things are getting scarier

We're looking at buying a crossbow. And learning how to use it. But I'd much rather get in a store of guns and ammo. Dangerous times are getting closer.

This from the superb Whiskey and Gunpowder with a rather more robust US view on our seemingly inevitable future.

The Other Things

The Boy Scout motto -- Be Prepared -- is probably considered evidence of terrorist (or at least extremist) inclinations in the USSA Today. I won't even get into the parts about hiking in the woods, carrying knives and practicing "survival" strategies. In my day, we even had a merit badge for marksmanship with a gun.

But, weekend camping expeditions aside, how to be prepared in situ? In your home? For when the SHTF?

Guns (and ammo) are obviously good things to have. And every person who wants to be prepared for a possible fecal-flinging scenario ought to have them. So also food supplies and medicine. Check.

Then I got to thinking about related stuff that is arguably just as essential which some "be prepared" people may not have taken into consideration -- but really ought to.

A heat source, for example.

Not just for cooking, either. What if the SHTF in winter? If the utilities go down, and stay down, how will you keep from freezing? How will you keep the pipes in your house from bursting? Imagine three or four months, potentially, of freezing winter weather on your own. Some people heat with natural gas, propane or oil -- the latter two of which, not being dependent upon a grid pipeline, can supply you for a few months if need be. I however prefer old school.

I prefer wood.

For one, it is free (provided you have some land -- which you ought to, if you took steps to Be Prepared) and doesn't require you to leave your place to obtain it -- or even to deal with the outside world at all. For two, it is simple and (if you get a good wood stove/insert) extremely efficient. You might even look into something that's very popular in my neck of the woods: An outdoor wood stove. It heats your home and your water, too. The other advantage to these puppies is you only have to feed them wood twice a day. They'll slow-burn all night. And they run on other fuels, too -- such as pellets. (See here for an example.)

Provided you planned ahead and bought a least one top-drawer chain saw (I recommend Stihl) stored up a few spare chains and a sharpening tool for it, plus plenty of chain lube and treated gas (two five gallon jugs will last along time) you're covered -- and won't freeze or have to eat cold food. Since we bugged out to the Deep Country, I have made it policy to cut and split wood at least one year in advance. So right now, I am working on wood for the winter of 2013-2014. I already have the winter of 2012/2013 covered.

You should, too.

Next, illumination. Lighting that's independent of the grid.

Ordinary candles are ok (and cozy) for a normal, short-lived blackout. But what about a more severe scenario? Regular candles don't last very long -- or those that do (like those nice-smelling Yankee candles your wife probably likes) cost a fortune. Propane/gas lights (i.e., camping lights) are not a good idea indoors. I bought a case of 100 hour (four days' continuous use each) liquid paraffin, smokeless and ordorless emergency candles. Used prudently to provide a few hours of necessary light at night, a case of these should keep you out of the dark for six months or more. If you shop around, you shoud be able to find them for about $5 each -- which is a deal compared with something like those $25 a piece Yankee candles. (See here for some more details about this.)

Next item, dihydrogen monoxide. You know... water. If the poo flies, you will need a steady source of safe water. In suburbia, where people are dependent on the grid, the water could be turned off -- or worse, contaminated. This worry was among the many reasons why we fled to the country, where our water is in fact our water -- literally ours. It comes from underneath our land, from our private well. So long as we have power to operate the pump (for which we have a generator, which with a manageable amount of stored, treated fuel -- say 20 gallons or so -- will run the pump as necessary for six months or longer) we will have reliable -- and known safe -- water. Storing a few gallons for Just in Case is fine, short term but if you haven't got the ability to provide you and your family with safe drinking (and cooking; freeze dried food is not much good without it) water for several months, you ought to be thinking about how to do that.

Sooner rather than later.

Finally, cheap preps. It's fine to talk about buying large cans of freeze-dried food or cases of MREs -- if you can afford to spend a couple grand on that. Not everyone can. But quick oats are cheap; pasta, too. You can buy large quantities for almost nothing (example, I just added another "two pack" of Quaker Oats -- 4.5 pounds each, 9 pounds total -- enough to keep your belly full for 10 days or more -- for less than $10).

For a protein supply, think about chickens. Live ones. A small flock of 15 or so birds will give you 6-10 fresh eggs a day on average. Do not eat the birds themselves until they are no longer productive (about two years). If you have land enough for them to forage, they are nearly self-sustaining. (You'll need to buy feed for winter, or at least, feed them something). But they are very inexpensive and easy to keep and will keep you supplied almost perpetually with high-quality protein to supplement your stocks.

All this is surely far from perfect or all-inclusive. But it's a good start -- and that's what being prepared is all about, ultimately.

the end of the occupation

Seven views of Bristol's magnificent College Green.

This was the loaction for the disgraceful 'Occupy' camp which was finally evicted a few weeks ago. This was a vile Third World shanty town full of rich kids, drug addicts, the mentally ill and violent perverts. It was presented as some sort of 'protest' camp, which is hilarious considering the reality. The scum that were 'living' here promised they'd pay to make good the site, but of course vanished back to their posh homes before their names and money could be taken. So the bill falls on the ratepayers of Bristol, but I reckon it'll be worth every penny.

After clearing all the used needles, broken glass and filth around the site, the land is now being prepared (giving a worm feast to the seagulls, it's an ill wind that blows nobody any good!) and turves will be laid soon. The site will be available to the REAL people of Bristol again in April,  just as Spring kicks in.

So what was this visitation that descended on our fair city just a few short months ago? A bunch of reactionary students pitched tents, immediately churning up the grass, followed shortly by all the dregs of Bristol, the homeless, the mentally ill, the drug takers and the sex offenders. My own stepdaughter was pestered by one of these bastards.

We were then subjected to being banned from using OUR own green space in the city by these outsiders and dregs. This lasted almost three months. Our weak council and even weaker church just let them get on with it, whilst 99% of Bristolians seethed! We had our very own No-Go area in the middle of OUR city. Interestingly when the long overdue eviction order was issued all these cowardly scum vanished, no doubt before they were asked to pay for the damage their decadent indulgence had done.

And what were they 'protesting' about? Everything and nothing it seems. They supported a strong state, jobs for all and pensions for all - but also supported the destruction of the system that provides all this! They supported extreme left wing communism whilst also supporting 'freedom' for everyone - as long as you were prepared to live in a future where a strong state decided where you worked and lived, who you'd marry and how you'd fill your spare time.

They seemed to have no idea of Climate Change or Peak Oil or the real issues that face all of us. They knew NOTHING of economics or human nature. They were the ultimate outsiders, upper middle-class bureaucratic socialists who just want to be coddled from the cradle to the grave, whilst at the same time removing the very system that provides the excess wealth to alllow this to happen.

They also did two things that would disgust any right thinking person. They claimed to represent the majority, indeed the '99%', reducing all of us individuals to a percentage, robomen perhaps? In reality do any of us really know anyone who is actually like this? Perhaps in the 1960s, not now. In reality the 99% are hard working anti-Occupy types who are desperate to keep their families fed and well and would fight to the death to preserve capitalism. The '1%' are these freeloading, unthinking, unwashed retard scum.

And secondly they tried to paint revolutions around the world, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa, as part of the Occupy 'movement'. Greece, oh that was Occupy. Libya, that was Occupy losing their lives on the streets of Tripoli, Syria, Occupy again, even the English riots of 2011 - Occupy of course! They even stretched back into the pre-Occupy past and tried to claim those events as Occupy inspired!

In reality this was a nasty, small minded attempt to wind people up. There was no philosophy behind it, no interface with reality, no substance. A few people who should know better stupidly tried to jump on the bandwagon, ranging from brain-dead linguistic upper middle-class retard Noah Chomsky to Martian refugee Ed Milliband. All with their own agenda, taking advantage of the chaos Occupy were trying to spread.

So Occupy is now dead, not just in Bristol but everywhere. Of course. Without substance they have just withered away. I'd recommend they get drug-free, start businesses, learn some post Peak Oil skills, get married, start families and start becoming part of the community, rather than parasites on it. We shall not see their likes again, the last decadent, reactionary fling of the Oil Rich Age.

turning back the socialist tide

I had the misfortune to glimpse the screaming headlines of socialist rag the Daily Mail today. Something about attacks on christianity. Good!! About fucking time ...

.... except that it turns out it's nothing of the sort. It seems that councils have been illegally including 'prayers' in their agendas even though it is banned! Yet if you read the Daily Mail it seems that 'christians' are being prevented from worshipping their invisible friends.

For fuck's sake!! No one is preventing retards from their wishful thinking nonsense. What has happened is that this drivel will no longer be forced on normal people.

Remember that 'christianity' is a foreign religion, imposed on Britain through the use of fear and violence., It has no part to play in a modern country and hopefully it will retreat to the barbaric Middle East which spawned it and where it belongs - if it belongs anywhere at all. Let the christian mullahs in Saudi Arabia continue to teach kids that the sun revolves around the earth. Who cares?

Britain has its own religion, which goes back tens of thousands of years, in fact before the earth was even 'created' according to the christians. But we don't expect non-Pagans (or Pagans) to have to take part in some sort of ritual before discussing council matters!

The Green Party used to do a thing called 'attunement' before meetings. My first act as party leader in West Sussex was to ban this ridiculous hippy practice which was clearly preventing many people from joining the party. This is the same sort of thing.

And remember, christianity is one of the five pillars of socialism, along with envy, violence, ignorance and middle-class guilt. It has no part in the modern world.

Good riddance!