminds me of the penny-wise, pound foolish old man who wastes $50.00 in gasoline driving around town searching for the gas station with a $0.01 a gallon cheaper gas. “Summa bitches won’t take any more money from me!” he shouts to the world.
Survivalist mentalities and principles are very EXPENSIVE.

78   tatupu70   2011 Feb 17, 9:18am  

phoenix.426 says

“Take an arts and crafts class. Read a good novel. Enjoy a fine meal with some fine wine once in awhile. Go improve your golf game. Do some volunteer work.”
Don’t you think that’s what we’ve all been doing a little TOO MUCH of?? My goodness

Yes--exactly right. All that volunteer work is what got us in this mess.

Everyone stocking up on wheat and guns is just the ticket to get the economy rolling again.

79   phoenix.426   2011 Feb 17, 10:09am  

A message, perhaps a little off the subject:

I am 38 years old and sadly enough, up until a few years ago, I had NO IDEA what being American was all about. I had no idea what it really took for a country to weather the test of time and maintain freedom for its people. Heck, I even joined the military right after high school; still, I had no clue at all. It took me two full years of studying and more importantly a lot of deep thinking about what I BELIEVE in to finally realize what is required of a countrie's citizens in order for that country to survive. You have to BELIEVE in what your country was founded on and then stand for that 'til the end!

This is what I believe:

Like it or not America was very much founded around GOD! That's right - god. Without the influence of god we shall surely fail as a country. For a country founded on god is a country lost without god. God was taken out of the public school system in the early sixties.. Why?? Why on earth would we do this?? Is it because a few people didn't like the idea of god? Well, I suppose that's fine but they should move else where because we Americans believe in god. Heck, christians are practically looked at as freaks in this country any more! It's sad.

The very piece of paper that protects our GOD GIVEN rights - the Constitution, was written for a moral society. Where do you suppose our morals come from?

I also believe guns are a great way to teach your children about freedom. Take them out shooting and while you're out there teach them about freedom. Teach them about America and what we were founded on (this isn't being done enough).

I urge everyone to dig deep, study and find out what YOU believe in because there might be a better country out there for you if you find you don't fit in here.

America already knows what it is - do you believe in it?

I am an American. And what makes me an American is my beliefs. My belief in AMERICANISM. Go find out for yourself!

God bless

PS - revolution is as natural as peeing.

80   pkennedy   2011 Feb 17, 10:12am  

Hardly, this country was founded on people who were persecuted by god. There is a reason state and religion were separated, because the founders had no interest of having religion being part of their new country.

81   redrider   2011 Feb 17, 10:47am  

Well said Phoenix.....you are a true American. I'm 50+ and my father fought in WWII, Korea and Viet Nam. It took me many years to recognize the sacrifice's he made for God, family and his country. A man of ourageous courage, faith and loyalty. A dying breed. thanks for posting!

82   wcalleallegre   2011 Feb 17, 10:58am  

I dont think anyone is advocating armed revolution. Guns are a deterrent to tyranny in a democratic society.
When the majority of the electorate becomes ignorant of the Constitution, American history, Christianity and vote for who looks and sounds good we are in serious trouble like its been happening a couple of generations we get trashy leaders and politicians AND STATISM.

Someone quoted "this country was founded on people who were persecuted by god. There is a reason state and religion were separated, because the founders had no interest of having religion being part of their new country." This is a very ignorant saying and believing in a lie (historical revisionism).

Someone commented my quote about the 4 G's asking "How do you get a year supply of God?" The bible says "O ye of little faith". Faith in the true God will carry you through bad times and give you wisdom. Do what you can to prepare for bad times and faith will carry you through. In the meanwhile eat, drink and be merry! Balance is the key.

83   M8R-0dxnlo   2011 Feb 17, 11:30am  

Nomograph says

The Christian Taliban have just arrived. Excellent.

Much better than the God-less Taliban, however. A man with a value system and morals is a more trustworthy man than one without.

84   redrider   2011 Feb 17, 11:36am  

Pleaaasssee! I said God not Christianity. I respect all paths and that is a part of being a true American. Jesus was a great way shower, who taught love, faith and courage, as were many other great prophet's. Taliban isn't a very good example. Either is religion.

85   M8R-0dxnlo   2011 Feb 17, 11:57am  

redrider says

Pleaaasssee! I said God not Christianity. I respect all paths and that is a part of being a true American. Jesus was a great way shower, who taught love, faith and courage, as were many other great prophet’s. Taliban isn’t a very good example. Either is religion.

I recommend you read Niki Raapana's material regarding why Christianity is under attack in the United States. Very insightful for thinking people of faith.

86   stillrentinginLA   2011 Feb 17, 1:56pm  

I know exactly one person in Los Angeles with a gun. Last year he had a home invasion robbery while sleeping and the home invaders found the gun and held him up with it. He is a rabid right-winger and if it wasn't such an awful thing to happen to someone I would've laughed hysterically and thrown his teabagger words right back at him. But I just couldn't, it was just too pathetic and predictable.

87   marcus   2011 Feb 17, 2:28pm  

The fundamentalist Christians have rewritten the history of Ronald Reagan. Give them time and they will convince everyone that the founding fathers ideal was a nation of fundamentalist Christians who keep eachother distracted with non issues while the plutocracy and the corporatocracy slowly enslave us.

88   Â¥   2011 Feb 17, 4:28pm  

wcalleallegre says

I thought he had so much trust in the government when he was a super supporter of Obamacare.

The funny thing is that "ObamaCare" hasn't changed a goddamn thing with my health care.

Other than jacking up the premiums 20%, largely thanks to it not allowing companies to discriminate premiums based on gender any more. The other stuff -- young adults staying on parent's plans, no rescission, is maybe 5% according to BlueShield.

The right wing nut brigade (see above) has somehow gotten it into their pinheads that the bill passed last year was something the socialists up in Canada might be envious of, while the reality of the situation is that "ObamaCare" is just pretty much what Mitt Romney got implemented in MA and what Republicans like Bob Dole, Ted Stevens, Orrin Hatch supported in 1993 (the Chafee bill).

It is HIGHLY conservative in nature, since it had to pass through the Senate Finance Committee, who changed it to what they could get 60 votes for after Kennedy died and Brown replaced him. Basically the most conservative Democrat (Lieberman) determined what was going to pass the Senate, since no Republicans voted for it, for their usual BS hyperpartisan reasons.

marcus says

Give them time and they will convince everyone that the founding fathers ideal was a nation of fundamentalist Christians

They're already doing this, bigtime. wallbuilders.org does weekly presentations in churches, for some reason my sister dragged me to her church down in OC and half the service was a powerpoint from some affable Texan telling them about Gouverneur Morris and all the rest of the founders were Christian men making a Christian country.

That was the last time I went to church with her. Now when I'm visiting I let mom & her go do their church thing and I just fuck off for the morning.

89   elliemae   2011 Feb 17, 4:54pm  

Troy says

The funny thing is that “ObamaCare” hasn’t changed a goddamn thing with my health care.

The majority of changes don't kick in for years - yet I have patients/families blaming Obama for everything. I love it when they complain that Medicare won't pay for their room & board just because they don't have a medical need to be there.

I've been yelled at, sworn at and called a liar (this week it was twice) when a patient's family is told the patient isn't eligible for Medicaid and the patient must either pay out of pocket or go home. My new nickname is "bitch."

The newest assessment tools were created while Bush was in office, but no one wants to hear that.

90   BW   2011 Feb 18, 2:55am  

elliemae says:

How do you get a year supply of God?

Answer: I went to church once. That pretty much held me for a year.

91   fdhfoiehfeoi   2011 Feb 18, 3:12am  

tatupu70 says

NuttBoxer says

tatupu70 says

Is Pat.net like a siren call for all these guys? Why do they all end up here?

I was briefly excited about your offer to sell sliver, but reading this post realized the only silver you own was probably purchased at the mall from a swarthy guy with a beard named Akmad.

Patrick.net attracts people tired of BS who are facing reality… But some like yourself prefer to keep their reality bounded by the real estate market. Enjoy your soylent green rations!

Sorry–I was joking about the silver. Nickels were never made of silver…

My mistake, dimes quarters and half dollars only, again before '64.

92   vandervert   2011 Feb 18, 8:14am  

The US Government is completely aware of what's going on. While Bush was President they made plans for the food and job riots this depression will soon cause when people revolt because they hit the breaking point. The camps were constructed with barbed wire in 1,800 locations all across the country. The truth is, society doesn't need all of us anymore. They can get by just fine and still generate huge corporate profits. Us extras are just a burden now. I think what's going to happen soon may be similar to the inhumanity we saw during WWII and that's what you have to prepare yourself against, though how do you prepare for 20 million deaths in your own country and the rise of the corporate/police state?

93   tatupu70   2011 Feb 18, 8:57am  

vandervert says

The US Government is completely aware of what’s going on. While Bush was President they made plans for the food and job riots this depression will soon cause when people revolt because they hit the breaking point. The camps were constructed with barbed wire in 1,800 locations all across the country. The truth is, society doesn’t need all of us anymore. They can get by just fine and still generate huge corporate profits. Us extras are just a burden now. I think what’s going to happen soon may be similar to the inhumanity we saw during WWII and that’s what you have to prepare yourself against, though how do you prepare for 20 million deaths in your own country and the rise of the corporate/police state?

Lots of God. I'd say at least 3-4 years worth.

94   Â¥   2011 Feb 18, 9:15am  

wtf's going on with the flood of new account whackos?

95   marcus   2011 Feb 18, 9:40am  

maybe shrek invited them all over from one of his other online forums.

96   rktbrkr   2011 Feb 20, 9:58pm  

I got an AM/FM/Weather band radio for $25 from Amazon, Eton Microlink, self powered by handcrank and solar cell, has cell charger capability and LED flashlight too, decent audio.

Next survival step is an ebay bid is a DC/AC inverter big enough to power a room AC and refrigerator. A $100 inverter is a better deal than $1000 generator since I'll only be using it for a short term emergency. We had a blackout here (metro NYC) with 3 days of 103 degrees and a/c or a fan isn't a luxury then. Obviously a diesel is better for long term idling but I bet a fuel injected 4cyl with synthetic oil won't have any trouble on a cycled basis.

97   rktbrkr   2011 Feb 20, 10:04pm  

There have been some horror stories here about keeping guns in the home. You should always keep the ammunition separate from the gun and the gun is easy to lock in a number of ways including a trigger lock. A shotgun is the safest and most effective gun you can get for self protection in the home IMO.

98   NDrLoR   2011 Feb 21, 12:54am  

rktbrkr saysA shotgun is the safest and most effective gun you can get for self protection in the home IMO.

That reminded me of something funny that happened when I was only about four years old. My father had a double-barrel shotgun that he kept on top of the chest of drawers in their bedroom--you could just see part of the butt of the gun sticking up over the top. One day we were in the front yard and my father had the gun which I had seen him fire before. He held it down just in front of me so I could see it more clearly--I simply reached over and pinched the trigger and the thing fired! The shell went across the street and struck one of the three metal buildings that had been built by the CCC in the late 30's and was then part of the vocational education campus of the high school--it made a loud bang and I'm sure the gouge is still there because the buildings are. What was even worse a lady was walking from the bus stop down at the end of the street not far from there. The term "freak-out" didn't exist then, but that's what my father did. I thought he was going to have a heart attack. He yelled at me that you're never supposed to press the trigger of a gun when you don't know if it's loaded or not, but it was his fault for putting it in my range knowing I had no more knowledge of such a weapon. Needless to say the shotgun wasn't brought out in my presense any longer and a few years later it was stolen--so much for protection.

99   Outside Party .   2011 Feb 21, 4:45am  

Nomograph says

Troy says


wtf’s going on with the flood of new account whackos?

Three-day weekend.

If you purported "regulars" need to swim only in your own elitist inbred opinions, then why not start your own Yahoo Group for free and have at it? Your tolerance for any new or different ideas on these forums is quite low. So low that you need to regularly demean anyone who does not share the same ideas as your little inbred clique.

So please, go somewhere else and revel in your inbred ideas. Expose yourselves to nothing different. If that's Heaven for you, and what you struggle so hard to maintain here -- why not put two and two together for a change, get off your ass, and get it done?

Here's the link to get you started -
http://groups.yahoo.com/

Otherwise, please STFU already. Your mindless emotional and personal attacks are boring, if you haven't figured that out already. You're like a freakin' robot.

100   marcus   2011 Feb 21, 6:35am  

Apparently Outsideparty thinks that a couple observations of the kookiness factor of vandervert and a couple other recent new accounts makes the observers "elitist." He's right. We should try to minimize that kind of predictable robot like "personal attack."
.

102   rktbrkr   2011 Feb 23, 6:25am  

Looks like we'll have to start stockpiling fuel sooner than expected.

103   rktbrkr   2011 Mar 12, 8:39am  

People can't get water or batteries in Tokyo which is hundreds of miles from the epicenter of the earthquake, this is an extraordinary natural calamity but earthquakes happen here too, plan ahead

104   pkennedy   2011 Mar 12, 8:45am  

People will be fine there, it will take a few days but they will get things back to normal for those people who are mobile. They will have issues for a few days, but things will clear up pretty quickly. For those trapped and/or hurt, it could take awhile for them to get help.

The unique thing about Japan is the population densities. It would be like having an earthquake up and down both sides of the US, with tsunami's hitting on both coasts to basically have the same kind of effected population.

105   Â¥   2011 Mar 12, 10:28am  

^ actually the recent quake is pretty identical to a big one going off in Monterey Bay (if such subduction faults existed there)

You could imagine the 101 corridor from Salinas to San Jose (same population as Sendai) losing power and all the coastal communities from Santa Cruz to Pacific Grove getting washed into the sea. Throw in some valley farmland and it's a closer match.

Only 4 deaths in Tokyo so far is a pretty damn good survival, given this quake was almost as bad in Tokyo as our 1989 quake.

But it's going to take a lot of time and investment to replace the hundreds of billions of dollars of economic loss to the Tohoku seaboard. Maybe a hundred thousand people have lost everything in this world, and they're going to be need to be recapitalized to get back into the primary sector of the economy, and meanwhile the secondary sector that served the ag and fishery industry is going to get similarly wiped out.

And this is not getting into the issues with the crippled nuke plant spewing radioactivity right now. Tohoku may only be a small part of the Japanese economy but this 2% or so just got kicked in the nuts.

106   American in Japan   2011 Mar 15, 5:31am  

@Troy

Where did you get the 2%? Not saying you are wrong, just curious.

I have enough stocked (especially water for now).

107   rktbrkr   2011 Mar 15, 11:24am  

It's now been a few days, I wouldn't say things are back to normal.

People will be fine there, it will take a few days but they will get things back to normal for those people who are mobile. They will have issues for a few days, but things will clear up pretty quickly.

The situation at the power plants is a ticking bomb

108   wcalleallegre   2011 Mar 15, 12:46pm  

The danger of nuclear power plants is all hyped up. We have a serious group in our county attempting to create an energy park including nuclear power. That would be awesome and an economic boon.

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