|
Preps
Here at Woodpile Report Galactic Headquarters and Jiffy Screen Door Repair we're canning chicken and bacon and pork. Lots and lots of it. Two pressure canners going simultaneously. We also put up more beef jerky, expanded our water treatment and purification stuff, laid in more supplies and upgraded some equipment, pretty much like everybody else. The jerky is in Mason jars, vacuum packed. It's amazing how a giant pile of meat ends up as a tiny pile of dried meat, but that's the whole idea now isn't it? And we've put aside a bunch-o'-cans to make penny stoves, having all the cat stoves and fuel we'll likely need. We're figuring come TEOTWAWKI the air will be thick with wood smoke from sea to shining sea, in fact, the Unruly Horde may sniff out areas without wood smoke, the good stuff's bound to be there. As preppers we're generalists. We care little what particular S hits the fan. S is S and preps is preps. That said, we have noticed the odds of a nuclear event have gone up, so we're running a geiger counter that monitors, graphs and records beta and gamma radiation levels 24 hours a day, totalized and averaged and charted on a PC, albeit using an interface direct from Bad Memory Lane. Think Windows 95, you remember, the carved-from-clay-look done badly. Here's why nobody should be overly impressed with all this. Remus is qualified to differentiate between two levels of radiation: normal, meaning it's pretty much the same as before, and not normal, perhaps when the bacon in the refrigerator starts frying. What the deeper numbers mean is beyond his ken except bigger equals badder. In his defense, the unit was intended for nuclear technicians. Remus did the honorable thing, he used the default settings for the esoteric stuff and called it good. The only real adjustment was for sensitivity and he's got it to where it should be. Reassuringly, it tracks the Radiation Network and EPA readings pretty closely. Should there be an event, and should the official numbers and our numbers seriously diverge we'll trust our own and act accordingly. The nuclear excursions in Japan taught us the official readings are available and dependable except when we need them. In the first weeks of the unacknowledged meltdown, before the radioactive plume had reached our shores, the Situational Unawareness effort swung into action. Key monitoring sites went off line and their Baghdad Bobs popped up wherever there was a news camera. They've as much as admitted they knew from the beginning it was an uncontrolled meltdown, as did the government of Japan, yet they not only kept the full truth from us, they prevented us from knowing the radiation levels here. No, sorry, ain't happening again. Consider this. There are secrets about our enemies known to the, formerly our, government. These same secrets are known to the enemy, natch, they're their secrets. Each knows the other knows they know, &c. The only ones who don't know are us. Example: during the Korean War the US government knew Russian pilots were flying combat missions against the USAF. The Russians knew of course. And they knew the US government knew, &c. We didn't know because the Soviets and DC were keeping the same information secret. Secret from whom, and why, we have to ask. It's on this basis they believe us, rightly, to be uninformed and therefore, not rightly, unqualified to decide policy. So they act autonomously for our benighted good, and for their careers, perhaps while sharing a laugh or two with their counterparts. Keeping information from the people pays better than having an informed electorate. Keeping the electorate uninformed has, therefore, become a bedrock protocol for careerists. We however become more transparent by the day. One shouldn't wonder why those specializing in 'situational awareness' are specifically targeted as suspect terrorists, a wide and open exchange of public information actually is a threat to DC. Think about it. Their claim is somebody may act on genuine facts. Not terrorists certainly, they've managed only thirty-six such cases in a decade, or one ten-millionth of the population over ten years. No, the truth lies elsewhere. Preppers are targeted for discovering the true relationship of investment and return. DC considers this reading of the word economy to be a terrorist indicator. Thoreau foresaw this. He knew his gardening was more activist than his civil disobedience and said as much. Living deliberately is radical and always has been, but it's not yet illegal, quite, not even yet contemptible, but it'll be both when prepper-survivalists, organic gardeners, the Amish et al are plausibly smeared and vilified. Look for National Geographic and other revivals of Signal to get the ball rolling. Oops, belay that last. There's a reason for bringing up all this prepper stuff. Economic and military analysts alike say foreseeable perils appear to converge during Spring of this year. The prepper community seems to buy into this as well. Some bloggers known for flogging a particular scenario are also taking a wider view, and well they should, the list of candidate pratfalls is long and persuasive. Others aren't speculating, although a note of urgency is creeping in. Should the general disaster deepen precipitously there will be enough "I told you so"s to go around, but at the moment it's not obvious which "I told you so"s. As the Boy Scouts, FEMA, your Dear Ol' Dad and your own common sense have told you: Be Prepared. As Remus has told you, stay away from crowds. And be aware a crowd may come to you. Addendum. Here's Remus's recipe for light, cheap and superbly nutritious trail food. Quick oatmeal and brown sugar at a ratio of 4:1. Add water and it's ready to eat. Optional: powdered milk to suit. Remus vacuum packs it in single servings together with an packet of instant cocoa, coffee or tea—black tea, the buck-a-kilo stuff.
Ol' Remus offers his opinions as-is, where is. He rarely cites support for his opinions so they are, in that sense, unwarranted. He comes by them largely by having lived and watched and listened rather than by argument or persuasion. His opinions are, therefore, not particularly accessible by debate or vulnerable to claims of illegitimacy. He entertains opposing opinion but he feels no inclination, much less obligation, to discuss or defend his own. Whatever usefulness or amusement the reader may find in them is their own business.
|
 |
 |
