If In Heaven - Author and Gentleman George Orwell Must Be Showing His Ivory Whites Smiling Over This Black Day For The English Language

Why would George Orwell be grinning with his Ivory Whites? Why not? I mean he did write the book Nineteen Eighty-Four - did he not and it is turning out to be mostly if not all very predictive of what is actually taking place in England - isn't it! You know the story, the one about life under the rule of Big Brother - life where everything is controlled by the government, life where your thoughts can make you a criminal, life where the government knows almost everything about you because they have you under constant surveillance with cameras virtually everywhere, life where your neighbors drop a dime on you as fast as Judas could grab the silver, life where even something as basic as the language of the land was being reduced and rewritten into newspeak (no it was never called doublespeak in the book) and destroying the language while it did so.

So let me tell you why he would be smiling. The Brits have for years tried to control everything by way of government. Yeah they have a parliamentary system and all that, but truth be told it is more of a socialist oligarchy. How did they arrive at such a government? One of the first things they did was to restrict ownership of firearms, then ban such ownership outright. That left the people as little more than puppets of those in power. Next they started to enact a whole load of laws that restricted the liberties and rights of the citizenry. Do you realize that if you state your OPINION in England it can be considered defamatory and you can be sued and jailed. Since they only had the people on strings so to speak, they also decided it would be a good idea to keep tabs on them at all times. There are now cameras in ore places than you could imagine in such cities as London, and I have even heard reports of them being found in the countryside. no these are not just traffic cameras, these are out and out surveillance cameras. They convinced the fools who are British subjects that these were needed to deter crime and terrorism. The fact is they can spy on just about anyone at any time where these cameras are located because they also utilize face recognition software. I recall the case of one man who used to go to a railing overlooking a river (or maybe the sea, or a lake - but it was a body of water). He went frequently. He was also arrested or detained for questioning frequently because the police felt he was about to commit suicide each time they spied him on there cameras at said location. He was there to look at the water folks! Of course Great Britain also encourages its citizens to rat one another out for offenses. Offenses like self defense when a person defends himself against a rapist or mugger. Once they got all that control what did the British government do - they joined the European Union thereby destroying all the rights of British citizens within the country. Pure government control by a government of bureaucrats from many nations leaving the people as little more than serfs once again.

Hmm, that just about completes the list of things I mentioned that took place in George Orwell's world of 1984. Whoops I forgot one. Sure you know I didn't forget, I just saved it for last because it just started to happen. The language in Great Britain, or at least the English language in Europe, is now under attack - read about it here. Certain politically incorrect words and phrases actually are being outlawed. They want to remove such terms as: black sheep of the family, black mark (all because a black person could take offense). They want to eliminate any reference to white to imply goodness such as the phrase whiter than white (again because it may make blacks feel that blackness is bad and whiteness is good. They want to purge use of words and phrases that potentially could be deemed sexist and thereby offensive to one gender or the other such as: gentlemen's agreement, and right hand man.

Are you getting this - do you see the lunacy that is therein such actions. At least one person in the UK apparently got it, see the video. As the song Living On A Thin Line by the Kinks said: "There's No England Now".



It is amazing that more British citizens did not see this all coming and take appropriate actions to prevent it. Now that they seem to be starting to realize it, it may be too late for them to save their country. Why even mention any of this here in the USA - because it is starting here too - just look around you - socialized medicine, government takeover of industry, government take over of the financial world, illegal immigration virtually ignored as Border Patrol Agents are executed, affirmative action runs amok, welfare and socialism are the tools, government control is the goal, racism in our culture abounds against whites but is not seen as such by hate mongers, anything a white says in a controversial situation being seen as racist by hate mongers, political corruption is exploding at all levels of government, arrogant politicians are continually trampling on citizens rights, surveillance cameras going up everywhere in the name of Homeland security, calling certain words by their first letter such as the N-word (newspeak has reached our shores. Are we doomed as England seems to be - not yet folks, but the point of no return maybe closer than any of us would like to think. Write to your elected officials, call them on the phone, demand they put some rational thought back into government and that they secure our borders, defend our Constitution, rid our streets of criminals (as opposed to harassing law abiding gun owners and other law abiding citizens), put an end to corruption, balance the budget, make English our official language, go full force in the war on terrorism and so forth. It is about time we start doing something to keep America American before someone sings a song about there being no America anymore!

All the best,
Glenn B

Arthur Frommer - Is He Just A Travel Author or Just Another Rights Bashing, Intolerant and Bigotted Leftist?

Hmm, I would never have thought that a guy like Arthur Frommer, the man behind all those Frommer travel guides, would be an extreme intolerant leftist bent upon denying others their Constitutional and states' rights, but maybe such is exactly the case. You see Mr. Frommer has come out of the closet so to speak in his blog. In his blog post: Do Guns at Political Events Disturb You? Then Consider Skipping Arizona for Now he in essence states that he will avoid traveling into the state of Arizona because extremists are allowed to carry firearms outside of political rallies. He states that this is not due in any manner to the political affiliation of President Obama whose rally was the one in question and says he would do the same if it had been a rally held by Ronald Reagan. In exercising my right to freedom of speech, allow me to address Mr. Frommer further:

Mr. Frommer - shame on you for saying such because truth be told plenty of people have carried firearms outside of political rallies before but you have never opened your mouth or typed away on your keyboard about it before now have you; then again neither has the mud slinging media - has it! As a mater of fact - did you decide to boycott states in which the Black Panther Party is found. I seem to remember, unless I am mistaken, them showing up in force with openly exposed weapons outside of polling places during a recent presidential election where they seemingly (at least it seemed that way to many who reported on it) intimidated potential voters among others. Heck that could potentially threaten free elections couldn't it; but then they did support then Senator Obama in his run for the presidency so I suppose that made it okay in your eyes. As for Ronald Reagan, whom you brought into this debate, he was the first presidential candidate ever endorsed by the NRA. He likely would have welcomed such activity outside of his political events when carried out by law abiding citizens who were merely exercising their right to keep and bear arms, their right to free speech and their right to assembly.

Mr. Frommer - This is the United States of America - we do not live in a totalitarian regime such as that of Cuba, the former Soviet union, the former Taliban controlled Afghanistan, or North Korea. People within the United States of America, including the state of Arizona have rights, are guaranteed those rights by our Constitution, and are at liberty to legally exercise those rights. Have you forgotten that? The people who carried those firearms outside of the rally were simply exercising their rights as a way of making a political statement. They posed no threat to the life of the president. They were not extremists, they were regular citizens sir; yes regular citizens do carry firearms. I have carried a firearm at every political event I have ever attended but have never been a threat to anyone while doing so. Now you may think that a clever statement on my part because I am a federal agent and I have attended many political events in my official capacity but let me assure you I also carry when off duty and have done so at political events in the past.

Of course, you may also think yourself clever in making the blog post that you did in which you apparently implied those legally exercising their rights to be extremists. You seemingly also blatantly stated that others should consider avoiding travel to Arizona, then basically denied doing so:

I mean come on now Mr. Frommer what did it mean in the title of the post when you said:

"Then Consider Skipping Arizona For Now"?

Then in the post you said this:

"For myself, without yet suggesting that others follow me in an open boycott, I will not personally travel in a state where civilians carry loaded weapons onto the sidewalks and as a means of political protest. "

Wasn't that statement in the blog post title a suggestion for others to at least consider boycotting travel to Arizona - or did you mean they should do it covertly at first? Then again, maybe you meant they should hop, skip and jump through the state when you said they should "... consider skipping Arizona..."? It sure seems to me like it was meant to mean they should boycott travel to Arizona but of course you being more liberal minded than me could have a totally different interpretation of that statement - couldn't you?

By the way, you made a broad, and my bet is pretty hollow, statement there when you said:

"I will not personally travel in a state where civilians carry loaded weapons onto the sidewalks...".

So does this mean you will not travel in the great majority of states within the United States, or was that just a rash statement on your part? You see, almost every state within our Union allows citizens to carry firearms while they walk the sidewalks - some with more, some with less, restriction than others but almost all allow some form of open or concealed carry of firearms. In no state is a citizen, legally or otherwise, allowed to carry a firearm into a presidential rally whereby the president could be under threat - such is simply not allowed for by the United States Secret Service. By the way, the Secret Service was not concerned about a threat from these folks were they. Had they believed any of these armed citizens to have been credible threats they would have detained them for questioning - don't you think? It certainly is within their authority to do so, and they do so regularly with even unarmed citizens who are apparent threats to the well being of any of our presidents. So tell me, if these armed citizens were such extremists, if they posed such a terrible threat to the safety of the president, or even to attendees at the rally, then why did the Secret Service or the police not remove them from the scene. The truth be told is that there likely was no real threat and there were only some citizens exercising their rights and liberties - rights and liberties you quite frankly do not seem to like others to exercise.

I think you goofed with that blog post, and with the apparent suggestion that others avoid Arizona and states where citizens can carry firearms in public (as in on the sidewalks). I would be willing to bet on that. While you, and some leftists, avoid travel to the state of Arizona - and to other states wherein others like myself who enjoy our liberties and rights - citizens who exercise their rights and liberties will flock there in order to counteract any damage you may have tried to do. Likewise while your travel guide sales may increase among the leftists, I can assure you that I for one will never knowingly again add one penny to your coffers by purchasing anything you have written, edited, endorsed or published. I would urge others who value their rights and liberties to consider doing likewise, or to protest your views in any legal way, as a form of exercise of their freedom of speech but my guess is I do not need to do so. I figure that they will not require any prompting from me to do so because you have shot yourself in your foot on this one without any help from me.

*********

Folks, if you are about to take a vacation or short getaway trip, I urge you to travel to Arizona. Travel there frequently if you can. Visit the Grand Canyon, see Sedona, fly into Flagstaff, visit the Saguaro National Forest, climb the mountians at the Chiricahua National Monument, go back in history at Tombstone, be amazed by the colors at the Painted Desert, go to the Petrified Forest, see Native American cliff dwellings, visit the Navajo Nation, go to the Buffalo Soldier Museum, enjoy all that Phoenix and Tucson have to offer, drive through the White Mountains - there is a lot to do in this wonderful state. Let the Arizona governor and state legislature know you are doing so despite Mr. Frommer's apparent suggestion to do otherwise. Let them know you travel to and enjoy Arizona because of its stance on the right to keep and bear arms and on its stance regarding freedom of speech. I was just there for 4 months, and would go there again tomorrow if I could. While I was there for work, I must point out that I decided to spend all of my free time there. I could have easily visited other nearby states such as New Mexico, Nevada, or California. While I considered both New Mexico and Nevada, travel by me to California for leisure was simply out of consideration by me due mostly to its extreme leftist stance on almost everything - especially gun rights.

All the best,
Glenn B

Biweekly Gun Shots 14 - Remington Model 8

I just bought another 60 rounds of this ammo > to fire in my Marlin .336 lever gun. The round is the .35 Remington. The .35 Remington was first developed in 1906 and its development coincided with three other rounds - the .25 Remington, .30 Remington and .32 Remington (all rimless cartridges). Of all these rounds, the only one that remains popular today (and in fact commercially available as far as I can determine) is the .35 Remington. Back in the day though, all 4 of these cartridges were developed due to the introduction of a single rifle.

That rifle was one for which John M. Browning obtained a patent in October 1900, then later sold the patent to Remington. In 1906, Remington began to produce the Remington Model 8, a semi-automatic, 5 shot fixed box-magazine fed, rifle. About 80,600 of them were produced, in 6 grades, from 1906 through 1936 as per Remington (ref.). It was primarily designed for sports hunters, but another type of hunter soon became interested in it and several wound up in the hands of law enforcement officers of the day.

There were at least four features that may have made this rifle particularly appealing to law enforcement officers. One was that it was a takedown rifle which was easily broken down so that the barrel could be removed from the receiver; this made for ease of concealment and portability. The second, and a probably much more important feature, was that this rifle was a semiautomatic. A third and also very important feature was that this rifle had a hold open device. Having a hold open device simply means that the bolt is held in an open position after the last round is fired. This is an invaluable feature of any firearm used as a tactical weapon because it immediately allows the shooter to realize that the weapon is empty and it allows for faster reloading because the shooter does not have to retract the bolt to reload since the bolt is already held open. In essence it facilitates and speeds up reloading while in a do or die situation. The fourth and other very important feature was the caliber offering. The .35 Remington was a large and powerful round and it often found its way into Model 8s utilized by law enforcement of the times when the Model 8 was in production. A fifth factor, though not so much a feature of the rifle, that put this rifle in a good light with law enforcement was the fact that it functioned reliably.

Frank Hamer, one of the more famous lawmen of the years during which this rifle was produced, used one chambered in .35 Remington to end the criminal careers of two of the most notorious criminals of 1930's Depression Era America. Frank Hamer was the lead law enforcement officer in charge of, and the man mainly responsible for setting up, the successful ambush of Bonnie and Clyde in 1934. The particular rifle that he used was purported to have been equipped with a 'Police Only' 15 round (or 20 round depending upon your source) magazine, and bore serial number 10045. I imagine that frank Hamer's Model 8 must have looked much like the rifle in the above photo, which I found at http://i98.photobucket.com/download-albums/l246/TonyRumore/Mdl8a.jpg. I freely used it here because the PhotoBucket site at which I found this photo freely provides ways to share and download the photo including ways to embed it in various blogs including Blogger. The photo is credited as that of Tony Rumore.

I have seen a good number of these rifles and probably more of their replacement the Model 81 Woodsmaster (produced 1936-1950) which supposedly had a number of so called improvements over the Model 8. Many of both models that I have seen have been hanging on walls in hunting lodges and peoples homes, and others - probably the majority I have seen - have been at gun shows. Most have been in a state of poor repair. There are probably quite a few of them out there though that are in very good to excellent condition and should I ever run across one of them chambered in .35 Remington and for sale at a good price (in my estimation), you can bet your bottom dollar that if I have or can get the cash - I will be buying it (and I may go into a bit of debt to get one at that like using my credit card to get funds from an ATM - something I rarely do). Now mind you when I say go into debt, that does not mean I am going to pay an unreasonable amount for one of these. I am looking for one at a good or better yet at a very good price. Like one I might find at an estate sale where some little old lady is selling off her husband's hunting rifle collection - something in the $350 to $400 range. I may just keep wishing but sometimes wishes do come true. Of course, if I cannot find one and if I find a Model 81 that is in excellent condition at a good price - well, I just may have to settle for one of those. I am planning on going to the Great Middletown Firearm and Knife Show on September 12 or 13th and one never knows - does one!

For a lot more about the Remington Model 8 (and even about the Model 81) try this spectacular website: http://thegreatmodel8.remingtonsociety.com/.

All the best,
Glenn B

Do We Hate Candadians Enough To Deprive Them Like This?

Yeah I know, some of you think Canadians and Canada suck. Some of you, well not many of my readers, probably think this because you think they are not enough to the political left. Others, more likely my readers, think so because you believe they are really just ever so gosh darned liberal it makes you want to puke. Me - well I figure why bother with them. If they leave me alone, I will leave them alone. If they want to be friendly, I can be friendly back. If they are respectful of me, then me toward them - and of course I will start with respect in virtually every encounter. As for Canadians, I almost always look at them as our kind of friendly, politically nutty, neighbors to the north who are not worth much more than a thought like that at most times. Then again, I am a fairly decent human being - or so I consider myself - and when it comes to helping out a neighbor - well I would do what I can so long as I know the neighbor has done what he can to help himself first. I do not like freeloaders, but nor would I leave a neighbor hanging when the neighbor was deserving of my help. Are Canadians ever deserving of my, or our help. Sure they are. As a matter of fact I think they are beginning to understand that the good old U.S.A. is not a bad as a place as they may have thought it was. Yeah they have often bashed us, heck look at a guy like Neil Young who by way of his songs has, more than once in my opinion, berated those of us in the USA who are more conservative. I have visited Canada quite a few times in my life and each time have gotten a bad reception from at least 15 to 25% of the people I have met on each trip there. Why - simply because I was an American (as in citizen of a country not of a continent). I have never seen any foreigner get treatment that badly here in the USA based on where he came from unless it was someone from an Arabic/Muslim country after 911. Despite the cold should I have received all too often in Canada (and mind you my wife, my children, my friends on these trips received similar unwarranted bad feelings just because we were from the USA), I still would be willing to help out a respectful Canadian neighbor in need. How about you - how do you feel about Canadians.

Watch the embedded video, then answer the question: Do We Hate Canadians Enough To Deprive Them Like This?



Not me brother, I don't hate em that much - heck I love it when they come here to tell their stories that warn us about the peril we are facing with single payer (aka: government run) health care.

All the best,
Glenn B

It's Been A Rough Last Few Days...

...and therefore there has been no blogging on my part since I was pretty much laid up in bed. I went to a friend's retirement party on Wednesday night, and decided to have a good time. No that does not mean I drank to excess, in fact I did not even allow a drop of any alcoholic beverage to pass my lips. Instead I drank club soda and water. I figured I would have a good time without the booze. That may have been my downfall. During the cocktail hour I probably polished off at least 4 club sodas (no ice), I also managed to wolf down just about every item they had as an appetizer - twice. Well it did not take long for me to find out something was rotten in Denmark, or at least with something I had eaten during the cocktail hour. Within about 30 to 45 minutes of its end, I had to run to the throne. After that I figured I'd go out to my car and sit there while getting some fresh air. Well within another 1/2 hour or so it all came out topside. Then over the next several hours I had to run again - several times. On Thursday, during the day, I had to keep up my running several times but was feeling a bit better despite some pretty bad abdominal pains. Then, during the night, it seemed that something inside of me decided I needed to train for the Olympics and I increased the frequency of my running at least two or maybe threefold; and I also felt as if I had been training for a boxing match since my stomach and back ached as if I had been in a prize fight, my head was pretty achy too. Come Friday morning my son took me to the doc, who then sent me to the Gastro Doc, both of who told me that I probably had food poisoning but was getting over it. What rocket science! I finally ate something again last night - the first time in about 46 hours. It did not make me feel any better, but I managed to keep it in me. Woke up this morning feeling a lot better but still on the weak side. Wow - amazing how some little boogers you cannot even see can knock you for a loop like that - isn't it!

Now I wonder a couple of things. Did anyone else at the party get sick? I have not heard that anyone else did get ill, and that is good. Should someone else have gotten sick I think a call to Public Health would be in order so they could inspect the catering hall. Then again, I am pretty certain that the catering hall owners may have friends who are health or restaurant inspectors - so what would it accomplish!

I did say there were a couple of things I was wondering - well here is the second one: Should I have imbibed some alcohol at the party? I am wondering this because maybe - just maybe - had I had a good stiff drink while there it would have killed off or weakened whatever it was that got me sick before it could have gotten me sick. I mean alcohol is used as a disinfectant - isn't it? The Gastro Doc did not agree with my theory, but I cannot recall ever getting a case of food poisoning from a meal that I enjoyed at the same time I also enjoyed some fine spirits.

All the best,
Glenn B

Hunting Costs a Tidy Fortune -- or - How Bureaucrats Are Ruining A Conservationist's Sport

Last year I bought a NY resident Sportsman's License for the reasonable price of $37.00. I purchased it online and did the same with my son's license. The Sportsman's License last year included the fishing, small game hunting, big game hunting and Deer management Permit (anterless deer permit). I also got Turkey hunting permits - one for the Fall and one for the Spring. I thought it was expensive but not all that terrible. Then they did not send me or Brendan the hunting regulations or fishing regulations booklets until I called and complained that the license surely had cost enough that they should have included them. This year they got their revenge on guys like me who thought we were already paying a bit too much.

My license this year, had I gotten exactly what I had last year, would have cost me $67.00. That is about an .81% increase from one year to the next. This year the license was $47, the Deer Management Permit was no longer free for the Sportsman's License category and was $10, and the Turkey Stamp was $10 - highway robbery if you ask me but I am sure some politician somewhere thinks it good money management. Like a jerk, I actually opted for a more expensive license, I think it is called the Super Sportsman. It covers fishing, small game hunting, big game hunting, turkey permit, archery permit, muzzleloader permit. It goes for $88.00. I also opted for a Deer Management Permit for $10. Frigging deer hunting is becoming a rich man's sport - bear in mind those were just license fees!

The thing that kills me is that if they keep upping the costs of fishing and hunting licenses it will be guaranteed to reduce the number of sportsman who legally hunt and fish. The numbers are already thinning. So what they are in effect doing is killing the bird who lays the golden eggs. Why? Well because my friends about 90% if not more of the revenues generated each year for wildlife conservation in the United States of America, each year, comes from the money spent by hunters, trappers and fishermen and a lot of that is spent on state issued licenses. Not only do these good folks pay state license fees, they also pay other fees such as federal imposed fees like the one for a Migratory Game Bird Stamps (commonly called a Duck Hunting Stamp) which goes for around $15.00 at the time that piece was written but maybe higher this year.

Over and above license fees paid by hunters, they pay yet another type of fee - actually a tax, and excise tax to be exact - that the rest of you do not pay. It is known as the Pittman-Robertson Act Tax or The Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act Tax. This is an approximate 10% excise tax that is paid by people who buy hunting, trapping and fishing equipment and supplies such as firearms, archery equipment, fishing poles, tackle, ammunition and so forth. It is not charged at the cash register but is already figured into the price of all hunting and fishing gear before it is sold to the end user (which by the way means that when you pay a percentage based sales tax on items covered by this excise tax - you are also being charged sales tax on the amount of excise tax you are being paid not just on the value of the item itself because the excise tax is hidden in the price of the item - tax on tax - it is outrageous). It is slated to go ONLY toward wildlife and habitat conservation in each of the states. It has paid over 3.6 billion dollars to state wildlife agencies for wildlife conservation over the past 60 years. (See http://fw.ky.gov/pdf/lesson3.pdf page 5.) Of course, politicians like Charles Scummer Schumer, U.S. Senator from New York (and radical liberal) tries to get the distribution of those funds changed every few years so that it will go toward things like welfare or the general fund. Each time he and others try, they are defeated. Good for that because it would mean so much less for wildlife that either your taxes would have to increase to support conservation of Nature's creatures or many, many, animals would suffer miserably in sub par habitat. From what I can see, guys like Schumer do not care so long as their agendas for more political power go through.

Now back to hunters, trappers and fishermen because they are not done paying yet. Yeah, I know, you were beginning to think that maybe I am right hunting is becoming expensive because of increased license and other fees, but even with taxes added on that isn't it yet. You see hunters, trappers and fishermen also pay a large amount every year in the form of money that goes into other parts of the hunting community directly related to these sports. They pay lots for hunting guides, use of private preserves, boat rental fees, and so on. The list of how they help the economy does not end there though. They also pay a nice chunk of change each year for things not directly related to these sports, but that are paid for because they come about in the normal course of enjoying such sports. 'Like what for instance?' you maybe wondering. Like motels, campsites, restaurants, supermarkets, car rental fees, gasoline, road tolls and so on.

Hunting can be downright expensive. Yep - it ain't cheap and when you add it all up a field dressed Whitetail Deer, that an average hunter gets while on a short hunt of maybe five days, can wind up costing a lot. By the way, I use a 5 day example because I try to combine a couple of days of turkey hunting with deer hunting, and while the seasons abut one another they do not overlap in NY. Then again it could just be a 5 day deer hunt - 2 days scouting, 3 days hunting depending on skill and luck as I am not that good a hunter - and maybe some fishing thrown in there if warm enough. Let's see how much a five day trip like that might cost a guy like me - and that is if I go alone. I'll try to add up all the costs I can think of, but I almost am sure to forget and leave out a few things. All prices will be approximately what I pay in NY but rounded off to the nearest dollar:

Licenses - $98.00

Migratory Gamebird Stamp - $15.00

Ammunition (one box of 20 rounds) - $23.00

Practice Ammo (one box like above)- $23.00

Range Fees For Practice - $25.00 (Per trip to the range.)

Gasoline To Get To Range - $12.00 (Per trip, it is 60 miles from my home; this is at the best mileage my car gets.)

Gun Cleaning Supplies - $2.00 (Approximate cost per cleaning.)

Deer Pee Scent - $12.00

Hand Warmers - $5.00 (Yes I am old and frail and can use em.)

Boots - $150.00 (My old ones are shot and too tight - my feet actually grew at my age.)

Other Gear - $0.00 (Hopefully I need none this year.)

Gatorade or Other Drinks - $14.00 (per case)

Sandwich and Other Food Stuff - $35.00 (I'll try to eat two meals a day, and snacks, from this.)

Ice For Cooler - $8.00 (Remember this is for 5 days worth.)

Restaurant Food - $40.00 (I try to get to a restaurant for at least one hot meal per day.)

Tolls - $15.00

Gasoline - $57.00 (For about 600 miles driving at the best I can get mileage and current low end gas price.)

Lodging - $226.00 (This is at Motel 6 folks - I am too old & creaky to camp out in the cold of November.)

Butchering of Deer - $125.00 (This cost has skyrocketed.)

Did I leave anything out. I am sure I must have forgotten something but isn't that all enough expense for one deer. Then again if this was a year where I needed more gear like maybe new gloves, a hat, a hunting coat, rain or snow gear, and so on, it could get lots more expensive. but just how expensive is it, even with just what I figure I may spend this year - let's do some calculating...

Wow only $885.00 for a 5 day deer hunting trip. So if I get a deer that weighs about 120 pounds field dressed, and maybe get 60 pounds of meat out of it - how much would that be per pound. That would be about $14.75 per pound - not bad by comparison to other years I have gone hunting - especially when I got ZERO pounds of meat for the freezer! Add another couple of hundred bucks to the mix and the cost per pound goes up to about $19 per pound.

Now I did not add on fees for taxidermy should I actually stumble across a deer spectacular enough to become trophy material. I guess there is always that outside chance I may fall asleep under a tree and wake up to find an old grizzled, but stately, buck peering at me thinking my snores were the grunts of a rival buck. On the other hand, I suppose I could come across some stately old buck that has survived thanks to its wily ways and only stumbled across me because it was suffering the effects of old age. Those examples probably would be more my in line with my hunting abilities than me actually setting up a great stand and hoodwinking a magnificent buck, in its prime, into shotgun or rifle range - but truth be told I am not that lucky and will have to work for whatever I get even if a forkhorn. If I do somehow wind up with a trophy deer, I am going to guess that sending the head to a taxidermist for a mount will cost around $500 at the least, and maybe as much as $750. That would sure make my venison this year rather expensive - wouldn't it.

Egads - here comes the wife - I had better stop typing. If she sees how much this is all going to cost, and that without my son added in to the mix, well she may just shoot me where I sit and hang my head on the wall. Now really folks, my wife loves it when I go hunting. That's because I am out of her hair for several days to a week, I usually don't bag anything (she does not like venison but then again loved bear but would rather eat beef), and because if she wants to go to Germany over the summer, to visit relatives, I give her my blessing. I had better, otherwise I truly might get my head hung over the fireplace. For now that's it; I have other things to do - like figure which bank to rob to get all the money I'll need for this year's hunting trips. I may have to rob the Federal Reserve itself, or Fort Knox, because I'll probably go on 2 or 3 hunting trips this year. No that is not extravagance, that is just because I am such a lousy hunter. Yep, it sure can add up to a tidy fortune and it can hurt a guy's finances pretty bad.

Did I mention its all because of politicians and bureaucrats raising license fees, and raising taxes, and the cost of inflation and... Folks while some of the above may have been comical the fact is that the best method of wildlife conservation we have available to us is dying fast. It is dying because of skyrocketing license fees, constantly rising taxes and other costs due to inflation. It really is not a laughing matter. Contact your state and federal officials and tell them enough is enough. Explain that you fear the loss of sportsman generated revenue will only result in higher taxes all around for all of us. Tell them you are sick of taxes and taxes disguised as fees and so on that only go to ruin our way of life. Sooner or later they have got to get the message and find ways to cut back on the government machine making it more efficient thereby resulting in a better economy with lower taxes, less fees and - in the case of conservation - more efficient wildlife conservation.

Thank goodness I didn't cover anything about making this a fishing trip too. Those little lures can go for over $10 a pop, then you have the fishing line, and the rods and reels, and...

All the best,
Glenn B

Report: Big Al's Gun and Premier Knife Show

This morning at about 0710, Brendan and I set off for Danbury, CT and Big Al's Gun and Premier Knife Show. We got there at about 0830. The show itself was being held in some hotel or another, I did not even notice the name, but if I did I probably would have forgotten it by now. Since we arrived early for the opening of the show we had breakfast at the hotel. It was buffet style and I must admit they had great service for seating, coffee and juice but the buffet itself was lacking a bit. Not terrible, okay I suppose, better because I had good company and because the coffee was good. Then we walked into the show.

Well, we paid first. Brendan paid his own way in using the $1.00 of coupon I had given him. It was $7.00 with the coupon. I paid my way, got my hand stamped and we were in. At first I was in pensive almost shocked mode because what I saw was a room with about 30 tables. The online ad said there would be 200 tables. Lucky for the show promoter that he did have another room with more tables set up adjacent to the first one we entered. Unlucky for us though that this was, in my not so humble opinion, about the worst excuse for a gun show that I have ever attended. (Edited On 11/29/2019 to add: Over then years later, I can say without a doubt that in my estimation it really was the worst gun show I have ever had the displeasure of visiting and my visiting a really bad one today made me think of this other horrendous one from ten years in my past.) If it really had 200 tables, and it may well have had that many, then the percentage of tables that had guns displayed on them was pretty low. There was a total, yes a total, of 25 tables that had a number (above 1) of firearms displayed on them - one with only BB or pellet guns, and another that had a single gun (maybe there were two tables like that). Most of the guns being offered for sale seemed to be used. There were some new guns and many of those appeared to have had seen many a gun show and to have been handled by many a gun show goer. They had nicks, scratches and so forth. Some were pristine but truly not all that many.

Of all the other tables, two were not occupied by anything - they were simply left bare. This is, in my mind, not the sign of a good promoter; I think he should have at least let the adjacent tables' dealer use them for free to make it look better - that would have been better marketing. Another set of at least three maybe four tables was used up to hawk jerky, hot sauce, and flags (all being sold by one dealer). Of the remainder of the tables, I am going to guesstimate that about 50% of them held guns related items like magazines, sights, hunting books, cleaning equipment, bayonets, stocks, holsters and so on. There were about 10 tables at most dedicated mostly to ammunition sales, and the ammo for sale was often way overpriced. The remainder of the tables displayed mostly knives and knife accessories. Actually there may have been more tables dedicated to knives than tables dedicated to a combination of everything else but maybe that is just me overreacting to the paucity of tables displaying firearms. That though is no underestimation - I counted the tables that had more than one firearm displayed on them and the number I came up with after two counts was 25 between both rooms. I asked a few people if there was yet another room but was told that was it.

We milled about, looked here and there, and the only thing that truly caught my eye was a Beretta Silver Pigeon 12 gauge for $160. It was well used and also well worn. Knowing little of the value, and not having my price guide, I decided to hold off on that one. Brendan showed some interest in a Mosin Nagant M44 of Russian manufacture. It had a small crack in the foregrip, but otherwise looked pretty good. They wanted $125 for it but he never even bothered to ask if they would take less. I do not recall what it was but he saw something else wrong with it that made him shy away from it. I thought he should have at least asked if they would take less and told him to start at $75 and maybe go to - well to whatever he was willing to pay - but it turned out he was unwilling to pay anything for it. I guess I don't blame him because the dealer had walked over complaining he had to pay almost what he was selling it for when he bought it. Yeah - right!

Now lest you think I may just be griping too much about how much this show seemed a disappointment to me, let me tell you some specifics that got me feeling that this show was little more than a rip-off:

A box of 525 rounds of CCI Blazer .22LR had an asking price $30. This is one of the cheapest varities of .22LR ammo out there. I did an online search and found it advertised in a few places at less than $20 for the exact same thing. Even if you had to pay shipping it would be cheaper than the asking price at the show - and remember I had to pay almost $10 in tolls, gas money for a 150 plus mile round trip, and an entry fee to the show.

Boxes of Wolf 7.62x39 FMJ ammunition ( the stuff in the black boxes) going for $13 per box of 20 rounds. That would make a case of 1,000 go for $650 if the boxes from a case were sold individually. This dealer tried to explain to me that 500 rounds often passed as a full case nowadays with regard to this specific ammo. I don't know what dark hole he pulled that information out of, but it had to be a smelly one. Sure another dealer had the same exact ammo for sale at much less, I think it was $8.00 per box which may not be too bad selling it by individual box but I still cannot imagine the audacity of one of them asking $13 per box.

A box of CCI Mini Mag .22LR solid point, 100 rounds for $10, the price went up top $12 a few minutes later - and I later heard this particular dealer complaining to another that he was not selling anything. I do not wonder why! I can get these for $7.17 at Sportsmansguide.com without my Buyer's Club Advantage savings.

30 round AK magazines going for $20 apiece. Bear in mind these are not gun stores selling this stuff, this was a gun show vendor who had no business cards for a real storefront business ( I asked him for one and he said he was just a show vendor). I can easily find AK mags in just as excellent condition at online dealers for: $9.95 - see Aim Surplus. Note they had no AKs for sale, apparently they were banned in CT.

New Rifles - if there were more than 40 brand new rifles - as in not used - on display and for sale at this show I would be amazed - and come to think of it I would be surprised if there were more than 30.

Now there was a high point to the show, that was when my friend Pete K. showed up at about 1000. I introduced Brendan to Pete and we all three walked around again and again looking at stuff, and we chewed the fat. It is always nice to see Pete K whenever I have the opportunity. He retired from my job a few years back already, and I can truly say he was one of the better people I have ever met in my 30 year career (well it will be 30 years next month). He is a true gentleman and a patriot as well as a good friend. Sadly Pete dd not have time for a beer and lunch and we parted ways all to soon.

Brendan and I headed home with nothing to show for our time at the gun show, but at least with some good feelings of camaraderie between us and for Pete K. That made the trip to Danbury well worth it in my book, but next time I won't bother to stop at Big Al's Gun and Premier Knife Show - I'll just take the trip to visit my pal. Then again, there is another gun show coming up in September. This one, run by The NortheastGunShows.com and also referred to as the The Great Firearm & Knife Show will be held at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Middletown, NY on September 12 and 13, 2009. The show in Middletown has always been fair to good maybe even very good, and I am hopeful that Brendan and I will make that one too. We are both hopeful that Pete K as well as a few other of my friends from work (retired and current)can also make it. If you are thinking of going, here is a link to a $1.00 off coupon.

I anticipate that we will enjoy the Middletown show much better; as I said it has usually been a much better show than was the one we attended today.

All the best,
Glenn B

Have You Got 20 Minutes & 4 Seconds to Spare?

If you have the time, then sit back, turn on the sound, and watch the video clip of Radar Men From The Moon - Chapter 1. This is the Commando Cody series I so loved as a kid (already repeats when I saw them as they came out in the early 50s and I watched em in the early to mid 60s). I loved em then, and to tell the truth - even though they are quite korny, out of date and pretty low budget with somewhat lousy acting - they still hold a certain fascination for me. Why? Well, not as much nostalgia as you may think but because they hold forth some truths from back then that we should look to in our current political turmoil.

What truths? First of all that the government was secretive even back then when it came to things like national defense and what it told the good citizens of our country and Nancy Pelosi ought to get that by now. More importantly that national defense was the government's job. More importantly yet - the government depended upon private citizens (aka: individuals) - such as Commando Cody - to assist when times were tough even with national defense. Finally that citizens like him were the true security of our great nation and individuals meant a lot to our nation. In other words, when it comes right down to the nitty gritty, the individual not the goobermint is primarily responsible for how things get done in our country and the politicians and government bureaucrats darned well better get to knowing it. Sure the governments plays a great part, but not without the consent of the people and help from the people, especially in light of the fact that the government is selected by the people. It was a way of life back then - but it sure is not today - at least not in the eyes of uber liberals. They want the G to run the whole show. Truth be told, the government would not even be able to wipe its own behind if it had one.

Enough from me, here it is:



If you want to watch more of the episodes then go to this link: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=2264082A033148F1&search_query=commando+cody

All the best,
Glenn B

That Was Quick...

...or at least I am thinking that was quick. The quick I am referring to has to do with a UPS delivery attempt notice I got today when I arrived home from work. It said UPS tried to deliver a package requiring an adult signature to my home today but no one was around to accept it. When I did some checking on their website I see the package was sent from Illinois. The only thing I have ordered recently from Illinois was a Mosin Nagant 91/30 rifle I ordered from RGuns. I ordered that late afternoon on the 10th. It is now the 13th. Wow, if the place I ordered that from can get a rifle out that fast what is wrong with all these other online gun dealers who all to recently have been claiming they have a two to three week backlog on their orders? I am hoping that when I pick up the box, yes I arranged for it to be held at UPS so I can pick it up at my leisure, it will contain a very good to excellent condition rifle as I ordered. If that is the case, and if it is in good working order, well that will have been the best online order I have ever placed for anything.

I suppose I'll have to pick up some non-corrosive ammo for it this weekend (as in current manufacture) at Big Al's Gun and Premier Knife Show up in Danbury. I will have to make sure it is non-corrosive because I pretty much ruined the barrel on my Mosin Nagant M44 using that surplus corrosive crap (which when I bought it was assured it was non-corrosive - yeah right).

All the best,
Glenn B

It's Gunna Be A Gun Show Weekend...

At least I hope it is going to be one and getting me, Brendan, some of my cash and maybe some of his cash to Big Al's Gun and Premier Knife Show is exactly what I have planned for this coming Sunday. Brendan and I will be driving up to Danbury hoping to make it there by 10 or 10:30 at the latest. We will be meeting a good friend up that way, someone who retired from my job some years back, whom I always look forward to seeing. That will make it an even better day than just us going it alone.

Since I have a tidy little sum of cash on the side for just such an event, I may just have to pick up a new and interesting firearm. Maybe a bolt action rifle in .308 caliber. Brendan was saying it would be nice to have a bolt action in that caliber - I guess he has been reading his copies of the NRA's American Hunter and my copies of the American Rifleman. He may have even read a recent edition of Outdoor Life that I picked up when having to commute back and forth to work via the Long Island Rail Road for a few days a couple of weeks back. Great reading while zipping through the greater NY metro area with someone else driving and all the other nearby commuters looking at the guy reading about rifles. I have to dig that one out of its hiding place before the weekend, it had a great article on bolt action rifles new for this year. If I see more than one of the choices I liked at the coming show it may become very difficult for me to make up my mind as to which one I want. In that regard I am sure Brendan will have his say. Yeah, I know I will be buying it, but you can bet we will both be shooting it, and someday he will inherit it.

Gotta go and look for that edition of Outdoor Life. Later for you....

All the best,
GB

Doom Cometh Sayeth Some - Be Prepareth Sayeth I

If you have been around this blog, and others that I read regularly, you may come away with the idea that I and other bloggers whose sites I frequent are doom sayers. For the great majority of us that could not be further from the truth. Yes though there truly are doom sayers out there, those who believe we are in for terribly bad times and that those times will amount to the end time. Kind of like a belief in Revelations and all its predictions. Me - I do not go for that sort of a thing. If the end is near or seems inevitable, I am planning to do something to make sure it is not my, or my family's doom that is imminent. Too many people buy onto the idea that if bad things happen someone else will be there to bail them out. Just look at what happened with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. If the shit truly hits the fan and we wind up with The End of the World as We Know It (TEOTWAWKI - I wonder who coined that one) I am convinced I am not going to wait around for government forces, God and legions of Angels, a knight on a white horse or the Marlboro Man to come to my rescue. Sure I will accept rescuing if things get that bad, but until help comes if ever, I plan keep myself and the family safe on our own as best I can.

So, now some of you may be thinking - that is paranoia, stuff like that never happens. Hmm let's see, when has it happened even on a small scale in the USA:

Hurricane Katrina = TEOTWAWKI

The WTC on 9/11 = TEOTWAWKI

The LA Riots = TEOTWAWKI

Hurricane Andrew = TEOTWAWKI

And if a terrorist group gets nuclear material and smuggles it into the USA across our extremely porous southern border - then whatever area they blow up will = TEOTWAWKI.

TEOTWAWKI does not have to engulf the whole world to end the world as we know it. It just has to end part of our world as we know. Of course, the bigger the catastrophe, the higher likelihood it will change the whole world and throw it all into chaos. A nuclear attack on US soil, or anywhere in the world, could do just that if the right targets are hit. For example think of the chaos that would result should Washington (DC), NYC, Chicago, LA, San Francisco, Seattle, Dallas, Houston, Philadelphia, San Diego, St. Louis, Denver be hit by nukes or dirty bombs. Think of only half of them being hit. What would be the effects of radiation within those cities, and what about the panic outside of those cities caused by people fearing additional attacks, what about economic stability or lack of it should that happen. Would the government be there to help or would they be the first to be wiped out?

Think of the tumult caused if a laboratory enhanced version of the flu is released here in the USA, maybe just along our southern border, or maybe just in Mexico. Think it could spread rapidly? Thank goodness the swine flu (H1N1) has been as weak as it has been so far, let's hope it stays that way but the government is not banking on it and is rushing a vaccine through. Look how much that one spread by itself. What if terrorists had a stronger version and spread it by way of infected suicide jihadists. Do you think that after a couple of weeks of it spreading there would still be civil order in this or any country if people were dropping like flies. Do you think the shelves would still be stocked with food. Do you think there would be enough police to protect us not only from criminals but from ourselves.

If the attacks on 9/11 had been carried out according to plan there reportedly would have been several more cities targeted and attacked. Think of what the aftermath of that day would have been like, if for instance another 10 major targets in other cities had been attacked successfully. In any drastic situation mentioned above, or in another just as bad, chances are there would be plenty of survivors, but they would also be pandemonium enough to do things like disrupt power supplies, fuel supplies, food supplies, water supplies, medical supplies and treatment, sanitation services, telephone and other communication services, transportation services to include disruptions to air, rail and ground transportation, highway blockages, employment, first responder services such as police and fire protection, and the list goes on. Think about the possibility of it, and maybe do something to assure you will make it through it.

Me, I have thought of it. I do not pan to wait around helplessly for someone to come and get me out of the thick of it if there is any way I can also help myself. I am not going to be like the lady in the alarm company commercial who shouts 'go away' at a burglar hoping my home owner's alarm goes off and actually scares him away. Chances are he is going to try to hurt me or my family to take away what we have and I am going to do all I can to protect us. I am not going to just call 911 if someone is breaking down my door and threatening us. Sure I'll have someone call, but I'll be arming myself and ready for them if and when they get inside and passed the dogs. Or in a calmer scenario, when supermarket runs out of bottled water and the water system is down, I will have water to drink in stock. I'll also have food to eat should food deliveries come to a halt or if for any reason rationing begins. I'll have a way to cook my food, purify my water, and hopefully a way to heat my home should bedlam let loose around us. I'll also have enough first aid supplies on hand should it come to needing them.

Will we be able to make it for a year, or months, or several weeks. Maybe not, but we will have enough on hand to be able to survive a catastrophe for at least a week or two. By that time I am hopeful that we would have found alternate sources for what we need, or that maybe - just maybe - we have made it to safety under the wing of others like us or that John Wayne and the Cavalry have arrived. If not then we would have the means by which to go out and hunt and gather what we need. My guess is that most Americans would fail miserably if they attempted to survive a major catastrophe in their area or across the country. My guess is that most Americans are not at all prepared to survive more than a couple of days at most, some not even a day or two should the shit hit the fan and the fan be turned on at high speed. Maybe we would not make it either, but I can tell you: 'Brother - we are gunna give it our best try'. I was brought up during the height of the cold war and I can tell you that back then the survival mantra was pounded into us from a young age. They (the powers that were here in the USA) really believed that we could survive an all out nuclear war and they implemented a Civil Defense Program. Now, I am none to sure if we could really do that or if we would want to do so, but I am certain that should one of the above scenarios occur - I am going to do my darnedest to come out of it alive and kicking along with my family.

So how does one go about preparing to survive TEOTWAWKI? It is more than just stocking up on everyday items that we usually use to make it through a day. We need things more specific toward making it through a disaster than through a regular humdrum Tuesday Afternoon. So where to start? Well a decent place to start can be found on the Internet or in your local library (those of us without computers should be familiar with them as should those of an older generation). What you are looking for is information about civil defense and disaster preparedness. You can find several sources for that information in both the library and on the net. Such sources include state government publications, federal government publications such as those prepared by FEMA, and private publications (yes there are plenty of folks out there who have written books on how to prepare for and survive SHTF and TEOTWAWKI situations. You can also check with organizations like The American Red Cross.

Lest you think my fears are simply total balderdash, or are reserved for those with paranoia, let me show you what the state of Hawaii - a state that remembers Pearl Harbor well, one that has active volcanoes, and one that could be in the path of a Tsunami - has to say on the subject on their site: Hawaii State Civil Defense.

"Preparing For Disaster

Being prepared for disaster is important. When disaster strikes, you may not have ample time to respond and ensure the resources you and your family need to survive are available. Moreover, hundreds of other families in your area share the same concerns, and it will be difficult to get access to the necessities you need due to shortages and competition. Do not wait until the last minute and get caught in this situation. Disaster-time civilian response requires sound decision-making and action to save the lives of families and friends.

When determining your emergency needs, plan for the long haul. In any major disaster scenario, it may take 72 hours or more for emergency personnel to reach you. Emergency preparedness kits should contain the essentials your family needs to survive during a disaster. Having two is ideal; a multi-purpose kit that with provisions for more activities for the home, and a transportable slimmed down kit with bare necessities for survival when on the go. Any preparations should be accompanied by an emergency plan. Know where your family is and how to keep in contact in the event of a disaster. Most of all keep informed. Find out what disasters you may be affected by and plan accordingly. Determine and manage your emergency needs as required. "

They then go on to tell you some of the basic items you will need in such an emergency by way of providing some info and also providing links to sites that give a breakdown of what an emergency preparedness kit should (as per the government) contain. See these links (these go directly to the sites and not through the link provided by Hawaii because I figured the direct link would be more reliable) :

Recommended Items to Include in a Basic Emergency Supply Kit as per The DHS site Ready.gov (note this is not the same as Ready.com which is a commercial site).

Three Steps to Preparedness STEP ONE: Get A Kit

Okay that is the stuff they tell you to get but you must have figured by now that I am going to tell you otherwise. Heck we are talking about surviving a major disaster here, not about parlor games for the kids. The space you would need to equip yourself with some of the items recommended by the government and by the Red Cross, such as games and things like that for the kids, would be better used filled with things more likely to tip the odds in your favor than to keep your kids playful and blissfully happy in their ignorance with Armageddon at the doorstep. Nor are we talking about doing laundry or washing the dishes at the sink so why bother with things like liquid detergent. While I agree with many of their choices of survival items, I find some others ludicrous. I just think there also are some better choices to include in your preparedness kit than important family documents (why aren't they in a safe deposit box at a bank if they are so important). I also think room is better used for things other than paper cups/plates and plastic utensils (this is not going to be a picnic) but somehow they do not quite seem to get that. What I think you need are items and gear that go more toward assuring you will survive a disaster and not only survive it but come out of it well. In that light, 3 days worth of food and water just does not cut it because three days worth will not be enough.

What will suffice. If you are the average American Family you will need to think about the space required to store any preparedness items because it will take up space. The thing is you can stock up on enough for three to four people to make it through a week, or more, inside the trunk of a car like a Ford Taurus (plugging American since I own a Taurus even though I prefer my Toyota Corolla) and still have room left over - not much mind you but there will be some. Then again you can usually store more in your home. Now here is a point, think one of the websites above made, but maybe it did not sink in when you looked them over: You need a preparedness kit at home for the home, and you also should have a mobile preparedness kit for each person in your household. If that is not practical then make sure that the preparedness kit in your home is easily transported. So the first thing on the list, though not in order of importance, is a tote or set of totes of some sort. You want to be able to store almost all of the necessary items for survival inside of that container or attached to it. I recommend a large Rubbermaid Type container available at places like Home Depot, Costco or Walmart. You know them, the type used to store clothing and other household effects. Or you could use a large expandable suitcase. Whichever, get one with wheels - they make it easier to move and the kits can be heavy. Individual survival kits can be contained in a backpack. I can carry enough emergency supplies in a medium to large sized day pack to last me (just me in survival mode such as if lost in the woods) at least 5 days to a week. Of course in the larger container kept at home I can store enough of most of the supplies and gear to last up to two weeks; that includes food, some water, first aid, money, basic sanitary items, flashlights and batteries, radios and batteries, emergency shelter (tarp), knives, fishing gear .

I will go over each and every other item I think you need in the same detail as I just did for the containers;so this will be much longer yet. My list may not agree with your own if you have one, it surely will not agree with those of the Red Cross or of DHS, but it will give you an idea of what you will need to survive a bad moon rising:

Ballseye's Reccomendations for a Preparedness Kit and Other Preparedness Items (these are for home kits as well as for grab and go kits unless otherwise noted. Also note that anything that is underlined is a link.):

Knife - Each member of the group should be equipped with a fixed blade knife (non-folder)that is kept in a belt sheath. Yes this means each group member needs to be wearing a belt, a good strong leather belt. The knife itself should have a blade of 5 to 7 inches in length, and have a fairly thick and strong blade at that to withstand the many uses you can find for it. See can opener below. My favorite all around knife is this one (it can be had for less here than the price at the linked site or even less here).

Shelter - Emergency shelter is a must. Note I put this before food and water and I did so for a reason. Even without food or water you could survive for at least a few days and having an emergency shelter to provide you warmth in cold weather or shade in hot weather can make all the difference in you making it until you are found or you find some supplies. Shelter can be a decent sized tent, or as simple as a tarpaulin with some strong cord to tie it in place to make a lean-to or tent like shelter.

Water - Bottled water is a must, but only in plastic bottles. Water weighs a lot so try to have prior knowledge of water sources in your area and along an emergency escape route in case you run out. A couple of cases of 20 ounce bottles can last about one week per person if rationed. It pays to have lots of extra water in the home but packing it into a grab and go kit can be difficult. Take as much as you can carry if on foot, and as much as you can stow if driving a vehicle. Other items below may have to be cut back or cut out completely to assure enough water is at hand. That is your decision to make. Another solution to getting fresh drinking water is to get yourself a water purifier and or filter of some sort, and also carry water purification tablets. Remember that you will need proper containers to carry water. Metal containers are a must if you need to sterilize the water by boiling.

Food To Last 1 to 2 Weeks - Fully prepared foods like MREs, canned foods such as hams, veggies, and fruit. Canned fruits and veggies often contain lots of water, do not discard it, drink it. Food should include high energy foods such as canned nuts, and packaged fruit bars.

Firearm - One that you own and can carry legally. If the truth be told, if it was a TEOTWAWKI situation and my life or those of my family members were in jeopardy, I would arm myself with any firearm I knew was in working condition that I had at hand. In addition to self defense, a rifle may be needed to put food in your mouth or as a signal device. A small portable rifle like the Henry U.S. Survival Rifle could fit the bill for self defense, and hunting. It fires the .22 Long Rifle cartridge which itself is compact and very portable in large numbers. I recommend at least 100 rounds of ammunition for any firearm - if not more.

Roll of Cord - at least 25 yards, is essential to a survival situation, and it should be able to withstand 250 pounds of stress. It can be used to build shelter, to snare animals, as a component to make a spear, to tie on a splint, to lash items to a pack and so on.

Fishing Gear - Keep at least 150 yards of fishing line, several hooks of various sizes and a few lead weights in the preparedness kit. This takes up very little room. Besides using it to catch fish, the fishing line can be used to make snares for small game animals.

Eyeglasses - If you need em you had better have them. Have an extra pair or two in your grab and o preparedness kit, and maybe another extra pair or two at home. If you have ever watched the Twilight Zone episode - Time Enough At Last - you know that Henry Bemis learned just how important eyeglasses could be in a TEOTWAWKI scenario.

Matches and Fire Starter Medium - These need to be waterproof matches. Fire starter medium can be candles (help start fires even in damp tinder, and provide light), dry kindling, and commercial fire starters (do not keep gasoline or liquid flammable substances in your kit - just too dangerous).

Flashlight - Get a small but bright one, and get plenty of extra batteries. Note that some LED lights using batteries advertise a 50 hour battery life. You also can go for one that has a hand crank to keep it powered. Sporting good stores and places like Walmart now have these. They use LED bulbs, and are crank powered. Try to gert a waterproof one. Each person should have one.

Money - Have cash, and if you can also have silver and gold. Don't forget the ATM and credit cards in case things get better while you are away from home.

Clothing - The clothes you have on your back so make sure you are dressed properly for the season if you have to leave your home. Also have if feasible a change of socks and underwear if you have room - socks mor eimportant than undies. A weather proof/rainproof jacket with hood is a good idea, but a good rain poncho, for each person in your group, maybe is a better idea. Remember this is a survival kit, not a travel kit.

First Aid Kit - This is a tough one to give people advice about. You want one to contain at least adhesive bangages of various sizes, several sterile dressing pads about 4x4, sterile gauze roll, a good sized compression bandage, and ace bandage 2" or 3" wide, 2 eyepatches, sterile eye wash and eye cup, roll of adhesive tape, burn cream, cold pack, heat pack, antibiotic ointment, disinfectant such as provodine iodine, pain killers (such as aspirin which is my personal preference, or tylenol which I think does nothing for me but make sure no one in your group is allergic to it), allergy medication pills, anti-diarhea pills, laxative pills, any prescription meds you absolutely need to survive, scissors, tweezers, sterile gloves, sterile wipes to cleanse wound areas, a first aid instrcution pamphlet. All of this should be kept in a waterproof metal or strong plastic/polymer container clearly marked as First Aid Kit. My kit contains somewhat more, but not much because of space being needed for other items.

A Compass - If you don't know why you might need one please stop reading here.

Radios - Yes I said radios and not a radio. You should ahve at least 2 GMRS or similar portable walkie-talkie tyoe radios in case your group is split up; make sure to have a few sets of extra batteries for each. You should also have a portable AM/FM/Weather Service radio with extra batteries. Of course these are also made in ones that use solar panels, or a hand crank, or a combination of solar, hand, battery power. Some even have chargers that work off of the crank or solar cell that can charge a cell phone.

Cell Phones - A cell phone with extra battery is a nice thing to take along if the phone service is up or don. Keep it off except to check to see if there is a signal once a day. Then only use it for calling for emergency aid or to try to locate a family member. Be sparing with it since you may not have power to chare it. Then again, some crank radios also have the capability to charge cell phones and come with universal cell phone charger adapters.

Sleeping Bags - If you have room for em throw em into the car. If it is cold out you had best hope you have room so buy ones that are compact in fluffiness but keep you warm regardless. Modern man-made fibers make that possible, and such bags can be had at an affordable price.

Eating Utensils - These should be made of stainless steel - a spoon, knife and fork for everyone. Low cost utensil sets that are sued by military and campers are available and recommended. Of course if you already have a knife as outlined way above, that is all you really need. You can always eat using your hands instead of a fork or knife to stuff your pie hole, but these make it much easier and can double as cooking utensils.

An Emergency Plan - This should include an escape route in case of hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, earth quakes, invasion or something as mundane as your home being on fire. If you leave your home for any emergency, make sure everyone is out, and make sure you have a rallying point at which to meet should you be seperated. Of course, you may decide to weather out a disaster inside oif your home if you believe it to be a safe haven. If so, have a plan of which room to set up in as a command center or meeting room or shelter room - often it is the basement that provides the most protection from storms but you have to figure which room of your home would afford you the most potection.

Maps - Local area and road atlas maps are a great item to have. if you do not need them to navigate they can be sued to start a fire or as a sanitary aid.

Personal Protective Gear - Gas masks, vapor proof respirators, dust masks are somethings you may want to consider. Other such gear includes protective coveralls made of materials like Tyvek®, protective gloves, protectiver booties (that fit over your shoes), and protective goggles. Tis tuff takes up lots of room in a kit but definitely should be considered for the car and the home if you can pack it. today's world is just that hostile that you may need it. Fire excape hoods are also a good idea for each bedroom in the home. They give you precious minutes or seconds of trapped air during a fire, precious time you can use to escape harm.

Personal Signal Gear - A whistle is a good signal device in an emergency. Many can be had that come in an elongated form with an internal compartment that contains a compass and some other small survival gear. Light sticks are also a very good idea. Each person should put a 12 hour light stick or two into his pockets. They make wonderful personal beacons to help attract rescuers to you. A metal signal mirror- another good signaling device.

Personal Hygiene Items - Soap a bar or two is a good item to have, I recommend hunters soap since it kills body odor and is not scented. It can also double as shampoo. Soap has other uses beside washing up - such as fire starting. Of course washing now and then would be a good idea if you can find clean water. If you cannot find water in which to bathe then Body Wipes (unscented or made for adults since the ones for babies smell horrific) are a good choice as far as I am concerned. Feminine hygiene products such as Tampons® may also be needed. Do not forget a toothbrush and toothpaste for each member of your group. Toilet Paper (or paper towels) are also something that is really good to have for when nature calls. Of course, nature can help you there with leaves if need be but watch out for things like poison ivy.

Small Tool Kit - It should have a screwdriver with various heads, an adjustable pair of pliers, an addjustable wrench and maybe a socket wrench set. keep it in the home or in the car or keep one in each. Electricians tape and duct tape are two excellent additions to this kit as is some lubricating oil. Wahtever tools you keep in the house, make sure the kit contains the proper tools for turning off the water in case of flooding, and the gas or other fuel such as oil in case of leaks.

Gun Cleaning Kit - If you are going to have the gun you should make sure it will remain in excellent working condition. Such a kit can be quite small.

Knife Sharpener - I recommend a small Arkansas sharpening stone for keeping your knives well honed.

Can Opener - Small can openers like the P-38 and P-51 are good to have, but if you lose them and still have your knife you can probably open cans with it if need be.

Plastic garbage bags - These have many purposes. You can store items in them, use them as ponchos, or use them as portable toilets and septci holding systems. If the water is out in your house, and going outside is out of the question, you will be happy to have them. A few of them tossed into a grab and go preparedness kit might also be a good idea.

Car - Of course this will not fit in your kit, but your kit and water supply - along with all the members of your party - should fit into it. Your car should be in good repair and ready to roll. Never allow your gas tank to go below a quarter of a tank. That way you usually have a good distance yocan travel along an escape route before you will need additional fuel. A full tank is better for sure. Only store additional gasoline if you have a safe place (within local fire department codes) to store it and a safe container in which to keep it.

Generator - If you can afford one it is a good thing to have in the home. of course this does not fit into any preparedness kit unless of course you have some type of truck with which to haul it. It is really more the home readiness type of thing for emergency power loss.

Well that is about all I can think of now. I may have forgotten something, and I sure don't have all the things that I have suggested - but I am working on getting most of them. The point is you can use this list as a go by for your own home and mobile disaster preparedness kits. Remember the really essential things to survival are shelter, water and food - in that order as far as I am concerned (unless you are dying of thirst at the moment). If you have nothing else, a good knife and a bit of cord can help you make or acquire shelter and food - maybe even water in some situations. It can also be used as a defensive weapon. There is no way to underate the importance of a good knife as a survival tool.

All the best,

Glenn B

Pakistans' Nuke Sites Attacked - You Should Be Scared - Very Scared

This is probably the most alarming international news that I have heard over the past 30 to 40 years or so, see: Jihadis thrice attacked Pakistan nuclear sites and Terror Attacks on Pakistan Nuke Sites?.

When are we going to awaken and realize that enemies like al Qaeda and the Taliban mean business and that their business is the destruction of the world that is non-Muslim - and included in that plan is the avowed destruction of Israel and the United States of America? They have telegraphed their plans to the rest of the world time and time again just as other fanatical tyrants have done in the past and they are acting on them likewise as we - for the most part - sit back and do little to nothing. Sure we are at war in Iraq and in Afghanistan, but why are we and the rest of the world not actively hunting down and terminating the threat posed by members of these groups who have repeatedly attacked us, repeatedly told us they intend to destroy us, and now at least three times have attacked nuclear facilities, and one of them has at least once attacked a nuclear facility in another country in a probable bid to obtain nuclear devices. We should have forces out actively hunting them down and neutralizing them in such a way that they can never again pose a threat and that means we need to be going after them where they live. If that means more troops on the ground so be it, but I would think it could also be accomplished in great part by more missiles fired at them and more bombs dropped on them. Will there be collateral damage - sure there will be - but it is something we had better be able to live with if we intend to live.

Remember that all though, there were three such attacks on nuclear facilities, not one - not two - but three. They were not trying to get electrical power for the northern provinces of Pakistan folks - they attacked weapons facilities! Yet this is said: "News of the attacks has surprised even terrorism experts." Why is it that we still act startled when we hear such news, why is it that we cannot simply accept the fact that these people are maniacal fanatics bent on our destruction and then take appropriate actions? Why is it that we will not go to preemptive attacks on a grand scale to wipe them out? Are we waiting for World War Three to kick us in the face as we are sleeping. Yeah, I know, the Japanese in WWII awakened the sleeping giant and lost the war and the Germans did much the same thing; the thing is this time the fanatics may kill the giant as it sleeps. Nuclear weapons unleashed within our borders in just a few major cities would bring us to our knees. It would not take much more that would destroy us. Our government needs to take decisive action and take it swiftly if these reports are true.

All the best,
Glenn B