Another day, another trip to the grocery hunting for bargain meat. Todays find – 85% lean ground beef, $1.69 a pound. Normally its around $2.99 a pound so, according to the little calculator in my toolbar, that’s a savings of around 44%. To put it another way, my ten dollars gets me 5.91 pounds of meat whereas it would normally only get me 3.34 pounds…a difference of over two and a half pounds. Its like free meat! The little bundles of beefy goodness wil be vaccuum sealed and then it’s the big cryo-nap for them. A trip to the deep freeze where they’ll sit with their fellow animal flesh.

Usable life? I’ve thawed ground beef that was two years old and it was just fine. Of course, theres a couple of things that make the difference.. one is the vacuum sealing. The other is that you cant just use the freezer in your refrigerator (well, maybe you can, but usually you can’t…won’t get cold enough.) you need to use an honest-to-Crom freezer – chest or upright. I have an upright but if I had to do it all over again I’d get a chest freezer. Why? Think of frigid, cold air as a liquid. Open the door to the upright freezer and all that nice cold air comes cascading out like a sitcom where someone leaves the water running in the bathroom. But with a chest freezer its like lifting the lid off a pot – the contents (the icy air) are undisturbed. I think this means that your cold stuff stays colder with less work from the freezer. Plus, if your stuffing the freezer in your basement like I am (well, in my basement not yours) that issue of headroom becomes paramount. Chest freezers pretty much can go anywhere theres an electrical outlet. Upright freezers take a bit more finagling.

Regardless, its nice to know that if theres a ‘rough patch’ in the ol’ cash flow I don’t have to worry about money for meat. Plus even for the day-to-day meals it’s handy to be able to buy the cheap meat in quantity. A penny saved is a penny earned they tell me.
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Gun show tomorrow to attend. There isn’t much I’m looking for except for some cheap 7.62×39 and some AK mags. Oh sure, if theres a decent used scope that fits the criteria of what im looking for I’ll take it, but in terms of actively looking for something…nah. Just the ammo and mags. Of course, these venues are also good places for other things like poncho liners, web gear, knives, etc, etc, etc. And, of course, its also nice to hang out and socialize with other people who have similar likes and dislikes.
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Hmmmm…high gas prices, gold is at record levels, people are unhappy at the current administration, theres a feeling of pessimism and doom in the air….could it be? Yes! We are officially back in the Carter years!
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Interesting little nugget from ,Rawles’ Survivalblog… apparently the Baygen windup radios are being discontinued. Im not surprised…they were a unique item when they first appeared but now Coleman has licensed the technology for their lanterns and radioes, theres a host of Chinese knockoffs, and the market is probably going to see even more similar devices from other manufacturers. However, I think the Weza power generator is still around and that looks like a hell of an item to have when the lights go out.
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Still haven’t gotten around to watching that Bird Flu movie yet. Its sitting on the tivo so maybe tonight when the girlfriend gets back from shooting practice we’ll watch it over some dinner. The reviews im seeing on the various forums says that it was ‘good’ in the sense that it gives a strong motivation for Joe Average to perhaps do something to improve his position, on the other hand there are others who say the whole movie was ‘trash’. Really, I don’t care…I’m in it for the entertainment, not the message.

Speaking of, what are some good disaster/teotwawki flicks? Hmmm….

Deep Impact – was thoroughly forgettable except for the scene of the family stuck in traffic and the kid on the enduro motorcycle managing to make it out of there alive.

Volcano – Yeah, it was farfetched but for my money you cant watch LA or NY get destroyed enough times. What bothered me was the huge ‘self sacrifice’ theme that permeated the whole movie. Every five seconds someone was putting on a grim expression and sacrificing their life to save someone else. Nice thought but I’ve got priorities and getting killed to save a stranger aint one of them – and Im okay with that!

Damnation Alley – Oh come on! It’s the LandMaster for crying out loud! And killer cockroaches! And Paul Winfield! George “The A-Team” Peppard! Jan-Michael “Airwolf” Vincent! Its so campy its cool!

The Road Warrior – Yeah, we’re leaving the planet of ‘at least grounded in reality’ and heading for the stratosphere. Still a fun movie.

Havent seen Trigger Effect or Panic In The Year Zero yet so I cant say about those….but I hear good things.

The Omega Man – Say it with me: “If it’s the future, and its bad, Charlton Heston is there!” Yet another TEOTWAWKI movie with Chuck. (Planet of the Apes and Soylent Green are the others…) Fortified brownstones, car dealership shopping and loads of Christ-imagery. A classic.

The Last Man On Earth – Vincent Price in a slightly different version of the book that became ‘The Omega Man’. Price was a great actor and it shows in this b&w flick.

Dawn/Day/Night/Dusk/Midafternoon/Late early morning Of The Dead – Again, not a lot of basis in reality but still damn good apocalypse.

28 Days Later – A more realistic zombie movie with ‘hey, theyre not really zombies’ zombies. One of the few movies that touches on one of the real-world possibilities in a major crisis – rogue military.

Tremors (I,II,III) – Not really a disaster flick but Burt Gummer is pretty much the only positive example of a survivalist Ive ever seen in a movie even if he’s sometimes played as an extremist.

The Postman – Trying to live up to Charlton Hestons rep for disaster movies, Costner did this and Waterworld. Between the two, I like this one better. Follows the book fairly closely for the first half and then goes on its own way. The book, by the way, had the least flattering opinion of survivalists Ive ever read in a piece of fiction. And any movie with Tom Petty is worth a peek just for the novelty value.

The Ultimate Warrior – Yul Brynner, of all people, plays a Mad Max type of character in post apocalyptic NYC. Great early end-of-the-world-movie.

Red Dawn – Needs no explanation

The Day After Tomorrow – Eh. Amusing for the great special effects and a few good scenes but otherwise it was just so-so.

War Of The Worlds – How NOT to handle an alien invasion and evacuation.

Radioactive Dreams – Yes, it’s a postnuclear-holocaust musical. Yes, it has film-noir hard-boiled detectives. Yes, it has disco mutants. Yes, it has cannibal hippies. Yes, it has George Kennedy. Yes, I am serious.

It’s a strictly subjective thing, but to me one of the signs that you’ve progressed into genuine preparedness is when you start showing the same level of enthusiasm for the non-gun stuff as you showed for the gun stuff. As I’ve said before, its very easy to get wrapped up in the gun angle and neglect the less sexy aspects of things.

Anyway, this post shall, in that spirit, be (mostly) 100% gun free.
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Spring is just starting here in the mountains but Im already thinking towards next winter. If last years fuel prices and this years increasing gas prices are any indicator (which maybe they aren’t) its gonna be an expensive thing to heat the house this winter. How expensive? Darn near $300 a month on some months. Of course, in the summer its only about $75 or less. I have a programmable thermostat which makes a huuuuge difference and if you don’t already have one, I heartily recommend one. Mine is set to keep things down around 60 degrees when everyone is in bed under the blankets, cranks up to 70 for an hour before we get up so we get up to a warm house, drop to 63 for most of the day while we’re at work and the house is empty, and then up to around 65 for the evening. Sure you could remember to do all that on your own but consistently remembering to adjust the thermostat is a lot easier said than done. The thermostats are usually less than $30 and are easy to install (Hey, most thermostats are only 3 wires anyway, right?) I do believe that it has saved me money in the past by keeping the heat down when no one is around.

Of course, living in an old house means that theres old windows, thermally inefficient doors, and a decided lack of insulation… this summer I must, must, must get out and caulk the frames for the storm windows, replace a couple storm doors, and do a few other things to help keep the old homestead warm. Tell you what though, I ever build my own place its going to be so thermally efficient and airtight that if I belch the windows will bulge outwards. (Well, okay, maybe not that airtight…but damn close.)
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I was mulling over the .30 hours of overtime Im going to have this paycheck and figured that comes out to about $5. I thought about whether $5 was worth the hassle of staying an extra twenty minutes and I thought “Well, its five bucks you didn’t have before so how bad could that be?” but I also thought a lot of people wouldn’t make the effort for five bucks. So, whats five bucks worth to the good Commander?

Most of a box of 9mm ammo, an emergency space blanket, a plastic gasoline can, 2.5# of discounted beef for the freezer, a case of bottled water, about 20# of rice, spare batteries, five cans of canned food, one freeze dried food pouch, one MRE, 250 rounds of .22 ammo, several bars of soap, several tolls of TP, spare lantern mantles, at least one or two 1# bottles of propane, Ziploc bags for storage, a .30 cal. ammo can, disposable razors, notepads and pens, a cheap pocketknife, ~2 gallons of gas, and a host of other things that, when the time comes, will seem worth an awful lot more than five bucks. Moral of the story: no amount of money is too little if you shop carefully and think about your purchases and your needs.
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The big Bird Flu movie is on TV tonight. I’ve got the Tivo cocked-n-locked and ready to record. Think there’ll be folks like you and me portrayed? Possibly. Portrayed as smart and resourceful individuals worthy of commendation? I doubt it. Portrayed as gun-toting selfish whackjobs? Probably. If nothing else it should be interesting entertainment. I haven’t seen a decent made-for-tv disaster movie since that horrible earthquake movie a year or so ago. Matter of fact, speaking of disaster movies, I need to check around and see if I can find a copy of ‘Threads’ locally. If you haven’t seen it, it’s a movie about a nuclear war and its aftermath in England..depressing, scary and fatalistic its probably one of the grittier movies about such things….right? I mean, could there be a more distressing movie? Actually, yes…and it was also done by the Brits and was determined to be so disturbing they wouldn’t show it on tv and shelved it for around twenty years. Mmmmmm…that’s good apocalypse!
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Took the CZ out for a spin yesterday. As usual, it shot less than an inch at 100 yards and I almost achieved my goal of five shots in a cluster that could be covered with a quarter…almost. Most of the time the groups can be covered but I’ll have half a .308 hole poking out from one edge. But someday….

Anyway, the chronograph showed no real difference between the CCI and Fed. Match primers. I finished off the box of MatchKings and , after cleaning, feel that they MK give a bit more copper fouling than the Amax.

Anyway, I think load development isn’t going to provide anything better than what Ive got now so all that’s left is to get better optics and load up about 500 rounds of ammo.

That CZ rifle really is a very very nice rifle for the money.

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While I was at the range, I made sure both SKS were sighted in..putting them dead on at 50 yards gives –1/4” at 100, -2.5 at 150 and –7 at 200…anything past that and youre probably gonna need a lot finer open sights, although you could hit a man-sized target at 300 but you’d have to accommodate a 24” drop…aim for the forehead and hit ‘em in the navel.

Still and all, I very much like the SKS for its role as a cheap, cheap, cheap defensive carbine. SOG is selling ‘good’ condition Yugo’s for $89.95, ‘very good’ for $130 and ‘excellent’ for $150. Theyre starting to dry up so get ‘em now. Yes, theyre C&R eligible.
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While we’re on the subject of 7.62×39, one of my vendors is listing Wolf @ $120/1000…a better price than Ive seen lately at most places. If its in stock at that price it could mean that the supplies are finally starting to increase and that while we may not see it at less than $100/case again, it will still be cheaper than pretty much anything else. My goal is 10k rounds. Why that much? Well, that’s divided amongst two people, four guns, and then halved to keep in two separate locations. Factor all that in and 10k rounds becomes 1,250 rounds per gun..and if that’s all the ammo you have to get you through Katrinaville and its aftermath your gonna start thinking maybe another 10k might have been a good idea…esp. if you have to split it up even further..a few boxes to friends, some for trading purposes, some to kleep in the magazines, some to keep in the vehicle, some to keep in your pack, etc, etc.
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Since I’m going to have a tiny, tiny bit of ‘extra’ money each payday Im accelerating certain purchases. While I have a spreadsheet that runs several hundred rows, theres some things on there that, while I want them, may be worth bumping up in terms of priority and getting ASAP. Im fairly content with supplies of guns & ammo, food, and medical stuff. What I want to move on is fuel, fuel storage, communications and emergency power. Highest priority is fuel, though. Briggs & Stratton has a new gas can out..it appears to be a ‘modern’ civilian version of those Euro gas cans we’ve been seeing at Major Surplus and a few other places. Its on their website but I haven’t found a place that has them yet locally. Might be worth looking into.
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One other thing I was thinking about – why am I keeping money in the bank? Most regular savings accounts offer interest that barely makes it worth the effort. In fact, for myself, I see no reason to keep more than $100 in the bank and that’s there just to let me use my debit card for online purchases. The only reason I can see for keeping my money in the bank is ‘out of sight, out of mind’…but I think my self-discipline is better than that. Also, in a crisis, ATM’s may not work, may limit withdrawls, or otherwise make my money unavailable and one thing you can count on in a disaster is that cash trumps checks and Visa cards every time. Theft isn’t a big concern since I can just keep an envelope full of cash in the gun safe. So, I think that’s what Im going to do. A couple hundred bucks in smaller bills for convenience. Stick it in an envelope, tuck it in a corner in the bottom of the safe, and try to forget its there. Sadly, I did this same policy with some silver and gold coins a few years ago and literally forgot they were there and now I cant find the damn things. (Yeah, its funny. Ha. Ha.)
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The official “National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza: Implementation Plan” is up for grabs as a .pdf here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/homeland/pandemic-influenza-implementation.html

Havent read it yet, but the messages Im seeing from other people who have read it is basically ‘youre on your own’. Government comes right out and says theyre not going to be able to keep a handle on things and its up to communities, municipalities and individuals to be prepared.

*yawn*

What else is new?

I do find it interesting that the .gov went through all this effort for a threat that they keep saying is ‘iffy’. I mean, they dont give this kindo f press to comet collisions, alien invasions, ice caps melting, ice ages coming,or invasion by Canadians…but this theyre willing to spend the brainpower and PR relations on. Hmmm.

Its dry reading, at best. Lots of ‘continuity of government’ stuff, plenty of law enforcement mentions, but not alot of whats going to be done on the local level.

So, it seems like alot of storm and fury, signifying nothing. More grocery shopping!

I make jokes about HiPoint all the time, but the current issue of ‘Gun Tests’ has great reviews for their .40 carbine and their 9mm pistol. This interests me. My interest is in the 9mm pistol/carbine combo. They shot the .40 carbine against the Beretta Storm and an Oly .40 AR and the HiPoint outshot the both of them. In the pistol department, they had no failures of any kind except with Win. SXT which gave two FTF that were unable to be duplicated.

These might make them worthwhile additions for ‘disposable’ weapons caches. Dealer on the 9mm pistol is $99 and the carbine is $140. Now Im the first to agree that the HiPoint brand of firearms is found at finer drive-bys everywhere but if Gun Tests isn’t just blowing smoke then these might make decent firearms to vacuum seal and stuff in the truckbox, under the floor of your fishing cabin, or in an ammo can with some ammo for unexpected guests who need something better than a bayonet or baseball bat.

Although I haven’t heard much from people about the pistols, I have talked to people who have the carbines in 9mm and they all say theyre fun, reliable and pretty durable. About the same price as a 10/22.

Jeff Cooper, whose opinion is revered for reasons I still can’t quite fathom, as well as several other typewriter jockeys, say that pistol-caliber carbines have no place in the defensive arena. I disagree for a couple of reasons.

My two major points are that the engagement distances are most often going to be at less than 150 yards…most of us live in urban environs or places where most bad guys are going to be either right outside our doors, out in our driveways, or across the street at our neighbors house. The picking-off-bad-guys-at-600-yards thing is an exception.(Although its sure a nice option to have.)

At 150 yards your average FMJ has around 300 ft/lbs energy in .45 and 225 ft/lbs in 9mm. For perspective, figure that the average .38 Special generates around 250 ft/lbs at the muzzle. (And I agree that ft/lb of energy isn’t all the answer but it’s a start.)

In theory, this means that Oswald would have just as dead just as fast at 150 yards, hit with a .45 or 9mm carbine, as at point blank when Ruby shot him.

Secondly, and more importantly, ammunition logistics is massively streamlined and that has huge appeal to me. No need for two different types of ammo (.308 & .45, 9mm and .223, .40 and 7.62×39, etc) for your longarm and your pistol. Ammo is also lighter and takes up less space. Of course theres a trade off, that tradeoff is power…a .223 beats a .45 any day of the week at close range.

If the lights go out and Im sitting in Katrinaville I very much want my Glock and my AK, but if Im on US2 in the middle of nowhere and a truckfull of methmonsters starts following me Im going to be glad Ive got something under the seat even if it is just a hundred dollar powder-coated, straight blowback 10-rd 9mm that looks like a Soviet tractor-factory experiment in handgun manufacture.

Im sure someone is going to go in the other direction and say that rather than pistol caliber carbine, why not have carbine caliber pistol such as an AK or AR type pistol. Heres a couple reasons – portability, concealment, ease of use. Firing one in a hurry from concealment, one-handed, reasonably accurately, might be a stretch. Concealability is greatly reduced (I didn’t say eliminated, I said reduced…), and good luck doing mag changes and safety manipulation on that AK pistol with one hand. Again, those types of guns do have a place but I think theyre more a specialty weapon. (Although still great fun.)

The results of Gun Tests shooting the carbines in .40, were interesting. The HP either tied or won smallest average group using all three types of ammo (CorBon 140, Gold Dot 180, Rem. 155).

Since theyre relatively cheap, I might pick up the 9mm carbine to play with and see if I like it.
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Other gun stuff….

The FAL, Ive discovered, is picky about cartridge OAL. I was having some problems with reloads I had made up. The cartridges were not stripping off the magazine properly and the bolt would then ride over the case and bind things up. My first thought was it was the mags. Then I tried adjusting the gas regulator. Finally, I shot South African ball for comparison. No probs. It appears the reloads I was using were too short to support the front of the case on the trip into the chamber. The SA ammo mikes out at around 2.785” on the sample I have in hand…call it 2.800”. US stuff measures the same. So..I need to load up some rounds at the magic 2.800” inches (same length as my CZ boltgun magazine..hmmm) and see how that goes.
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One of the major networks is working on a worst-case bird flu disaster movie. And you thought ammo and freeze-drieds were hard to find now…

Should be an interesting and entertaining flick. I’ve always liked those sorts of movies. (Big surprise, right?)
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Big day of gun cleaning ahead of me. I need to clean SKS, AR and FAL. Cleaned the Glocks last night. The Glocks do seem a bit easier to clean than other pistols…the polygonal rifling seems to be a lot easier to clean up…makes sense, not a lot of ‘corners’ at the bottom of the grooves for crud to accumulate.
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A small bit of grocery shopping was accomplished today. I mounted a large write-n-wipe board on the door of the upright freezer and am keeping an in-n-out inventory of whats in there so I know at a glance how things are going…simply two columns that look like this:
Beef, ground, 1#, VS (vacuum sealed) – 19
Beef, steak, VS – 20
Chicken, breasts, indiv. VS –30
Pizza – 6

Etc, etc, etc. Makes it handy to know whats in there and what needs to be added to.

Anyway, the shopping was good. Canned vegetables were marked to $0.50/can (15.5 oz), canned pasta that the girlfriend likes was marked down as well (in the convenient pull-top cans), and a few other goodies. It’s a very satisfying thing to open your cupboards and see nice, neat, uniform rows of boxes, cans and jars staring back. Of course, I still need to pick up that little Honda generator to keep the freezer going in case of a short-term power failure…

Proof that god hates me:

One of the LMI came by and asked me what the going rate for 7.62×39 was these days. I told him that the local place was getting $179/1000. He smiled and said he’d just gotten back from a garage sale where he found a still-sealed case of Norinco, ca. 1993, 7.62×39 for $100. One. Hundred. Dollars. I asked if it was steel cored and he said he didnt know. Grabbed a refrigerator magnet, went to his truck and he had a handfull of loose ammo that came with the case….Its either steel jacket or steel core..given the 1993 shipping date on the case Im gonna say steel core. The part where god hates me? The garage sale was three blocks from my house.
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Speaking of, took the SKS’ out for a spin and actually had a few malfs…both guns. Reason? Cosmosline in the piston channel. I thought Id cleaned these things as good as can be. Nope. Somehow theres cosmo in the piston tubes. So…kerosene and cleaning rods this evening..

Ganked from a link at the squirrely place….observations and AAR from Katrina with some interesting points:

http://www.frfrogspad.com/disastr.htm

And while we’re at it, it looks to be an interesting site on its own so it goes into my bookmarks.

Highlights:

Now you tell me that doesnt make you want to stock up on ammo and shotgun shells.

• This looks highly interesting: http://www.sunmeadow.net/hot_meals.html – A self-heat meal I was previously unaware of. Looking for all the world like a ‘self heat’ out of an Axler book.
• Wiggys makes and sells poncho liners and theyre on sale…
• Interesting and overpriced can organizer…but you could crib the design if youre the DIY type
• Other powdered eggs to try…seems a good price if its a decent product. Someone try it and get bac k to me.
• A survival site

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In New Orleans, Self-Sufficiency Is the Theme

Highlights:
“People are doing themselves a disservice if they think the governmentis going to take care of them,” said Phyllis Parun, a New Orleanscommunity activist who Wednesday organized a workshop on hurricanepreparedness in her Bywater neighborhood, and got the American RedCross to lead it. “It’s fend-for-yourself time.”
…
“People are doing themselves a disservice if they think the governmentis going to take care of them,” said Phyllis Parun, a New Orleanscommunity activist who Wednesday organized a workshop on hurricanepreparedness in her Bywater neighborhood, and got the American RedCross to lead it. “It’s fend-for-yourself time.”

Theres an old joke that a Conservative is a Liberal who got mugged. Perhaps a survivalist is sheeple that spent a night in the Guantanodome. Hey, whatever it takes….the more people feel independent of .gov’s teat the better off we all are.

My buddy points out to me that 13/16″ at 200 yards is .38794016311611415297579278210326 MOA. Why, yes, he is an engineer..why do you ask?
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I’ve decided, for several reasons, to get a second job. My primary reason is to sock away money so that the girlfriend can quit her job to go to school. However, a small portion of this anticipated increase in income is marked for more goodies. Specifically, magazines and AR receivers. Im having a crisis of faith in regards to the 2008 elections. If the Democrats wind up winning I can totally forsee the return of the AW ban…and even if nothing changes I think we all agree extra guns and magazines is never a bad idea or investment. There are, of course, other things I want to get but the guns and mags are the noly things I want that are likely to be legislated out of my reach. Not alot of legistalionfloating around on MFCs, MREs, FDFs, and the like.
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My math says that a .30 168 MK at 2800 fps that is +2″ at 100 will be -.3″ at 200 and around -6″ at 300….
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Interesting LJ for today – akobsessed

U.S. Plan For Flu Pandemic Revealed

Lets hit the highlights…..

….

The Treasury Department is poised to sign agreements with other nations to produce currency if U.S. mints cannot operate. The Pentagon, anticipating difficulties acquiring supplies from the Far East, is considering stockpiling millions of latex gloves. And the Department of Veterans Affairs has developed a drive-through medical exam to quickly assess patients who suspect they have been infected.
…..

To keep the 1.8 million federal workers healthy and productive through a pandemic, the Bush administration would tap into its secure stash of medications, cancel large gatherings, encourage schools to close and shift air traffic controllers to the busier hubs — probably where flu had not yet struck. Retired federal employees would be summoned back to work, and National Guard troops could be dispatched to cities facing possible “insurrection,” said Jeffrey W. Runge, chief medical officer at the Department of Homeland Security.

The administration hopes to help contain the first cases overseas by rushing in medical teams and supplies. “If there is a small outbreak in a country, it may behoove us to introduce travel restrictions,” Runge said, “to help stamp out that spark.”
…

Operating the largest health-care organization in the nation, the VA has directed its 153 hospitals to stock up on other medications, equipment, food and water, said chief public health officer Lawrence Deyton. “But it’s a few days’ worth, not enough to last months,” he added.

Anticipating that some nurses may be home caring for family members — and to reduce the number of patients descending on its hospitals — the VA intends to put nurses on its toll-free hotline to help veterans decide whether they need professional medical care. At many VA hospitals, nurses and doctors would stand in the parking lots armed with thermometers and laptop computers to do drive-through exams. Modeled after its successful drive-through vaccination program last fall, the parking-lot triage is intended to keep the flow of patients moving rapidly, Deyton said.

…

“Any community that fails to prepare — with the expectation that the federal government can come to the rescue — will be tragically wrong,” HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt said in a speech April 10. The administration is posting information on the Internet at http://www.pandemicflu.gov/ .

Ignoring the logistical element of what will basically amount to infrastructure failure (what with normal commerce disrupted and all) the economic hitw ould be enormous. With people not going to work, how are those mortgage payments being met? Bank holidays and moratoriums from federal edict?