Women, if you're bra-less, you may be unprepared

From Fox News, comes the latest news in emergency fashion [hat tip: Jim P.]:

Caught in a disaster? You'd better hope you're wearing the Emergency Bra. Simply unsnap the bright red bra, separate the cups, and slip it over your head -- one cup for you, and one for your friend.

Dr. Elena Bodnar won an Ignoble Award for the invention last year, an annual tribute to scientific research that on the surface seems goofy but is often surprisingly practical. And now Bodnar has brought the eBra to the public; purchase one online for just $29.95.

"The goal of any emergency respiratory device is to achieve tight fixation and full coverage. Luckily, the wonderful design of the bra is already in the shape of a face mask and so with the addition of a few design features, the Emergency Bra enhances the efficiency of minimizing contaminated bypass air flow," explains the eBra website.

How an Icelandic volcano helped spark the French Revolution

From the U.K. Guardian:

Just over 200 years ago an Icelandic volcano erupted with catastrophic consequences for weather, agriculture and transport across the northern hemisphere – and helped trigger the French revolution.

The Laki volcanic fissure in southern Iceland erupted over an eight-month period from 8 June 1783 to February 1784, spewing lava and poisonous gases that devastated the island's agriculture, killing much of the livestock. It is estimated that perhaps a quarter of Iceland's population died through the ensuing famine.

Then, as now, there were more wide-ranging impacts. In Norway, the Netherlands, the British Isles, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, in North America and even Egypt, the Laki eruption had its consequences, as the haze of dust and sulphur particles thrown up by the volcano was carried over much of the northern hemisphere.

Ships moored up in many ports, effectively fogbound. Crops were affected as the fall-out from the continuing eruption coincided with an abnormally hot summer. A clergyman, the Rev Sir John Cullum, wrote to the Royal Society that barley crops "became brown and withered … as did the leaves of the oats; the rye had the appearance of being mildewed".

...

The eruption is now thought to have disrupted the Asian monsoon cycle, prompting famine in Egypt. Environmental historians have also pointed to the disruption caused to the economies of northern Europe, where food poverty was a major factor in the build-up to the French revolution of 1789. ...

Read it here. Hmmm, just what the world needs -- potential disruption of crop harvests and food supplies. How's that personal food storage plan coming along?

Gerald Celente on what to do in a crisis

Eric King interviews Gerald Celente of the Trends Research Institute:

Part 1:




Part 2:




Part 3:




Mr. Celente states that he only has about a three week supply of food stored, which is probably more than the average (or even most) New York City dweller. I disagree, however, that a three week food supply is anywhere near adequate. Of course, Mr. Celente's stated plan is to leave the country in the event of a larger crisis -- most folks won't have that option. Still, that plan assumes that you will be able to leave the country, which may or may not be a viable option, depending on the crisis.

[Via LewRockwell.com]

Of solar storms and the electric grid

From a New Scientist article published last year discussing a NASA-funded study by the National Academy of Sciences of the effects of a severe solar storm on the electrical grid:

IT IS midnight on 22 September 2012 and the skies above Manhattan are filled with a flickering curtain of colourful light. Few New Yorkers have seen the aurora this far south but their fascination is short-lived. Within a few seconds, electric bulbs dim and flicker, then become unusually bright for a fleeting moment. Then all the lights in the state go out. Within 90 seconds, the entire eastern half of the US is without power.

A year later and millions of Americans are dead and the nation's infrastructure lies in tatters. The World Bank declares America a developing nation. Europe, Scandinavia, China and Japan are also struggling to recover from the same fateful event - a violent storm, 150 million kilometres away on the surface of the sun.

It sounds ridiculous. Surely the sun couldn't create so profound a disaster on Earth. Yet an extraordinary report funded by NASA and issued by the US National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in January this year claims it could do just that.

Over the last few decades, western civilisations have busily sown the seeds of their own destruction. Our modern way of life, with its reliance on technology, has unwittingly exposed us to an extraordinary danger: plasma balls spewed from the surface of the sun could wipe out our power grids, with catastrophic consequences.

The projections of just how catastrophic make chilling reading. "We're moving closer and closer to the edge of a possible disaster," says Daniel Baker, a space weather expert based at the University of Colorado in Boulder, and chair of the NAS committee responsible for the report.

It is hard to conceive of the sun wiping out a large amount of our hard-earned progress. Nevertheless, it is possible. The surface of the sun is a roiling mass of plasma - charged high-energy particles - some of which escape the surface and travel through space as the solar wind. From time to time, that wind carries a billion-tonne glob of plasma, a fireball known as a coronal mass ejection (see "When hell comes to Earth"). If one should hit the Earth's magnetic shield, the result could be truly devastating. ...

Read the rest here.

Solar Flares and EMP

From Clifford May, writing in National Review:

... The EMP commission also reported that Iran — which is feverishly working to acquire nuclear weapons — has conducted tests in which it launched missiles and exploded warheads at high altitudes. The CIA has translated Iranian military journals in which EMP attacks against the U.S. are explicitly discussed.

Might Iran’s rulers orchestrate such an attack if and when they acquire nuclear capability? That is a heated debate among defense experts. But what is almost never discussed is the threat of a naturally occurring EMP event.

I first learned about this possibility a few months ago at a conference organized by Empact America, a bipartisan, non-profit organization concerned exclusively with the EMP challenge. Scientists there explained “severe space weather” — in particular, storms on the surface of the sun that could trigger an EMP event.

The strongest solar storm on record is the Carrington Event of 1859, named after Richard Carrington, an astronomer who witnessed the super solar flare that set off the event as he was projecting an image of the sun onto a white screen. In those days, of course, there was nothing much to damage. A high-intensity burst of electromagnetic energy shot through telegraph lines, disrupting communications, shocking technicians, and setting their papers on fire. Northern Lights were visible as far south as Cuba and Hawaii. But otherwise life went on as normal.

The same would not be true were a solar storm of similar magnitude to erupt today. Instead, the infrastructure we depend on would be wiped out. Most of us would not adapt well to this sudden return to a pre-industrial age. ...

Article here.

Survival is a mom's job

So says The Survival Mom, interviewed by Fox News in Phoenix:

Cold water shock survival

From Cottage Life, comes this article on the effects of cold water immersion on the body:

The lake’s November chill arches my back, pries my mouth open, forces my eyes wide until, overhead, I see the pewter sky through a cloud of bubbles. A second ago, I was up there, on the dock. Now I’m below the surface, flailing in liquid that feels as thick as gelatin, surprised by the water filling my mouth. A small voice, distant and oddly detached, muses: Am I going to drown?

The answer comes a second later, when my PFD delivers me, spluttering and gasping, back to the surface. Thank God, I think, still troubled by the underwater voice. Now I’ve got to last another 10 minutes, in a lake that’s nearly ice-water cold...

What is cold water shock?

A sledgehammer blow that can cause drowning, trigger heart failure, or chill victims so rapidly they’re unable to swim, hang on to a rope, or pull themselves to safety.

Cold water has been claiming lives as long as we’ve ventured near it, but it’s only during the past few decades that scientists have solved an ancient mystery: Why does cold water kill so quickly? How do strong swimmers succumb in seconds or minutes—long before hypothermia can set in?

The answer is the “huge, huge shock to the system” that comes with sudden, unexpected immersion in cold water, says Stephen Cheung, holder of the Canada Research Chair for Environmental Ergonomics. Known around St. Catharines’ Brock University as Dr. Freeze, Cheung is his own lab rat, dunking himself in chilled water while wearing nothing more than swim trunks. “People worry about falling in cold water and dying from hypothermia, but with cold shock, you’re not in the water long enough for that,” he says. “You die from drowning.”

So that’s why I’m a sodden and chilled guinea pig in Lake Muskoka. To help Cottage Life’s readers understand the threat that lurks off their docks and beneath their boats, my editor (in his warm, dry office) says, “We want show, not tell.” ...

Read the whole thing here. The article notes this important point about treating the cold water victim once he or she is out of the water:

The danger's not over once you're out

In one of the Second World War’s cruel medical mysteries, severely chilled sailors and airmen would routinely collapse and die after being plucked from the sea. Only after the war did researchers discover the victims were being killed with kindness. As rescuers tried to warm their charges, urging them to get up, sitting them next to the stove, plying them with soup or tea, they shifted cold blood from the extremities to the body’s core, chilling the heart, triggering a dramatic fall in blood pressure, and bringing on heart failure.

Anyone exposed to prolonged cold, or suffering from hypothermia, needs to be warmed slowly, under medical supervision. If paramedics aren’t yet on the scene, lay the victim in a plastic sheet and a blanket or sleeping bag, bundled up, and let shivering do the warming.

I spent almost as long lying on the dock in a sleeping bag as I did in the lake, but after eight minutes or so I was able to shuffle to the dive team’s heated truck and change into dry clothes. In another hour, with a couple of cups of coffee, I was over the immediate chill. By the next morning, after a good night’s sleep, I felt close to my pre-immersion self. [emphasis added]...

History Channel's "After Armageddon"

Today's video - the History Channel's After Armageddon show, a fictionalized examination and discussion of the effects of a global pandemic on society:

Part 1:




Part 2:




Part 3:




Part 4:




Part 5:




Part 6:




Part 7:




Part 8:




Part 9:

The family militia

From Michigan, via the U.K. Sun, comes this family profile:

Morgana, six, the youngest of the eight children, is as comfortable with a lethal .22 calibre rifle as she is with a Barbie doll.

Her sister Raven, nine, has her own .22 as well, bought for her when she was seven. It is in baby pink.

She explains proudly: "My dad says I'm becoming quite a good shot."

(Family day out ... relaxing with weapons. Photo: Chris Bott / Barcroft)

Dad is Lee Miracle, of Sterling Heights, Michigan. After the events of 9/11 Lee, his wife Katerina, 43, and their children aged from six to 17 are preparing for attacks from foreign invaders. They believe such readiness - including a house full of 25 FIREARMS - is their civic duty. [emphasis in original]

Top dog at the South East Michigan Volunteer Militia, 42-year-old Lee has schooled his military brood in advanced firearm training and also Ray Mears-style outdoors survival techniques.

The couple and their brood - Morgana, Raven, Elijah, ten, Caleb, 11, Cameron and Megan, both 13, Emily, 15, and 17-year-old Christian - meet hundreds of like-minded souls once a month on a farm to hone their skills against outside threats. ...

Read it here. A fairly straightforward profile, without too much hysterics (oooh, 25 guns! Yawn -- there are ten of them, so that averages less than three guns a person), although I'm sure the unprepared masses and the closed-minded will generate suitable quantities of hysteria all on their own.

Los Angeles County preparing for a 'nuclear event'

From the L.A. Daily News, comes this story:

While the possibility of a nuclear attack in Los Angeles seems almost unthinkable, local officials are inventorying hundreds of old bomb and fallout shelters as part of their preparations for a "radiological or nuclear event."

Los Angeles and other metropolitan areas are drafting emergency plans while federal agencies study how to prepare the public for what county public health Director Jonathan Fielding describes as a "low-likelihood, huge-consequences event."

His department hosted a workshop last week for the emergency operations staff of the county's 88 cities in preparation for "Golden Phoenix," an exercise scheduled for June 2010 that simulates the scenario of a 10-kiloton nuclear device detonated in Los Angeles.

A seminar is planned for the medical community on Jan. 21 to provide information on what to expect and what actions they should take after a nuclear incident.

"These aren't comfortable things to talk about, but it all begins with preparations," said Angelo Bellomo, the county director of environmental health who oversees the Radiation Management unit.

"We think this is a great opportunity for us to open a dialogue with the 88 cities so they can begin to amend their emergency plans to include planning for a nuclear device."

...

Experts are especially concerned about the possibility that Iran one day could launch ship-based nuclear missiles, said Brian Kennedy, president of The Claremont Institute's Ballistic Missile Defense Project.

"The West Coast of the U.S. has limited missile defense against a North Korean missile," Kennedy said. "And, unfortunately, we're almost completely vulnerable to a ship-launched ballistic missile attack."

Kennedy is also concerned a ship-launched nuclear missile detonated at a high altitude would create an electromagnetic pulse, possibly destroying electronic equipment and knocking out the nation's power grid - leaving the country with little or no communications and no ability to provide food and water to potentially hundreds of millions of people.

Congressional reports suggest such an attack could result in more than 100 million deaths in a year, said Sharon Packer, executive director of the American Civil Defense Association. ...

Read it here.

Enough food for a rainy day, er, year

Think your measly one week to one month supply of food and water means you're prepared? Think again, and take a gander at this setup:

More photos and descriptions here.

From her blog, the owner of this bountiful supply (I'm jealous!) and her family live in Utah and appear to be Mormons. I believe the Mormon Church, to its great credit, strongly encourages emergency preparedness, of which having a sizable food and water stockpile is an important element. In fact, I think the Mormon Church encourages its members to strive for a year's supply of food, and the Church has a number of resources geared towards helping its members achieve that goal.

Check out her blog here, which has recipes, along with tips on bulk food buying and storage.

Here she is discussing her food storage area and sharing some tips:



For those who live in Utah, Idaho, Arizona, Nevada, or Southern California, she has a subscription-based newsletter service, website here. The free checklists mentioned in the video can be downloaded from her site here. Good stuff; I especially liked the meal planning recipe checklists to help estimate food stocking quantities for various items.

And if you haven't done so already, it's not too late to get started on building up your supplies!

Preparing for civil unrest

Claire Wolfe, writing at Backwoods Home Magazine, on preparing for civil unrest:

The most remarkable thing about civil unrest is that there hasn't been more of it.

Politicians are making a hash of this country—and much of the rest of the civilized world. We know it. They know it. They know we know it. But we don't feel we can do anything much to stop them.

That right there is the pre-condition for civil unrest—when people are frustrated and politicians are nervous.

Worse, that was how things stood before last fall's crash. Before pols on both left and right launched the biggest mass transfer of wealth in history—transferring our wealth (what we had left of it!) to their friends on Wall Street and in the banking industry. In other words, that's how things were before things got bad!

Now everybody's talking about the ongoing catastrophe (even if we are in a momentarily sunny mood). But almost nobody is talking about the logical—maybe even inevitable—consequences of cynical or desperate politicians abusing an already fed-up populace: civil unrest.

I mean people taking to the streets. Or mass resistance. Or crackdowns because the government fears we might do something to upset its apple cart. It's going to happen. Somewhere. At some time. It's going to.

One of the few VIPs to mention the matter openly was Zbigniew Brzezinski, former National Security Advisor and the ultimate insider's insider. He commented on the millions of unemployed or soon-to-be-unemployed and the "...public awareness of this extraordinary wealth that was transferred to a few individuals at levels without historical precedent in America." He told "Morning Joe" Scarborough, "Hell, there could be even riots." I'd say that's an understatement. ...

Read the rest here.

Urban survival

Fox News recently did a segment on urban survivalists:



Note the (mostly) lack of discussion of the importance of weapons until the very end, until Hannity brings it up. Weapons and the knowledge and will to use them are an integral part of survival, urban or otherwise. Certainly only a part, but an essential part nevertheless.

Note also the typical clueless reporter, who herself is admittedly unprepared, even apparently on a very basic level. Hopefully she and others will at least start the process of basic preparedness. Otherwise, when a large-scale emergency strikes, these sheep-like folks will become lambs for the slaughter, unable to take care of themselves or provide even the most basic necessities for their own survival. No doubt with lots of plaintive bleating for others to help them.

Stocking up Down Under

From the Sydney Morning Herald:

LLOYD Hughes isn't particularly worried about swine flu. If the Government declares a pandemic, the 63-year-old truck driver will simply bunker down with his wife, three teenage children and their 200 cans of tomatoes.

"We've also got 250 kilograms of rice, 25 litres of olive oil and loads of flour, plus toilet paper and toothpaste," Mr Hughes, who lives in the Upper Hunter region, said. "It's about a year's worth. And if I have to keep the kids at home, I will."

Like many survivalists, Mr Hughes also has "an extensive supply" of over-the-counter medicines: ibuprofen, aspirin, paracetamol, antiseptic creams - everything except Tamiflu. ...

Article here.

Surge in "Suburban Survivalists"

From AP, via Yahoo News:

SAN DIEGO – Six months ago, Jim Wiseman didn't even have a spare nutrition bar in his kitchen cabinet.

Now, the 54-year-old businessman and father of five has a backup generator, a water filter, a grain mill and a 4-foot-tall pile of emergency food tucked in his home in the expensive San Diego suburb of La Jolla.

Wiseman isn't alone. Emergency supply retailers and military surplus stores nationwide have seen business boom in the past few months as an increasing number of Americans spooked by the economy rush to stock up on gear that was once the domain of hardcore survivalists.

These people snapping up everything from water purification tablets to thermal blankets shatter the survivalist stereotype: they are mostly urban professionals with mortgages, SUVs, solid jobs and a twinge of embarrassment about their newfound hobby.

From teachers to real estate agents, these budding emergency gurus say the dismal economy has made them prepare for financial collapse as if it were an oncoming Category 5 hurricane. They worry about rampant inflation, runs on banks, bare grocery shelves and widespread power failures that could make taps run dry. ...

More here. I wouldn't describe what the folks in the article are doing as a "hobby". What they're doing is probably no more a "hobby" for them than stocking up for a hurricane or natural disaster is a hobby. Rather, these folks have a desire to prepare for what they see as the potential consequences of further and more severe economic turmoil.

Personally, I don't talk about my emergency preparations to newspaper reporters. Or other strangers. But that's just me.

New bandages for soldiers in war zones

From Stars and Stripes:

ARLINGTON, Va. — All soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan will get new bandages to treat life-threatening bleeding, replacing the "hemcon" bandages they use now.

The Army has ordered more than 270,000 packages of Quik-Clot Combat Gauze and 17,700 packages of WoundStat, said Lt. Col. Sean Morgan of the Office of the Surgeon General of the Army.

Combat Gauze, made by Z-Medica Corp. in Wallingford, Conn, is gauze with a hemostatic agent while WoundStat, made by TraumaCure in Bethesda, Md., is a granular substance meant to mix with blood to form a seal over wounds.

The Army plans for every soldier to have a package of Combat Gauze while every combat lifesaver issued a combat lifesaver bag will have three packages of Combat Gauze, and all combat medics will have three packages of Combat Gauze and two of WoundStat, Army officials said.

Article here. Something to think about as you stock your own personal trauma / first aid kits. I don't know if the Quik-Clot Combat Gauze is similar or identical to their Advanced Clotting Sponge product. Anyone know?

Hurricane Gustav prompts gun purchases

As Hurricane Gustav bears down on the Gulf coast states, people are stocking up on the usual necessities: water, food, batteries, guns and ammo:

On what would normally be a slow summer weekday, the three employees at Gretna Gun Works Inc. frantically tended to a crush of customers admiring the racks of shotguns and rifles lined up behind the glass counter.

Among the patrons: a jewelry store owner from eastern New Orleans with plans to stand guard through Gustav; two uniformed Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office deputies inquiring about additional firearms; and an avid hunter who was in to pick up a 12-gauge he dropped off for cleaning.

"It's hurricane season, you definitely want it back now, right?" employee John DeRosier said with a grin as he handed the Beretta shotgun back to the owner.

In yet another sign of hardened sensibilities in post-Katrina New Orleans, managers of gun shops and sporting goods stores across the area report a spike in gun and ammunition sales this week.

And from the Outdoor Life blog:

We just got a call from Devline Rossell, a charter captain based out of Venice, Louisiana. He was shopping in New Orleans to get some supplies before the arrival of Gustav (currently listed as a tropical storm that has left at least 22 dead in the Caribbean) and reported that the item most in demand was not food, clothing or shelter.

“I just left a sporting goods store and you would think that the number-one selling item would be plywood or potable water or gasoline right now,” he said. “Apparently it is AR-15s and .223 ammo. I watched at least 20 people buy AR-15s and cases of .223.”

Can’t say I’m surprised. After the nightmare that was Katrina I think it would be unwise for anyone to assume the state, local or federal government could guarantee his or her personal safety during a natural disaster. Of course, I think it is foolish to assume that under any circumstance.

While I'm obviously all for being well armed and well stocked for emergencies, buying any gun, particularly an auto-loader (rifle or handgun) and depending on it without first firing and verifying that the gun functions reliably with the magazines and ammo you have selected is not wise. In addition, rifles need to be sighted in and zeroed for proper use.