Thursday, February 24, 2011

Maybe it's the weather,

Then again, maybe not.

Seriously? Up $20 in less than 24 hours? Did I call it or what on the 'speculators' yesterday.

I saw (heard) this and made a quick change of plans today. I wasn't going to get anymore silver this week, Bbbuuuttttt, Hey, maybe I panicked a bit. SO TFW! It's not like silver is getting devalued or anything right now. Quite the opposite. While I was there, I saw something that gave me a little nudge too. The place I go is right near a major chain grocery store. There was a little old couple there doing their thing. I counted 10 military issue Gerry cans in the bed of the truck, a cooler the size of a Kenmore and they were loading it up. While I was in getting my coins, the old lady came in and got line behind me. While I was walking back towards the front, she pulled out a wad of Hundreds and started pointing at the silver in the case. I am not alone in this area. I wouldn't be surprised if her husband was sitting in the seat of the truck armed to the teeth while waiting for her. If only there were more like this.

But when I returned home, I was thinking. Uh oh: Diogenes thinking and not a dog in sight to keep him grounded.

Yeah, I know, I should take more care when letting the neurons fire at random like that.

Anywho's, I was thinking. Sitting there, beer in hand, cig burning away at my life, staring at the awesome buy I found in Combat boots (IE my feet) when a thought came out clear as a bell.

"we need to mark times like this with a minor celebration. In a few years, we will look back on these times and have a hard time recognizing them as a reality and not dreamscapes."

Think about that. I saw a market trend, as did you, that rocketed up over a simple 'fear' and more than likely a little greed. The process of that caused a marked increase in fuel prices in the same amount of time. Shortly, that increase will be felt in other areas too. Of course those that 'control' this country, won't feel a damned thing. As for the rest of us; We are feeling it now and its only going to get worse. And it may be getting worse faster than ANY of us is prepared for.

Now when I am saying minor celebration, don't go throwing a danged party or anything, but celebrate that which put you on this earth and gave you the sight to see the truth. Even if its only to raise your face to the heavens and give a hearty thank you, or lifting a glass for the same reason; have at it. Remember this time, they are not only going to get further and further apart, but later, they may not even seem real any longer. Remember well those around you that touch your life now, good or bad, as they may not be around much longer.

Maybe it is the weather. While the post is gloomy, the intent is bright.


I need some sunshine.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

like a rolling freight train down a mountain.

IT just keeps coming and coming, never slowing down, relentless in the escalation.

Crude hits $100/barrel.
due to 'unrest in Libya'. Unhuh, good excuse. Alex, I will take "greedy speculators" for $500 please.

Besides the fact that the peak oil theory is more accurate a picture than greed, I still say in this case, its a matter of "how much can we make before it bursts" mentality.

Even so, due to that fact, I was told at work that I may be interested in trying to find another line of work. We aren't folding my division YET, but if the cost of fuel continues to rise, they will be considering shutting us down.

Can we say I just dropped a gear and slammed the peddle to the floor on some 'projects'. Yes we can and Yes I did. Gonna have to push the limits 'just in case'.

Next up, and in relation. Libya, Hell, pretty much the entire Arabic area, is pretty much up in flames right now. Some areas more than others. I especially found this one amusing. Can't shoot the bastards, buy 'em off. (How do you stop a revolution with American money? Alex.)
Of course China, not being exactly dense in thinking (though I won't say they aren't dangerous) started putting it into high gear also. More than likely to nip in the bud any potential issues. (What is absolute Tyranny? for $1000.)

Hey! I think someone read my mention of Lack of Mention about Greece in one of my last posts. Rioters clash with police. Ooohhh! Funny still little mention of anything about the protests here, but plenty of mention of Deadfish Emanuel getting the seat in Chicago. Hmm, wonder how many strings were pulled seeing how just two weeks ago, he wasn't even in the running. (Chicago politics for $1000, Alex. DING DING DING DING! Daily double. Woot!)

And of course, our Do nothing worthwhile, hopeychangy, rip the core out of the U.S. administration has only this to say.

Nations must speak with one voice.

Umm, yeah,

Hey Mr. President. It may behoove you to actually do something petty for a minute and call up some experts. I will give you a list of three, you can choose the persons but you need, and I mean NEED, an anthropologist with at least 10 years field work under their belt; A former Mercenary with at least 3 campaigns under the booney cap, and third but definitely not least, an honest to God Homeless Vet from a prior war. (I know of three from the Gulf War #1 that would love a chance to 'bend your ear' )

Why those three, you ask.
An Anthropologist to explain to you that people form Governments to keep 'the others' at bay (basic human nature and NOT really able to be 'bred' out.). NOT to allow themselves to be enslaved.(granted that always seems to happen anyway, but)
The Mercenary to explain to you that Talking is over! Period, end of discussion.
and the Homeless vet to explain to you that you're WALKING ALL OVER YOUR OWN PEOPLE AND GETTING READY TO START SOME SHIT YOU CAN'T FINISH!!!!!! (only question here is: Is Obammy a natural born citizen? for $50, Alex. (for the record, I no longer give a shit if he or isn't. As far as I am concerned, he may be but he sure acts like something else. He isn't a red blooded American simply due to his own actions and decision making habits.))

As it stands now, I don't see any of this ending well. The escalation is ramping up fast. It doesn't really matter any longer what laws are passed, how much theft is taking place from on high, or even how they intend to 'keep control'. Fact is, they haven't had control for some time and are only able to keep it under wraps with a hearty tip of the hat to the MSM's.

There is no reason to even acknowledge their positions since they have shown beyond the shadow of a doubt that most 5th graders have better understanding of HUMAN politics. A 5th grader KNOWS that when you push the little kid around too much; he eventually is gonna turn around and kick you in the balls. He also knows that you can only get away with stealing the milk money for so long before someone is going to rat you out, or catch up to you and want some too.

Yeah, all that high fallutin edumacat'un you got is doing a lot of good now isn't it?

Maybe its time to shit or get off the pot. If you are clueless as to what to do, ask someone. Don't be shy, there are plenty of people that are willing to give you advice if only you are willing to listen and not shove it down our throats that " I won, get over it". Your being a narcissist, I kinda doubt that will ever happen though, $1 says I am right, wanna bet?

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

comfy chair, BRIGHT lights, and it wasn't an interogation.

I know that we have all seen it, heard it, watched it, whatever. Today I witnessed another plank in the destruction of America. Sadly, it was the morning news.

The Planks of Destruction as I see them.

The Department of Education: as fomented by Dewey and the other socialists in the beginning of the last century.

The Public Media: as in pretty much 90% of the current media trends in the U.S.

The ever Expanding Entitlement Programs of the Progressive Era: IE SSI, Welfare,

A Federally(? Not! The Fed is as much a part of the Federal GOV as Fed Ex is) managed Finance system that is symbiotic with the World Banking organizations.

AND of course

A never ending stream of Career Politicians that work for their own future far and above the actual job description of 'Public Servant'.

Let me expand on the opening sentence first. Watching the news.

About 1:30 was spent on the increasing firestorm of the ME and North Africa. (the protests)
About 2:00 was spent on the Earthquake in New Zealand.
Then they spent a grand total of 15 friggin minutes on the “royal wedding” and the another 6:20 on just the damned wedding dress and its designer.

W

T

F!!!!!!!!!!?????????????

oh yeah, extremely little mention of ANYTHING about the protests here in the U.S.

Hell, if even one mainstream media outlet would spend 50% of that “indepth reporting” on actual issues in this country, we might actually see people wake up and ask “WTF? “.

Oh, my bad, that is EXACTLY why they don't report the truth, just the trappings of interests.

They don't want the people to be awake. Awake and aware slaves revolt, the sleepers are the ones that keep filling the trough. Of course TPTB are very happy to leave things 'just the way they are' so they can continue the rape and pillage of this country. Having a group that you can pin "whatever" on is helpful too. (damned *******!(insert whatever group will fit) )


Its that level of intensity of NOTHINGNESS in the news that exasperates the hell out of me some days. I am not a lazy person by any means, but having to spend as much time as I do digging out the truth, or what nuggets I can find, is tiring. I have a life to live outside of that. The reason we have/had news organizations, was to collate the information so we didn't have to dig for it. People payed good money for that service. (and the papers wonder why they are going down LOL )

Well they say times are a changing and, oh yeah, they are. FAST too.

I made a comment on this blog of “better figure it out yesterday” about knowing what and when you are willing to sacrifice. We are all going to have to make sacrifices here soon. Some easy (as in NO choice) and some not so easy. Lets get into an easy one. Energy. That can be electric, fuel (you name it) or even just storage of energy. Everything is going to see exponential increases in cost here shortly. We are seeing the beginning escalation now. $3.00/gallon gas is nothing: Yet! Trying to find a deep cycle battery for under $100: good luck (at least not a good one.) Yes, we will have to resort to using handsaws and auger bits work wood. Yes we will have to resort to axes and splitting mauls for splitting fire wood. (quick note: the sound of an ax splitting wood is almost as noisy as using a gas splitter. A tree falling in the woods is just as noisy if you cut it by chainsaw or jacksaw. Don't count on the old tools for tactical advantage on that note.) Hell, we may even end up using Mules and Horses for power yet again. (as Spud put it, IF we don't end up using them for food first.)


Ok, Ok, There was a point to all of this. It actually started with news but accumulated with my Dentist visit. The clueless walk amongst us. I am looking for a new dentist now due to that fact. She wanted to do LOTS of cosmetic work but not actually fix the issue. When I mentioned that I don't want a lot of overhead or debt involved she looked at me funny, almost dazed. I said “ I don't expect things to stay stable much longer and I would rather not deal with a lot of stuff that requires HIGH maintenance to upkeep. I don't think I would be able to find a dentist that can do a ceramic crown in 2 or 3 years if something goes wrong.”

her “Oh, thats not a problem, this is common stuff that EVERYBODY has access to. “ (yeah, IF the current system holds together.)
She completely missed what I was saying. I would imagine that this woman is so far into debt trying to keep her business alive that she is blinded to the fact that she is spending more for less. Of course, its a progressive disease: Until shit falls apart this woman will continue feeding the monkeys, wondering why things aren't all that she dreamed.

As will a lot of others that refuse to actually understand what the accountants are printing up every quarter. (other than to raise their prices)

Yup, better figure it all out yesterday, spend the remaining time trying to get what you can together. Time has a way of creeping up on you then blowing your doors off when you least expect it. (something my daughter is finding out )

Monday, February 21, 2011

Thugs, Bugs, and cartwheels

That pretty much brings my entire day up to speed. And that is just before noon. The remainder of the day was pretty 'meh' otherwise.

Started off working on the truckster. Replaced shocks. (gotta love getting 20% off at work for parts. Especially when I have a truck that has one tire on the scrap heap. I love my truck though. Rather looks a bit like this one.
Without the tow rig of course. LOL


Once that was done, I had to purchase the harness to fix a friends ATV. (big hint: if your headlights are blowing a 10A fuse, sticking a 30A in its stead is recipe for MUCH bigger issues. to the tune of $300 bucks in parts.) and I subjected myself to the Preachin/rants/pleading/pitchman GB. Thats where the thug part comes in. Sadly, nothing new. SEIU is doin its thing. The Prez is showing just how little he understands what being Prez is about by coaching his daughters soccer team today (I won't even go into that one. ) Of course, there are more fires started or already burning in the ME and N. Africa. Things will only spread. These dictators may try to quell 'disturbances' with force but with the speed of communication (most specifically the Net) its only a matter of time before things will fail for them. Yup, same old world I turned my back on last Friday.

I also stopped by the coinstore to up my savings account. Of course, I checked the markets before going as I don't like surprises when a budget comes into effect. Silver is still on the uptick. $1.25 today. Of course that means I bought fewer coins than I had planned BUT that also means that what I already have is worth that much more. A little conversation with the owner was interesting too. He rhetorically asked a question by I had an answer.

O "I wonder where the top of this mess is. It hasn't stopped moving in 2 years."
D " Probably top out when these (holding a $20) will be cheaper to use for Toilet paper than TP is."
O "Ya might be right. Heard a rumor that we may eventually see silver at 10:1 with gold by this time next year."

Think about that. 10:1 with gold. At todays prices, that would make a silver dollar worth $130. (coinage is only .900 silver) Of course, by then, we may not be using greenbacks any longer either.

except as toilet paper.

But on to the 'bugs'.

Finished hauling all the wood I cut up last Friday and split it up. Came up to one cord. Not too shabby for 5 trees. A mix of white and red oak; Good hard stuff that burns a long time. Its now stacked in the woodshed to season. Still have 1 1/2 cords left over from this year so We are good to go. Still have that large stack up near my lot that is curing up yet. Not going to be hurting when it comes time to fire up heat anytime soon. Granted, today we 'cheated' by using the log splitter. Only used about a quart of gas but the labor saving was immense. Ever tried to split Green hardwood with an ax? No fun, I can tell you. There may be a day yet when we are reduced to that method but till then,,,, Occasionally breaking out the ax and using it 'to stay in shape' is ok, but when you are looking at a pile of wood taller than you and wider than three trucks: the idea of using an ax is pretty heartbreaking.

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Burn out

Been coming up with a lot to type about but little that is worth actually typing up.

I have been observing instead.

Wisconsin is a great point to watch
. Quite similar to the events in Greece late last year, similar circumstances. Notice how the MSM's dropped that particular story like a hot potato after the initial reports? Trying to dig up after action reports on the state of Greece to see where that 'debate' went. Maybe for some insight into what our future may hold. The point I found the most amusing and rather frustrating at the same time: The Democrats fled for higher ground on the excuse of 'blocking the vote'. Yeah, maybe they did block the vote; even so, they willfully declared that they weren't competent to hold the position of public servant. Even so, they do represent those that are protesting, don't they. The Teachers called in sick, avoiding their roles, to vent anger over the potential for losing something that is out and out theft of taxpayer dollars. Personally, I hope they all rot in hell. But before they do, I hope they accelerate the coming collapse. Its stuff like this, that needs fixed.

Then you have the Mexican Army making moves onto American soil. Granted, it was just south of our checkpoint but it was still on our soil. Makes one wonder: Are the borders there to keep others out or to keep the inmates IN? Short version, I am thinking (and feeling) quite the inmate proposition.

Mayberry dallies into the rising food costs, not really news but something that rarely gets attention, and when it does, gets downplayed FAST. Sorry, when I see reduced size packaging at the same price as the old package, then you raise the price on that; I don't need some talking head to tell me that I have nothing to worry about. As it is, planting season is either upon us or fast approaching, depending upon where you live. Got Seeds?

In as few words as possible, I have not only been observing, but contemplating abandoning the blog. Yes, I am feeling a bit burned out. Not for the blog but for watching something I have entirely NO control over. I hate watching good people go about their daily lives without a single stinking clue that this is all about to end. They grumble about costs, thefts, rising crime rates, abusive police, the TSA/DHS/NSA/FBI/CIA/ATF/Etc etc etc and yet can never really put 2 and 2 together. Of course that is all by design (the Dept of Education at work) so I have a hard time really holding their toes to the fire over it. BUT People really shouldn't be that simple! Given the evolutionary advances that this species has made, the simplicity of modern man shows a massive DE-evolution in process. These people will be nothing more than cannon fodder for whatever side manages to connive them in. (and it won't be hard, just get 'em some food and they will be loyal as hell, or at least until they realize that they are also bored.)
I see the willing rape of the taxpayers by public servants and I just want to go rogue and start shooting from the rooftops.(and we all know where that will lead and for about how long it would last)
I am no hero, I have no intentions of becoming one, intentionally. I am also no criminal (well, so long as normal morals are applied. The current law on the other hand, we are ALL criminals to some extent) and also have no intention of becoming one. Granted there may be a point where such an event would become 'merely necessary' and the outcome of Hero/Criminal to be decided by after action reports (and the winner of course). If that time comes, I will do the same thing I give all of my endeavors: 110% and all of my skullsweat.
I haven't given up on the blog as yet. IF/WHEN I do, It won't be sudden and empty, there will be a warning other than this one. As it stands, I am half tempted to just climb in a hole and pull a rock over the top for awhile.


I have searched the world for honest men.
and I have found them.
As with the foam on the waves of the ocean,
they are scattered and far apart
Little fish dart in and nibble them to nothingness
and the tide divides them further.
Only the Maelstrom can create more
and drive the fish down.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

After some thoughts and some sleep,

I have come to some conclusions. Granted these are really nothing more than re-enforcement of prior thoughts but I want things down were others and myself can read them. (I am weird like that.)

Lets start with some (hopefully not too huge) assumptions. "Man is not a rational animal, he is a rationalizing animal." Heinlein

1) Change is coming, rather like a freight train. WHAT that change is, is anyone's guess, though we can make several educated guesses and probably not be wrong.
2)Its going to be the people in the middle that suffer the most soonest, when these changes drop in our lap.
3)Band-aids can be thrown on the open wounds but NOT ONE (let alone a group) politician or Lobbyist is going to commit political suicide and DEMAND the real repairs needed. (The Talking heads on the radio an Tube need not apply as they are only in it for the money anyway.)
4) Signs of the coming change are growing sprouts all across the face of this planet. Indications of how fast it is coming. (1 year? 2? No one really knows)

What does this mean to me, you, your family?

Loads. Of course we all know this, thats why we blog, hoping to wake up others, venting our frustration when we have no other outlets, and trying to show alternatives that others may have missed.
And there are days where it feels like we are farting in the wind. We feel better but it sure doesn't last long.(and thats where I was last night. Feeling a bit lost in the maelstrom that is growing around us.)

Here is what I intend to do now. To hell with putting up a permanent shelter no matter how 'frugal' it was intended. My thoughts return to three concepts; in order of importance.
  1. MOBILITY
  2. SUSTAINABILITY
  3. SMALL FOOTPRINT
Of course, If I were Mayberry or some others, it would have sails on it. That just ain't me. I am a groundpounder by nature, I need land. I may float when I have to but I sure as hell don't want to 'fight' on the water. That means my plans involve wheels. That search is now underway. I have looked at trailer axles and other hardware at TSC and that little bit of info is churning in the mill of my head now. Its not the immediate plan but it is an option.

On to 2. Sustainability. I am a creature of power. I like things that don't require muscles to use.(or at least not much) Therefore, I will have to have some way of acquiring that power that is not dependent upon sources outside of my control (for the most part)
Solar panels may not be the end all of power acquisition but it sure beats a blank. There are methods to supplementing that power source and I know many that require NO petroleum input that isn't already in circulation.(IE plastics that can be recycled). All of that requires work that I am not afraid of, but also environmental inputs that may or may not be available at any given time.

and 3) small footprint. Being an army of one at this time, I need very little space or equipment to make myself sustainable. The small footprint is doable. If others are involved, as each situation dictates, the need for a larger footprint grows exponentially.

This is survivable, no two ways about it. The trick is in knowledge, knowing it is inevitable, then acting on that BEFORE things start to come apart.

I may be late to the game, but I am not out yet. I intend to be one of the ones that makes it to the other side of this mess. Appearances be damned as well as any laws that are designed to keep me 'in the system'.
Rules, laws — always for other fellow. A murky part of us, something we had before we came down out of trees, and failed to shuck when we stood up. Because not one of those people said: Please pass this so that I won't be able to do something I know I should stop. Nyet, tovarishchee, was always something they hated to see neighbors doing. Stop them for their own good.- Heinlein

If I have to resort to Vandwelling, so be it. The anchors I have created (IE my lathe, and a nice tool collection) can be ditched if need be. There will be more in the future as needed and while it's nice to have them (rather look at them then look for them) I know that they are dead weight when push comes to shove. There are other things that I won't list but each and every one of them is an anchor to something that may not exist come 2-3 years down the road and not one of them ISN'T replaceable. My life is the only thing I can 't replace and I fully intend to keep that up to the day my creator calls me back(and THAT is completely out of my control.).

A rational anarchist believes that concepts, such as "state" and "society" and "government" have no existence save as physically exemplified in the acts of self-responsible individuals. He believes that it is impossible to shift blame, share blame, distribute blame ... as blame, guilt, responsibility are matters taking place inside human beings singly and nowhere else. But being rational, he knows that not all individuals hold his evaluations, so he tries to live perfectly in an imperfect world ... aware that his efforts will be less than perfect yet undismayed by self-knowledge of self-failure.



and the biggest quote that means the world to me.

Do not confuse "duty" with what other people expect of you; they are utterly different. Duty is a debt you owe to yourself to fulfill obligations you have assumed voluntarily. Paying that debt can entail anything from years of patient work to instant willingness to die. Difficult it may be, but the reward is self-respect
.
(not complete. But that's the gist of it.)


Time to get busy.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Must read.

Go to Mayberry's site. There is an ongoing discussion with one of his commenters there that is a must read.

And he is right.

We are fucked. Pure and simple.

I wanted to say he was full of it but the more I thought about it, the more I can see the signs he is talking about in my own actions of late. The hesitation on making certain decisions (that should be no brainers). The complacency of daily events like the one I posted about in my last post. The Apathy across the board from all sides as I have mentioned in several posts.

And the fact that if ANYONE steps out of line, there are a dozen or more monkeys ready to turn on, turn in, or just scream bloody murder till someone turns on or turns in the interloper. And there are far more than enough police/alphabet gang/military available to make that scream/turn in happen with little intervention by others. And of course the media is there to play it all out as "wackjob" or "tinfoil hat wearer" or like they did with David Koresh, "child molester" or worse.

Yeah, it ain't good, there are few ways to be the "grey man" any longer without raising eyebrows. I keep saying that the system has to fail so that we can start on the reset. Mayberry brought up, as did his commenter, that waiting for the failure will be too late: and they are both right. Yet I can't see anything else other than to keep on keeping on. And we all know how frustrating that can be.

Maybe I am slightly biased due to not having been Deep in BigSky country for very long. I may just have to say 'Fuckit' and do what I need without worrying about staying under the radar. I have been excusing it by thinking I am being smart, when in all actuality, I am being a damned coward, trying to hide in plain sight.
(and if you hadn't figured it out, I am reasoning in my head as I type this. Bear with me, I am getting somewhere)
Cowards hiding in plain sight. We hide our preps since we don't want the world knowing that we are ready for failure or whatever, since we don't want said world showing up on our doorsteps when it happens. In my case, I am trying to build my future, so that it will be completely off grid, but trying to keep the extent of that hidden. When what I need to do is build my future in plain sight and to hell with hiding a damned thing.

Time to cool my jets a bit, let this one gel up a bit more. I think I know where all of my thoughts are headed but I would rather some sleep before making any more bold statements.
Go read that post, think about it. I can think of only a handful that have made the jump from prepper to Freedomista(to quote Claire) completely.
I know I haven't yet. Only now, I can admit it.

Officer Friendly re-do

Today was my day in court from that little incident last month. Long story short, 2 charges dropped, the remaining charge settled for minimal fine and court costs.

I swear those vampires can smell money to the dime. I walked in with $165 in my pocket; the fine and court costs came to $163 and parking was $2.

NOW, the question I have is this: We pay taxes, all sorts of taxes. To the Feds, to the State, to the county, to the city; Why are people charged court costs in addition to any taxes that they may pay already?

Simple answer: This was a traditional way for the locality to pay for the court system BEFORE they were taking taxes from everything. It is just a carry over to that time and no one thought better of trying to replace it for 'whatever reason'.(I may be wrong about that and would be willing to listen to the truth. As it stands, its the only reason I can find without mega-research time)

BUT: The law wasn't done with me yet. Yes they managed to get every single stinking dime I was carrying on me (though they didn't get all I have, yet), and managed to make me waste an entire day watching one of the lamest courts sessions I have ever witnessed (meth heads! Gah, looking at them reminds me of pictures of victims of Auschwitz ). Nope, not done at all. En route home, I came across a Rolling road block for random "compliance check". (for the record, I am not worried about it, I have the insurance, current regs for my truck and I have a DL that isn't quite RFID but sure is above and beyond the level of Nazi paperwork)
Rolling compliance. Reminds me of this guy in a sense.

Some would argue that there is a difference; the cops don't demand "your money or your life."
Ummm, yes they do. Try to ignore that road stop and see how quickly they start shooting at you, chasing you down, abusing your body, etc etc etc ad nauseam. This got me to thinking.
What is the difference between the above personage, and that of our current level of LEO? One thing only. The state sanctions the LEO. Nothing else. One operates under the color of law and the other operated outside of the law. Otherwise, not one iota of difference.


Does anyone think for a minute that our founding population (not just the writers of that document, but the ENTIRE population) would have stood by for this?

I don't.

So, Why do we? And I am not claiming a superiority thing here, Hell, I stopped and 'showed my papers' and didn't realize anything 'odd' till I got to thinking about it a bit more.
But again, WHY DO WE TOLERATE THIS BLATANT INTRUSION BY HIRED HANDS?

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Terminated buggies

Don't know where or how I picked that little nasty up at but its GONEEEEE!


I am usually quite good at avoiding sites that would load up malicious stuff so I am curious where I managed to get that one.

Little info. It was a panther virus. Normally only gets access through IE and I don't use that at all so,,
What it will do is mirror itself within the API controller for IE. It will also set up a separate drive for its own information. Its a data miner and establishes a backdoor into your PC for other purposes. One of those is to slave your PC for Denial of Service attacks. You can delete individual sections of this bug but it will replicate itself. You have to delete all files, shut down API while you are doing it(you can do this through the Task manager), then run a boot scan to get rid of any cookies it may have embedded(the main reason I prefer Avast Anti-virus). There is a lot more information about it on the nets but it is able to exterminated by the average Joe given a bit of OS savvy.

Easiest way to see if you may have something is to look at "my computer" and see if you have an odd ball drive sitting there. Or just run a system wide search looking for "panther*"

Found a bug

Found a bug on this pc. May be down till tomorrow. Back laters hopefully.

Friday, February 11, 2011

Got Metal?

And I am not blogging another exploit into hot metal or metal removal this time. I am refering to this.

IMF discusses plans to replace Dollar as Reserve currency.

I have made comment to the potential affects of this scenario.

Glenn Beck has.

Shenandoah
has.

Countless others have.

WHEN, not IF, this comes about, Game Over. The only thing that is keeping our inflation in check (if you want to call it that) is the fact that our currency is THE reserve currency for the entire world shy a couple of Major players. (China and Russia have already gone into agreement on trade with each other, not using the Dollar as a fulcrum in those trades)

This is not good.

Or maybe it is. I guess it depends on your outlook. I am sure the collapse of this country will enlighten many to what reality is. Then again, I doubt it.

Maybe I am rushing into the whole "game over" precept. Maybe, it will actually be end of 'round one', on to 'round two'. There are those that have been preparing for 'whatever' for some time now. Maybe this is exactly what the Higher Power intended. The shepherds in place to pick up the pieces and hold sanity together.

So, Got Metal? Doesn't have to be precious either(but it will help). Lead, copper and brass are going to be needed also (to protect everything not metal)
Steel as in Ax heads, Ball Canning lids, etc etc, are going to be staples to have on hand.

Hell, You all know the deal. Once the IMF turns it's trick, The only thing left for our .GOV to do is try and print itself out of debt (just as they are trying to do now.) Wanna bet that Gov issued Debit cards will become mandatory? How better to control the monetary supply.

Yup, things could get ugly fast.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

T.L. in trouble?

Was It Something I Said (Wrote)?

Dunno what all the details are, doesn't really matter when you have an agent on your doorstep and have been vocal against this 'regime'.

Spread the word, the cockroaches really don't like it when you shine bright lights in their direction.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Gonna throw this out there, sumpin to chew on.

This is going to be a bit long winded and I may drop bombs all along the way. Bear with me.

First and foremost, and I believe I have covered this frequently; AIN’T NONE OF THIS NEW. We see the pubescent bickering of a two party system continuously throughout the history of our country. It was designed to be that way. It’s one of the smoke and mirrors designed into the system by John Jay and Alexander Hamilton. The distraction needed to allow the growth of an infantile Banking/Government complex. It had its opponents, within the system, for many years, but those opponents have long since moved on or just disappeared. The last Great opponent was Jackson. Since then, our government has continually grown larger, and more oppressive.
I think the best term I heard about how our government works (?) was from Boston T Party.
“Having the three branches regulate each other is like having fourth graders grade each other’s tests.”
All you have to do is look at the Rangle mess and see just how effective the current ‘standards’ are. Censure. What a joke. Even into my H.S. years, we had corporal punishments.(swats) Far more effective than a ‘stern talking to’.
But all of that is coming to a very painful end. It isn’t going to be an uprising like the Sons of Liberty. It won’t be a revolution in the voting booths either. Too be quite honest, I haven’t a clue what it’s going to be, but I do know what it won’t be. It won’t be the people of this country getting up and saying ‘ENOUGH’. If the crowds of the Tea Party can be so blatantly ignored and downplayed. If an armed group within 20miles of the capitol can be blatantly ignored; I just don’t see much getting these jackknobs off the pot. (short of extreme violence and I just don’t see that happening in any effective coordinated way yet)
What I do see is ‘a fundamental change’ coming that we all wish to avoid. I see them pushing the ‘amnesty bill’, and I worry about what that means. Will it pass? Probably not in its current form, but yes, something will slip through. There is too much demand from the traitors to not have something pass. What does that mean for the country as a whole? Serious unintended consequences. Lots of them. All you have to do is look at the signs some of the Amnesty callers are carrying. Free everything? Obviously not a true American (well, not in the classic definition. Not so sure if that applies so much any longer.).
So, keep that in the back of your mind for a minute as I shift gears and launch to the other side of the planet for a second.
Egypt. Tunisia, Yeman, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc etc. I won’t bring in the Al-queda as I don’t believe that is the real problem. The Muslim Brotherhood is much more that issue. All of the support that group pours into the smaller groups should concern most of the world. I know one person that sees the imminent problem.
And this one on Tribes.
Tribes have long memories, and lots of patience. The Muslim brotherhood still remembers the crusades have never forgiven the Christians. Nor will they. Not till every 'Infidel' is rotting in a ditch.

This is a growing concern, not because of the strife they are causing directly, but because of the precarious position the world is in, in general. Food shortages, Fuel shortages, financial instability in EVERY large country. All of this is a recipe for change, violent change, on a worldwide basis. Funny how some say we never won the cold war. I say, we are still in the vestiges of the Crusades: only no one bothered to tell us.

There is still a war on, our troops are scattered to the winds, worn out from multiple back to back deployments, moral is dropping as indicated by the suicide rates within active duty, and fewer and fewer people are volunteering. (no brainer as to why) We have a growing Religious threat in the world, open borders (kinda) and growing armies of dissent within the borders of our nation, along multiple lines.(and I am guilty of being a member of one of those armies in a sense)
Only one thing comes to mind when I read the news, watch the propaganda broadcasts, and watch the market tickers.

We are going down.

Not just as a country, but as a world. Things are getting ready to explode and what will survive is going to be fractured apart (tribes?). Things will continue for the most part but nothing will be the same ever again. It is this fracturing, that EVERYONE with a voice (preppers being an exception) is in denial of. They can’t seem to understand that the changes we are seeing are inevitable, unavoidable, and while painful, are part of life. We have had it too soft for far too long.

Let me alliterate a bit on that “Things will continue for the most part”. During the Civil war (I use it because documentation is available to me) Even though the country was ripped apart, brother against brother, LIFE WENT ON! People still went to the markets, kids still went to school, churches still operated on Sundays. Money continued to exchange hands. Even while battles raged within miles of town.(or in town in some cases)
Another great example would be the invasion of Stalingrad. People continued to live within that city while the Nazi’s and Soviets were ripping it apart. Maybe schools and churches weren’t operational but there was a trade system in place, people continued to live there.
LIVE WENT ON.
Yes, there is going to be a time of great trouble and we may see hordes of people fleeing the cities. But I have to wonder if ‘The Golden Horde” is going to be as bad as it has been made out to be. Don’t get me wrong, even I have made commentary to that Hoard, It is a real possibility. I only wonder how likely. I think it will be more a question of how quickly collapse happens. If it continues its incremental decline; I don’t think we will see it. If something massive happens, (IE Nuclear, Natural Disaster)than I see the hordes being an issue. (Katrina was a great example of that.) And the horde is always made up of those that can’t do for themselves as individuals.(strength in numbers)
So long as our greatest trouble is Financial, live will go on here in the states. It may not be the most comfortable, but it will go on. People will get hungry, grumble about the cost of things, complain about how little ‘a buck will get you’ but things will just ‘keep on, keeping on’. There just isn’t enough backbone left in the country to really make a stand. Look how the Tea party movement has dwindled since the Mid-term elections. Yes it is still there but now the “Fair weathers” have gone back to watching sports, making a buck and trying to figure out how to pay the bills.
Business as usual. Maybe a bit tighter in the belt area, but back to normal.
Maybe where I am headed with all of this, isn’t very clear. It will be, just bear with me.
It really all boils down to Apathy. Most people can’t get the Ire up for anything outside of their MonkeySphere. If they do get it up, it isn’t sustainable. It takes a unique person to be able to maintain that level of drive indefinitely.
I am not one of those unique individuals. It's one thing, having the drive to fight education nightmares locally,(at least for me) but long term NATIONAL survival is much harder. Remember this, the Patriots of yore, Our Founders, fought for a principle that encompassed a finite are of land that was not much bigger than the State of Texas now. Yes, the Principles are the same, but the land mass and the Mentality of those within that land mass are VASTLY different. I have quite a hard time fighting for something that 90% of those I meet, haven't a clue about, nor any inclination to understand.

APATHY. It's infectious.

We all get it.

And there really isn't all that much you can do about it. When people are paying $25 for a loaf of bread, the majority still won't get it.


NOW, to the point: Do we start trying to splinter the country up NOW, or do we wait for it all to hit the fan before trying to pick up the pieces?

Got Tribe?

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Game on

Having returned from the den of beauracracy near my home, I recieved good news. Seems my cousin was an idiot and told the local PTB that he was going to run his business out of his home. This subjected him to having to fall under the commerce codes around here. Private homes only need the Septic systems inspected and that is through the health department. (and I am ok with that as I don't want raw sewage being dumped in the creeks anymore than the next guy)

Now there was a catch with that. Getting an electric tie in will require me to have the electric inspected and THAT falls under the 2008 codes. That inspection is with the Utilities company and not through a state sanctioned office. Fail the inspection, no recourse but to fix it THEIR way.

Seeing how I was planning on setting up off grid eventually, this little SNAFU will only accelerate that plan. And the funny part about that: the base system I am planning on installing is roughly the same cost as the deposit and inspection of getting tied into the grid. This is a no brainer.

SO, Game on. In another couple of weeks, I will be dropping a septic in the ground and things start to accelerate.(would be this week but we need to wait for the ground to thaw out a bit. No need breaking equipment.)

disclaimer or statement of choice?

This is my blog, there are many like it but this one is mine.


Sound familiar? Yes, its a rip on the Riflemans creed but it applies the same.

I write this blog, not to entertain others but to vent internal pressures within myself. If some are entertained by it, good. If some find useful information within the scribbles (chicken tapping) that I put forth, even better. If you are offended by the occasional typo, intentional dialect 'misspelling', or regional euphemisms: To bad. Like I stated in the comment section of a prior post, ' I write from the hip' Not everything is well planned and laid out when it comes to my tapping away on this keyboard. I prefer one outlet where I can loosen the straps and just let go for a bit and this blog is that outlet.
I don't get that luxury with my other hobbies. Far too exacting and no room for errors. If I get 'loose' when I am melting metals, I am going to get hurt,BAD. If I get loose with a pass on the lathe, I just wasted HOURS of work and have to start over.

I don't blog for money. I have a couple of advertisements up but not one has paid me a thin copper coated zinc penny for that privilege. These advertisements are there because I have used the services, felt the company deserved the spread of information. If I get bad service, no ad.
I have a tip jar that has had some use but not enough to justify 'blogging' for a living. If you look at that tip jar, you will find it is nothing more than a wish list for books. Knowledge in the scribbles of others. I ask nothing in return, but if you feel the urge to send me something, I prefer it to be something that transcends economies, time and tyrants.

I know the Anonymous poster was only ribbing me but I felt the need to air out the fact that there will be 'verbal slips' on this blog. Some intentional, some not. Chances are, if its a misspelling, its quite intentional; coloring or spice added to make a point.

Anyways, Yes, I was raised in the north, some of my euphemisms will reflect that. I have been around this great country and you will read others that indicate that too. (Tango Uniform will be one I use on occasion and if you are from the lower west coast you know it has nothing to do with a dance or uniforms. LOL ) I have spent time in other countries also but had little to do with the natives for the most part(other than in the Philippines; sodden drunken memories leave little color to add to the blog.).
If you don't like it, don't read it. I think that should apply to most things in life, the net, the news, etc etc.

Monday, February 7, 2011

Houston, We (may) have a problem.

As anyone that has been following this blog knows, I moved down here(SE KY) with great angst and the only serious selling point was 'lack of building codes'.(well, and closer to my dad and other family)

Seems that may not be entirely true any longer. Not 100% certain about that, and I will be finding out tomorrow, BUT, if that is the case, ALL of my plans are up for re-evaluation.

Maybe some would say, "Build it anyway, once you have all the inspections done, you are in the clear."

Maybe some would say, "Build it anyway and once the inspections are done, get rid of the crap they 'code' you into and do it your way."

I say "Piss on all of that!" The 2008 building code was written by lobbyists for the manufacturers of various high dollar gadgets that really have nothing to do with "Homes". One in particular. The Arc Fault Circuit Interrupter. This thing is placed into the normal breaker slot in your breaker box. It was designed for use in Operating Rooms, Mines, and various other places that may be exposed to volatile atmospheres. The 2008 code specifies that ALL homes built or upgraded after 2008 have to have all breakers replaced with this unit. They say it is to keep a house safe from electrical fires. IT is supposed to protect home owners from electric shock too.(GFI anyone?) Here's the kicker. A standard 15A breaker is about $10 give or take a buck or two depending on where you are buying it. These AFCI breakers are no less than $80 EACH! Hell, The breaker box for a 10 circuit house is less than that! On top of that, they sometimes confuse the arc generated by motor startup (your vacuum cleaner), or switching on a lamp as the dangerous type of arc. (I would imagine that this gets worse with time as the unit gets more sensitive. Like a 15A breaker that pops at 10A after a few years) I haven't had to deal with one, but I would imagine my MIG welder would play merry hell with one.

The 2008 building code is one thing and one thing only. Revenue Generation. Not only for the city/county/state, but for the larger manufacturers that needed to 'fill a niche'. (rather like the catalytic converters back in the 70's.) Create the niche, fill it, make it mandatory, then work on the fix for the faulty crap you forced on the general public, in the name of "safety" or "the children" or worse, "the environment".

Like I said, I will know for certain tomorrow where I stand on this. Luckily, IF, this is fact, I don't have much more than time and dreams invested in it. I am certainly used to having those shot to shit in front of my eyes; Won't be anything new to me.

IF this is fact, I will post what the changes will be. (and Mayberry prolly already knows where that is headed.)

Sunday, February 6, 2011

SuperBowl nite (stupor bowl?)

While others are wearing out there larynx's and stuffing themselves on junk food,

I

am sitting at my desk with slide rule and paper calculating concrete needs for the footer to my house. LOL (and yes, you read that right, SLIDE RULE good enough to get men to the moon and create the original atomic bomb; good enough for me to build a house.)

Plus, I gotta go to bed early as I am working OT tomorrow covering for my boss. Bad news came late and he is taking a bad turn in his chemo. Praying for him. He is good people and I would really hate to see him go south this far along in the game.

Friday, February 4, 2011

Random thoughts, like a game of pinball.

Had a chance to kick back this afternoon and do exactly nutthin. When that happens, my usually hyper-brain, tends to kick into overdrive and actually heat up things a bit. When that happens, I get some amazing new alloys of thought and really get to the heart of what is all in my head.

I forget where I read it,(probably a Palin book or someother talking head) but someone recently mentioned that Americans don't want handouts because at heart, we are all wanna-be success stars or Wanna-be millionaires. We may not all reach our dreams but we all have that desire.

In some ways, they are absolutely right. Even the ghetto warrior/dealer/kneecruncher wants to emulate or bypass his favorite Rap artist.

I guess it all boils down to your definition of "success". And everyone has a different definition, we can't all be alike in that regard.

I was reading Bashing Williams post the other day(part of the above new alloy) and realized that he is probably one of the most successful people I am acquainted with right now. Short of Thermonuclear or Catastrophic Natural Disaster within miles of his residence, he has no worries about the future. His Family and those near him will be ok. So long as the long arm of the .GOV stays out of his way (and the only reason they would get in his way, would be to 'collect' on some BS tax because they felt they weren't getting enough blood out of that stone.) he will be fine, and more than likely, prosper well into when his kids take over and run it for him.

I watch those that would 'like' to be in positions of power and realize that while they talk a good game, they are still in a state of disconnect with the general American public. Take Sarah Palin for example. Yes, she may have come from small beginnings but look at the way she now lives. Yes, she has conservative values but there is something out of step there. I just don't feel all that convinced, like some I know, that she would be the 'great white hope' of our nation come 2012. (two points here. 1) she may be the best choice given the GOP's hopeful, Jeb Bush and 2) We may not even see elections in 2012 if Egypt is any example. Time will tell)

Hell, facts to me indicate there will be no great white hope: There will only be continuations of the mechanics of our Government and it will only grow further until there is a point where "We the PEOPLE" step up (or fail as the case may be, who knows for certain).

Well, all of these thoughts, a small book I picked up(H/T to Bison for that one.), BW's peice (peace?) and watching the confusion around me; have inspired me to really crank out some growth of my own.

That house will be finished by the end of this summer.(Maybe not 100% done, but inhabited by me by then) Some physical things that I have been neglecting (IE my teeth, I'll admit it) are in line for work. I have many things in place already, but these were/are the things holding me back.

No longer. I may not always have a post up due to my schedule going into overdrive, but I will post. Hell, the political posts may actually wither up and die if I get my camera working again.

(Teaser alert: I came up with a great way to raise potatoes with limited land ability and out of season. It prolly ain't new but I will post pics as I can.)

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

My how times have changed

I am talking about money of course. LOL

Today I went out to get some more silver for my growing hoard and decided to do a little experiment. Granted my results are completely empirical, but I know that, just in alloys, there is a huge difference between 'then and now'.

I typically buy up Morgans when I can find them available, but today I decided to go ahead and get a Peace and an Ike, just to see the difference. The Morgans are purported to be a 90/10 alloy of silver and copper. Same with the Peace dollars. Ikes on the other hand are closer to 90/10 of copper/nickel, Not 100% certain about that but is enough that as an investment coin, they suck: therefore not even worth enough to look at the actual content.

It amazes me how much difference there is just in the tactile differences. Let alone weights and tones when 'bounced'. The Morgans sound like a bell while the Peace dollars have a neat TING! that is pretty distinctive. The Ikes on the other hand sound like a clonk! They have a tone but it has no,,, character, I guess you could call it. Rather like a fender washer bouncing on concrete, you hear it but it really doesn't sing.

The reason I bring this up is to show just how far down the road we have come in the whole "Debasing of currency". The morgan and peace dollars were rather prevalent in the late 1800's to the early part of the 1900's (the 30's more specifically) We started debasing currency pretty hardcore in the buildup and action of WWII, and the need for those metals was a great excuse. I have a couple of steel pennies from that time period and they used steel as they needed more copper for driving bands on artillery, and of course the jackets on bullets not to mention all of the com-lines and electrics in the ships and planes. Yeah, Great excuse. But of course, once the government has a handle on how to get away with something, IT NEVER GOES BACK! The people were ok with scrap metal in their coins, they spent the same way no matter the actual value.

Oh but that was just a bunch of smoke up our butts so that we wouldn't see the creeping inflation built into the system.

Our coinage today is a joke in comparison to that of yester-years. Seriously, have you really looked a the simple penny lately. It's shiny, Has an interesting shield on the back of it that looks straight out of a D.C. comic book. The thickness of that copper coating is less than a millionth of an inch. Its electroplated on a Zinc base. Heat it up with a lighter and the copper oxidizes right off. Kind of interesting to watch, but depressing when you realize that the actual value, including manufacture costs, is quite a bit less than $.01 Most places won't even list a 'value' on it as it is worth less than the air you exhale.

I don't mind that the 'cartwheels' are so damned heavy. Hell, a handful of them, say 10, will buy you a months worth of groceries, if handled properly. NOW, at face value, that is roughly what a months groceries would have ran my great grandmother back in 1905. They really do show the actual inflation we have seen.

Scary ain't it?

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

frugality and a machinist

Been looking at some new cutting tools the last couple of weeks since I have been wearing my down pretty good the last couple of months. These thing aren't exactly cheap even when you find them inexpensively. The HSS tools are not too bad but the Carbide tipped ones are outrageous.

Well, of course me being the tightwad I am, I started looking at/for alternatives.
Funny how when you do things like that, over time, the search gets easier and easier. To date, I have made a chuck for my milling bits that is held into the quill with a 3/8-16 rod and guide that I turned on the lathe. The bits hold in via a 1/4-20 set screw and the whole setup works perfectly.(I am limited to 3/8" shanks but that can change with a new chuck when I get around to purchasing the 1/2" shanks.)

But back to the cutting tools: What to do when a carbide cutter overheats and shatters or is just worn to the point my diamond sharpener is not going to get the job done?
Answer: old worn out Carbide saw blades. The carbide tips are held on by brazing as are most of my carbide cutters for the lathe. A little ingenuity and quite a bit of heat and you can reclaim most of the tips and make new cutters. In my case, I actually made a rather small boring bar for my future .22 short rifle I am going to be working on. This should be able to do a deeper 1/4" hole that I can control better than using a twist drill. They work but boring bars do it better.



In this picture is the Quick Change tool post that I made.

The main body of it is aluminum. The casting for that was a 16oz soup can and I did a lot of metal removal to get it to that shape.(the soup can so I could douse it in water to limit the amount of crystal formation. This is nearly billet in content) It worked out quite well though was rather time consuming. The tool holder (I need to make about 5 more for the various tools) is 1" barstock that has been milled and tapped. The dovetail cutters just flat rock for making working surfaces in tools like this (those are also 3/8" shank to work in the chuck I made.)

As for the frugality of it all: Should I count my time and expense or just the expense? Personally, I am enjoying the hell out of finding ways to make things with little to no cost other than personal time(and a couple burns and cuts but who really keeps track of that? ) Facts are, if you don't count man hours, I have saved a small fortune making my own tools and in the process, expanded the capabilities of the main machine. Being able to manufacture my own cutting tools is HUGE to me. Well worth any time spent. Soon, there will be functional items coming from that machine that won't have ANYTHING to do with machining other than that they are machined. Things that go bang will be nice. LOL

Quick note of interest.

Then a normal post later.

Here is some logic that I find interesting.


S.D. to require all adults to be armed.

Rep. Hal Wick, R-Sioux Falls, is sponsoring the bill and knows it will be killed. But he said he is introducing it to prove a point that the federal health care reform mandate passed last year is unconstitutional.

“Do I or the other cosponsors believe that the State of South Dakota can require citizens to buy firearms? Of course not. But at the same time, we do not believe the federal government can order every citizen to buy health insurance,” he said.


Maybe it will get killed before it ever leaves the floor. On one side, how do you enforce it? The other, Who decides what is “suitable to their temperament, physical capacity, and preference.” Well, obviously, the person choosing but how many would get a single shot .22 just to comply? LOL Then again, we are talking S.D. Probably more varmint rifles in that state than most others. That whole prairie dog thing yaknow.


(who wouldn't want to blast those little heathens. LOL)