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Preparing for the worst


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2011 Feb 7, 1:19am   31,365 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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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.

109   Vicente   2011 Mar 15, 1:48pm  

So are potatoes more or less likely than other foodstuffs to accumulate radionuclides?

110   Â¥   2011 Mar 15, 2:40pm  

American in Japan says

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

Tohoku has 7% of GDP, so the coastal fishing industry is one fourth of that?

Plus Sendai serves as a regional center supporting the Tohoku coast, too, so lost GDP from fishing will bleed back to Tohoku.

Then again, if Japan can't get its energy situation sorted out by summer, it will be losing more than 2% of GDP just from the blackouts. Imagine trying to run a conbini when a third of your goods go bad every day. Plus all the transit mayhem.

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