Compass and a Stick

Greetings. Today I would like to touch on a subject that is very neglected in our culture but can and very well may save your life someday. A simple compass. I have used all kinds, high end military lensatic, commercial, and even cheap wrist style. I am telling you right now that you need to know how to use one. My suggestion to you is a commercial version made by Silva, a rectangular flat unit with a rotating bezel to find your correct bearing. Finally do not assume that GPS unit in your car (or hand-held GPS) will get you through. They may cease to work in an emergency.

You can spend two weeks taking a 'map and compass' course, or go through the boy scouts as a child. Or you can learn on your own with some help from a very good book a friend of mine found and told me about. " Basic Essentials Map & Compass" by Cliff Jacobson. The isbn number is 0-7627-0481-0 (2nd edition)and isbn number 0-7627-4016-7 (3rd edition),and they sell for less than $10. It is a good book for learning the basics of map reading and compass use. With a lot of tips and tricks to help you make learning easier and even fun. It even has tests in it.

The book also tells you where to get maps from. I have mine supplied to me, so I have not used any of these and cannot testify to them. True, you need to get good quality up to date maps, and the topographical ( or topo ) maps are the best. They show how the terrain lays, hills, valleys, canyons, spars and so on. That way you can plot the best and safest course anywhere you want to go. And the best places to hide yourself in as well. Remember this, if it is hard for you, it is hard for those tracking you. I would suggest getting maps as current as possible for your immediate area as well as where you intend to go and along the path you plan on using to get there. If that means road maps, county and state maps, street maps, tourist maps, etc; some of these are not real great for details, but something is better then wandering around lost. And you can still use compasses with them. Just because the map says you can drive there from here, don't bet your ass on it. There could be road closings, damaged bridges, roadblocks, check points, and so on (depending on the emergency) that would slow or stop your progress and you may have a need to find ways around them.

And while we are on the subject of driving, can you and everyone in your group drive a standard transmission? Learn to. Even if you build a survival vehicle with an automatic tranny, which I suggest to leave one hand free for using weapons, communications gear, etc. (if needed), you may have to ' combat requisition ' (i.e. take) the nearest vehicle you can find and it may be a stick. America is the only country where the majority of vehicles on the road are automatic, if you travel outside the US it is a pretty good bet the vehicle you drive or find will be a standard transmission. You need to learn.

So go get a good orienteering compass, some maps, oh I almost forgot, protect your maps. I use military map cases, which you can find at military surplus stores, or you can put them in Ziploc bags. The book even says you can paint them with Thompson water sealer like you use on wood decks to make the maps water resistant, but not waterproof. Now with your compass in hand and maps in your pocket, go practice driving a stick. And do practice using the compass and looking at the maps, practice makes perfect you know. Most areas have wildlife preserves and four wheel areas, both these are good places to practice the compass and driving. All of the things I am teaching you need to become second nature, done without thought as a reflex action.

That is a serious statement. If you have to stop and think you are hesitating, and hesitation can get you or some of your group killed. Learn what you need to know, live it every day, think about what you would do if you had to react at any given moment of the day. If you were half way to work, sitting on the toilet, mowing the yard. Look around and see what is going on around you, your escape routes, where is your ' bug-out bag '? How far are you from a gas station? Every night when you go to bed, run through some situations as you assume they will play out. What will your reactions be? Think about them, and work out some different ways to play it out. After a few times, it will become ' memory learned ' and then you will be able to function without thinking about it. That is the goal. Several different alternative actions for you to take, instinctively without thought, and effectively to have a happy ending for you and yours.

More to come.

Merry Christmas

Wishing all my readers a Merry Christmas.


For those of you who do not celebrate Christmas, I wish you a Happy Holidays.

Non-Political/Food Storage

Hey, sorry about sounding a bit political on the gun control post the other day. I assure you that is not the intent. A person in my position cannot take sides on politics, not that it really matters. This is not a political weblog, from what I have seen they are both corrupt and out for only power. Neither party has this countries best interest at heart, they are out for control period. It is only by what level and at what rate of degradation that there is a difference. I have watched both parties while in control and in the minority for some time now and the goals never change. At every new election and a turn over of power all you get is BOHICA.

My desire here is to inform you of what is quietly being done behind the scenes, what is on the horizon, and in the planning stages. Then advise you of my best thoughts as to how to prepare and try to limit the damage that will be done to you and your family. So if it does seem that I am taking one side or the other I will apologize in advance (funny note, one of my instructors used to say "it is easier to ask forgiveness than to ask for permission.") I am only trying to point out what is being done and who is doing it. I am for the original intent of the founders and the constitution, the people control the government, not the way it has been twisted and changed to allow the government to control the people.

So let's get back to what we are here for. There are tough times coming, and you need to prepare. Start to pick up a little extra food that will store for a year or so. Extra soup, tuna, etc. that you know is sealed and will stay good for long periods. Start now, two or three things extra per shopping trip. Two reasons, one it is cheaper, grab it when it is on sale. And with this method it will only be a few dollars per week but it will add up in the pantry faster than you think. Two, it will attract zero attention. Two or three extra items per week raises no interest in anyone, even family or friends. Have a designated area to put your storage, put it there and leave it alone. I will tell you later to pick up military mre meals, but trust me, you want to have better tasting stuff if at all possible. And as a cold, logical follow the dots kinda' guy, I would be very amiss not to point out when you find it on sale buy toilet paper. You have to put it in to live, and you know it will have to come out at some point, and toilet paper is the best friend you have in those situations. Stockpile some.

Hope I have made my position and my intent clearer, and maybe you know a bit more about me and my line of thought. Or at least as much as my position allows. And I hope my advice helps you prepare. More to come.

Response to Anonymous Comment from Proof

If we serialize all ammunition then it will be another better tool to catch criminals. I happen to agree, in the short term at least, but I am more interested in stopping crime than catching those that commit crime. Plus one easy way around this is for the criminal to steal someone else’s ammunition and then commit their crime.

We are being told again and again by lawmakers that another new gun control law is absolutely necessary to reduce crime. Do not kid yourself; the serialization of ammunition is another gun control law. Plus there are already over tens of thousands of State and Federal gun control laws that apparently have not produced these desired results, so why would you or anyone think criminals will finally retire when yet another gun control law is passed?

In spite of all the gun control laws that have been passed to reduce crime, criminals are still living and working and prospering. This is because gun control laws have been proven to have no deterrent effect at all on a criminal who is intent on breaking the law. Criminals ignore laws they do not like. An even scarier thought is that some just plan do not care.

When it comes to gun control laws, lawmakers obviously disagree with me and more recently the majority of the American public. They need to provide us with independently verifiable proof that their next proposed gun control law will actually convince criminals to quit their criminality and become law abiding citizens. Then I will support it, until such time though, I cannot support any gun control law that is passed. One thing that is a proven fact is that citizens with guns that confront criminals reduce crime.

The nation does need fewer criminals, but there is a much better way to achieve that. Look at criminals as businessmen, because that is what they are. They do this business of crime because there is greater personal profit in crime than personal risk. When a businessman’s profits are less than its costs of do business, they eventually quit or go out of business.

Rather than pass more gun control laws, the lawmakers should pass more open and concealed carry laws in all states or federally. The problem here is the criminals can openly carry guns just like the average citizen, but like I said before laws are no deterrent at all on a criminal who is intent on breaking the law. By allowing more people to carry guns the cost of being a criminal goes up significantly and the majority will quit (become law abiding citizens) or go out of business (i.e. get shoot). For this to work it must be immediately applied to the criminal by their intended victim at the time of the attack. The police can not and do not arrive in time to stop a criminal attack (or they would be no attacks at all). Therefore, several hundred thousand random citizens can begin putting criminals out of business right at the source of the crime. Criminals will decide to change jobs only when the consequences are immediate, personal, and so very costly. Plus we already know thousands of gun control laws do not, and can not do that.

The next proposed gun control law will meet a similar fate. Lawmakers, who are truly concerned with the public’s safety and stopping violent criminal businesses should loosen restrictive gun carry laws, so going armed in public is less cumbersome for those of us who can or do carry.

Now I will say there will be one downside to this. With more law abiding citizens carrying guns, when they choose to use them they will do so in the open. Criminals do their best to operator their business in private and behind closed doors so their transactions are rarely seen openly. Do not be surprised to see more acts of violence to stop the criminals who are willing to risk everything to stay in business. Especially in the short run, as criminals have had free rein for so long they will not see the consequences of continuing their business practices at first. Then you have the few that just plan do not care, (society has coined a statement about them, suicide by cop) we will always have them around.

More to follow.

Proof

A guy who knows me read my last post from Tuesday (08 December 09) and called me up. " You really think that the government is going to limit guns and ammunition again? You're nuts. Last time when Clinton did it in 1994 the backlash put the republicans in power in the congress. Obama isn't that stupid, he already has the lowest approval ratings in history and is only going down. I can't believe with all of the other high profile problems ( economy, unemployment, debt, health care, etc ) he is already completely screwing the pooch on, he is going to do something that will hurt him politically that much more. I mean forget re-election, he could be run out of town on a rail here."

That is mostly what he said, I did edit it a little for space and content, but the bottom line is he didn't believe me. After I explained some of the FACTS I had dug up and put together, he was then convinced I am not the space kook he originally thought I was. Now, straightening out my buddy is one small step for man, but then I thought, how many other people think like him and don't believe that the time to prepare is now. So I decided to put a little information on the weblog to open your eyes.

Dateline California, October 2009, Gov. Schwarzenegger SIGNED INTO LAW assembly bill 962. This bill forces ammunition retailers to take the fingerprints, register, and log ALL AMMUNITION SALES of any and every person who purchases any brand, style or quantity of ammunition in the state of California. Now the interesting part is this: in 2004 Schwarzenegger VETOED THE SAME BILL saying " it was of no public benefit ". Now I could go into why this law is bad and how it would hurt the law abiding citizen and the businesses that are now required to keep these records. But you can figure that out on your own, what I am going to give you to think about is how to put this information together. Give you the tools to see beyond the surface and put these things together on your own.

Why would the governor change his mind and put in place such a restrictive law? Easy, he wants bailout money from the federal government. And when you get anything from the feds, there are conditions. Mostly ones you don't like. This law is not going to stop any crime, not going to lead to any gang crackdown, what it will do is INTIMIDATE and SCARE people ( who are already afraid of the federal government ) into NOT BUYING AMMUNITION for fear of being ' listed ' on a database somewhere with the ability of any government agency to view it for any reason they make up.

The first step to ELIMINATING your enemy IS TO IDENTIFY your enemy. They need to know who may be a threat to their forced rule, so they can strike first. Passing more and more restrictive laws and intimidating the people into submission.

If you see or hear about a proposed law that you think will not lead to the result that you are being told is the reason for the law, don't dismiss it! Think about what else it can be used to do, and why they want it in place, and how it can be ' backdoor-ed ' in. Like forcing governors to do it under the threat of withholding money the states need, that way it is the states doing it so there will be a lot less press coverage and you will blame the states instead of the feds. Good plan on their part. Think people, look under the tent not just at what is sticking out the flap, and you will see that there is a lot they want to keep hidden from you.

More to come.

Start Now While You Still Can

Ok, as I said I have been doing a lot of research on upcoming plans and ideas the feds want to put in place in the near future. I am still looking at the health care bill, but have heard some interesting things about what could be in it. I am, however, very careful about what I tell you and want to make sure it is based in fact so I will not bring you wild rumors. When I have facts, so will you.

That being the case, I am telling you now to start buying, or stock up if you are already armed, weapons and ammunition. There are several in the congress, senate and of course the White House, including the appointed not elected cabinet members that are starting to make moves toward gun control legislation. With all of the new programs that are being put through and the EXTREME DISLIKE of them by the general citizens, politicians are becoming nervous. So rather than stop doing what the people don't like, they will just prevent the people from being able to do anything about it. Isn't that just like an out of control oppressive government?

My first suggestion is very useful and inexpensive. I will admit that sometimes I am "brand picky". But I do have reasons for talking up or down a particular brand. Number one is a Ruger 10/22 rifle in .22 magnum. It is a very versicle rifle, compact, and easily fired and maintained. And like the regular 10/22 you can get high capacity magazines for it made by Promag. A .22 magnum round will work for hunting small to medium game, and some people even use them to poach deer. They also will work for self defense. Not quite an all out assault rifle, but still effective, and easier for women and kids to shoot if they are not weapons trained already.
Ruger has a great reputation for quality and accuracy, and there are several dozen companies making all kinds of accessories for these rifles. Folding stocks, scope mounts, rail kits for mounting lights and lasers, you name it and you can get it for a Ruger 10/22 base rifle.

As for the mentioned accessories. I would suggest only a few things, you are able to overload your weapon and make it almost unusable. Number one is a good rifle sling, you won't be able to carry it all the time. I would go with a compact adjustable power rifle scope in the 1-4x range. It will work for hunting small game out to 100 to 150 yards on 4 power and still be good for close combat on 1 power. And a small but high quality flashlight is always a good idea. For hunting you can spotlight frogs and rabbits, and sometimes even squirrels. And it is also helpful when searching and clearing dwellings. But be sure you have EXTRA BATTERIES!!! and don't use it more than you have to. If you are just needing a flashlight to see where you are going or to set up camp, use a flashlight. The main purpose for a flashlight on a weapon is to light up where the barrel is pointed, that is not such a good idea when you are just trying to start a fire or open some beans. Folding or telescopic stocks are personal, some like them some don't. That's up to you. But that's about it. Like I said you can get about anything, but do you really need it.

And to go with it I would say get a Ruger .22 magnum auto pistol. Keeping the same caliber cuts down carrying extreme amounts of various rounds and also eliminates the problems of trying to put the wrong bullets in the wrong gun. This is very simple, all you need is a good holster and all the extra magazines you can afford. That is all you need for the pistol.

Get a good quality cleaning kit for then and a book on each for doing field strip cleaning and full strip down cleaning and maintenance on every weapon you buy.
Military ammunition cans are very good for holding and transporting ammo. And buy as much as you can as often as you can. And there you go.

I will try to get some links up for suppliers that I have confidence in for having good quality items and fair prices. Keep an eye out for them. I will get them up as son as I check them out first. That's all for now. Good luck, stay alert.

More to follow.

Return of the Computer

Ok the great annoyance of the world has been repaired. Yes I know they are great helps in many ways, information, a vast amount of knowledge and history at your fingertips, the vast spreading of information and opinions, etc. but damn they can be a serious pain in the ass at times.

Now I have been doing what research I could do without my personal computer, don't trust public ones without proper filtering. And a few thoughts have crossed my mind. I will share them with you and expand on them a bit later, just want you to think about them also. I was watching some movies over the last few weeks, I know they are just movies, but they do have some basis in reality. Have you ever noticed that the government has all these bunkers spread around the country? They are fully stocked and patrolled, self sufficient and self contained, and ready for the " proper government officials " to occupy them if the need becomes apparent. What of that last sentence seems odd to you? Proper government officials. The way they think is the problem. The "officials " are under the opinion that they are the most important people in the country, and as long as they are alive and well, all is good in the world. The belief is that the idea and structure of " government " must always survive or " the country " is lost. Well I hate to point this out to everyone, but " the country " was here long before the government and I feel fairly certain it will be here long after people have gone the way of the dinosaurs. Politicians think that they are the country. THE PEOPLE ARE THE COUNTRY. That is something that has been bred out of the children through the school systems and colleges and through propaganda. Save the country, do it for the country, we have to do this for the country. It always turns out that it is not the country that benefits, it is the politicians and the government entity that gets the rewards.

It is a thought that I feel more people should consider. And I would like to hear your thoughts on it as well.

Something else I noticed, when the country was founded it was based on the states as the primary and the central or federal government as a very limited secondary. It seems now that it has reversed. The federal people are running the country. I will touch on how this happened , but it may offend some people, and explain in more detail later. The civil war did it. When the north won, it succeeded in " uniting the country ". That was the start of the end to states rights. And for all of you misled and falsely educated people, the civil war was over STATES RIGHTS.

Now here we are with the feds dictating what the states can and cannot do, and in the realm of gun control, the feds are overriding state laws the feds feel are not restrictive enough. More on that later. But you get the point, what happened to the way the country started, and where does it look like we are headed?

Something to think about. Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. More to come. Be safe, be alert, and think about what you see going on around you.

Public Computer

It has been awhile since I last posted. For my followers I apologize. For everyone else, it is not a trend, right before Halloween my laptop died. I plugged it in, the there was a huge spark and the laptop was dead. I confirmed the power adapter was dead, but even with a new one it still did not work. So I had my computer technician look at it and confirm the motherboard was fried. Hopefully I will have my laptop repaired soon, I am still waiting on the new motherboard. For now I finally succumbed, went to the library and currently I am on a public computer, so this post will be short.

What to do in an Emergency

Panic is your number one enemy when you are in any emergency situation, be it injured, lost, under fire or whatever the emergency is. These are the steps you need to follow.

STOP
Think
Sit
Think
Observe
Think
And Then Plan Your Next Move

Your best defense in any emergency is your ability to think and make good logically sound decisions. What these decisions should be is why you are reading these and other blogs like this.

More to follow.

Verified Information

On 18 Sept 2009 I made a post that contained comments on how Onstar could be used AGAINST the Onstar customer. At that time, some thought I was a bit nuts. The possibility is there but there is no tie between Onstar and the government. Well on today's GLENN BECK radio show, he led with the same story on how Onstar could be easily abused now that the main customer of Onstar is General Motors, which was bailed out by the government, and now is far more controlled by the feds than it was before and poses a real threat to you as a citizen.

Here is the address to his webpage with the ability to verify what I just told you I said on 18 Sept and he said today by hearing or reading it straight from Glenn Beck himself. http://www.glennback.com This is the kind of things I will try to bring you in the future. Information you NEED to avoid getting run over by the federal government in back door ways that you could not possibly see coming or even suspect may be coming. Be safe and keep your head down, it is coming.

More to come.

Winter

I was watching the weather last week and the reports of snow in the northeast at record levels and a bit earlier than normal. Now i have talked with some people and listened to the forecasts, none of which seem to agree, but have come to this conclusion.

Winter is here. So it is going to be a mild winter in some areas and worse than normal in others. So check into the predictions for your area, get several opinions, and take an average. Do be prepared for lack of power and being stuck at home though. If you need it you got it. If you don't, then you can either put it in your storage area for later or use it and not have to shop for a while.

We have gone through some severe winters in recent years and there are some odd tips that you might like to know. One is that if you put a roll of toilet paper inside an empty METAL coffee can and soak it with rubbing alcohol, it provides a source of heat and light for a while. You can get charcoal and a grille on clearance right now, great for cooking when the power is out. Just set it up right outside the garage door or on the back porch, anywhere you can make it work that is outside of the house, and you have hot food. I would not say this is the best idea, but when I lived in a townhouse about 15 years ago, I used to put a small hibachi grill in the fireplace and cook in the winter on it with the smoke going up the chimney. If you do try it make sure the smoke is going up and out of the house, you don't want to be literally choking down you food.

There are ways to get through the worst of winter and survive, if not be comfortable. Think of what you need, heat, food and water. And to be honest with you, much to my dismay, if you plan ahead like I have tried to teach you to do you will be ahead of about 80% of the population. But then again that is why you are here, to learn how to be the top 20% of people and come out on top when all looks lost to the majority are looking for help from the government. We all know what a joke that is, and the help you do get comes at a very high price.

I have been slow to write, and that is because I have been working on some upcoming projects to share with you later. I am finding out some very interesting things that you will need to know. But I do want to have my shit together and make sure of my facts before I start telling you what I am hearing. But do stay close and I will share when I can. Remember one of my most important rules for survival, what you know in your head is just as important as what you have in your hand.

More to come.

Know Your AO

OK, you know your way home from work and how to get to the store, but what else do you know about your AO ( area of operation ). Do you notice what stores you pass, new house construction, how big the park is? Probably not. Most people don't look around that much when they are driving, but you are not most people, you are a survivalist. So today we will talk a bit about what you need to see and know in your area.

Get a city street map and some colored pens. What are the routes you would take to get home from work and out of the area should a situation occur? If there were no problems you can easily say, but what if there are problems? You need to have several different escape routes, for several different levels of threat to you and you family. And having them mapped out ahead of time will save you from having to think about adjusting on the move and maybe making a mistake. Let's look at some examples.

What streets are heavily trafficked and would be slow going? Lots of stop lights? Which roads have bridges, are prone to flooding, have very little side areas or sidewalks you could use in an emergency? What roads would the police or military probably restrict access to or funnel the entire town onto during an evacuation? These are all thoughts that you be considering before you draw on your map. Any number of situations can change that will slow you down or stop you when you need to be getting out of town fast.

The map now in front of you, we will start to pick our routes. The green pen is for normal non-life threatening situations, the blue for still not urgent but a bit more serious, yellow, orange and finally escalating to red, which is 'haul your ass driving through backyards while being shot at' routes. I learned the importance of this ability during my early dating years.

Let's look at a few situations where travel may be important and the problems you might have.We can start off mild: Natural disasters, wildfires, tornadoes, floods, hurricanes, earthquakes. You need to get to safety, you are doing it by vehicle, how are you going to do it? Of course the government officials will have their own ideas of what they want you to do. But having seen their efforts before in many situations, do you really want to be sitting on an overcrowded highway with all of the other sheople (people who follow blindly like sheep) visiting with your neighbors when you could be already miles from danger with your camp set up, some food on the grille and a cold beer in your hand? A survivalist does not follow like sheep, he leads the way. A survivalist thinks on his own and plans ahead, usually better than the government does. Most sheople do not plan ahead, they expect the government to tell them what to do and where to go and they assume the government has their best interest at heart. You know what happens when you assume.

You know where you want to go and you have the ability to get there. As Nike says just do it. Grab your gear and go. Now with your map in hand you have alternate routes you can choose from based on the situation, what roads may be clogged or flooded or impassible. You can at a glance turn here and be to safety before you know it.

Number two: man made disasters like train derailments, chemical spills, etc. Now this is a bit more serious but still not life threatening. Again you have your own plan and direction so you will not be caught in the mob and waiting for the pittiful help from the government officials. Look at the situation, asses your options and go.

Number three: complete social meltdown and martial law, city wide riots, terrorist attacks, government takeover, etc. This is serious shit, use the red route. Get your ass to your safe house, arm up and bug out! Your lives are in danger, it is 'mad max' time, so don't stop and give the cute half dressed blond a lift. Her 5 boyfriends are hiding behind that burned out car just waiting for some idiot to stop so they can benefit from what they have. You need to get to safety as fast as possible without distractions. The government will be in control of the main roads at this point. This is where knowledge and planning ahead will pay off. What back streets and alleys will get you where you need to go? Will your vehicle fit between houses so you can drive through backyards? P.S. watch out for swimming pools. Also avoid gunfights as you flee. It tends to draw unwanted attention, slow you down and wastes ammo. We will discuss proper gunfight tactics later for situations like this, but it is still best to avoid them if possible. Right now just work on coloring your map.

Use this method to map out your neighborhood, city, county, and state as much as you need to. Pick areas to run to that are away from all of the dangers that you can think of, and they may be different locations for different situations, that is fine. Just make sure you have put thought into it so it will work. Speaking of thinking ahead, you also need a small notebook. Why you ask? Well along with mapping your escape routes, you should travel them several times and take notes as to what types of businesses and buildings are along and a block or two each direction from your route. What you are looking for here is supplies, gas, food, weapons and ammunition, medical supplies, etc. Write their locations in the notebook and keep it with the map. That way if you need some gas as you go you don't have to find a station, you know where to go. Grab some extra camp food as you drive by the store if you have time. This is important information for you to have.

As a side note, I know that you will probably get tired of hearing me write this, but knowledge and planning is the difference that will save your life in a bad situation. I will get to the fast action defensive driving, shoot from the car window, how to kill someone 10 ways with an ink pen, I promise. But all that knowledge will do you no good if you don't have the right foundation to back it up. Survival is not like the movies. It is done and done well by the kind of people who have put in the work and time to know what to do almost by instinct and have the plans to put into action. Enough preaching.

Get the maps and do the work. It will be worth the time. More to come.

Perception

Perception is how people view and decide how to think about and what to do with something or someone they are looking at. The perception that you give other people will decide how they react to you. You want to give the right impression so that you will be left alone. The goal is to blend in and disappear in the crowd. Don't stand out, the highest nail gets hit first. You don't want to get hit.

The whole key to survival is to not be the target. If you see a guy in a big house with a nice new car, you figure he has money and a lot of good shit in his house that you might like to have. Now he may also be up to his nose in debt and living paycheck to paycheck. You don't know him so you don't know his situation. That is the same thing you want for yourself, don't let people know your situation. If you have food and weapons stored in your bunker out in the backyard, don't walk around with t-shirt that says ' let them come, I'm armed and ready'. Keep a low profile, don't have gun stickers on your car, don't wear the god, guns and guts baseball hats, please put the cases of MRE meals somewhere other than the corner of the living room where you are using them as an end table.

We will talk later about vehicles and what to do to have the best suburban assault vehicle on the block and absolutely nobody will notice it. That is the goal of what we are doing here. Stay low and stay alive. The enemy, and believe me you have more than you think, have their eyes out for anything that may look like an opportunity or a threat to them and their ideas of the world they want to make. You need to be under the radar so that you can fight the bad people on your terms and your way, not getting swept up in the first round.

So look around and blend into the surroundings, look like everyone else and don't look like a threat or a payday and you will have a better chance to make it.

More to come.

Response to a Comment

Sorry it has taken me so long to write another entry, but i have been thinking about what i am writing today over and over, trying to decide if i really wanted to do it or not. I came to the point that if I don't deal with it now I will have to at some point, so if you will bear with me and read the entire post we can get it out of the way now.

Do I believe Bush knew about the aircraft attacks on 11 Sept? No i don't, he just honestly wasn't that smart. Did the Government know about the attacks? Yes. But that is not the question you should ask. Did the Government UNDERSTAND what it knew? Of course not. The Government was no smarter than Bush. Where the conspiracy comes in is after. They are smart enough to 'take advantage of a crisis or event and turn it to their favor'. And i think that is what the Government did.

There are the certain groups out there, running around saying that Bush planned it, organized it, and jumped from one of the planes at the last minute to take America by the hand and say I will fix it. And these people will not be happy unless I say the same thing. Do not just dismiss them, they are only half wrong and misguided, but maybe some can be shown the right path. Let me explain.

In my opinion, which is worth what you are paying for it, here is where we are. The Gov't has been wandering away from the people they govern since the early 60's, and if you have been around that long, and you can think back clearly enough, you will remember a slow divide forming between the people and the gov't from the federal and state levels. Now history will tell you, as it did told them, that when the people are unhappy enough with their rulers, the people will remove them. By force if needed. Our country was born from this anger at the Government of England and the King. Once again, Washington is smart enough to know this.

So they want to ensure that when the people reach the 5th level of pissed off they can't or won't do anything about it. Gun control, more and more general laws, very specific regulations to limit your land and home use, very invasive information gathering of you income and spending habits, a form full of non-related information gathering questions before you can do very basic things with your property, and the banking laws that flew through the congress and Clinton signed. Now if you sell a nice car and put more then $10,000.00 in the bank they notify the Gov't.

These laws and regulations started out as "the war on drugs". We need to stop these terrible drug dealers and suppliers, and we will do whatever it takes to get that done. Well here we are and drugs are at the same levels that they were when we started. So what is different? New more restrictive laws on your money, travel, seizure of property laws, surveillance of 'suspect' people, and one of my favorites, the invention of the 'person of interest', who can be detained without cause, so they can talk to them about something they want to know. Does that sound like the Gov't has gained a lot more oppressive power, under the cover of protecting the people, then they really should have? I think so. That is an example of them taking advantage of a crisis or event and growing their control over the people.

Now the country has been attacked. They now see another chance to make great strides toward complete control of the people. The war on terror begins. Not just overseas, but here as well. Have you ever thought that all the training to take out 'terror cells' in the U.S. allows the Gov't to get in great practice and education on urban combat in American cities and suburbs? Consider this, when I was very young I learned how to change the spark plugs on a 1965 ford truck. Now since then, I have used that same exact knowledge to change the plugs on every vehicle I have owned. Knowledge is knowledge. The main thing I am trying to teach you here is to take what you learn for one application whether I teach it to you or someone else does and use it everywhere you can in all ways and areas it can be applicable. The Government is 'concerned' with foreign people coming here and committing violent acts, they are ' wet their pants scared' of the American people taking up arms against its own government. So through laws, regulations, limits, intimidation, and frankly anything else they can think of, the people in charge will try to prevent that from happening. And any event or concern that the people have, i.e. drugs, terrorists, that can be used as the excuse for a stronger hold on the people will be exploited to the extremist level the people will allow.

Now you think I sound like a nut. It is simple self preservation. The same thing you are here to learn. The Government, as an entity, must survive. It doesn't matter if there are no people left to govern, the position must remain. I am sure you are well aware of numerous bunkers around the country that officials can run to in case of an attack on this country. Much news has been made of it over the years, some have even been portrayed in movies, but has anyone ever thought to ask why it will only be the governing class that will be allowed in them? Why should your governor have a safe place to go and not you? Is your congressman worth more than you are and just has to survive or all is lost? It is an interesting question, and one that is never posed to an elected official. It is the idea that "the government" must survive or the country will be lost. Well, the country was here before we had a government, but i guess over the years even the very dirt under your feet has also become dependent on the elected officials for its existence.

I really didn't want this to be a big rant, I just wanted to point out that there are a lot bigger concerns out there then the ones being talked about. Again, don't look at the obvious reason you are being told, look at the side effects that can be put in to play because of it. As i said earlier, the certain extremist groups are not completely 100% wrong, and there may come a time they may be needed. Directed in the right way to allow us to have true freedom again. But keep in mind just as we can direct them towards our goals, so can the Gov't direct them towards theirs. Emotion clouds their reasoned thinking and they don't take anything to the next step. We will try to help direct them in the proper way here as we go along and make sure that the people as a whole are all on the same page and headed toward the same goal of freedom and less oppressive control of our lives. However as I also said earlier, you can only do that if you live to make it happen. So rash actions are not the way to accomplish this end and may only help the other side.

I hope I didn't turn you off or annoy anyone too much with this post. It is my thoughts put you, make of them what you will. If you made it this far, do think about what I have said, try to reason them out in your head and see if they make any sense to you at all, and feel free to comment back to me on them. I am very interested in everyone's opinions, mine have changed over the years with the finding of new information and facts, and I am not afraid to change it again if the situation warrants.

Thank you for this indulgence, and more will follow.

Random Thoughts on Lazy Convienances and Freedoms Lost

I saw a commercial last night on television that really got my attention. It was for Onstar®. Now we are all aware that if you have an Onstar® equipped vehicle and the systems subscription is paid and current, you can use many services that range from hands free phone use to turn by turn directions. But has anyone ever thought about how that works, and if it really doesn't work when the subscription is expired or never activated. In fact Onstar® is required to call the authorities if you press the button and request it of them in an emergency situation, whether you pay for the service or not. This more then anything else proves that some level of the service is active whether or not you pay for it. Well then why don't we think about it a minute.

In order for these services to work, they need to know exactly where you are at all times. When they advertise the turn by turn directions, which you would think most people would pick up on, they know where you are and can then tell you where to go. The 'call the cops and medical personal when you have a crash' feature. They know where you are and have monitors in the car to tell them that you have been in a wreck. There are even able to monitor the on board computer systems on the car so they can tell you what it means if your dash lights come on or remind you to change your oil. Now that is pretty tied in to your vehicle, don't you think?

Which brings me to the commercial last night. As we are aware, there promos telling how 'if your car is stolen we can track it and alert the authorities as to where it is, so you get your car back'. And in New York and LA i can see how that may be a good idea. But the folks at Onstar® have taken it even further. (big brother alert)
Now if your car is stolen, with a few keystrokes, when it is turned off Onstar® can prevent the ignition from restarting. Now the sales pitch is cute, a guy steals your car, stops for beer at gas station and turns the car off. Boom, car won't restart, car thief gets pissed and runs away. Good sales pitch. However, does that mean that they can now, or will be able to in the near future, turn your car off as it is driving should a branch of law enforcement want it stopped? Some people claim they can and have done this several times in the last few years. Think about it, this could be a good sales pitch to law enforcement, in view of the public relations risk involving high speed chases through city streets, or to allow them to kill the car at a time of their choosing to "detain a person of interest" that they want to interrogate, I mean question. You could be stopped at any time for any reason, and i mean stopped, a dead car doesn't go anywhere. However, as far as I presently am aware they cannot do this yet, but the keyword is yet. When they are able to do this, will they tell us, the general population?

To me that is yet another good reason to buy older cars and trucks that are not remotely controlled. If i get lost, that is what they make maps for. When you lock yourself out of your car, you go to the bumper and get the little hide-a-key magnetic box you were smart enough to put there and open the door yourself. People are getting so lazy and wanting so much handed to them with little to no effort that they are giving up their freedom to do what they want when they want to do it. And is it actually easier and faster to call Onstar®, verify who you are, verify you own the vehicle, then have them open it for you than it is to get the damn hide-a-key?

I realize this is just one area that is up for this kind of discussion, but we don't have 18 months and unlimited 'paper' to write it all out and talk about it. So think about stuff on your own that you see as a possible problem or threat to your freedom or items that may be used to limit what you do if it is not approved by the right people. If you want to answer this post with some of your thoughts and share with the group please do. What i want to do get your brain thinking, your mind observing, and mostly get you thinking like a survivalist!!!! Look past what they are telling you it does and think about the 'side effects' and what it could do. That is the same way you think about items now. How can i use this item in more ways than it was designed for and make it work for me in this situation? That is survivalist thinking. Do it.

More to come.

Plan Ahead

I know it is the middle of September and the last thing you want to think about is Christmas coming with the shopping and crowds, and the bills from it all. But you are wanting to think and act like survivalist. So when you see all of the toy commercials, instead think about winter coming. Cold weather, snow storms and power outages. And now is the time to act on these thoughts. If you act now you will be ahead of the curve and not running around with the rest of the unprepared masses hoping to find what you need when the 'emergency' or 'unforeseen' happens.

Remember, this is preparedness. If you have it and don't need it great, if you need it and don't have it you are screwed. You are preparing for the worst and hoping or praying for the best.

So look at your situation, what is the worst thing that can happen to you this winter? And what will you need to survive it? Winter usually means snow and ice storms depending on where you live. If you are in an area that gets this kind of bad weather here are some ideas.

Heat: If the power goes out you need to stay warm. If you have a fireplace or wood stove you should have been cutting wood all summer to have this winter. If not than buy some. It may seem high now, but what will it be when demand is through the roof and snow is flying? Also a kerosene heater, when used safely, is an excellent source of warmth. Put in few extra jugs of fuel and you will be alright if you lose power.

Stuff: OK, if you are without power and can't get out of the house, you will need to have supplies on hand to make it through the storm. Toilet paper, paper plates, and for gods sake get a manual can opener, plastic silverware, all of the things you use everyday you will still need then. Also think of food. What can you store for a few months and eat easily without power. And don't think you can't cook, because you are a survivalist and you think outside the box. A charcoal or gas grille works just as good in January as it does in July. Put away extra coals or gas just in case. Toothpaste, speed stick, baby wipes for quick clean ups, and lots of water. Also some kool aid for flavor if you want.

More stuff: Lots of blankets and warm clothes. Battery powered radios and flashlights with extra batteries or hand operated. And long burning candles with matches. And don't forget some books and games, you will get bored. A metal bucket can be used to melt snow for flushing the toilet and for sponge baths. Remember, think about what you have in front of you and any way possible to use it to help you with your situation.

This is a basic idea of what you need to start a winter survival stash. If you buy a little at a time over the next few months you can build a fair nest egg by Christmas. And this is also just the first step. If you have the money buy a generator and store fuel for it. Get a portable camping toilet. Maybe a gas camp stove with extra propane tanks. Make yourself as comfortable as possible, and over time you can add to your store and then be in really good shape.

Be prepared. If you need it, you got it. If you don't, use what will not keep until next year and sit on the rest. You will then be that much farther ahead and maybe able to upgrade some things next year.

More to follow.

11 September

I really am not sure what to say. This is the anniversary of the terror attacks in 2001. There are lots of people still touched by what happened. Lost loved ones, family members and friends. And you know, I was about to say that only combat vets know how the survivors feel, but that is not really true. For one thing, we have all lost people we cared about. The empty space left by their absence is always there, and a constant reminder that you can't call or visit them anymore. And to a lesser point, at least in combat you can shoot back. The terror attacks came in a way that there were no enemy targets for the people in the buildings to strike back against. At least the passengers were able to attempt retaking the plane as it went down. I don't know, i just believe its different.

And of course there are the conspiracy stories. Bush knew and let it happen much like the attack on pearl harbor was ignored by FDR. Clinton passed on Bin Laden when he was more or less offered on a silver platter in the 1990s. LBJ lied about the Tonkin Gulf Incident. Many presidents have lied or overlooked items to achieve there political goals or even secure our military superiority. It is hard to say if the presidents themselves or their advisers were the ones who made these decisions, but they are the ones who were held responsible. And they were the ones who had to live with the fallout of those decisions.

Blame can be laid a plenty, and this is not the day to do this. This is a day to remember your loved ones and friends who were touched in same way by that day eight years ago. No one in the United States and not many in the world were not touched by this event in 2001. This is a day for remembrance... Remember it but don't dwell upon it.

You Need a Plan

Now that you have decided to live and share your love of freedom with others like you, you need a plan. Now it is not as easy as you may think. The questions you have to consider are tough ones and you need to make sure you are answering them correctly to best of your knowledge at the current time. Your plan can change as situations change, but this will give you a good starting point.

1) Who is in your team?
Your team is your life. These are the people you will be betting your life on in every aspect. They must be dependable, solid people. Able to think on their own and sometimes out of the box.Able to improvise to changing situations, in short, people you can trust. Think about the worst possible bind you could find your ass in, then think of who you would want there to get it out.

2) Where will you go?
Are you going to stay where you are now, go to a cabin in the woods,a lake house,an underground bunkeronly you know about? This is important because you must consider your surroundings. What is your access to food, waterand medical supplies? Can you grow a garden,hunt wild game,get water from somewhereother than a faucet? How defensible is your choice?How far away can you see someone approaching, when can they see you? What are your escape routes?You get the idea.

3) Inventory
What do you have? What do you have now that could be used in a survival situation?List what you have, i will tell you what you need as we go along later.

4) What are your teams skills?
Do you have construction knowledge,know how to fix a car or generator?How to grow food or hunt and clean game? What are the skills you now have at your disposal, and what skills should you try to learn as we go along?

5) Most important part
Have a plan B, and a plan C, and a plan D.Draw up several different variations of your plan just in case something is screwed up when you start to implement it. How many times have you listened to the radio on the way to work and had to detour around an accident? That is the idea, you do not want to be 'winging' this shit when you butt is on the line!

Something to work on and think about. And do take this seriously, your enemy will not be ready for an organized effort against them. One that is thought out and practice has been put behind. The man who has a plan is the man most likely to survive.

More to follow.

Just a Note

Well, at least one person read me post. This is in response to the comment added to my first post. And yes he/she did send me an email on a throw away hotmail account with the name John Smith, how original. I figure why not post it, it can't hurt anything. More to come, I'll have another up this weekend or Monday at the latest.

Just Remember...

Introduction to this Blog

Hello, Edgar Friendly here. You may remember me from the movie Demolition Man.I was the freedom loving anti-establishment target of Wesley Snipes. Obviously I am not the 'real', or 'fictional real' as it were, Edgar Friendly, but that movie and the speech he gave to Stalone and Sandra Bullock down in the sewer had a large impact on the way I look at the local, state and federal government. How they operate and view the citizens that elected them to office to serve the people. Recent current events have led me to start this weblog and share my thoughts, opinions and what I consider to be valuable information with any who will listen and consider them.

The Cash for Clunkerssocial engineering attempt, the forced Health Carelaw, Bail Out Bills,Uncontrolled Borders,the list can go on for days. But it all comes down to one absolute fact: the people no longer control the government, government controls the people. They do what they want, pass the laws and bills they want, and don't give a rats ass what we the people who put them in office to represent us are saying about their actions. The governments of this country from the local city halls to Washington DC are completely out of control and will wreck this country both economically and socially if it continues the way it is going.

The question is what can we do about it? The answer is easy... not a damn thing. People in Irantried to fight the system and all it got them was beaten, arrested and killed. I have zero doubt that the very same outcome would happen here if a similar attempt was made. The government controls the press, law enforcement and the military, same as in Iran. It is useless to fight that head on. So what do we do?

LIVE! SURVIVE! Keep the idea of what this country used to be alive, and teach it to our children.That is the information that I will share with you here. I will teach you to fight and defend yourselves and your families, but not as a primary response. A sad fact of life is that there are fewer of us everyday and when we are gone there will be no right thinking people left to guide the country back to the track it was on when the ink was still wet on the constitution and this country was free.

I will suggest books, movies, television shows, weapons, shelters, vehicles, military surplus and camping supplies. I will teach urban and wilderness survival, combat tactics, shelter defense, urban and open country warfare, improvised weapons, everything I have learned I will pass on to you. There will be looters, gangs, the often mentioned 'hordes', and you will need to protect yourself from them when the situation gets worse, and it probably will.

But as I said earlier, this information is to be used to protect yourself, friends and family so that you may live and keep the idea of a free country with limited government intrusioninto your lives going. Because if it does come to pass, their control of the country will fall apart as it always has throughout history. And someone will need to rebuild, if the right people are there it will be rebuilt correctly, if they are all dead, what do you think will happen.

I hope you understand my thoughts and position, and that you can benefit from them. But I also hope you never need to use what I am going to share with you in the time to come. More to come later.