SurvivalBlog is dedicated to family preparedness, survival, self-reliance, and self-sufficiency. Are you new to this blog? Be advised that you are jumping in to extant threads. Read "About" first. Then it is best to the start at the beginning of the archives and work your way up. Thanks! - JWR
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Sunday September 16 2007
Note from JWR:
Congrats to John T. in California, the high bidder in the auction for the Hydro Photon UV Light SteriPen Water Sterilization System with solar charger and pre-filter. It was kindly donated by Safecastle, one of our most loyal advertisers.
Today we begin a new SurvivalBlog benefit auction, for a scarce pre-1899 antique Finnish M39 Mosin Nagant rifle from my personal collection. This rifle was rebarreled by Valmet during WWII, and is in excellent condition. It comes with a replica bayonet, original sling, and original muzzle cap. Since the receiver for this rifle was made in 1898, it can be mailed directly to the winning bidder's doorstep, with no FFL paperwork! The bidding starts at $200. The auction end son October 15th.. Just e-mail us your bid.
Letter Re: Surviving Major Changes in the Political Landscape
Jim,
I'm a believer in being prepared for the worst. However, how do I (we) survive 4+ years of an extreme left wing political take over of our system? Right now it looks like Hillary or Obama will win the Presidential elections in '08. With either of those two in and a left wing house and senate, I have to believe that we're doomed. You have to know that firearms will probably be banned similar to Canada, Australia, and Great Britain. Are you going to give up your means of defense? When times get tough and food gets scarce, the government will ban "hoarding" and place stiff penalties on the same.
I view the coming elections with dread. I don't like having a target on my white male, conservative, Christian back. But, that's how it will be.
Sorry for such a gloomy note. Regards, Tom E.
JWR Replies: You have good reason for your gloominess. Quite frankly, I share it.
One of the great things that I have always loved about the United States is that if a state's laws (taxes, gun laws, homeschooling laws, or whatever) get too oppressive, you can always "vote with your feet" and move to another state that has preserved more individual liberty. This is exactly what I did when I left California in 1990.
I am a fourth-generation member of a pioneer California family that had arrived via covered wagon in the 1850s. But my wife and I decided that the political battle in California was lost. It is impossible to fight a demographic tidal shift. When the liberal do-gooders and their legions of welfare recipients that make up their voting bloc begin to out number the decent, hard-working conservative "bedrock culture", there comes a day that you realize that no matter how many well-reasoned letters your write to the newspapers and the state capitol, the battle is lost.
So I packed up my family and didn't look back. From what I've heard, this process continued and is ongoing. Some of the best and brightest are wisely still bailing out of California in considerable numbers. OBTW, the latest outrage I heard was that the City of San Francisco has instituted socialist universal health care for every resident of the city, all to be funded magically by tax dollars. Papa Fidel would be proud of his understudies. The Liberal Nanny Staters that rule California have totally lost touch with reality.
But you have raised an issue that involves the Federal government. There is no escaping Federal law, short of leaving the country altogether, which I generally do not advocate. Let's face it, America is called "The Land of the Free" for good reason. Nearly all of the alternatives are not very appealing. yes, the prospect of a liberal Democrat president working with a liberal Democrat-controlled house and Senate is a nightmare for those of us that love our liberty.
I expect that the First, second, Fourth, and Tenth Amendments will get tarnished if not outright trashed in the event of four to eight years of "enlightened" Nanny State government. All that we can hope and pray for is that there will be legislative gridlock in congress, with little erosion of our liberty during those years. And hopefully that will only last four years, a and the political pendulum will swing back the other direction. Pray hard.
I can't recommend any specific survival strategies or tactics, other than keeping a low profile, and scrupulously obeying all of the new laws and directives that will surely issue forth from the bowels of Washington, D.C. if the Democrats take control. You've probably noticed that the prices of many commodities have dramatically increased in the past year. Large diameter PVC pipe may very well be the next commodity to rise in price, due to scarcity.
Again, pray hard for God's guidance, providence and protection.
Letter Re: Counting the Potential EMP Attack Casualties
Dear Jim:
Your site is excellent. It is on my list of daily reading. Your book is also excellent. I've also taken the 10 Cent Challenge.
Under scenarios you mention minimal deaths in an Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) attack. You posit the EMP would disable flight controls. Published information indicates that 3,624 domestic commercial flights were airborne during the attacks on 9/11/01. If that number is relatively accurate and it is multiplied by 267 (average) passengers per plane (not including flight crews) you get 967,608.
If a number of these aircraft are in/near terminal control areas (cities), wouldn't their ensuing impacts add to the death toll?
Newark Airport sits next to the New Jersey Turnpike and when the wind is out of the north the approach takes flights over the 12 lanes of a very busy highway. Any aircraft losing control and landing/crashing short of the runway would create a massive disaster. There are also rail yards and refineries nearby.
Using a base number of 967,608 and adding ground losses appear to produce a significant number of casualties in your scenario. Are these observations realistic? - JH
JWR Replies: When I referred to "minimal" casualties with high altitude EMP-tailored bombs, I meant that in comparison to ground bursts in cities, which could cause many millions of deaths.
Regarding your 967,608 figure, that would only be accurate if there were multiple devices detonated simultaneously at very high altitude and there were overlapping coast to coast "footprints" of EMP. The potential line-of-sight range of EMP--and coincident "coupling" through linear metal objects--has been previously discussed in SurvivalBlog.
