Pt. 5     Some years ago in early America , young and not so young men settled differences with fists and feet, and in the extreme, duels to the death. Afterwards, the living went on to accept or avoid each other. But it was settled. In those times men fought their own battles and had no sympathy or respect for those who shunned personal risk. All true men were trained in arms and all tended to be civil to one another until an insult or injury demanded satisfaction. Natural law as well as the few laws laid down by a newly formed congress were obeyed for the betterment of society and the hard work of building a country. Chivalry ruled. Women were respected. Crime was not tolerated and criminals were often punished on the spot. With the passing of time and the advent of a more genteel society the apprehending of street criminals became more the provenance of the nascent police departments springing up in the eastern cities. In many towns it was now the beat cops that used executive punishment to teach the unruly a quick prison-saving lesson.

    Skip forward a century or two and see what the ultimate result of ‘gentility,’ or using the new millennium-speak, ‘political correctness’ has brought. Now in our liberal utopia an imagined slur brings a drive by shooting. Innocent bystanders, many times children, are murdered by witless teenaged gangsters whose lives are then wasted in prison while we are forced to support their endless pain. No property or person is safe. Soul diminishing drugs are sold everywhere. Their safe passage often facilitated by the men we have trusted to lead us. School children are threatened with prison for raising their hands in age old contest to one another or worse drawing a picture of a firearm. Street gangs, many filled with illegal aliens , grow faster than gang squads can arrest their felonious members. Some are now estimated to have as many as 20,000 members nation wide. And, they are growing. In some areas police do not go in, except in mass and then just long enough to make an arrest. In these liberal, welfare-ruined cities the merest hint or rumor of police abuse brings riots. After the rioters have run out of things to steal or destroy, the local and federal governments immediately beg their forgiveness and make offerings for their continued good welfare. And supply more fuel for the next riot.

    Now imagine for a moment the insane battlefields that those gang infested cities will become if all moderating police presence is gone. When anarchy rules. When city after city goes dark after what horrific weapons of mass destruction are sent up. When all prison and asylum doors are blasted open and the inmates allowed to run free. When the only way to live will to be quicker, stronger and deadlier than your aggressors. Or to join them!

    During and in the days following the terror of 9/11 we as a nation were never so proud as when we witnessed the courageous multitudes of firefighters, police, military and common citizens putting self- interest aside and working day after day, and night after night to free the victims and to comfort the afflicted. Contrast this with the street scenes in New Orleans after Katrina; the instant lawlessness and looting and the utter disregard by far too many for the victims trapped in homes nearby. In that ancient city on the Mississippi we saw in one wide shot both tremendous heroism on the part of our countrymen and women and depravity on a scale we hope to never see again. And this: A year later we went on to observe the war in Israel and Lebanon. During that sad time we saw the ‘years-of-war-ravaged’ Israeli and Lebanese citizens not standing by idly while waiting for their demands for instant help and gratification to be met, or worse looting their city but fighting for their own survival and each in turn taking care of their neighbor’s welfare. People dug through rubble with their bare hands to find buried friends and strangers. What little street crime and looting there was brought instant and harsh retaliation.

    I believe, to our everlasting shame, that the political social-welfare experiments which have gone on year after year in cities like New Orleans and Los Angeles have robbed a huge wedge of the American people of their dignity, joy of life and the pride of citizenship. We are left with the untrained, the unhappy and the cast aside. Their pride has been stolen and their vote assured, for nothing more valuable than a handful of baubles and a ripped shopping bag of promises. Can we blame them so much for the results of that terrible injustice?

    The continuing lust for power by our elected and unelected leaders will, if left un-checked, destroy us all. We as conservatives have much work to do, many levees to repair. Pray God allows us time. More later.

Pt.4 Just enough clean water for drinking could be a gallon or more per day per adult and a little less for children. Then, there’re your pets. And when it’s gone? How long can you live without water? If you are not moving around much and are enjoying moderate weather you have perhaps a few days before the stress and dehydration begins to weaken you. It is vitally important to keep yourself, your family and all pets hydrated.

For drinking, cooking and the always necessary personal hygiene I would advise pre- storing at least enough clean, potable water to last for a week to ten days. Plan on a minimum of two to three gallons per person per day and let your conscience (and good sense) be your guide when it comes to your pets. Do not let them suffer. Keep them healthy and they could very well save your lives.

Do the right thing. So, four people and a dog? 5 drinkers X 3 gals. X 10days=150 gallons. Plus a fudge factor. And down the road a little we will discuss a ‘Bug Out bag or system’ which will contain an additional store of water. More water is always better. Wait a minute. We don’t have room for all that water. Where will we put it. What will we put it in? The following is for people that didn’t prepare soon enough and suddenly realize they need to store water. The hurricane is on it’s way, the stores are boarded up and you are stuck behind. What to do? There is the bathtub to start. They hold a lot if you have enough forewarning to fill them before the water stops. If you have ample time, sterilize all water containers before filling them including the tub. Pots, pans, buckets, rinsed vinegar and soda jugs, everything helps. Got trash cans? Line them with clear plastic, heavy duty can-liners and fill ‘em up. If you know how, treat the stored water. Army surplus and sporting goods stores have water purification tablets. Buy some now. Remember, your list? Last, cover the containers. An average outside trash can should hold 25 gallons or more. Done? A few trash cans full, your pots, bins and buckets plus the tub and you are set. Or are you?

    Draining and drinking the funky water from the water heater or from the tub and other odd containers should hopefully be a last resort. After a day or two and assuming relief supplies are beginning to show up, that water can be used for keeping yourself clean and if things look like they will normalize soon, flushing the toilet. Plan ahead. Most people keep bottled water around the house. My wife and I keep a dozen or more cases of half-liter sized bottles of fresh water stored here and there as a matter of course. We get them at Costco for less than $4.00 per case. At 32 bottles or 16 liters (A little over 4 gallons) Each case will give one person enough drinking water for 4 days. A dozen cases work out to close to 50 gallons and in ideal conditions enough to water 5 drinkers for 10 days. Medium sized bottles of water are easy to drink from, reusable and start out sterile. Plus they give a feeling of normalcy. Little things like that matter a lot. Stock up now. Bottled water is cheap and easy to store. Add this to your list.

*Important note from the author: Please know that this survival series is meant only as a very basic look at beginning survival tactics. It is meant to prime your pump. As always, for more inclusive information about these subjects Google them up or go to your local library. Ask people who are well versed in each area. Check out Popular Mechanics on line as well as the websites of other popular technical and survival oriented magazines. Spend some time at the Center for Disease control’s website and others of the federal government. All bits of advice I give are designed to be nothing but my personal observations and common sense opinions for solving and/or preparing for problems which may or may not arise in the course of a local or national emergency. My hope is that you will become interested and use these suggestions as springboards into more intense study and if worst comes to worst and terrible times arrive you and yours will be somewhat better prepared to deal with any ensuing chaos.

To digress for a moment, let me say this. We 21^st century Americans are spoiled for the most part. Not due to any particular fault of our own but because of the years of liberal-socialist, big government policies forced upon us by both political parties. We, for the most part are no longer allowed nor feel compelled to “fork our own broncs“, to fight our own battles, to promote and protect our own welfare. We saw the result of this in the days of ‘Katrina’. Too many of it’s victims had no idea at all of how to take part in their own survival, and worse, they had no desire.  
    Besides the many thousands of hardworking New Orleans citizens who owned and rented homes in the flooded wards, thousands more  had been warehoused in public buildings and supported by welfare dollars for so long that they were for all intents and purposes, ruined by the experience. In the following days after the hurricane crime and looting  was rampant and people died. While the law abiding worked to save themselves and others the law of the jungle prevailed for thousands more.  And we saw it all in living color in the comfort of our own dining rooms over chicken and mashed potatoes.  More Later.

Pt. 3 There is an interesting psychology involved in coming to grips with saying goodbye to the end of the normal world you have always known. Some years back Robin Williams starred in a movie called “Moscow on the Hudson. It‘s plot had to do with a Russian émigré‘s problems understanding the immense wealth of his new home in America., Unlike the Soviet worker’s paradise, there was such abundance available in the common supermarket he visited that he had sensory overload and passed out. Try if you might to imagine the opposite. Supermarkets empty of all goods. Streets devoid of all commerce. People starving and desperate to the point of killing each other for a slice of moldy bread or a bottle of muddy water. It can happen. It has happened elsewhere to people just like you. It may happen here. If it should and if the first main question was, “In a devastating natural disaster or WMD attack that leaves many thousands dead and dying and your city and possibly many more in ruins, would you want to survive?” Would you? If you say yes, are you willing to do the planning and preparation necessary to give you favorable odds to make it through? Assuming you are, the second question should be: How can you assure yourself and family a fighting chance?

“When in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout!” OR.. Make a list. And again, have a comprehensive plan. It gives me great comfort to make lists It’s almost like meditating, or at least what I imagine meditating would be like if I actually did. Making these lists is the first stage of planning. It is also the first stage of beginning to take responsibility for yourself and family. Be a proud and classic American of old. Stand to be counted and ready to survive and to help others.

Without a list I can’t go shopping or plan a week’s work schedule. Without a dozen lists and budget sheets our house and doings would be unmanageable. So, my advice, make a list, better yet, a bunch of lists. Lists that have dozens of headings and should eventually cover several large notebooks.

Start with list Heading A- 1 What are the basic necessities for me and my family and for how long should our stock-up be designed to keep us alive? Let’s start with water.

WATER! “Old Dan ‘n I with throats burned dry and souls that cry…for water…” From: “Cool Water“, Sons of the Pioneers. One of the greatest songs ever recorded by the greatest western group that ever sang a song. Well? Where does water come from? And not just water, potable water. Stuff you can drink with out getting the trots or worse. When the local water company can no longer produce the life giving elixir, you are left dry. Or are you? If you didn’t stock up ahead of time you still have a water heater in your home or apartment and in it you have 30 or 40 gallons . Your water heater should even have a drain faucet. When the taps run dry and the electricity is out and you are getting thirsty you must then do a few simple things. If it’s dark take one of your LED flashlights (you do have super long lasting LED flashlights, right?) and first, turn off the electricity and/or the gas to the water heater. Why turn off the electricity when it’s already out? Or the gas? Because they may come back on when your water tank has no water in it and cause problems. Or; Some fool down the line may have a big generator and stupidly back-feed power into the grid. His gen. would not survive for long under that kind of load but it might last long enough to permanently curl your bangs. While you are at it, trip off all the main breakers in your dwelling’s electrical supply box. Learn how friend. When gas is no longer available turn off the stove, the furnace and all other gas appliances. Don’t forget the pilot lights. Go ahead and pull the plugs on all electrical appliances and lamps etc. No point in getting any mean surprises. (We will talk about the perishable foods you have and what to do with them later). As for the water heater, the Instructions are normally printed on the front. If you are not sure ask for professional advice before hand. Educate yourself. Study, Excel, prevail! Finally, to drain some drinking water from the hot water tank, plug the bathroom tub and then carefully open the tub’s hot water tap to vent the tank, (water may still be hot and under residual pressure!) just as carefully open the water tank faucet with pot ready and run just enough out to cover your immediate needs. If your tank has been around for a while (like mine) you may see white minerals in your catch basin. Clean them out by pouring the water through a coffee filter. The minerals won’t hurt you. They’re mostly calcium anyway. Leave another pot under the faucet to catch any possible drips. Don’t waste a drop. Is a water heater tank full going to be enough? There really is no way of knowing how long an emergency will keep utilities turned off. It may be for just a few days and then again it may last so long as to force you out. (We will talk later about your possible forced relocation) More Later