Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

Bleah..I dont know what the hell I breathed in but it sure makes ones throat rough.

Anyway…..

Sitting here in the shop minding my own business when theres the sound of screeching brakes and the thud of metal. I look out the window and some guy in a truck t-boned a woman in a car. The woman, having had her bell rung quite nicely, continues to try to drive, with her drivers side door crumpled into her lap. Being the Zero, I grabbed the first-aid kit out of the bathroom and bolted. A pedestrian was running alongside the vehicle yelling at the woman to hit the brakes but she wasnt quite coherent. He grabbed the wheel and the car crept to the curb and stopped. I skidded to a halt and took a look. She was an obese woman who was sitting there with what looked like a small cut on her temple and no other signs of trouble. I pulled out a trauma dressing and gently held it to her head and had her hold it there. Went around to the passenger side of the car and opened the door and checked to make sure her feet/legs werent pinned or broken. About this time the usual cellphone activity starts from bystanders. Theres various fluids leaking from the car and one of them must have been noxious because im still coughing. The Human Brakepad, who had steered the car into the curb, reached in and pulled the keys since this gal was still trying to drive. After about four minutes the first ambulance arrives. The guy comes over and asks what happened. I tell him all I know is that she’s ‘out of it’, has a nice cut on her forehead, doesnt appear to be pinned, and that sort of thing. Fire trucks and tow trucks eventually arrive and theyre out there know, as a matter of fact, cleaning up.

No idea what her story is. I usually dont hang around once the cars with revolving lights on the roof show up. Maybe therell be something about it in the paper tomorrow, maybe not. Minimal expenditure on my part in terms of equipment. I’ll grab a couple more dressings out of the bunker and replace the one I used in my first aid kit here at the shop.

Bleah..I dont know what the hell I breathed in but it sure makes ones throat rough.

Anyway…..

Sitting here in the shop minding my own business when theres the sound of screeching brakes and the thud of metal. I look out the window and some guy in a truck t-boned a woman in a car. The woman, having had her bell rung quite nicely, continues to try to drive, with her drivers side door crumpled into her lap. Being the Zero, I grabbed the first-aid kit out of the bathroom and bolted. A pedestrian was running alongside the vehicle yelling at the woman to hit the brakes but she wasnt quite coherent. He grabbed the wheel and the car crept to the curb and stopped. I skidded to a halt and took a look. She was an obese woman who was sitting there with what looked like a small cut on her temple and no other signs of trouble. I pulled out a trauma dressing and gently held it to her head and had her hold it there. Went around to the passenger side of the car and opened the door and checked to make sure her feet/legs werent pinned or broken. About this time the usual cellphone activity starts from bystanders. Theres various fluids leaking from the car and one of them must have been noxious because im still coughing. The Human Brakepad, who had steered the car into the curb, reached in and pulled the keys since this gal was still trying to drive. After about four minutes the first ambulance arrives. The guy comes over and asks what happened. I tell him all I know is that she’s ‘out of it’, has a nice cut on her forehead, doesnt appear to be pinned, and that sort of thing. Fire trucks and tow trucks eventually arrive and theyre out there know, as a matter of fact, cleaning up.

No idea what her story is. I usually dont hang around once the cars with revolving lights on the roof show up. Maybe therell be something about it in the paper tomorrow, maybe not. Minimal expenditure on my part in terms of equipment. I’ll grab a couple more dressings out of the bunker and replace the one I used in my first aid kit here at the shop.

Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

For every person who sticks a jug of water and a carton of freeze-drieds into their basement, theres at least a hundred who dont. More disturbing, for every hundred who dont theres probably at least one who subscribes to the Mutually Assured Destruction theory. Thats the theory that says if you wear body armour it’ll promote violence because then you no longer risk being fatally shot. Imagine two guys in a room with a loaded pistol pointed at each others heads.. thats MAD. ‘Tis true…theres a school of thought that says if you take precautions to survive a nuclear war (Civil Defense) you are removing the motivation to prevent nuclear war. That is to say, if you could survive a nuclear war, you might actually engage in one…so remain vulnerable in order to keep your risk high. Yes, the arguement is that you prevent nuclear war by being vulnerable to it. Go figure.

For better or worse, this kind of thinking only surfaces rarely these days (usually in regard to ABM defense systems). Replace ‘nuclear war’ with ‘terrorist acts of mass destruction’ and you get the same concrete shelter but without the dose of liberal guilt.

One of my favorite authors, Dean Ing, wrote a book I picked up the other day called ‘The Chernobyl Syndrome’. Normally a sci-fi/drama author (”Systemic Shock’, ‘Pulling Through’, ‘Blood Of Eagles’, etc), this book is Ing’s little primer on preparing and surviving the upcoming Soviet/US nuclear war (ca. 1988). In it theres mention of an organization called Doctors for Disaster Preparedness….sort of an opposite version of Physicians For Social Responsibility, which, according to Ing, believed that a good way to prevent nuclear war was to not have a Civil Defense program.

Anyway, my curiousity piqued, I Yahoo’d DDP and found this link to DDP. Scroll down the left-hand menu to ‘Civil Defense’ and theres one or two interesting links. Esp. one about one of the doctors recommended list of shelter medical kit contents.

Its an interesting website and the links from there landed me here, which eventually dropped me into The American Civil Defense Assoociation website.…which begat this very nice page of links..esp the bottom links.

An interesting morning of browsing. Check em out.

For every person who sticks a jug of water and a carton of freeze-drieds into their basement, theres at least a hundred who dont. More disturbing, for every hundred who dont theres probably at least one who subscribes to the Mutually Assured Destruction theory. Thats the theory that says if you wear body armour it’ll promote violence because then you no longer risk being fatally shot. Imagine tow guys in a room with a loaded pistol pointed at each others heads.. thats MAD. ‘Tis true…theres a schoool of thought that says if you take precautions to survive a nuclear war (Civil Defense) you are removing the motivation to prevent nuclear war. That is to say, if you could survive a nuclear war, you might actually engage in one…so remain vulnerable in order to keep your risk high. Yes, the arguement is that you prevent nuclear war by being vulnerable to it. Go figure.

For better or worse, this kind of thinking only surfaces rarely these days (usually in regard to ABM defense systems). Replace ‘nuclear war’ with ‘terrorist acts of mass destruction’ and you get the same concrete shelter but without the dose of liberal guilt.

One of my favorite authors, Dean Ing, wrote a book I picked up the other day called ‘The Chernobyl Syndrome’. Normally a sci-fi/drama author (“Systemic Shock’, ‘Pulling Through’, ‘Blood Of Eagles’, etc), this book is Ing’s little primer on preparing and surviving the upcoming Soviet/US nuclear war (ca. 1988). In it theres mention of an organization called Doctors for Disaster Preparedness….sort of an opposite version of Physicians For Social Responsibility, which, according to Ing, believed that a good way to prevent nuclear war was to not have a Civil Defense program.

Anyway, my curiousity piqued, I Yahoo’d DDP and found this link to DDP. Scroll down the left-hand menu to ‘Civil Defense’ and theres one or two interesting links. Esp. one about one of the doctors recommended list of shelter medical kit contents.

Its an interesting website and the links from there landed me here, which eventually dropped me into  The American Civil Defense Assoociation website.…which begat this very nice page of links..esp the bottom links.

An interesting morning of browsing. Check em out.

Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

Drudge Report has a little something about how the feds are shipping chemwarfare antidotes to the cities that will be hosting the political conventions this year.
Toldja so.

If it were me, and, happily, it aint, I would probably make real sure I kept an ear on the news if I lived in one of those cities.
====
This years little field exercise went nicely, although it was absolutely brutal on my body in terms of the sheer amount of walking and hill climbing.

CamelBaks have consistently proved themselves to be worth every penny
Bring more than one flavor of Gatorade
Bring more snack food that can be eaten while walking
CFP-90 backpack worked well. The detachable waist belt was nice for using as a utility/gunbelt when roaming from the base camp
The USMC Combat Tent by Eureka, although a bit heavy, is a nice piece of gear
LED microlights are the way to go for in-tent/around the camp at night
Boonie hats never go out of style..esp. when you dunk them in a cold stream , wring them out and wear them

=============

The assault-weapon ban is poised to expire soon (although not soon enough). If it does get renewed it may get renewd and strengthened to include even more things that have nothing to do with reducing crime. Might be a good time to pick up one or two extra mags and some spare parts…..just in case.

=============

I still maintain that youre going to see an attempt made at election-influencing terrorist actions ala Spain later this year.

Drudge Report has a little something about how the feds are shipping chemwarfare antidotes to the cities that will be hosting the political conventions this year.
Toldja so.

If it were me, and, happily, it aint, I would probably make real sure I kept an ear on the news if I lived in one of those cities.
====
This years little field exercise wnet nicely, although it was absolutely brutal on my body in terms of the sheer amount of walking and hill climbing.

CamelBaks have consistently proved themselves to be worth every penny
Bring more than one flavor of Gatorade
Bring more snack food that can be eaten while walking
CFP-90 backpack worked well. The detachable waist belt was nice for using as a utility/gunbelt when roaming from the base camp
The USMC Combat Tent by Eureka, although a bit heavy, is a nice piece of gear
LED microlights are the way to go for in-tent/around the camp at night
Boonie hats never go out of style..esp. when you dunk them in a cold stream , wring them out and wear them

=============

The assault-weapon ban is poised to expire soon (although not soon enough). If it does get renewed it may get renewd and strengthened to include even more things that have nothing to do with reducing crime. Might be a good time to pick up one or two extra mags and some spare parts…..just in case.

=============

I still maintain that youre going to see an attempt made at election-influencing terrorist actions ala Spain later this year.

Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

Tom Ridge finally came out and said that, yeah, there might be some terrorist activity designed to influence the elections. Well no kiddin’, Tom!

This guy drives me nuts. You want Homeland Security? Put me in charge…I’ll show you Homeland Security. People get tax breaks for having bomb shelters. Community emergency/disaster agencies are encouraged. Surplus/out-of-date military equipment gets trickled down to local levels. Every state gets at least one defunct/decommisioned military base to use as a warehouse/staging area for its own emergency/crisis management. Civillians can get military MRE’s and the like at cost. Private organizations all the way from the Boy Scouts to the VFW get options to take special training and become part of the disaster planning. Civil defense shelters are brought back up to snuff. Large businesses are encouraged to provide shelter/supplies for their workers. And not a single wiretap, spycam or no-knock warrant is needed…save that crap for the FBI and other JBT’s. Go to Utah sometime after a blizzard or other disaster and see how preparedness is supposed to work.

I do toy with the idea of somehow getting myself appointed as county OEM/disaster management chief. I’d imagine its mostly an appointed position rather than an elected one, but you never know. Certainly would be nice to know where the county caches its ammo, cots, medical gear and fuel.

Tom Ridge finally came out and said that, yeah, there might be some terrorist activity designed to influence the elections. Well no kiddin’, Tom!

This guy drives me nuts. You want Homeland Security? Put me in charge…I’ll show you Homeland Security. People get tax breaks for having bomb shelters. Community emergency/disaster agencies are encouraged. Surplus/out-of-date military equipment gets trickled down to local levels. Every state gets at least one defunct/decommisioned military base to use as a warehouse/staging area for its own emergency/crisis management. Civillians can get military MRE’s and the like at cost. Private organizations all the way from the Boy Scouts to the VFW get options to take special training and become part of the disaster planning. Civil defense shelters are brought back up to snuff. Large businesses are encouraged to provide shelter/supplies for their workers. And not a single wiretap, spycam or no-knock warrant is needed…save that crap for the FBI and other JBT’s. Go to Utah sometime after a blizzard or other disaster and see how preparedness is supposed to work.

I do toy with the idea of somehow getting myself appointed as county OEM/disaster management chief. I’d imagine its mostly an appointed position rather than an elected one, but you never know.  Certainly would be nice to know where the county caches its ammo, cots, medical gear and fuel.

Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

Did some re-organizing in the bunker last night. I most definitely need to put more shelving in there.
=====
I am still saying that the elections will bring terrorist action designed to influence the election. If youre in a city where the conventions are being held, I hope youre getting ready for..whatever.
=====
Friends came to visit the other day. They have 320 acres in New Mexico. Half a section of land with a reliable 50-year-old well. Mmmm….build a nice bunker on 320 acres. Heck, thats about, what, one mile by a half mile….of course, its in a desert but once you have water youve pretty much got your biggest problem licked, Id imagine.
=====
Shot the AK on paper this weekend. Its tough with the black-on-black sights shooting at a black target. However, it shows definite promise and is more accurate than the Chinese versions Ive had in the past. Before I get completely swayed by it, I should drag my HBAR out for a spin and remind myself that accuracy counts.
=====
A little under two months until the assault weapons ban comes up for renewal. I have no idea how its going to go but the obvious thing to do is to prepare on the assumption that it will be renewed and made worse.
=====
Ive a little four-day field exercise coming up. Backpacking off into the boonies and testing gear. My feet hurt just thinking about it. But, its an excellent way to test gear in ‘real world’ conditions as well as work on the usual map/compass skills.
=====
My library is getting stale. Ive re-read all the books in there a dozen times. I need some new ones…esp. regarding home construction/fabrication inc. earth-sheltered homes, geodesic domes and concrete structures.

Did some re-organizing in the bunker last night. I most definitely need to put more shelving in there.
=====
I am still saying that the elections will bring terrorist action designed to influence the election. If youre in a city where the conventions are being held, I hope youre getting ready for..whatever.
=====
Friends came to visit the other day. They have 320 acres in New Mexico. Half a section of land with a reliable 50-year-old well. Mmmm….build a nice bunker on 320 acres. Heck, thats about, what, one mile by a half mile….of course, its in a desert but once you have water youve pretty much got your biggest problem licked, Id imagine.
=====
Shot the AK on paper this weekend. Its tough with the black-on-black sights shooting at a black target. However, it shows definite promise and is more accurate than the Chinese versions Ive had in the past. Before I get completely swayed by it, I should drag my HBAR out for a spin and remind myself that accuracy counts.
=====
A little under two months until the assault weapons ban comes up for renewal. I have no idea how its going to go but the obvious thing to do is to prepare on the assumption that it will be renewed and made worse.
=====
Ive a little four-day field exercise coming up. Backpacking off into the boonies and testing gear. My feet hurt just thinking about it. But, its an excellent way to test gear in ‘real world’ conditions as well as work on the usual map/compass skills.
=====
My library is getting stale. Ive re-read all the books in there a dozen times. I need some new ones…esp. regarding home construction/fabrication inc. earth-sheltered homes, geodesic domes and concrete structures.