Tag Archives: news

Article – Survivalist congressman is ready for doomsday

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Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.

Deep in the West Virginia woods, in a small cabin powered by the sun and the wind, a bespectacled, white-haired man is giving a video tour of his basement, describing techniques for the long-term preservation of food in case of “an emergency.”

“We don’t really think of those today, because it’s so convenient to go to the supermarket,” he cautions. “But you know, you’re planning because the supermarket may not always be there.”

The electrical grid could fail tomorrow, he frequently warns. Food would disappear from the shelves. Water would no longer flow from the pipes. Money might become worthless. People could turn on each other, and millions would die.

Such concerns are typical among “survivalists,” a loose national movement of individuals who advocate self-sufficiency in the face of natural or man-made disasters, gathering online or in person to discuss the best ways to prepare for the worst.

What is atypical is that the owner of this cabin is Roscoe Bartlett, the longtime Republican congressman from Maryland. Over the past two decades, he has developed a following as one of the country’s premier proponents of preparedness against impending doom, even urging the more than 80 percent of Americans who live in urban areas to relocate.

Not as terrible an article as the MSM usually paints for guys like him.

Jerry Ahern passes

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Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.

This was brought to my attention by a reader:

Jerry Ahern, novelist, author of nonfiction books and many magazine articles, passed away Tuesday, July 24, 2012. He was well known internationally for his extremely popular “Survivalist” series of novels. Mr. Ahern was a fan of the Detonics line of handguns, so much so that he acted as president of the company, then named Detonics USA, from 2004 to 2007, while it was located in Pendergrass, Georgia.

Yes, I gave Ahern a lot of ribbing about his books but..I read them, which means that even though I thought they were predictable, formulaic, pulp it was fun and entertaining pulp. And, in all seriousness, those books probably influenced me a bit.

I like to think this means he died the perfect survivalists death – well-prepared and never needed any of it.

ETA: Obit

Link – Camouflaged Residence Discovered in California Park

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Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.

This sort of thing doesn’t surprise me.

An elaborate and illegal camouflaged residence, outfitted with bunk beds and a barbecue patio, has been discovered near a Los Angeles County animal refuge.

Eight months ago, Robert Downs, 51, set up a small structure in the woods near the Tujunga Ponds Wildlife Sanctuary in Sunland, Calif. To hide his home from police, Downs, who was previously homeless, sprayed it with camouflage paint and cut down nearby trees, said Johnie Jones, a deputy in the Parks Bureau of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

The structure, which Downs built with materials he bought at Home Depot, contained four bunk beds built into the walls, tables, shelves and fire extinguishers. Outside were a rock patio, a barbecue grill and more tables. An American flag was draped over Downs’ bed.

Not every homeless guy is some drunken idiot who has whiskey for breakfast and looks like he brushed his teeth with a hammer. There are some clever folks out there. Next time youre off in the woods caching gear or visiting your top-secret BOL you never know who mightbe out there as well watching.

Link w/ video – Charges unlikely against man who shot robbers

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Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.

Ah. its stories like these, with accompanying video (very much worth watching), that warms my heart and makes me smile. There is nothing more rewarding than watching a senior citizen justifiably getting all “Gran Torino” on a couple kids who think civilization doesn’t apply to them.

“Based on what I have seen and what I know at this time, I don’t anticipate filing any charges,” said Bill Gladson of the State Attorney’s Office for 5th Judicial Circuit.

Gladson said he has reviewed the security surveillance video from the cafe. While he still awaits final reports from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, he said the shooting appeared justified.

Samuel Williams, 71, who fired the shots, has a concealed weapons permit, according to the Sheriff’s Office. Under Florida law, a person is allowed to use deadly force if he or she fears death or serious injury to themselves or others. As long as the person isn’t committing a crime and is in a place where he or she has a right to be, they are considered to be acting within the law.

It’s always been a dangerous world out there, and it’s even more dangerous today. Why wouldn’t you take precautions?

Pertinence towards preparedness? This guy was ready, bided his time ’till the bad guy’s back was turned, and once he started the bullet-party he didn’t stop. Two-hand stance needs work, but got the job done. He was prepared and he was thinking….two main ingredients to a successful outcome of any endeavour.

ETA: Read this for the robbers point-of-view.

Though Henderson said he doesn’t blame Williams for shooting, he takes exception with Williams shooting at him while he was down.

“I was down, and I’m not going to continue to shoot you,” he said.

I love how the one kid says that they weren’t going to hurt anyone because their gun was empty and rusty. Like it was just good clean fun. They’re lucky the old man was only carrying a.380 and not as accurate as he could have been.

Interesting local news

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Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.

Well, this is about as interesting as things can get.

New Ravalli County commissioner appointed after questioning about survivalist blog

HAMILTON – Jeff Burrows is Ravalli County’s newest commissioner.

His appointment Wednesday didn’t come without controversy.

Before the commission voted on his selection, the Hamilton man answered questions about a blog that sheriff’s officials felt encouraged confrontation between law enforcement and gun-rights advocates.

Seated at the table in front of three commissioners, Burrows fielded direct questions about his involvement in a survivalist-style blog owned by his father-in-law, Jim Farley, from the county sheriff and undersheriff.

 

I met one of those guys a little while back. Seemed like a nice enough guy. I visited their website and while there’s a lot of interesting information (although there isn’t as much activity as I’d expect) there is also a large quotient of (IMHO) tinfoil-hattery as well. I suppose it’s possible that I’m the one who is wrong and they’re the ones who are right but …some of that stuff is kinda out there. Here’s a link, you can check ‘em out for yourself.

 

Article – Blitz (gas can company) closing it’s doors

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Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.

The East and Midwest are cooling off a bit after highs topped 100 again over the weekend. It’s been a hot early summer; there’s a potential shortage coming up. Not water, not power — gasoline containers. Blitz USA is the biggest maker of portable gas cans, and it’s filing for Chapter 11. The Oklahoma-based company says it can no longer bear the costs of product liability.

 

Blitz made gas cans that were, in my opinion, of mediocre efficacy. However, they were cheap, widely available, and came in various sizes….I have a bunch of 1-gallon and 2-gallon containers in case I need to trade off some small amounts of fuel.

If you wanna grab a few before they shut the doors, you might wanna get going on that. It’ll be interesting to see whats left in the market since Scepter sorta dropped outta that market. For the record, my favorites are the ‘euro’-style cans. (I am told that the Scepter water cans these days are the same as the fuel cans, just marked differently. Probably different gaskets or something.)

The article zays Blitz is filing Chapter 11, but it also says they’re closing their doors. I suppose it’s possible that Blitz will go Chapter 11, reorganize, and come back as Blitz USA or some similar rebranding….but it’s also possible they’ll file for Chapter 11, get liquidated, and be consigned to the dustbin of history. So…play it safe, and buy whatever youre lacking at the moment.

Edited to add: Explosion of lawsuits against gas can maker

I’m unclear….what does a reasonable person expect is going to happen when you pour a flammable liquid, from a container full of flammable liquid, onto a campfire? This is why we can’t have nice things.

Derecho?

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Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.

You learn something new everyday. The new thing I learned was the meteorological term “derecho“, which is Spanish for “you should have bought that generator before you needed it”.

Apparently parts east of here, especially the Washington DC/Virginia area were slammed by the meteorological effect known as a ‘derecho’. Succinctly, its a tornoado that blows in a straight line, not swirly.

The media is kicking out the usual post-disaster photos and soundbites. People discovering that, surprise surprise, when the electricity is out the gas stations can’t pump gas. When trees fall, electricity goes down. When roads are blocked, traffic stalls. You know….Basic Preparedness 101 boilerplate……….

We had ourselves a little gust-fest the other day here in western Montana. Nothing as grand and powerful as what happened back east, but enough to remind folks that sometimes the wheels fly offa things pretty suddenly and when they do you have to be ready to step up and deal with it on your own.

You would think that after the countless billions of dollars sunk into ‘readiness’ programs, especially in the DC/NoVa area, they’d be able to get the roads cleared and the lights on much faster.

The moral of the story, naturally, is that when crap like this happens little things like stored fuel, a generator and some simple pre-planning can mean the difference between living life normally and sweltering in an uncooled apartment as you call your boss and tell him you’re missing work because your car is outta gas.

Article – Greek citizens: ‘Family is all that is holding us together. But it can’t

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Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.

,Rawles linked to this article about Greece. Pay close attention to this paragraph:

Greece’s health insurance system relied on pharmacists like her buying full-price medicines on credit and distributing them at heavy discounts before claiming the difference from the state. As the state-run insurance schemes have gone bust, that money has stopped. She has not been paid since September last year. The 31-year-old kept faith with the old system until the money owed her topped €50,000 (£40,350). That debt is about average and the reason 1,500 pharmacies have closed since 2009.

The day before, a patient had come in needing Seroquel, a medicine for schizophrenics. They could not afford the €42 fee for the fortnightly treatment and had to be turned away. “I feel very bad, but if I get into debt with suppliers, I’ll go to jail,” she says.

So pharmacist buys [drug] for $50. Sells [drug] to patients for $20. Government gets the bill for the difference of $30 (plus, presumably, some profit for the pharmacist.) When government has no money, pharmacist is on the hook for the $30. Choice is then to either sell the drug to the patient at the price the government was being charged ($50 + profit) or stop buying drugs when patients can’t pay for them. This is a perfect example of what I meant a few posts back about why austerity measures are hated by these countries populace. Faced with the ‘real’ cost of their medication, Greeks cannot afford them. Without the government subsidizing the cost of the drugs, the pharmacist won’t buy them because they’re not going to buy what they cannot sell. The result, very predictably, is that there are now drug shortages looming.

Any business or industry, in Greece or anywhere else, that relies on ‘easy’ government money to make things function is skating on thin ice these days. As things progress I think we’re going to see more situations like this in more countries where government has artificially been keeping prices low through subsidies and can no longer afford to do so…pissing off the population who, having come to rely on those products and services at low prices, will be outraged at having to pay ‘their fair share’. Political fallout, naturally, will be severe.

I suppose it might be a good idea to analyze and examine our own systems and see where such weaknesses are so we can have workarounds ready for when/if this sort of belt-tightening comes a-knocking at our national door.

Article – Phoenix boy, 14, shoots armed intruder while watching three younger siblings

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Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.

A 14-year-old Phoenix boy shot an intruder who broke into his home while brandishing a gun as the teenager watched his three younger siblings, police said.

The teen and his brothers and sisters were at home alone at their residence at 55th Avenue and Baseline when a woman rang the doorbell Friday. The teen didn’t open the door because he didn’t recognize her, Police Officer James Holmes said Saturday.

Soon after, the teen heard a bang on the door, rushed his siblings upstairs and got a handgun from his parent’s bedroom. When he got to the top of the stairs, he saw a man breaking through the front door and point a gun at him.

The boy shot the 37-year-old man, who is in critical condition but expected to survive and be booked into jail.

 

This apparently seems to be the way these things go…someone knocks on the door politely, and when no one answers the assumption is made that the home is empty and forcible entry is made. I always answer my dooor…not because I’m worried about this scenario happening, but because I’m an extremely inquisitive individual – I have to know weverything. But, sometimes, the wife prefers her solitude on her days off and won’t answer her phone or the door. It’s less likely to be a problem now since Nuke will just bark at the door and hopefully that will deter whomever from wanting further entry. Of course, should someone decide to spin the wheel and take their chances with kicking in the door…. well, we’ve kinda been down that path before. (Comedic followup.)

Here in Montana, the majority of crimes are non-confrontational ones. People get stuff stolen outta their cars, have their houses burgled, etc, etc. But the incidents of confrontational crime…the kind where you’re face to face with a bad guy…..are pretty rare. I like to think it’s because no one is goig to try and stick someone up at gun/kinfe point and take the chance that the potential victim has a howitzer in their back pocket.

Anyway, if this story actually is as simple and straightforward as it appears (meaning these weren’t people looking for dads stash of drugs and cash he keps hidden in the bedroom) then I peg it as a heart-warming story of ‘instant justice’, individual fortitude, and excellent critical responses by the lad at the center of it all.