Tag Archives: war

Monday, June 23, 2014 · 12:10 AM

War, Cyber attack

(Survival Manual/1. Disaster/ War, Cyber attack)
(Further reading: Nuclear EMP and Long Term Power Outage

 A.  An All Out Cyber Attack on U.S. Grid Would Be Devastating; the Trojans, Malware & Trapdoors Already Exist
January 16th, 2011, SHTF, by Mac Slavo
Pasted from: http://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/cyber-attack-on-us-grid-would-be-devastating-trojans-malware-trapdoors-already-exist_01162011

Computer expert, author and  technical trend forecaster James Martin says what many others, including ourselves, have warned about for quite some time. The electric and utilities power grid of the United States is completely unsecured and vulnerable to attack via the internet:

“There is quite a lot of evidence that people have been hacking into the American grid, and probably the grids of other countries to. In the American grid they’ve found quite a large number of Trojan horses and trap doors, they’ve found quite a lot of hidden malware, not coming from the States but coming from somewhere outside the States,” he said.

“If you knocked out all the power in America, it would be devastating. Normally when you get a blackout it comes back very quickly, but there have been some that don’t. If it was a deliberate attack, then the people attacking it would try to do damage that could not be repaired quickly,” he said.

“If they caused the grid to crash it would be much worse than 2008. This is known today, but what I find rather alarming is that although it is known the authorities are not really trying to stop it by making it secure.

“Certainly an outside entity could have a capability today to send many different malware messages into the grid at the same time in such a way that you could take down most of the grid, and may be all of the grid,” he said.

“The grid is full of huge transformers and pumps that are one off, which means that if you knock them out you can’t go and buy them off the shelf. If you picked out the things that could not be bought or not replicated quickly, and there a lot of those, then that would be damage that you couldn’t repair quickly.

“You have a large amount of company-to-company automation and all of that could be put out of operation. If it was put out of operation it could do immense financial damage, enormously
greater than the 2008 crash,” he told The Independent.

 Forget about financial damage – that would be the least of our worries if the power grid was attacked in any sort of meaningful way. A complete power grid failure, or one that took out large regions in unison would put a complete stop to commerce across the North American continent. Yes, there would be financial damage, but more importantly, there would be no way to re-supply our just-in-time inventory systems. That means there would be no gas, no food, and no way of getting those things delivered until the grid came back up.

As Mr. Martin points out, a coordinated attack focused on the ‘one-off’ elements of the grid would mean that once that hardware was destroyed there would be no way to replace it quickly. And that means not days or weeks, but potentially months, perhaps even years before things were back to normal.

When Hurricane Ike rampaged the Houston, TX area in 2008 it took down 95% of the metropolitan grid. This author was about 25 miles north-west of Houston at the time and can attest to the
difficulties utility workers had with restoring power. It took over 3 weeks to get power running to the outlying areas of the city – and it would have taken much longer had those repair workers not traveled from as far as Florida to assist Texas. Now, consider if a disaster that took out the grid included not
one, but several regional areas, where no workers would be able to come assist.

At the time of the Houston-area outage the first things to go were water, food and gas. Fights were literally breaking out at local gas stations. Those with home generators found them useless, as there was no fuel to keep them going. Grocery stores did not have reserve power, and those that did had it for maybe 12 hours, at which point all refrigeration came to a halt. City water filtration was non-existent, and “Boil Water” notices were posted all over the city – but there was no electricity available, so only those lucky enough to have fuel reserves for their generators or those with natural gas powered stoves were able to drink clean water. Luckily, this only affected a single major city and surrounding areas,
and within a week water and emergency rations became available.

Consider, for a moment, the ramifications of a full-out extended down-grid scenario affecting multiple regions. It would be much like an EMP attack, though some electronic systems may remain operational. Nonetheless, researchers have estimated that a worst-case EMP scenario could lead to 90% casualty rate over the course of a year. We would hope that a grid-attack could be resolved much quicker than an EMP attack, but there would likely still be mass casualties as food stocks ran low, emergency response personnel stayed home to care for their families and violent crime and looting ran rampant.

[Internet photographs:  (left) A nuclear power plant’s control room, TVA. (right) A subterranean power grid control room in Newark, NJ. Imagine the complexity of the things that make our nation what it is, maintaining regional optimized power grids, ‘just-in-time’ retail and grocery delivery/inventories, instant money-credit-financil transaction system,  self service electronic gasoline pumps, on-line brokers, cell phone communications, smart thermostats, transportation fleet controls, automated equipment and robotic workers, iPod- Ipad-microchips here- personal electronics there, conditions that a few decades ago would have almost been considered science fiction.  We live in a modern society bathed and nourished by the flow of digital information, we all depend on the stable flow of energy and the smooth flow of logical, digital language sequences as the machines talk to one another.]

How susceptible are we?
This is a topic of debate. Most of those people who have the power to harden and secure our grids will take no action until after a wide-scale event were to occur – at which point it would be much too late to do anything.

A close friend works for a large power company in the north-east. It just so happened that we had this very discussion a couple of weeks ago. He is a higher level executive at the company and when I asked how secure his company’s grid was in the event of a solar flare, cyber attack or EMP attack he responded, “Officially, we’re prepared to handle whatever comes our way. Unofficially, it will be a complete and utter disaster and we are simply not equipped to handle a mass failure.”

It is common knowledge that many elements of the U.S. power grid are decades old. We hear about smart meters being installed, but according to the friend at the power company, the smart grid portion is less than 1% of the complete grid. That means 99% of the physical grid is essentially running on equipment that has been around since the 70’s and 80’s. All of that old equipment is plugged into computer systems, and all of the computer systems are plugged into and fully accessible via the internet.

According to James Martin and other computer experts, our systems have likely already been breached and there is a real and serious possibility that Trojans, malware and trapdoors have already compromised our systems. They may very well just be sitting there waiting to be activated, at which point they could launch a massive, coordinated cyber attack on essential parts of our power grid infrastructure.

We’re not just talking about software glitches that can be fixed with a quick reboot. We’re talking about cyber attacks that target the physical hardware.

Hard to believe that a computer program can destroy hardware? Think again.

Consider the Stuxnet worm that was recently used to take down 1/5 (or more?) of Iran’s nuclear facilities. According to the New York Times, the Stuxnet worm utilized advanced programming to remain dormant for a time, and once launched, attacked the physical centrifuges used to enrich uranium. While the worm spun centrifuges to the point they destroyed themselves, a portion of the program responsible for sensors and warnings sent human operators and monitoring systems the green light that everything was running like normal. Iran’s nuclear plants,  much like the power grid of the United States, utilized old computer systems that were simply not equipped to handle advanced cyber-attacks that utilized 21st century cyber combat techniques.

There are plenty of enemies of the state who could bring down the US power grid infrastructure – China and Russia to name just a couple. And it’s no secret that the Chinese have been having their way with our networks for quite some time, so it is clearly a real and present danger. The US government regularly runs tests to Simulate Cyber Attacks on US the Internet Infrastructure.

In, 900 Seconds: Cyber Attack Wouldn’t Take Long to Bring Down the USA, [see the article, below] we previously outlined how a cyber attack might play out based on a report from Richard Clark, a one-time counter terrorist specialist with the US government.
In his warning, Mr. Clarke paints a doomsday scenario in which the problems start with the collapse of one of Pentagon’s computer networks.
Soon internet service providers are in meltdown. Reports come in of large refinery fires and explosions in Philadelphia and Houston. Chemical plants malfunction, releasing lethal clouds of chlorine.
Air traffic controllers report several mid-air collisions, while subway trains crash in New York, Washington and Los Angeles. More than 150 cities are suddenly blacked out. Tens of thousands of Americans die in an attack comparable to a nuclear bomb in its devastation.

[Internet photographs: (left) A server farm in San  Jose, CA, holding some of the  near 500bn GB data used on the internet. (right) Typical computer bank, storage, switching and automation controls for medium size business 50-150 employee. There would be many, many thousands of these in USA.]

Yet it would take no more than 15 minutes and involve not a single terrorist or soldier setting foot in the United States. The threat is real, and if it were to ever occur, it would likely come around the same time as an attack on our financial systems – which, as we saw in the May 2009 “fat finger” controversy that brought the stock market down 1000 points in a matter of minutes, is not so difficult to accomplish.

The biggest concern for the average American should be that there is really no emergency response ready to deal with the possibility of a wide-spread power grid cyber attack. The US government has specifically said, through FEMA, that they will not be able to help everyone in the event of a major emergency (think Hurricane Katrina). That means  you need take responsibility for yourself and family now, and Be Prepared to Be Without The System – Make It A Policy. What will you do if there comes a time when there is no electricity, no gas, no clean water and no access to food for several weeks or months?

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B.  900 Seconds: Cyber Attack Wouldn’t Take Long to Bring Down the USA
17 Sep 2011, James Martin (Computer expert, author and technical trend forecaster )
Pasted from: http://nieuwsanita.blogspot.com/2011/09/900-seconds-cyber-attack-wouldnt-take.html

“With our increasing dependence on the internet to transmit everything from emails and electronic payment information to air traffic control and transportation logistics, a properly targeted cyber attack could wreck havoc in the United States within minutes, says Richard Clark:
In his warning, Mr Clarke paints a doomsday scenario in which the problems start with the collapse of one of Pentagon’s computer networks.
Soon internet service providers are in meltdown.
Reports come in of large refinery fires and explosions in Philadelphia and Houston.
Chemical plants malfunction, releasing lethal clouds of chlorine.
Air traffic controllers report several mid-air collisions, while subway trains crash in New York, Washington and Los Angeles.
More than 150 cities are suddenly blacked out.
Tens of thousands of Americans die in an attack comparable to a nuclear bomb in its devastation. Yet it would take no more than 15 minutes and involve not a single terrorist or soldier setting foot in the United States.
An enemy of the United States, whether foreign or domestic, wouldn’t need a nuclear bomb. They would simply need to take down the main computer networks. Many internet operations are centralized, especially in the private sector, so taking down something like the national DNS (Domain Name System) databases would put a stop to pretty much any communications used by the general public.
An attack on Defense Department networks would be even more serious, potentially leading to a cascading effect across the entire nation. Utilities, like water systems and electricity, are highly vulnerable, as they are built on very old technologies and are very dependent on each other due to old-style distribution systems. As an example, consider the massive black out that covered the entire north east for several days in 2003 while emergency crews worked to resolve the problems.
Roughly one fifth of our country was out of power not because local power stations were taken down, but, according to the official story, because one or two main plants experienced outages due to natural causes (trees on power lines). There is still no definitive confirmation on what happened here, and for all we know this could have been a cyber attack testing our networks. It’s no secret that hackers in countries like Russia, and especially China, have spent the last decade infiltrating and testing the stability and security of US networks – including the Pentagon and our satellite systems. At the first sign of potential international conflict, the initial wave of attacks will likely occur on the digital battlefield, resulting in downed communication systems, utilities, cable systems, GPS, cell phone networks, hardline networks and transaction processing systems. Another issue, not related directly to defense computer networks, is that the plans for US water utility, electrical utility, and internet networks are readily available on the internet for anyone to download and analyze for vulnerabilities. We’ve essentially given any potential enemies a road map for how to bring down the United States without even firing a shot.”
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C.  Combined computer attacks could have ‘catastrophic’ global effects
Pasted from: http://www.newkerala.com/news/world/fullnews-125659.html

 ANI, London, Jan 17: A new study has found that coordinated computer attacks could have ‘catastrophic’ global effects.
The report by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said that multiple cyber attacks could “become a full-scale global shock” on a par with a pandemic and the collapse of the world financial system.
“What should concern policy-makers are combinations of events: two different cyber-events occurring at the same time, or a cyber-event taking place during some other form of disaster or attack,” the Scotsman quoted the report as saying.
One such example the report cited was “a very large-scale solar flare (bursts of energy from the sun), which physically destroys key communications components such as satellites, cellular base stations and switches.”
Another could involve “a hitherto unknown fundamental flaw” in the technical building blocks of the Internet “over which agreement for remedy could not be quickly reached”, it added.
According to the report’s co-author Professor Peter Sommer, of the London School of Economics, lurid language and poor analysis were blocking government planning for cyber protection.
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D.  Cyber attacks could create ‘perfect storm’
17 Jan, 2011,  Reuters, By Michael Holden
Pasted from: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/tech-news/oecd-cyber-attacks-could-create-perfect-storm/article1872682/
LONDON – Attacks on computer systems now have the potential to cause global catastrophe, but only in combination with another disaster, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said in a report.

The study, part of a wider OECD project examining possible “Future Global Shocks””such as a failure of the world’s financial system or a large-scale pandemic, said there were very few single “cyber events” that could cause a global shock.

Examples were a successful attack on one of the technical protocols on which the Internet depends, or a large solar flare that wiped out key communications components such as satellites. But it said a combination of events such as coordinated cyber attacks, or a cyber incident occurring during another form of disaster, should be a serious concern for policy makers. “In that eventuality, ‘perfect storm’ conditions could exist,” said the report, written by Professor Peter Sommer of the London School of Economics and Dr Ian Brown of Britain’s Oxford University.

Governments are increasingly emphasizing the importance of cyber security. The United States is preparing for cyber conflict and has launched its own military cyber command. Britain last October
rated cyber attacks as one of the top external threats, promising to spend an extra 650 million pounds ($1 billion) on the issue.

Meanwhile, emerging nations such as China and Russia are believed to see it as an arena in which they can challenge the United States’ conventional military dominance.

The Stuxnet computer worm — which targets industrial systems and was widely believed to be a state attack on Iran’s nuclear program — is seen as a sign of the increasing militarization of cyberspace.
The New York Times reported on Saturday that the worm was a joint U.S.-Israeli effort and had been tested at Israel’s Dimona nuclear plant.

The OECD study concluded that cyber attacks would be ubiquitous in future wars, and that cyber weaponry would be “increasingly deployed and with increasing effect by ideological activists of all persuasions and interests”. But it concluded that a true “cyberwar”, fought almost entirely through computer systems, was unlikely as many critical systems were well protected and the effects of attacks were difficult to predict, and so could backfire on the assailants.

Adopting a largely military approach to cyber security is a mistake, as most targets in the critical national infrastructure, such as communications, energy, finance and transport, are in the private sector.

The US has already experienced two major cyber warning shots. Hackers from Russia or China or both successfully planted software in the US electricity grid that left behind software that could be used to sabotage the system at a later date.

The North Koreans may not be able to feed their people but in 2009 they succeeded in bringing down the servers of the Department of Homeland Security, the US Treasury and several other government departments, along with regular internet providers, by flooding them with requests for data. Most dramatically, it saturated the internet connections of a Pentagon server that the military would rely for
logistical communications in an armed conflict.

“There are significant and growing risks of localized misery and loss as a result of compromise of computer and telecommunications services,” the report said.

Protecting your computer and data
Five steps that every computer user should implement to prevent cyber crime attacks. These days the cyber world is becoming bigger and bigger with rapidly growing number of businesses and individuals using internet as a business place. Naturally, cyber criminals target computers with low antivirus internet security and commit their criminal activities.
However, there are guidelines that need to be followed in order to secure your computer from internet security attacks:
1.  Back-up Data – Savvy computer users are aware of the importance of keeping their data safe and away from internet security attacks and regularly perform backups. You can back up your data on an external data storage device such is CD, memory stick or external hard drive. The device you use will depend on the data size. The overall idea is that if anything happens to your primary data, you can always retrieve them from somewhere.

[Mr Larry: Consider backing up your files in one or more of the ways discussed below:
a)  Seagate Freeagent Go, 250GB or larger,  USB external hard drive. Portable storage solution makes it easy to take your photos, music, videos, ‘historic e-mail’, pdf files, other Internet downloads, and documents everywhere; now they have 1 Terrabyte models.   :-)
b)  Amazon Jungle Disk and S3 olr other “Cloud storage”. The Jungle Disk software is your computer’s interface with Amazon’s cloud drive file servers. Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service) is basically an infinite hard drive you can buy on a pay per usage basis, and Jungle Disk is a utility that allows you to mount S3 as a hard drive on any OS. Jungle Disk has a backup tool built in. I use the S3 only for back up so have been paying about 25¢ – 30¢ a month for the service. See also,   https://www.amazon.com/clouddrive/learnmore/ref=sa_menu_acd_lrn2
c)  Kingston Data Traveler 32GB, USB flash drive. Supports Windows 7, Vista, XP & Mac. Compatible with Windows 7 Available in multiple colors by capacity.
I’ve included images of these items/services below; they should be thought of simply as examples of the many products ‘out there’ that used together will give a depth to your data bases, documents, spreadsheets, photograph, music, MP3,  video and podcast files, etc.]

Images above include (L>R): Left) Seagate Freeagent Go, external,  drive, Middle) A web cloud service, Right) Portable USB flash drive that is never left connected to the system.

2.  File sharing– Another very important thing to be avoided is sharing files with strangers. This makes your computer internet security vulnerable as the files from other computer users may contain malicious infections that without a good anti-virus internet security can potentially destroy your computer or steal sensitive information. Make sure you turn off and disable file-sharing if it is not needed.
3.  Disconnecting from the Internet– It is additional prevention so whenever you internet is not in use just simply disconnect form internet. It lessens the possibility of cyber criminals passing your internet security.
4. Update security patches– Computer programs sometimes contain bugs that can be an entrance to your computer for any malicious person to attack and potentially harm your computer. Therefore, it is very important to regularly update your security patches and increase.
5.  Maintain up to date antivirus software firewall– Good antivirus software and firewall are crucial components of your arsenal to increase internet security that will protect your computer from attacks. Make sure to keep your anti-virus program and firewall up to date.

 

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Thursday, June 5, 2014 · 12:10 AM

How to keep cool indoors and out: vests

(Survival Manual/ Prepper articles/ How to keep cool indoors and out: vests)

Think about maintaining your normal body core temperature, whether inside and outdoors during an extended emergency summer power outage.

A.  Keeping Your Cool: cooling vest type
April 2010, mitoaction,
http://www.mitoaction.org/red-tape/keeping-your-cool-cooling-vest-types-sources-financial-assistance

There are a variety of personal cooling systems that are available for purchase, and each style has unique advantages and drawbacks. Here is a brief summary of the three most popular systems:

1.  Evaporative Cooling Vests:
These vests feel like terry cloth but have tiny pockets of highly absorbable beads that can take in water and expand to 6 times their dry size. The vest is soaked in cool water and gently wrung out to remove excess. The vest is placed over a t-shirt and cools by evaporation; the air moves faster next to the water-logged beads, which creates a layer of cool air between the vest and the skin. Evaporative cooling vests are light weight, inexpensive, and there is no need to purchase a second vest to swap; the vest can be re-wet and immediately used again. Evaporative cooling apparel is not limited to vests; headbands, wristbands, floor mats, and even dog vests are available for purchasing. If an evaporative vest is damaged, it can be re-sewn by hand. The function of the vest isn’t seriously compromised if a few beads escape. (The beads are non-toxic, but always check the vest carefully to avoid ingestion by a child.) Evaporative cooling vests are of limited benefit in humid environments and are sometimes not tolerated by individuals with sensitive skin due to the slight dampness of the garment.

 2.  Phase Change Cooling Systems:
This type of vest contains inserts that are activated by placing them in the freezer or a container of ice water, and then the inserts maintain a consistent temperature (usually 53-56 degrees F.) for up to three hours. The inserts can then be re-activated (10 to 20 minutes for activation) and reused. Many people choose to purchase an extra set of inserts and rotate them, so that the vest can be used continuously. The inserts are not exactly ice packs; they do not reach freezing temperatures so they are unlikely to cause damage if left in contact with bare skin. This makes them safe to use with young children or individuals who are unable to feel heat or cold due to neuropathy or communicate discomfort. They are activated when exposed to temperatures above freezing, and need much less time to recharge than an actual frozen ice pack would take. Also, the inserts do not “sweat” when the cold is being transferred to the wearer, so clothing stays dry. Phase change vests can be made to fit wearers of all ages and sizes, custom vests can be made for individuals weighing more or less than the displayed vests are recommended for.

There are drawbacks to purchasing and using phase change vests. The inserts add weight to the vest, from 1 ½ to 2 lbs for children’s vests to 4 lbs or more for 3X or 4X adult sizes. Fortunately, the weight is evenly distributed on the body and is close to the individual’s center of gravity, so the balance issues associated with backpacks or weights shouldn’t be a problem. The cooling vest system is much more expensive than an evaporative vest; you can expect to pay around $200 for a vest and two sets of inserts. The phase change inserts are filled with a viscous fluid and are durable but not indestructible. If an insert is damaged it must be discarded and replaced.

3.  Hybrid Cooling Vests:
This vest combines the benefits of the evaporative as well as phase change vests. The user has the ability to choose between using the evaporative or phase change cooling methods, and can also choose to use both systems simultaneously to complement one another. This type of vest is new to the market, but customers who have purchased hybrid guests have reported high satisfaction rates.

4.  Cold Pack Cooling Vests:
These vests look just like phase change cooling vests, but use actual ice packs that freeze at 32 degrees or in some cases, even colder. These cold packs give the highest level of cooling because the cold packs are the lowest temperature. These vests are effective in extreme humidity and very high temperatures. Extra packs can be added or changed out over time.

There are several drawbacks to cold pack vests. The frozen inserts are generally heavier than phase change inserts, are usually inflexible when frozen, and must be returned to an actual freezer, below 32 degrees farenheight, to be refrozen, which can take several hours. Most frozen packs “sweat” while discharging cold energy, which some individuals may find uncomfortable. Most importantly, ice packs cannot be applied directly to skin and should never be used by individuals who may have impaired sensation, are asleep, or unable to communicate discomfort, as frostbite and serious injury can occur.

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B .  MSolutions Cooling Climate Control Products
http://www.mscooling.com/faq
1.  WHO NEEDS A COOLING VEST?
If work, leisure activities or medical conditions make you uncomfortably hot and/or affect your performance, you could benefit from a Cooling Vest.

2.  WHAT IS HEAT STRESS?
Heat stress occurs when the body’s reaction to the environment causes its core temperature to rise above safe limits. This can result in a racing heart, profuse sweating, dizziness, reduced energy and slowed reaction times. This reduces safety, decreases efficiency and lowers productivity.
What is the difference between the many different types of body cooling systems available?
There are many different cooling products available and the best one for you depends on your personal situation, activity and environment. We recommend you consult your health care professional prior to purchasing a cooling garment or system.

A summary of the systems:

Evaporative
Cooling Power: Low*
Cost: Very Low
(*depending on humidity and outside variables)

Cold packs
Cooling Power: High
Cost: Low to Medium

Phase Change
Cooling Power: Medium
Cost: Medium

Active Cooling
Cooling Power: Very High
Cost: High to Very High

Evaporative Cooling: These products come in an assortment of garments that fit a wide variety of locations on the body. They are soaked in water to charge special polymer materials built into the garments. As the water evaporates (sometimes over several days), the garment provides surface cooling. These systems are typically low cost and light weight.
Advantages: Low cost, light weight works for an extended period of time
Disadvantages: Requires wetting of garment loses effectiveness in higher humidity

Cold pack cooling: These products typically come in vests, neck coolers and wrist coolers. The products work by incorporating cold packs into pockets of the wraps. The cold packs are placed in a freezer or a refrigerator until ready for use and then are placed in pockets designed into the wraps. The packs will stay cold for 2 to 4 hours depending on environmental conditions.
Advantages: Medium cost, no wetting required effective for 2-4 hours, highest cooling capacity works in all environments adjustable cooling with more / less packs extra packs easily carried for extended cooling
Disadvantages: Requires access to freezer / refrigerator requires time for packs to freeze medium weight: 4-5 lbs.

Phase Change Cold Pack Cooling: These products are similar to the cold pack systems only use a phase change polymer in the cold packs or the garment. This technology controls the release of temperature to a specific range through out the cooling cycle. A typical temperature is 58 degree F. Phase change cold packs may be recharged in the freezer, refrigerator or in ice water.
Advantages: Charges in ice water, refrigerator, freezer wetting not required, effective for 2-3 hours provides moderate cooling temperature  works in all environments extra packs easily carried for extended cooling
Disadvantages:  Higher cost system, high cost of spare packs Lower cooling efficiency than cold packs medium weight: 5-7 lbs. medium cooling capacity.

Active Cooling: These products typically incorporate a coolant, often ice water, that is circulated from a reservoir by a pump system through channels or tubes embedded in a vest. Often a hood for the head is incorporated into the system also. The temperature of the circulating coolant usually can be adjusted. The system operates on batteries, house or car current. This type of system will provide many hours of cooling before the ice and water needs to be recharged.
Advantages:  Most effective cooling – core body cooling adjustable cooling temperature extended cooling time between recharges no wetting required, works in all environments light weight garments.
Disadvantages: Very high cost system tethered system limits mobility requires ice water reservoir.

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C.  Glacier Tec  Phase Change cooling vest
Pasted from <http://blog.coolvest.com/easy-rider-glacier-tek-coolvest-product-review/>

Original RPCM® Cooling Vest – Tan Khaki
Price: $179.00, get a 10% discount with the special sales code “fjrforum-10”    from <http://www.fjrforum.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=139799>

I have this vest and it works well, it does keep you cool out doors at temperatures of around 100F while doing light to medium work . I prefer using this,  the “phase change” vest for “in the house” applications when the power is out. It’s dry and doesn’t damped furniture; for for a similar reason, I prefer the evaporative vest, discussed below, for outdoor use.

Product Details:
RPCM® Cooling Vests feature side elastic straps and over-the-shoulder adjustability to fit a wide range of body sizes. RPCM® Cool Vests provide you with the maximum comfort available in the market today. They maintain a cool, constant 59°F/15°C temperature for up to 2½ hours, weigh less than 5 lbs., and recharge in minutes. The RPCM® Cool Vest is extremely durable. It can be easily cleaned in regular laundry. .                                                           

> RPCM® Cool Packs quickly recharge in only 20 minutes in ice water. The packs charge (freeze solid) at a temperature about 50 degrees. There are 3 ways to fully charge the packs. They will be rock solid even using the refrigerator which is my favorite of the 3 ways.
__1) On the road toss them in a plastic bag full of ice for 30 minutes.
__2) Put them in the freezer for 1 hour.
__3) Put them in the refrigerator for 2 hours
> RPCM® Cool Vests are Glacier Tek’s exclusive Patent-Pending technology that uses a unique “green” formula.
> RPCM® contains absolutely no hazardous ingredients or chemicals and is completely non-toxic.
> Vest weigh less than 5 lbs.

Frequently asked questions (FAQ)
Pasted from <http://www.glaciertek.com/RPCM_Cooling_Vest/FAQ.aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1>

Q. Is the material in the RPCM® Cooling Vest hazardous?
A. No. The phase change material in the RPCM® Cool Pack is unique among phase change materials used for cooling. It is the only phase change cooling vest on the market which contains no hazardous ingredients or materials. It is also non-toxic, safe, and environmentally friendly. Should the RPCM® Cool Pack become punctured and leak onto your skin, it may be washed off with soap and water.

Q. How many times can the RPCM® Cooling Vest be used?
A. If the RPCM® Cool Packs are not punctured or torn, they can be used indefinitely. Our RPCM Cooling Vest has no shelf life. Some of our cooling packs have been recharged 10,000 times with no measurable change in performance.

Q. Can I store my cooling vest in the freezer?
A. Yes, the RPCM® Cooling Packs can be deep-frozen indefinitely without affecting performance.

Q. How long do RPCM® Cooling Vests take to recharge?
A. Typically 20 minutes in ice water will fully recharge a set of cooling packs, longer in a freezer or refrigerator. They recharge more quickly in ice water because of the conductive method of heat transfer. In a freezer, they chill convectively, which takes longer. They can be stored in a refrigerator or freezer indefinitely without damage or loss of functionality. Recharging in a cold freezer with the door kept shut takes about an hour. In a refrigerator, it can be several hours to overnight, depending on the heat load, how many times the refrigerator is opened, etc.

Q. What are the benefits of RPCM® Cool Packs over ice or frozen gel packs?
A. There are three key benefits:

  1. RPCM® Cool Packs operate at a much more comfortable 59° F (15°C) temperature. That means they can’t cause skin or tissue damage or cause extreme discomfort like ice or frozen gel can do.
  2. RPCM® Cool Packs will be effective for a longer period of time between charges. The reason? The difference in temperature between ambient (surrounding) air and the phase change product is much less than the difference in temperature between ambient air and ice. That means more cooling is absorbed by the body and less is lost to the air.
  3. RPCM® Cool Packs are cooled to a temperature that is usually above the dew point. That means they normally won’t condense or sweat against your body or clothing. Ice and frozen gel packs are below the dew point, so they sweat, making them uncomfortable to wear and adding to the weight of the vest or jacket. Condensation also robs the ice pack of efficiency because condensation creates heat, which is absorbed by the pack, further reducing its efficiency.

Q. How do RPCM® Cooling Vests compare with evaporative-type products?
A. RPCM® Cooling Vests provide much greater efficiency and better performance. Evaporative-type products by design retain water, so are always wet and can grow bacteria. This makes them uncomfortable against your skin. It also means they will grow mildew quickly over time, as they rarely dry out. Further, evaporative-type products can’t operate in high humidity environments (or under protective clothing,) because the atmosphere is already saturated with water, so there is no place for the evaporation to go. RPCM® Cooling Vests, on the other hand, are unaffected by humidity.

Q. Will RPCM® Cooling Vests reduce body core temperature?
A. Our products are worn to help maintain a normal body core temperature. The purpose of phase change cooling technology is to help maintain a comfortable core temperature and prevent that temperature from increasing above normal. It’s our goal to help you avoid heat stress in the first place.

Q. Isn’t water a phase change material?
A. Yes. A phase change occurs whenever matter changes from one form into another. Water can change from a solid (ice) to a liquid, as well as to a vapor. Water changes into a solid at a specific temperature: 32ºF (0°C). But RPCM® Cooling Vest packs change into their solid form at 59º F (15°C). Since water changes into its solid form at a much lower temperature, it loses more of its cooling ability to ambient (surrounding) temperature. It’s also below the dew point, so it causes condensation as it melts. Further, it’s uncomfortable and requires an overnight stay in the freezer to refreeze.

Q. Will RPCM® Cooling Vests cause vasoconstriction?
A. That’s one of the advantages of RPCM® Cooling Vests: They function within a comfortable temperature range that unlikely to promote vasoconstriction of blood vessels, unlike ice or frozen gel which promotes rapid vasoconstriction. This is an important benefit, as non-constricted blood vessels allow your circulatory system to freely move blood throughout your body, then release heat at the skin surface. With ice, the body is fooled into defending itself agains the intense cold. It reacts by constricting the blood vessels near the skin, limiting the body’s natural cooling system. The heart and lungs then have to work harder, expending extra energy in the chest cavity and creating yet more body heat and other risks.

Q. Do RPCM® Cooling Vests come in sizes?
A. No. The RPCM® Cooling Vest is adjustable across a wide range of sizes to enable it to fit many people. Inventories of various sizes are reduced and one vest may be adjusted to fit several people, enabling sharing of the product from person to person. It adjusts over the shoulders and around the waist for a comfortable fit in a wide range of body sizes.

Q. Where can I purchase Glacier Tek Products?
A. Glacier Tek, Inc. wishes to offer you the most expedient service possible, and allows you to choose from several ordering options: Order On-Line, Fill out an Information Sheet, or call us at 800-482-0533 for more information or to locate a distributor near you. Thank you for your interest in Glacier Tek, Inc. and our cooling technology products.

.

D.  Tech Deluxe Evaporative Cooling vest
Amazon.com, $49.99
See: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FGD8SA/ref=gno_cart_title_1

[Photo at left] TechNiche Deluxe Hyperkewl Evaporative cooling vest, Large size (40-42),, silver colored exterior, $49.99: High mandarin collar, front pockets, and zipper closure combine to offer the ultimate cooling and sun protection solution.

The evaporative vest works, I have one and prefer it for outdoor use. I’ve tested it doing my afternoon walks at temperatures of about 100F.

HyperKewl™ Evaporative Cooling Fabric is 47% Fluff Pulp, 33% Crosslinked Super Absorbent Polymer Fiber, Sodium Acrylate Coploymer and 20 % Bicomponent Polyolefin Bonding Fiber

EASY TO USE:
1.  Soak garment in cool water for 1-3 minutes
2.  Gently squeeze out excess water
3.  Wear; repeat steps as needed
4.  Hang to dry
5.  Wash in mild, soapy water (as needed)

Improved HyperKewl™ Evaporative Cooling Fabric ((PEF6519) – Helps our Evaporative Cooling products to last longer, and withstand more wear and tear. No gel or beads. This simple and effective technology works by combining water with our HyperKewl™ Fabric to create garments that gradually release water through evaporation to keep you cool and comfortable. Comfortable quilted Oxford nylon outer w/ polymer embedded fabric inner, water repellent nylon liner, and black poly-cotton trim.
Provides 5-10 hours of cooling relief per soaking; lightweight, durable and washable.

* Between use the vests are each hung on a sturdy wide shouldered clothes hanger.

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Monday, June 2, 2014 · 12:10 AM

Everything Won’t Be Alright

(Survival Manual/ Prepper articles/ Everything Won’t Be Alright)

Everything Won’t Be Alright
4 September 2012, The Automatic Earth, Ashvin Pandurangi
Pasted from: http://theautomaticearth.com/Earth/everything-isnt-alright.html

“Looking around at those… around me – family, friends, acquaintances and random faces in the crowd of apathy – the level of complacency is so concentrated I can taste it, yet I can’t even describe how bad it tastes. I’m not really talking about the understanding people lack about the numerous predicaments we face as a species – that’s definitely there too… but what I’m talking about is even worse. It’s the assumption that we can just go about our day-to-day lives, doing our day-to-day work, having our day-to-day fun… and humanity will eventually heal itself, no matter how bad the injuries sustained.

This is a cultural phenomenon that has infested the Western world, and refuses to be eradicated. It is where many of us ultimately place our hope and stake our lives, sometimes without even realizing we are doing it. We previously discussed the entertainment enemas that have penetrated modern culture (and the lives of deluded teenagers) in Culturally Programmed Myths of Omnipotence. They have given us the vision that we can always become bigger, “better” and stronger as individuals and nations, evolving towards God-like glory, no matter what obstacles are in our way – all of the stories about superheroes, vampires, werewolves, wizards, robots and aliens – it’s all about the propaganda of pernicious power.

We even see this mentality taking root in academia and scientific research through the field of “transhumanism” (very well portrayed in the documentary, TechnoCalyps). As you can probably guess from the name, transhumanism tells us that we are on the way to becoming something more, something other, than human beings. Forget random mutation and natural selection, the transhumanist says – we can circumvent all of the slow evolutionary nonsense that we only theorized about a century ago. Now we can transform ourselves into a new species over the course of a few decades with the help of modern technology and “intelligent designers”. Just a little bit ironic, don’t you think?

Ironic, yet frighteningly appealing to the broader public. Yet another aspect of this cultural programming is the idea that all troubling stories have a happy ending – that all good things come to those who [sit on their ass and] wait. We have obviously been fed this diet of propaganda by movies and television on a consistent basis over the course of decades. You sit through one and a half hours of action-packed plots with drama, romance, suspense, twists and turns mixed in… and then the whole thing comes together and the heroes prevail in the last 20 minutes. That’s truly how many people view the world now – an epic movie that is approaching its glorious credits, just so the sequel can come out next year.

This virulent mentality is not only quarantined to the mainstream materialistic culture, but is also evident in many alternative spheres of cultural milieu, even penetrating its way into the so-called “Doomer” crowds. Many people who are otherwise extremely pessimistic about the current world-system and its effects on human civilization have found refuge in the idea that we are entering a “New Age” of human existence. It may be initially characterized by pockets of chaos and upheaval, but it will end with a radical spiritual transformation that results from the natural evolution of human consciousness.

The Universe will re-balance itself and bring the blessings of peace and harmony to ALL of its inhabitants – “all” being those who are mentally programmed to properly decode its gifts. There is really nothing “new” about these concepts, though – they borrow many of their underlying tenets from the ancient religions of Hinduism and Buddhism. For example, a prominent prophecy within sects of the latter is the arrival of the Maitreya Buddha at a time when humans have completely lost touch with their true nature as immaterial and interconnected parts of the divine whole (a time like now, perhaps?).

The Maitreya may not be a majority view in “New Age” circles, but it reflects a general mentality that has submerged itself in both the mainstream and alternative streams of modern culture, presenting itself to us in many different forms. There is an entire industry based around the concept of self-help gurus teaching people [much too] simple ways to become “happy, healthy and successful”, no matter what is going on in the world around them. Yet we all know that there is no money to be made from a product that truly helps its patients (customers).

They’re selling us exactly what we want to hear – that the reality of human suffering in the world is not actually as bad as it appears to be; that there is more truth in the fictional movies we have seen than in our real lives. Maybe if we can just find that slick-looking guy in the black leather jacket and cool shades, snatch the red pill and wash it down with a bottle of Absinthe, the truth will be revealed to us and everything will be alright in the end. Or maybe the blue pill will give us a better high…? Either way, I’m here to say that we should be really careful what we wish for, because there is only a razor thin line between the truth and fiction these days.

Most importantly, though, I am here to make clear that no one is immune from the mentality that “everything is alright” or “everything can be alright”, including me. I have my own personal beliefs about how humanity can be preserved and even perfected, and I don’t believe there is anything inherently wrong with that. What’s wrong is when I forget to remind myself where those beliefs come from and where they are truly leading me. Do they simply make me feel good and comfortable and “enlightened”? Am I simply willing to swallow the red pill because someone slick tells me it will “open my eyes”?

Or is there something more fundamentally true about why I have deep concerns and why I have ultimate hope. What sacrifices are really required of myself and others to reach our maximum human potentials? I believe these are questions we must repeatedly ask ourselves, because the moment we become too comfortable and too uncritical of our beliefs, or the beliefs of others around us, is the moment that we become apathetic and willing to go wherever the world takes us. It is only when we confront the uncomfortable truths of our situation in this world that we will be able to become the best we can possibly be.”

Current News headlines (the list is growing) (Mr. Larry)
The middle class is being destroyed
Private Debt Is Crippling the Economy
Average Credit Card Interest Rates Are Way Too High
Too Big To Fail Banks Get Bigger, American Dream Turns Nightmare
Does shadow banking require regulation?
A Cartel of Big Banks Is Hurting the World Economy By Manipulating Derivatives
JPMorgan’s Big Loss: Why Banks Still Haven’t Learned Their Lesson
Despite a Negative Fund Balance the FDIC is Insuring $6.1T in Deposits
 Gas prices shouldn’t be high, but are: What gives?
France Interior Ministry threatens to expel Muslims
EU Police to Patrol Internet for Political Enemies Opposed to “European Integration”
Hypocrisy Alert: The Obama ‘Royal Family’ Continues Spending Spree with Lavish Vacations
China Challenges Obama’s Asia Pivot With Rapid Military Buildup
Russia, China seal major gas deal, bypass US dollar
Russia’s secret weapon: crashing US economy by collapsing petrodollar

Democracy and the bathroom metaphor
Two people live in an apartment and there are two bathrooms, then both have the freedom of the bathroom. You can go to the bathroom anytime you want, and stay as long as you want, for whatever you need. Everyone believes in the freedom of the bathroom. It should be right there in the Constitution. But if you have 20 people in the apartment and two bathrooms, no matter how much every person believes in the freedom of the bathroom, there is no such thing. You have to set up times for each person, you have to bang at the door, “Aren’t you through yet?” and so on.

The same way democracy cannot survive overpopulation. Human dignity cannot survive it. Convenience and decency cannot survive it. As you put more and more people into the world, the value of life not only declines, it disappears. It doesn’t matter if someone dies. The more people there are the less one individual matters. …………………….Issac Asimov

US Population, no one is talking about it! Could it be the root of our problems? Ya think?
1775 – the founding of our nation, and at about the time the Constitution was written, this country had a population of 2,500,000.
7 September 2012: Now, a mere 237 years later,  we have a population of 313,459,820, which is 125 times larger than in 1775 when our Constitution was drawn up.
We need to stop immigration and reduce the US population about 15% so that there is no unemployment and we are eating within our means. In the coming 20 years or less, when the downside from Peak Oil becomes manifest, that 15% reduction may need be stretched to…..ummmm 47%. Mr. Larry.

The graphic below depicts the power and money flow trickling down through the US and global economy, its pathway into the not to distant future; of course with different named, but substantially similarly sub categories. We all share the common end point, one of deep concern. Mr. Larry.

In the meanwhile, as our train hurdles down the track, while everyone is metaphorically comfortable in their seat watching life pass by, unaware that historically, “global”‘ debt scenarios do not end well for the public at large, you should:
1.  Keep a minimal amount of cash in the bank, keep the balance in a safe place that only your family knows about. (make sure you have a lot of smaller bills, $1, $5, $10 and rolls of change; you might have to pay exact cash for groceries.
2.  Obtain a few hundred ounces of silver coin (Silver Eagles and US pre 1965 silver change). Buy the silver only after you have some cash set aside.
3.  Have a few ounces of gold coin (Gold Eagles), figure that 1 ounce equals a month’s living expenses. Buy gold only after you have the silver coins.
4.  Have  some food (3+ months) in nitrogen packed cans in long term storage, and use bulk rotation in your well stocked cupboards.
5.  Have various household supplies in storage.
6.  Be prepared to protect your home from  invasion. Everyone approaching their mid teens should be part of your home security plan.
[Photo: Smith & Wesson Military & Police 9mm (S&W M&P9) Barrel Length 5″, Capacity 17 + 1]

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Thursday, May 8, 2014 · 12:08 AM

The Jacob Seybert family, Part 2: Fort Seybert

[Continued from The Jacob Seybert family: Coming to America]

Part 2: From the events at Fort Seybert to the defeat of the NW Indian Confederation.

 Wednesday, 28 April 1758:  On this fateful morning, a fog lay upon the land shrouding South Fork Valley.  The immediate presence of the approaching Shawnee war party was unsuspected.
Eastward from the stockade, the ground fell rapidly to the level of the river bottom.  At the foot of the slope was a damp swale through which flowed a stream that was crossed by a log bridge.  A few yards beyond this was a spring which supplied water for the fort[1]. In the early morning hours a woman walked there for water and was unaware that an Indian, supposedly Killbuck himself, was hiding under the log bridge.

About this time, Sarah Dyer-Hawes,  the wife of Peter Hawes (deceased), went out with a servant boy named Wallace to milk some cows.  While following a path which today leads toward the circa 1910 Post Office (south of the fort), they were surprised by two Indians and captured.  Mrs. Hawes was said to have had a pair of sheep shears in her hand and to have attempted to stab one of the Indians.

William Dyer[2] had gone out to hunt earlier that morning and was waylaid by the Indians near the fort.  He had time to fire his weapon, but his flintlock refused to prime.  As he drew back the hammer for a second trial he was pierced by several musket balls fired by the Indians. William fell dead and the cocked flintlock dropped from his grasp, where it lay on the forest floor until decay of the stock separated lock and barrel.  Mr. J. Clem Miller, (son of William C. Miller), has in his possession a rusty flintlock with its hammer cocked that was found west of the fort. He believes it may have been in the hands of William Dyer when he was killed.

The gunfire alerted the fog shrouded settlement.[3] With the presence of the enemy now known, Nicholas, the 15 year old son of Captain Jacob Seybert, took station in the upper floor of the blockhouse.  From his elevated position, he mortally wounded an Indian, who raised his head from behind the ledge of rocks under the brow of a hill, one hundred yards eastward, in the direction of the spring.[4]

At this time a horseman was riding toward the fort, but hearing the gunfire and knowing something was wrong, he spread the alarm among the more distant settlers.

Presently, Chief Killbuck, who was leading the war party, walked into a clearing by the fort and called for a truce.  He called on the defenders to surrender the fort, threatening no mercy if they did not, but good treatment if they did. Killbuck had good reason for using deceit in an attempt to take the fort.  It was not a great distance from Fort Seybert to the more heavily populated regions of the Shenandoah Valley.  White reinforcements would certainly be coming, so time was an important element.

Jacob listened to the deceitful parley.

Although there were about forty persons in the fort, there were very few men amongst them.  Most of the men from Dyer Settlement had gone across the Shenandoah Mountain on business a day or so before, among them Matthew Patton, Michael Mallow and Andrew Trumbo.  Also, several families had fled the valley in fear that very morning.
Regardless, it is doubtful that Fort Seybert ever had a strong garrison.  Whether the fewness of adult men or a shortage of supplies, especially ammunition, had anything to do with Jacob’s decision is not known, but Jacob yielded to the demands of the enemy, which also included turning over what money and other valuables the defenders had.[5]

Just before the gate was opened, Nicholas Seybert took aim at Killbuck and was squeezing the trigger when the gun muzzle was knocked downward; the ball only raised the dust at Killbuck’s feet.
(Accounts differ as to whether Jacob or another man, Robertson, deflected the gun.)  In finding that
surrender had been decided upon, Nicholas was so enraged he attempted to use violence on his father, Jacob.
The gate was opened, and the savages rushed in.
Killbuck dealt Jacob a blow in the mouth with the pipe side of his tomahawk, knocking out several of his teeth.  Instantly the whites realized the horror of their situation and saw the inevitable doom which awaited them.  In a false moment of security, they had trusted the promise of savages and now were about to pay for the folly with their lives.  Nicholas did not surrender, but was taken prisoner by being overpowered.
When the settlers were secured and led outside, the fort was burned.  A woman named, Hannah Hinkle, bedfast at the time, perished in the flames.
The man, Robertson, had hid himself and as soon as the Indians withdrew, he hurried to the river, followed a bluff to conceal his tracks and made his way over the Shenandoah Mountain.[6]

According to Keister family tradition: When the Indians poured into the fort and the settlers found they were to be massacred, they broke and ran.  During the confusion, Hannah Dyer Keister hid with two small children and one infant among large rocks about 200 yards from the fort and remained there during the slaughter.  The boulders being huge, could hide several people amongst them easily.  Today the place where she hid is called Galloping Run.

The war party took their prisoners up the slope toward South Fork Mountain, where they stopped on a hillside about a quarter mile to the west of the burning fort.  After some discussion, the Indians separated their captives into two groups and seated them in rows on two logs.  The row on one log was for captivity; the other was for slaughter.  Those to be killed were tied hand and foot.  On a signal, the doomed persons were tomahawked and scalped.  Their bleeding bodies left where they fell.  Sarah Dyer-Hawes fainted when she saw her father sink below the blow of his executioner.[7]

Tomahawks continued to fall killing the already wounded Jacob Seybert, age 41 years; his wife Mary Elizabeth Theiss, age 37 ; Jacob’s mother Johanna (about 65 years old); and others.[8]

Suddenly, James Dyer, a tall 14 year old boy, broke away and ran ahead of several pursuing warriors to a thicket on the river a half mile to the east.  He was recaptured.
Of the thirty settlers captured within the fort, only eleven were spared.

Among the remaining captives were the children of Jacob and Mary Seybert:  Nicholas, age 15 years; ancestor Margaret, age 12; Catherine, 10; Elizabeth, 9; Henry, 7; and  George, 5.
The other surviving captives included James Dyer, Mrs. Sarah Dyer Hawes, Mrs. Jacob Peterson, pregnant Mrs. Mallow, and Miss Henever.

The Indians’ reason to spare the captives was to adopt them and, thereby, strengthen the tribe.  They wanted young men who would make valiant warriors and strong young women who could help the squaws do work.  They did not want old people, weaklings or cowards.  They preferred brunettes to blondes because they  more closely resembled the Indian complexion.
The Wallace boy’s blonde scalp was later seen by Sarah Hawes at the Indian village.

By now, it was past noon.
The war party, with their eleven remaining captives and their wounded comrade on a improvised litter, began climbing South Fork Mountain.  (Their route can be followed on the Pendleton County Map.)  The settler’s surrendered valuables, which included a half bushel of silver and gold coins[9],  had been collected in an iron kettle that carried on a pole between two braves.  As the trudging up the east slope of the South Fork Mountain became more burdensome and fear of pursuit made faster travel more advisable, the two Indians fell behind the group and hid the valuables.  It is doubtful that they returned to claim the treasure, as this was their last known visit to the area.  One of the women, Mrs. Mallow, had a crying baby.  To quiet it, an Indian seized the child and stuck its neck into the forks of a dogwood sapling and let the tree fly back.  The baby died.
The war party followed a pathway, still known as Indian Trail, which crosses South Fork Mountain through Dean’s Gap and the Deer Run area.  By nightfall they had reached Greenawalt Gap, having come about nine miles north of the smoldering Fort Seybert.
It was here that the Indian, which Nicholas Seybert had shot in the head, died of his wound.  He was buried 500 feet up the steep mountain side in a cavern.  Until 1850 or so, portions of the skeleton were still to be seen in the cave.
The next morning the group continued past the site of the burned Fort Upper Tract and through Germany Valley.[10]  Their second night’s encampment was at the mouth of Seneca River.
The party traveled without pursuit or mishap.  After a journey of nine days the band of Shawnee and their captives reached the Indian villages near Chillicothe, Ohio.[11]

The next day after the massacre at Fort Seybert, a relief party led by Captain Brock, undoubtedly notified by Robertson, arrived at the smoldering ruins.  It was too late to do anything, except bury the slaughtered victims.[12]  Their ghastly corpses were interred in one common grave, undoubtedly, very near the spot where the tragedy occurred.  A stone wall was erected around the grave, where it stood for nearly a century.  The wall was removed by a Road Overseer, who was willing to overlook common decency and respect for the resting place of the dead, inorder to fill a mud hole.

Three weeks after the massacre, Daniel Smith was named administrator for the Jacob “Sivers” estate.  The estate was appraised on November 8th, 1758, recorded on November 15th and consisted of:
Horses – 4 mares, 3 colts, 2 yearlings
Cattle – 1 bull, 7 cows, 6 calves, 2 steers, and 6 young cattle
Parcel of old iron, parcel of copper
Colter and shears, Kettle and Basin
The estate, valued at 54 pounds, 4 shillings and 3 pence, was subsequently sold to pay for provisioning the militia.[13]  (See: Appraisal of the Seybert Estate, included in this document.)

George Washington estimated the total loss of life at Fort Upper Tract and Fort Seybert at sixty persons.  The burning of the forts and general havoc wrought in the foray delivered a severe blow to the infant settlements, but the land was not abandoned.

The captive pioneer children lived in a Shawnee Indian village near Chillicothe, Ohio.
“After a year or more with the Indians, Nicholas Seybert arranged for the escape of his brothers and sisters.  He had become a trustee with the Indians, and was allowed to carry on fur trading with the French.  One evening when a wagon load of furs was taken out of camp he put his brothers and sisters in the bottom of the wagon, piling furs on top of them.  As the wagon was driven away Nicholas
remained at camp, manifesting surprise when the Indians discovered their disappearance.  He pretended to be as disturbed as the Indians.  That same night he made his escape.”[14]

Several years after his return, Nicholas Seybert sold his father’s farm to John Blizzard and made a new home on Straight Creek.  Some of his descendants still live in that vicinity.
From 1768 to the early years of the Revolutionary War, he owned a Tavern or Inn at Fredericktown, Maryland.
Nicholas went into the Revolutionary War from Maryland and became a Lieutenant.  He later dropped out of the Maryland regiment to join a Virginian regiment. After the war, he spent the rest of his life on Straight Creek, in present day Highland County, Virginia, where he and his brothers owned land.[15]  (See: Pendleton County Map.)

James Dyer remained among the Indians for about two years, occasionally accompanying trading parties to Fort Pitt, now Pittsburgh, Ohio.  On his last trip, he was sent with an Indian to buy bread.  Eluding his companion, he entered a cabin and sought protection.  A French trader’s wife hid him behind a trunk and stacked furs over him.  In searching for James, the Indians came into the hut and removed a few furs, but stopped before he was discovered.

About a year and a half after making his escape, James accompanied his brother-in-law, Matthew Patton, to Fort Pitt to sell cattle.  A cattle dealer told them that a tribe near there had a red headed woman among them. Matthew arranged for a store dealer to have the woman come to the store.  The woman was his sister, Sarah Dyer Hawes.  She was  hidden behind and under the store’s counter and covered with hides.[16]

Sarah’s captivity made some changes in her appearance and manner, so that when she returned, her young daughter did not recognize her.  In time the child accepted her identity. Sarah’s husband, Henry, had died in 1755, before the massacre.  In 1764, a couple years after escaping from the Indians, she was remarried  to a Robert Davis.  Sarah died circa 1818, at about 80 years of age, leaving behind at least 25 grandchildren.

The pregnant Mrs. Mallow gave birth to a son, Henry, in captivity.  She eventually returned to her husband Michael, just before he was to be remarried.

As cruel and unmerciful as the Shawnee were in war, when a captive was saved and adopted into an Indian family the captive was treated the same as any other member of that family.  Every effort was made to make adopted whites content and create in them a willingness to stay.  Returned captives stated that they were treated with great hospitality and kindness, according to the Indian’s ideas of these virtues.  When the colonial militias and later the United States army forced the surrender of white captives, there was often great sorrow at the parting.  The Indians delivered their beloved captives with utmost reluctance, and shed torrents of tears over them.  As long as the army remained in camp, the Indian families would visit their adoptee daily, bringing them corn, skins, horses and other materials they had bestowed on them while in their families.[17]

This first stage of the Pioneer Period was brief. It marks little more than the gaining of a foothold on the new soil. It was the story of a weak settlement in the remote corner of a huge country.

With the collapse of French power in America in 1760, the Indian peril became less acute; however, the Indians carried on a war of their own account.

Meanwhile, a renewed wave of immigration swept into Highland County, into that part which became Pendleton County, West Virginia.  Land values rose, and highways were extended.  Church and school houses made their appearance.

In 1764 the Indians were forced to give up some thirty two men and fifty eight women and children as captives.[18]

During 1770, about 10 years after her escape from the Indians, 25 year old Margaret Seybert married 24 year old William Janes IV.[19]  William and Margaret developed a plantation on Straight Creek about 25 miles southwest of old Fort Seybert and the Dyer Settlement.  Their property was possibly either adjoining a part of or very near William’s parents’ plantation, which had been purchased in 1751.
The William Janes IV and Margaret Seybert plantation (ca 1770-1801) included properties located between 3 to 4 miles north of Monterey, on both the north side and within the forks of Straight Creek and West Straight Creek.  In this location the plantation was about 2.5 miles south of  the confluence of Straight Creek and the South Branch of the Potomac.  Nicholas Seybert and his brothers also bought property and lived in this area.

From 1764 to 1774 there was a period of relative peace on the “west” Virginia frontier.  During this time the Pendleton County Deed Book showed the conveyance of 200,000 acres of land to the “Whites” from the Shawnee, Delaware and Iroquois  Indians.  The payment was to be made in  blankets, shirts, stockings, ribbon, calico, serge[20], thread, gartering, strouds, and callimancoe; also in knives, needles, tobacco, tongs, brass kettles, powder, lead, gunflints, vermilion and ten dozen
jewsharps.[21]  The Indian Tribes were being pushed west and northwest by colonial expansion.

Meanwhile on Straight Creek, William and Margaret started a family with the births of son, Henry, born 1771 and daughter, Eleanor, born 1773.

1774 to 1779 was a time when great change swept through the American colonies:
1)  There was a successful revolution against England.
2) The French, who had been our enemies during the French and Indian War, were now celebrated allies in our fight for freedom.
3)  A fledgling, post Revolutionary War colonial government formed and signed the Constitution of the United States.

During 1774: Beyond the Shenandoah Mountains, a ten year period of peace with the Indians came to an end.  In a band stretching from the Indian Territories of Ohio into ‘west’ Virginia, there developed a long period of hostilities.  Beginning in 1774 and lasting twenty years, a renewed state of guerrilla warfare existed between the settlers and Indians.  During this long period there was always the chance that some war party might pass through the broadening zone of settlement and once more bring the tomahawk and torch to the realization of people who knew from experience what these things meant.

At their plantation on Straight Creek, a tributary of the South Branch of the Potomac, the William Janes IV and Margaret Seybert family continued to grow with the births of John, born in 1777, Samuel in 1779, my ancestor ♥ William V in 1780, Edward in 1783, Elizabeth in 1785, and Margaret in 1787.[22]

In 1789, George Washington, who in his younger years directed that Fort Upper Tract and other frontier forts be built on the western Virginia frontier during the French and Indian Wars, and who went on to command the Colonial Militia during the American Revolution, was overwhelmingly elected first President of the American Republic.

Records for 1793 show 47 years old William Janes was a company officer with the rank of Captain and commanded 67+ men in the First Battalion of the 46th Regiment.[23]  One can imagine the 48 year old Margaret Seybert backing her husband’s periodic duties as Captain of the local militia over the years.  Most of her life was spent in a tense and hostile relationship with the Savages.  About 35 years earlier the Indians killed her mother and father, grandmother, step-grandpa, and others she knew and loved and took her and her siblings into captivity. Then, for the last 19 years there existed a state of guerrilla warfare between the Indians and settlers.

1794: During the second term of his Presidency, George Washington appointed Revolutionary War hero, General Anthony Wayne, to command the U.S. Army against the Northwest Indian Confederation.

On 20 August 1794, General Wayne, with a force of one thousand seasoned soldiers, met and routed two thousand warriors who had gathered for the final confrontation near Fort Miami on the Maumee River in the Ohio Territory.  The decisive defeat of the Indians at The Battle of Fallen Timbers, lead to the Treaty of Greenville in 1795.  By terms of the treaty, the Indians were forced to cede to the United States most of Ohio and a large area which later became Indiana, Illinois and Michigan.

During September 1832, as per the treaty, the Shawnee were removed from Ohio and sent across the Mississippi River to Indian Territory on the Kansas River.

The next time our family line encountered the Shawnee was by Pulaski Easton: during the California Gold Rush of ’49 (see associated article). By this time, they were a peaceful, impoverished tribe, living on the Great Plains in ‘Indian Territory’, west of Independence, Missouri.[24]

As listed in Grave Register II, Pendleton County, West Virginia, Jacob Seybert and his wife, Mary Elizabeth Theiss Seybert, were killed in the massacre.  In 1936, the descendants of Roger Dyer had the grave site enclosed with a wall of native stone.  In 1986, Roger Dyer Family Association installed a bronze plate on the stone wall stating:

“Grave site of the 17 victims of the Fort Seybert Massacre, April 28, 1758.
Known names: Capt. Jacob Seybert and wife, Roger Dyer, Wallace boy,
William Dyer, Henry Haus, John Regger and wife.”[25]

The ground, on which Fort Seybert stood and upon which now stands a mortar and stone wall surrounding the grave of those slaughtered at Fort Seybert, belonged to Jacob Seybert.  In 1768, Nicholas Seybert, son of Jacob, sold the 210 acre tract to John Blizzard.  One of John Blizzard’s heirs sold the land to a minister named, Ferdinand Lair, in about 1800.[26]  Ferdinand Lair willed the land to his grandson, John Miller.  The land was willed down the Miller family to William C. Miller (alive in 1916)  and his sons, J. Clem Miller (alive in 1936) and Ed T. Miller.  In the late 1980s the property belonged to elderly Paul Conrad, a widower, who married a Miller daughter.

Footnotes below:
[1]  In later years, a willow cutting was planted near the spring which grew into a tree measuring four and a half feet in diameter.  It is thought that the tree subsequently dried up the spring.
[2] William was the eldest son of Roger Dyer. William had a wife and two sons.  His brother, James Dyer, and sister, Sarah Dyer-Hawes, survived the attack as captives.
[3] Talbot, The Dyer Settlement
[4] The ledge where the Indian was shot is, in the 20th Century, in front of the main entrance of the William C.  Miller house, at a distance of about 100 yards.
[5] Morton, A History of Pendleton County
[6] Talbot, The Dyer Settlement
[7] Morton, A History of Pendleton County
[8] Pendleton County Historical Grave Register, (Pendleton County: West Virginia, 1977), 52.
[9] Talbot, The Dyer Settlement
[10] “Origin of the Treasure Mountain Festival,” Treasure Mountain Festival Newspaper, 14-17 Sept 1989,    (Franklin:Pendleton County,West Virginia)
[11] Talbot, The Dyer Settlement
[12] From correspondance with my cousin, Doris Grubb, and husband, John Hughes, who visited the historic Fort Seybert site in December 1988 and spoke with Paul Conrad (related to the deceased Miller family by marriage.) John quoted Paul as saying of the massacre victims, “I always heard
they were killed up there on the hill where they’re buried.”
[13] Morton, History of Highland County, equivalent to $180.71 in 1910.
[14] Talbot, The Dyer Settlement
[15]  Correspondence with Doris Grubb Hughes. While looking for literature regarding Seybert descendants  at the Monterey, Virginia, public library, Doris and John Hughes were approached by the Head Librarian who while speaking with them claimed to be  a descendant of Nicholas Seybert. She said that Nicholas had owned 3000 acres in the vicinity of Monterey.
[16]  Talbot, The Dyer Settlement
[17]  Henry Howe, Historical Collections of Ohio, Vol. I and II, (Cincinnati: C.J. Krehbiel & Co. Publishers and Binders, 1904)
[18] It is estimated there were approximately 2,000 incidents of kidnapping of white settlers during the French and Indian War.
[19] Evelyn Halkyard Vohland, Betebenner – Horney and Allied Families,  (Shelton: Clipper Publishers, 1981)
[20] A twill weaved fabric made of silk or wool and often used for  military uniforms.
[21] Morton, A History of Pendleton County
[22] Bell, The Seiberts
[23] Morton, A History of Pendleton County
[24] Article, Pulaski Easton – California ’49er, mentions the Shawnee briefly, Line C: Midwestern Migration.
[25] “Marker Placed at Grave of 17 Victims of Fort Seybert Massacre”, The Pendleton Times newspaper
[27] October 1988, (Franklin: Pendleton County , West Virginia)
[26] Deed recorded in Pendleton County, West Virginia.

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Monday, April 21, 2014 · 12:10 AM

Biological Warfare

 (Survival Manual/1. Disaster/Biological Warfare)

 When an ill wind blow from afar
Chemical and biological weapons are some of the most dangerous chemicals and diseases known to man. In modern times, these weapons are at the forefront of terrorist and military threats to our safety.
Chemical and biological warfare, or CBW, is considered a “poor man’s nuke,” for the cheapness and ease of manufacture, and the indiscriminate carnage and terror they can cause.

1.  Q: What are Biological Weapons and Their Effects?
A: Biological weapons are diseases harnessed by man as a military weapon. Many diseases have been mentioned as being possible BW agents. However, the most mentioned are Anthrax, Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis, Botulinum toxin, Plague, Ricin, and Smallpox.Biological weapons can be bacteria, viruses, or toxins, and essentially are nothing more than intentionally spread disease. The BW agents mentioned above are selected for their characteristics, including ease of manufacture, incubation period, resistance to treatment, method of dispersal, hardiness in different environments, lethality, and contagiousness. There is evidence Soviet scientists genetically altered diseases at their BW laboratories, making diseases even more lethal and resistant to treatment.
It should be noted, toxins are much like chemical weapons, except that they are made from biological sources.

It cannot be assumed that a BW agent can be treated. As stated in the last paragraph, some of these diseases have been altered to resist treatment, and some diseases, mostly viruses, have no cure. As with chemical weapons, the best defense against these agents is protective equipment and good hygiene.
Biological weapons are disseminated in either aerosol, liquid, or powdered form.
FDA Bioterrorism and Drug Preparedness website:

Q: How Will I Know a Biological or Chemical Attack Has Occurred?
A: Biological and chemical attacks exhibit many distinct characteristics.

  • Dead animals/birds/fish: Numerous animals dead in the same area.
  • Blisters/rashes: Many individuals experiencing unexplained rashes, bee-sting like blisters, and/or watery blisters.
  • Mass casualties: Many persons exhibiting unexplained serious health problems ranging from disorientation and nausea to breathing difficulty, convulsions, and death.
  •  Unusual metal debris: Unexplained munitions like material, especially if liquid is contained. (No rain recently.)
  • Unexplained odors: Smells may range from fruity to flowery to pungent/sharp, to horseradish/garlic-like to peach kernels/bitter almonds to new mown hay. It should be noted, that the smell should be completely out of sync with its surroundings. (I.E. The smell of hay in an urban area.)
  •  Low-lying clouds: Low-lying fog/cloud-like condition not explained by surroundings.
  • Definite pattern of casualties: Casualties distributed in a pattern that may be associated with possible agent dissemination methods.
  • Illness associated with a confined geographic area: Lower rates of illness for people working outdoors versus indoors or indoors versus outdoors.
  • Lack of insect life: Normal insect activity is missing. Check ground/shore line/water surface for dead insects. Also look for dead animals/birds/fish.
  • Unusual liquid droplets: Many surfaces exhibit oily droplets or film. (No rain recently.)
  • Unusual spraying: Unexplained spraying of an aerosol or liquid by vehicles, persons, or aircraft.

The following table is from the US Army Tech Guide 244, The Medical NBC Battlebook.

Disease
(type)

Likely
Methods of Dissemination

Transmissibility
Man to Man

Infectivity

Lethality

Anthrax   – Inhalation(bacteria)

Spores in aerosols

No

Moderate

High

Brucellosis(bacteria)

1. Aerosol
2. Sabotage (food supply)

Via contact with lesions

High

Low

Plague  – pneumonic(bacteria)

1. Aerosol

2. Infected vectors

High

High

Very
High

Tularemia(bacteria)

Aerosol

No

High

Moderate
if untreated

Q fever

(rickettsiae)

1. Aerosol

2. Sabotage (food supply)

No

High

Very
low

Botulinum toxin

(toxin)

1. Sabotage (food / water supply)

2. Aerosol

No

High

Trichothecene
mycotoxins (toxin)

1. Aerosol

2. Sabotage

No

High

Ricin toxin)

Aerosol

No

High

Smallpox (virus)

Aerosol

High

High

High

The government may be able to provide early warning of an attack via the Emergency Alert System (EAS). Having a NOAA weather radio with alarm in your house or on your person may be yet another option to help detect a chemical or biological attack, as well as alerting you to many other emergencies. Still, remember that the government may not know of an attack and broadcast an alert before your chemical detector itself alerts. So, do not rely entirely on EAS, but rely upon your observations and your chemical detector.

Bottom Line: Chemical and biological attacks can be detected early, by watching for signs of dispersal, dead insects/animals, sick and injured people, etc. The government’s Emergency Alert System (EAS) may also be of value in alerting you to an attack. Chemical attacks can also be detected with inexpensive chemical detection gear.

2.  Anthrax attack could kill 123,000
18 March 2003, BBC News
Pasted from:  http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2857207.stm
An anthrax weapon aimed at a major city could kill at least 123,000 people even if every victim received treatment, experts have calculated. US researchers have used a computer model to predict the devastation that would result from the launch of an anthrax bomb or missile on a city the size of New York. The figures are based on what would happen if a bomb containing 1 kilogram of anthrax spores was dropped on a city of 10 million inhabitants.

The projected number of fatalities is based on the assumption that antibiotics would not be administered for 48 hours until the first symptoms appeared. If it proved possible to distribute drugs more quickly, then the death toll could be substantially reduced. However, they warn that inadequacies in the current US emergency response plan may make such a rapid response unlikely.

Lead researcher Dr Lawrence Wein, from the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University, California, said: “The first people develop symptoms within two days of exposure, and many more would develop symptoms over the next week. “Our response needs to be measured in hours, not in days or weeks.”

Intensive care
Five of the 11 people who inhaled anthrax during the 2001 attacks on the US postal system died despite intensive treatment by large teams of doctors.

The researchers recommend distributing anti-anthrax antibiotics such as Cipro in advance of any major attack. If this was not possible, then the aim should be to distribute antibiotics to everyone infected within 12 hours.

In the case of an attack on New York City, that would mean supplying the drugs to 1.5 million people. The only way to do this would be to increase the number of available health professionals dramatically. The researchers estimate that to keep the death toll down to about 1,000, one health professional would be required for every 700 people in the affected population.
This could only be achieved by training non-emergency medical staff and making maximum use of military personnel and volunteers.

Similar findings
Dr Robert Spencer, an infection control expert at the UK Public Health Laboratory Service, told BBC News Online that the conclusions were similar to those reached by research carried out by the
World Health Organization in 1970. However, he said it was very difficult to determine what would happen should weapons grade anthrax be released on a city, not least because of weather patterns, and the complex effect of wind distribution in a built up area.

Dr Spencer said the only recorded case of anthrax release, from a Soviet installation in 1974, had resulted in surprisingly few cases of illness. “It would be very difficult to disprove what they are saying,” he said. “My personal feeling is that anthrax is not a weapon of mass destruction, but a weapon of mass hysteria.
“Terrorists like bombs, they know what happens when they cause an explosion, and can make predictions based on that.”
Dr Spencer also said that to stock up on vaccines and antibiotics to combat a possible anthrax attack would be to drain resources away from more certain demands for health care.
The research is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Bottom Line
Biological weapons are simply diseases. Some have been altered to be more virulent, but all are just the same diseases the world has confronted for years. Remember, smallpox used to be occurring in epidemic proportions before the smallpox vaccine. And, plague wiped out over a third of Europe’s population during the Black Death. These diseases, for the most part, are nothing new.

3.  A Hypothetical Scenario
You may think, “It can’t happen here.” Do you think it could happen in the State of Israel? Do you think residents of that nation are potential targets? Do you think that visitors from that nation, who are unknowingly infected, might take a plane trip to the United States? The smallpox incubation period is nine days.
Suicide squad members could walk into an Israeli airport in a busy time and be searched by Israeli inspectors. They could then sit in the area close to ticket-takers and passport-stampers. That would do it. From then on, airport personnel would become carriers.

The group could send in one carrier per day for a week, just to make sure. Each one gets on an El Al plane and flies to America. Each American city is different. All are large. By the end of the flight, every plane would be carrying dozens of living weapons of mass destruction, all visiting relatives, friends, and business associates.

Meanwhile, three or four will do the same thing in a
London airport.
The next day, the planes’ crews will climb aboard and fly
back home. The flight attendants will serve meals, these being cross-Atlantic flights. You tell me: What is a feasible defense?
There is no feasible defense against this strategy, other than prayer. But the potentially targeted victims are not praying about this. They do not recognize the threat. I doubt that they will until after the strategy has been implemented.
Do you think the U.S. government will ever go public and warn people that this threat exists? When there is no known defense?

If I can figure this out, a terrorist group can. Hammes says that there are multiple Islamic Websites that cover fourth-generation warfare. These people are professionals. We should not underestimate them. As war spreads in the Middle East, there will be recruits.
Of course, you may think that peace will soon break out in the Middle East, that a new appreciation of Americans and Israelis is just around the corner. I do not share your optimism.

Most Americans believe they are immune from threats like this one, just because they are Americans. They are wrong. Increasingly in the future, Americans will become ever-more vulnerable targets, just because they are Americans.

4.  Ten Steps to prepare
1)  The first step in preparing for such an event is mental-emotional. You must face technological reality. This bioterrorism threat is a possibility, not a fantasy. Not many people will make this mental transition this side of the first city’s outbreak. After that, they will have only a few hours to make fundamental changes in their lives. Not many people will understand what is happening and how little time they have to prepare themselves.
2)  Second, you must be spiritually prepared to die for your cause, just as the enemy is willing to die for his.
3)  Third, you must have economic reserves that are not dependent on re-supply by inter-state trucking.
The United States is dependent on inter-state trucking. You must recognize that thousands of truckers will quit when they are told to deliver goods into a city that has been hit by a plague.
4)  Fourth, you must have economic reserves that are not dependent on fractional reserve banking. There will be a run on ATM’s within a day after the first report surfaces. The currency will not be re-deposited in another bank — the ultimate threat to fractional reserve banking. Within a day or two, banks will not allow people to withdraw cash.
5)  Fifth, you must have a primary residence or secondary residence in a small town location that is not in the path of traffic. Not many people will enjoy this benefit. There are some areas inside the United States that would have a huge safety factor.
6)  Sixth, you must have good relations with your neighbors. The division of labor will move down, rapidly. Community quarantines against outsiders will be imposed, once it is clear that the country is under biological attack.
7)  Seventh, you must be emotionally willing to admit to yourself what is happening as soon as the first reports of a major plague or rare disease hit the Web. You must be willing to take decisive, possibly expensive, immediate steps that will not be possible within a few days after the initial report.
8)  Eighth, you must be prepared to risk taking your annual vacation the next day. Your boss won’t like it. But you will need time to complete your defensive plans.
9)  Ninth, it would be best to have an occupation that is mobile geographically.
10)  Tenth, you must be prepared to take in close relatives, which means exposing yourself to risk.
Thus means extra space. The cheapest way to get this is with a used mobile home, single-wide, 10 years or older. This means living in the country: no zoning laws. It could mean buying a second property within a few miles of a small town home.

Most people cannot and will not take these steps in time. They think, “This can never happen.” They also think that, as Americans, they are immune to a world comparable to what millions of Iraqis are facing and have faced since 2003. Two million of them, out of a population of 25 million, have left their country, probably permanently. They faced reality early.

 5.  Dark Winter: A Bioterrorism Simulation Exercise
See more about this exercise at: http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/duffy81a.html
or run a Google search for “Dark Winter”

The National Security Council and Senior  level government officials participated in a simulated terrorist attack on three American cities using weaponized smallpox.

Historically, smallpox has been the most deadly of all diseases for humans, killing between 300 and 500 million in the last century alone, far more than the 111 million people killed in all that century’s wars combined. It is easily spread, kills 30% of those infected, and terribly scars and sometimes blinds those who survive. It was declared eradicated from Earth in 1980, but the Soviet Union has acknowledged maintaining a secret biological weapons program since then that employed 60,000 technicians and scientists. One fear is that some of the smallpox the Soviets worked with has gotten into terrorist hands, or that unemployed Soviet scientists desperate for money have been hired by Iraq, Al Qaida, or other terrorists.

On June 22-23, 2001, nearly three months before the attack that toppled New York’s World Trade towers, the United States conducted a major simulation of a terrorist smallpox attack against three American cities. It was named Dark Winter, and it lived up to its name.

Synopsis: Within seven weeks, one million Americans were dead and the disease had spread to 25 states and 13 foreign countries. In the face of the out of control epidemic, panic had spread across America, interrupting vital services such as food deliveries to supermarkets, and our Government considered the possibility of a nuclear response, although against whom it was not clear.

The goal of the exercise was to increase awareness among Government officials of the danger of such an attack, and to examine the decision challenges the highest levels of Government would face if confronted with a biological attack. The ultimate aim was to improve strategies of response.

Smallpox was chosen as the disease because historically it has been the most feared and deadly of diseases, and one of the more likely choices for terrorists. It is not only easily spread from one person to another, but there is no effective medical treatment. It may also be unstoppable in an unvaccinated population, and since the United States’ mandatory vaccination program was stopped in 1972, the U.S.
population is very susceptible to smallpox. Even that part of the population that was vaccinated as late as 1972 may have little or no protection against the disease.

The exercise took place at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, and was attended by many senior level government officials. Participating institutions included the Johns Hopkins Center for Civilian Bio-Defense Strategies, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Oklahoma National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism, and the Analytic Services Institute for Homeland Security.

Former U.S. Senator Sam Nunn of Georgia played the President of the United States, Governor Frank Keating of Oklahoma played himself, five senior journalists who worked for major news organizations participated in mock news briefings, and a number of other participants played various key government positions ranging from the Director of Central Intelligence to key Government health advisors. Fifty people connected with U.S. bioterrorism policy preparedness observed the exercise.

Although the exercise took only two days, it simulated a time span of two weeks occurring between December 9-22, 2002. The exercise involved three National Security Council (NSC) meetings taking place on Dec. 9, 15, and 22, with the participants being made aware of evolving details of the attack and being required to establish strategies and make policy decisions to deal with it.

Exercise controllers acted as special assistants and deputies, providing facts and suggesting policy options to deal with the smallpox outbreak. Simulated newspaper coverage and TV video clips of the ensuing epidemic were also shown to participants, and various simulated memoranda, intelligence updates, and top level assessments of the spread of the epidemic were provided to key players whose jobs would normally require such information.

Each of the three NSC meetings began with controllers giving the NSC players briefings on the progress of the attack, an assessment of who the perpetrators might be, the response of the public, the comments of foreign governments, and any other information they would normally receive in such an emergency.

The game
The game starts with a brief television report that about two dozen people checked into an Oklahoma City hospital with an unidentified illness. Doctors soon find the patients have smallpox, a highly contagious and deadly disease unseen in the United States since 1949.

Similar smallpox cases are reported in Pennsylvania and Georgia. By day six, 300 Americans are dead and 2,000 others are infected.
Cases of smallpox are reported in Mexico, Canada and Britain, according to the scenario.

Meanwhile, the US Heath system is overwhelmed, the 12 million doses of smallpox vaccine quickly disappear, schools nationwide are forced to close, and public
gatherings are limited due to fear of contagion.

Droves of Oklahomans anxious to flee stream toward Texas — but the Texas governor, eager to protect his own residents, closes the border and deploys the state National Guard. Shots are fired.

As the standoff between Texans and Oklahomans deepens, a rift opens between federal and local authorities. Members of the US National Security Council suggest “nationalizing” the national guard, while state governors insist on keeping the local troops under their control.

On day 12 of the scenario, when the death toll reaches 1,000, interstate commerce grinds to a halt and stock trading is suspended. Demonstrations demanding more smallpox vaccines turn into riots. The United Nations moves its headquarters from New York to Geneva, Switzerland.

Less than two months after the outbreak, when the number of dead reach one million and three million more are infected, the president, played in the exercise by Nunn, gathers his top aide to considers imposing marshal law.

End of the Dark Winter exercise
Five lessons were learned from this exercise.

  1. A biological attack at this level would result in massive loss of life.
  2. Current governmental structures are not capable of managing such an attack.
  3. U.S. health care infrastructure lacks a surge capability, thus leaving it open to complete failure in the event of mass casualties.
  4. Managing the media and providing citizens with the right information would be an enormous challenge.
  5. Americans are totally unprepared for the myriad social, political and ethical challenges
    posed by this threat.

Perhaps a more elemental lesson was that people have an innate dread of plagues. It is therefore easy for a situation such as this to quickly degenerate into social breakdown and mob violence.
Particularly with diseases such as smallpox, which are particularly ugly in their symptoms and virulence, it is a fine line between mass fear and total panic.

In addition to raising public awareness of the bioterrorism threat, briefings from Dark Winter, the exercise contributed to the George Walker Bush Administration’s decision to manufacture 300 million doses of the smallpox vaccine.

The “Dark Winter” exercise “demonstrated how poorly current organizational structures and capabilities fit the management needs and operational requirements of a bioterrorism response.
Responding to a bioterrorist attack will require new levels of partnership between public health and medicine, law enforcement and intelligence. However, these communities have little past experience working together and vast differences in their professional cultures, missions and needs. The ‘Dark Winter’ scenario also underscored the pivotal role of the media, and how a productive partnership with media will be paramount in communicating important information to the public and reducing the potential for panic.”

6.  Current situation
Although smallpox was declared eradicated in 1980, two official repositories of the variola virus were kept: one at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, and the other at the Russian State Research Center for Virology and Biotechnology in Koltsovo, Novosibirsk in central Siberia. Those supplies were to be used for scientific research and vaccine development, but it is now known that both countries maintained secret biological weapons programs since 1980. By 1990 the Soviet Union had a facility capable of producing 80 to 100 tons of smallpox a year, and it typically warehoused 20 tons. Although Russia and the United States have since abandoned their biological weapons programs, other countries still have them.
It is thought that several rogue states like North Korea and Iraq and possibly terrorists have obtained samples of the smallpox virus.

A terrorist armed with a small hand-held aerosol could easily disperse 300 million smallpox viral particles within a confined area (airport terminal, train station, sports stadium, holiday parade gatherings, concerts). Toxins could also be spread through contamination of food or water.

During either bioterrorist scenario, unless the toxin is immediately known, vaccines are irrelevant. Besides terrorists will likely use a cocktail of agents to confuse detection systems and a major attack will quickly overwhelm the hospital system making immediate help for most impossible.

7.  We need to plan, not panic
If a biological, chemical, or radiological attack occurs in the U.S. the U.S. Department of Homeland Security may instruct you to Shelter in Place  until the pollutants have dissipated. If you live in a typical leaky home then the Department of Homeland Security currently recommends that you seal yourself in a room by using duct tape and plastic sheets. Moderate, or comprehensive, sealing of the exterior can help. One of the Dual-Benefit Solutions recommended by the Department of Homeland Security is to make your home’s outer shell very tight so you will save energy and have all of the rooms available if it becomes necessary to Shelter in Place.

Dr. Henderson recommends preparing your home to be a safer shelter by comprehensively sealing the air leaks in your home’s outer shell and installing a mechanical air supply system that can effectively filter the air coming into your home. He said this is a much better method than using duct tape and plastic sheets to seal yourself in one room after dangerous substances fill the air around your home.

Here is a partial list of the advantages of preparing your entire home so that you can quickly Shelter in Place:

  • Instead of sealing yourself in one room, you will have all of the rooms and air in your home available for your use, while waiting for the pollutants to blow past your home.
  • Microbes (anthrax, botulism, smallpox,…) will be kept outside where the wind can reduce their concentration and the sunshine can kill them.
  • You will have access to all the air in your home, rather than the air available in one room sealed with plastic and duct-tape.
  • Radioactive particles can be removed from incoming air by use of a high-efficiency air filter.
  • Non-filterable gasses can be kept outside by simply turning-off the mechanical air supply system until after the gasses blow past your home.
  • Even if you never have to Shelter in Place,  you can benefit in many ways throughout
    your life:
  • Sealing air leaks can eliminate uncomfortable drafts.
  • Sealing air leaks and providing filtered fresh air at a controlled rate can  reduce your costs for heating, air
  • Filtration of incoming fresh air can remove allergenic, irritating and toxic particles.
  • conditioning, and humidity control.
  • Controlling the ventilation rate will help you to keep indoor humidity below 50% to discourage growth of molds and dust mites.

 

8.  During a Declared Biological Emergency
a)  If a family member becomes sick, it is important to be suspicious.
b)  Do not assume, however, that you should go to a hospital emergency room or that any illness is the result of the biological attack. Symptoms of many common illnesses may overlap.
c)  Use common sense, practice good hygiene and cleanliness to avoid spreading germs, and seek medical advice.
d)  Find out if you are in the area authorities believe to be in danger.
e)  If your symptoms match those described below and you are in the group  considered at risk, seek immediate emergency medical attention

Risk Factors for a Bio-Chem Attack
All biological weapons have a high failure rate in terrorist attacks because even though they are quite deadly dispersal/delivery of them in an effective way is difficult. Changes in ph of air quality, changes in temperature and humidity, changes in environment, and life span of the entity itself make efficient delivery of these bacteria and viruses difficult.

For example, Anthrax is, for all intents and purposes, 100 percent deadly when it enters the lungs of human beings. The minimum fatal dose for a person is one Anthrax spore. Yet spores that are small enough to infiltrate the blood vessels of the human lungs also tend to be highly static.
They clump together and adhere to dust and dirt particles, which then make them too big to infiltrate the lungs. This problem of Anthrax delivery means that any people at “ground zero” of an Anthrax attack would probably be infected if they were directly exposed to a cloud or vapor falling on them. But those who get a warning signal and retreat into sealed rooms would have a good chance of survival.

Anthrax has a very small rate of “secondary uptake,” which means that once it hits the ground, it tends to end its delivery cycle.
People who shelter in sealed rooms would have the unpleasant task of waiting it out for hours (as long as 24 hours) before they could move, and then would have to wait for days to see if they were infected or not, but as long as they remained calm and secluded from sprayed or “treated” (ie, infected) areas, they could escape infection.

Smallpox is far more persistent than Anthrax, (though less fatal, with a mortality rate at about 33% – 66%), and people at ground zero of an attack would fare the worst. But once it has been identified, people secure from the initial infection would have to be prepared to quarantine themselves to avoid contact from victims whose symptoms would not appear for several weeks. As difficult as this is, our society is better equipped to do this than it’s ever been before. Telecommuting is a fact of life.

Dispersing biological agents in a crop dusting plane is currently the quickest, most effective scenario yet envisioned. But the plane would have to fly quite low to drop enough of a concentration in a stable medium. From the evidence of one would-be terrorist who was arrested on September 22, 2001, using crop dusting equipment has at least entered the minds of some terrorist planners. But as of this writing, it has not yet been attempted.

The more likely and dangerous alternative is for a biological weapon to be entered into the water supply. Filtering and water purification in the home may hinder the effectiveness of such a plan, and certainly boiling water for six minutes would probably kill any biological entity. But poisoning could occur and last for several days before symptoms appear. Drinking bottled water or at least boiling all water that comes from the tap (for six minutes) before you drink it might be a good precautionary step, if you fear a biological attack.

Use Common Sense

  1. Stay healthy, eat well and get plenty of rest
  2. Use common sense to determine if there is immediate danger
  3. Wash your hands with soap and water frequently
  4. Stay away from crowds where others may be infected
  5. Wear a face mask to reduce spreading germs

Symptoms
If a family member develops any of the symptoms below, keep them separated from others, practice good hygiene to avoid spreading germs, and seek medical advice.

  1. A temperature of more than 100 degrees
  2. Nausea and vomiting
  3. Stomachache
  4. Diarrhea
  5. Pale or flushed face
  6. Headache
  7. Cough
  8. Earache
  9. Thick discharge from nose
  10. Sore throat
  11. Rash or infection of the skin
  12. Red or pink eyes
  13. Loss of appetite
  14. Loss of energy or decreases in activity

Hygiene
If someone is sick, you should practice good hygiene and cleanliness to avoid spreading germs.

  1. Wash your hands with soap and water frequently.
  2. Do not share food or utensils.
  3. Cover your mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing.
  4. Consider having the sick person wear a face mask to avoid spreading germs.
  5. Plan to share health-related information with others, especially those who may need help. understanding the situation and what specific actions to take.

9.  Protective measures against bioterrorism

  • The primary civil defense against biological weaponry is to wash one’s hands whenever one moves to a different building or set of people, and avoid touching door knobs, walls, the
    ground and one’s mouth and nose.
  • Washing literally sends the germs down the drain.
  • More exotic methods include decontamination, usually done with household chlorine bleach (Clorox, regular, unscented) (5% solution of sodium hypochlorite).
  • One useful de-contamination is to leave shoes in an entrance-way and make people wade and hand wash in a footbath of bleach. Another useful technique is to periodically decontaminate floors and door knobs.
  • Medical methods of civil defense include stockpiles of antibiotics and vaccines, and training for quick, accurate diagnosis and treatment. Many weaponized diseases are unfamiliar to general practitioners.

Items to have in your possession, as biological threats often cause a breakdown in normal societal routines.
•     An antibiotic such as Zithromax
•     Surgical masks
•     Gas Masks
•     A supply of canned goods, a can opener and packaged non-perishable foods.
•    Bottled drinking water: minimally, one gallon per day per person, for at least seven days.
•     A blanket or sleeping bag for each family member as well as a change of clothes (in the event that you are relocated)
•     Extra eyeglasses and prescriptions
•     Supplies for infants, and disabled family members

The economic consequences of a bioterrorism attack could be “devastating,”  crippling the agricultural based economy of the region and creating a potential food shortage. Appropriate dispersion of even a small volume of biological warfare agent may cause high morbidity and mortality, which may be exacerbated by public panic and social disruption.

10.  Beef up your immune system

  • As soon as you learn of a bio-chem attack (if you are not already doing so), limit your intake of food so your body can devote more of its energies to the immune system rather than digesting dinner. Eat more raw foods, vegetables and juices.
  • One of the best things you can do is load up on antioxidants. Vitamin C is one of the best vitamins to take. Store plenty of the natural variety with rosehips and bioflavonoids. Some recommendations suggest as much as 1000 mg. of vitamin C every two hours which requires fruit or juice intake so it doesn’t make you sick.
  • Antioxidants Vitamin E and B6 have reputations for boosting the immune system as does Vitamin A which helps ward off infections to the eyes, respiratory system and gastrointestinal tract.
  • Eat organic foods as much as possible. No one needs pesticides in his system.
  • Remove the “white” foods from the diet: white rice, white flour products and white (refined) sugar. Two cans of soft drink can add approximately 24 tsp of sugar to your system – enough to suppress your immune system for five hours. If you’re grazing all day on pop and sweets, what ammo does your body have to fight disease?
  • It should be noted that people who are in tiptop shape — those who are physically active and have not subsisted on junk food will have the best chance of fighting these poisons naturally. It’s never too late to exercise! Not only does exercise rev up the immune system, it relieves stress –
    something that makes us more susceptible to disease.
  • Give your body plenty of rest and water. ‘Burning the candle’ at both ends depletes the body of disease-fighting capabilities.
  • Raw garlic exists through the lungs which is what the biological agents are most likely to attack. Raw garlic has both antibacterial and anti-viral aspects. Place raw garlic into a glass of tomato juice and add one small clove. Drink every six hours.

Selecting a gas mask
When demand and fear are high, some retailers charge exorbitant prices for gas masks and related items. Jacking up prices, especially during economic hard times, is simply unconscionable, heartless behavior. If you need to economize, it is better to get a cheaper mask and the best filter.

Read also: Survival Manual/6. Medical/Personal Protective Equipment.

 

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Thursday, April 3, 2014 · 12:10 AM

Solar EMP: Lights Out

(Survival Manual/Prepper articles/Solar EMP: Lights Out)

A.  Near miss: Enormous solar blast could have devastated Earth in 2012
20 March 2014, RT.com
Pasted from: http://rt.com/usa/solar-blast-devastated-earth-2012-161/

EMP flareReuters/NASA

Citizens of Earth had no idea how close the planet was to getting slammed with a devastating solar flare back in July 2012, but scientists claim we only missed the damaging event by nine days.

As noted by Reuters, scientists found that a series of coronal mass ejections – powerful eruptions on the sun’s surface that send waves of magnetized plasma through the solar system – occurred last year sometime between July 22 and 23. The blasts traveled through Earth’ orbit, but narrowly missed colliding with the planet.

According to a new report published in the Nature Communications journal on Tuesday, if the solar eruptions occurred just nine days earlier, they would have likely hit Earth and caused a great deal of damage to the planet’s magnetic field. Fortunately for us, the Earth was on the other side of the sun by that point.

Scientists believe the blast would have equaled the might of the most powerful magnetic storm ever recorded: the Carrington event of 1859, which took down telegraph services around the world.

“Had it hit Earth, it probably would have been like the big one in 1859, but the effect today, with our modern technologies, would have been tremendous,” Janet Luhmann, part of the STEREO (Solar Terrestrial Observatory) team a University of California Berkley researcher, said to Reuters.

Specifically, a blast that powerful could bring down electrical grids, knock down satellites and GPS technology, and ultimately cost nations billions of dollars in damages. Considering modern society’s reliance on such technology to function, it would be extremely disruptive.

EMP sensorAFP photo/EPFL

Last year, a study produced with the Atmospheric and Environmental Research group found that a solar flare equivalent to Carrington could cost the world $2.6 trillion.

“An extreme space weather storm – a solar superstorm – is a low-probability, high-consequence event that poses severe threats to critical infrastructures of the modern society,” said Ying Liu, a physicist at China’s State Key Laboratory of Space Weather to Forbes.

“The cost of an extreme space weather event, if it hits Earth, could reach trillions of dollars with a potential recovery time of 4-10 years,” Liu added. “Therefore, it is paramount to the security and economic interest of the modern society to understand solar superstorms.”

Although flares occur every day during the sun’s solar maximum – a period in the sun’s cycle highlighted by increased solar activity – they are rarely as powerful as the one that struck Earth in 1859. Still, the amount of damage they can inflict means preparation is tough but necessary,

“People keep saying that these are rare natural hazards, but they are happening in the Solar System even though we don’t always see them,” Luhmann told Forbes. “It’s like with earthquakes – it is hard to impress upon people the importance of preparing unless you suffer a magnitude 9 earthquake.”

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B.  What Would You Do If The Lights Went Out? American Power Grid Danger – 2014! EMP? Terrorists?

tv news3See the 37 minute news video with Judge Jeanine, at:
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=8zc10Wpqqk0&gt;

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Monday, March 31, 2014 · 12:10 AM

Solar EMP: The threat

(Survival Manual/ Prepper articles/ Solar EMP: The threat)

A.  NASA Plans for Large Scale Failure, Power Grid is “Particularly Vulnerable to Bad Space Weather”
7 June 2010, SHTFPlan.com, by Mac Slavo
Pasted from: https://www.shtfplan.com/emergency-preparedness/nasa-plans-for-large-scale-failure-power-grid-is-particularly-vulnerable-to-bad-space-weather_06072010

empthreat sunFor many it’s either tin foil conspiracy theory or an action packed Hollywood Armageddon flick. For the National Aeronautics and Space Administration it’s a serious threat, with the potential to wipe out the technologically driven lives we’ve become so used to.

Our sun is approaching a period of high turbulence, referred to as the solar maximum, with many scientists suggesting a peak in activity around 2013. The cycle occurs every 11 years, and the next time around it is predicted to be one of the weakest in decades. However, some contrary opinions hold that the next solar maximum may be stronger than we expect, citing a 26,000 year galactic alignment cycle, scheduled to occur on or around 2012, eerily coinciding with the end of the Mayan calendar.

One organization that isn’t taking any chances is NASA. As the sun begins to awaken, scientists are keeping a close eye on space weather:

“The sun is waking up from a deep slumber, and in the next few years we expect to see much higher levels of solar activity. At the same time, our technological society has developed an unprecedented sensitivity to solar storms. The intersection of these two issues is what we’re getting together to discuss.”

The National Academy of Sciences framed the problem two years ago in a landmark report entitled “Severe Space Weather Events Societal and Economic Impacts.” It noted how people of the 21st-century rely on high-tech systems for the basics of daily life. Smart power grids, GPS navigation, air travel, financial services and emergency radio communications can all be knocked out by intense solar activity. A century-class solar storm, the Academy warned, could cause twenty times more economic damage than Hurricane Katrina.

A 132-page NASA funded report titled Severe Space Weather Events Understanding Societal and Economic Impacts, suggests that the right magnitude storm could be devastating:

The problem begins with the electric power grid. “Electric power is modern society’s cornerstone technology on which virtually all other infrastructures and services depend,” the report notes. Yet it is particularly vulnerable to bad space weather. Ground currents induced during geomagnetic storms can actually melt the copper windings of transformers at the heart of many power distribution systems. Sprawling power lines act like antennas, picking up the currents and spreading the problem over a wide area. The most famous geomagnetic power outage happened during a space storm in March 1989 when six million people in Quebec lost power for 9 hours.

According to the report, power grids may be more vulnerable than ever. The problem is interconnectedness. In recent years, utilities have joined grids together to allow long-distance transmission of low-cost power to areas of sudden demand. On a hot summer day in California, for instance, people in Los Angeles might be running their air conditioners on power routed from Oregon. It makes economic sense, but not necessarily geomagnetic sense. Interconnectedness makes the system susceptible to wide-ranging “cascade failures.”

To estimate the scale of such a failure, report co-author John Kappenmann of the Metatech Corporation looked at the great geomagnetic storm of May 1921, which produced ground currents as much as ten times stronger than the 1989 Quebec storm, and modeled its effect on the modern power grid. He found more than 350 transformers at risk of permanent damage and 130 million people without power. The loss of electricity would ripple across the social infrastructure with “water distribution affected within several hours; perishable foods and medications lost in 12-24 hours; loss of heating/air conditioning, sewage disposal, phone service, fuel re-supply and so on.”

“The concept of interdependency,” the report notes, “is evident in the unavailability of water due to long-term outage of electric power–and the inability to restart an electric generator without water on site.”

empthreat power sys

What if the May 1921 superstorm occurred today? A US map of vulnerable transformers with areas of probable system collapse encircled.

The potential for major disruptions to our lives and our modern day just-in-time delivery systems could lead to total chaos in affected areas:

“A contemporary repetition of the Carrington Event would cause extensive social and economic disruptions,” the report warns. Power outages would be accompanied by radio blackouts and satellite malfunctions; telecommunications, GPS navigation, banking and finance, and transportation would all be affected. Some problems would correct themselves with the fading of the storm: radio and GPS transmissions could come back online fairly quickly. Other problems would be lasting: a burnt-out multi-ton transformer, for instance, can take weeks or months to repair. The total economic impact in the first year alone could reach $2 trillion, some 20 times greater than the costs of a Hurricane Katrina or, to use a timelier example, a few TARPs.

Had the report(s) come from a random SHTF Planning and Preparedness site, we could understand skepticism from the general public. But, since the warnings are coming from NASA, we suggest that citizens interested in preserving their well being, safety and security take note.

While the Quebec incident was a short-term, nine hour down-grid scenario, the US power grid is very much susceptible to a cascading, domino effect across our electrical infrastructures. As suggested by NASA, this would not be limited to your inability to watch television or turn on the lights, but could be much more widespread, affecting critical utility and transportation systems that deliver our food and fuel.
It is quite reasonable to suggest that any significant adverse solar weather event could lead to mass chaos across the entire country as people scramble to acquire necessities like food, water, medicine and secure shelter.

And if the response from our federal, state and local government officials is anything like Hurricane Katrina or the BP oil spill, an event of such magnitude may take weeks, perhaps months to mitigate.

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B.  9 Electric Power Grid Substations Will Bring It All Down
17 March 2014, ModernSurvivalBlog.com, by Ken Jorgustin
Pasted from: http://modernsurvivalblog.com/systemic-risk/9-electric-power-grid-substations-will-bring-it-all-down/

empthreat usa

Attackers could bring down the entire power grid of the United States in just a few moves, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.
Federal analysis says sabotage of just nine key substations is sufficient for a broad power outage from New York to Los Angeles.

The U.S. could suffer a coast-to-coast blackout if saboteurs launch a coordinated attack and knock out just nine of the country’s 55,000 electric-transmission substations on a hot summer day while the systems are under a strained load, according to a previously unreported federal analysis.

The study’s results have been known for months to select people in federal agencies, Congress and the White House, but were reported publicly for the first time Wednesday (MAR-12). The WSJ did not publish a list of the 30 most critical substations identified by the FERC study.

The study by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission concluded that coordinated attacks in each of the nation’s three separate electric systems could cause the entire power network to collapse, people familiar with the research said.

Electric substations are critical to the functionality of the electric grid. Their transformers boost the voltage to very high levels which enables efficient transmission across long distances. The levels are then brought back down to usable levels by similar transformers. On a hot summer day, with the grid operating at high capacity, FERC found that taking out the right amount of substations could lead to a national blackout lasting months.

One particularly troubling memo reviewed by the Journal described a scenario in which a highly-coordinated but relatively small scale attack could send the country into a long-term literal dark age. “Destroy nine interconnection substations and a transformer manufacturer and the entire United States grid would be down for at least 18 months, probably longer,” the memo said.

Informational Source: The Wall Street Journal
See at: http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304020104579433670284061220
The fact that the mainstream media is reporting this, is itself ‘telling’.

If we were to experience an event as described here, tens of millions would perish in today’s modern ‘dependent’ society. Breaking out of our normalcy bias and preparing ones-self for such a catastrophe would be life altering, with a tremendous dedication of time and resources to adapt a fundamental change to how and where we live our lives.

tv news3See Fox news video story at:
http://foxnewsinsider.com/2014/03/13/rpt-small-scale-attack-us-power-grid-could-cause-nationwide-blackout

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Thursday, February 27, 2014 · 12:10 AM

Trapping

(Survival manual/3. Food & Water/ Trapping)
See also my post: (Survival manual/ 3. Food & water/ Food resources for extreme hardship: Dog, cat, roadkill… )

A.  Rat Traps
In order to get your head around the concept of  ‘rat for  supper’, read, When All Hell Breaks Loose © 2007 Cody Lundin, published by Gibbs Smith, Publisher, Layton, UT, 450 pages.
•  Victor rat (not mouse) traps are good for squirrels and rabbits when properly placed and they cost under $3.50 each.
•  For survival purposes, a rat trap will work for ground squirrels too
•  Use soft cat food or peanut butter as bait as it seems to work best, just make sure you dig a small hole and cover it with leaves and you should be good.
•  A rat trap will provide dinner in a pinch.
•  You may also use them to trigger bigger traps with a pressure plate and a stiff wire to the rat trap – when the rat trap goes off it springs the larger trap.
•  Use peanut oil to grease the traps.

Dressing rat: (squirrel, ground squirrels)
Excerpted from: http://www.earthportals.com/Portal_Messenger/ratfordinner.html
I was very unprepared on how to react to these rats on the table directly in front of me. But there they were, big brown furry rats just lying there awaiting to be prepared for a delicacy.
The cleaning and preparation for cooking rat is quite a process. The small feet and tail are first cut off on a wood chopping block. Then a cut is made behind the ear so that it is possible to pull the fur off of the main body. After that is done the head is cut off as the head is held onto when pulling the fur off of the body.
The rat is then washed in water and a cut is made along its belly to remove all the intestines. The liver and the heart are kept inside the body.

The rat is then spread open and placed either on a grill, for cooking over an open flame, or the smaller rats are ready for the wood chopping black. The smaller rats are left on the grill just long enough for the meat to be cooked, but still medium rare.
Then the small rats are chopped up very finely on the chopping block, small bones and all, until a sort of fine ground meat is made into a paste.
The heart and liver are removed before it is chopped up and placed in a separate dish. [Image at right: BBQ rat.]

Before the rats are prepared for cooking, about two small cups of red chili peppers are ground up with a mortar and pestle until a red chili paste is made. It is this chili paste that the finely chopped rat meat is added and then cooked in oil in a wok. A great deal of garnish and other spices are added which are mentioned in the recipe at the end of this short story. The larger rats were completely fried with a burnt like look to them as they were also basted with a chili sauce. Once at the dinner table I had to keep in mind I was going to eat a Thai delicacy so my first bite was accompanied by a strange feeling that I was not going to like this delicacy at all. Once the rat meat was in my mouth I began to chew. The first taste I experienced was the very distinctive hot chili flavor, which was a welcomed friend to my taste buds, but I knew the rate meat was about to make its appearance on my tongue. The meat was very tender and not at all wild game tasting. In fact the meat was very sweet, very much like rabbit meat or frog legs. I was satisfied I could continue eating my first piece of rat meat, and went about picking every last piece of meat off of the small bones.
It amazes me how we all grow accustomed to food from cultures we are familiar with and how uncertain we feel when approached with a new cultural taste treat.

Recipe for ground rat meat and chili paste:
Ingredients:

  • 1/4 cup fish oil
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 1-1/2 cups of dried red chili peppers
  • 4 long green peppers
  • 8 large bay leaves
  • 1/2 cup holy basil leaf
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • 4 chopped garlic cloves
  • 4 small rats

Initial Preparation:

  • With a mortar and pestle place the 1-1/2 cups of dried red chili peppers, and begin to mash until a red paste is achieved. Add a tablespoon of water to make moist.
  • Chop garlic cloves.
  • Place bay leaves in a small bowl of water. Roll two bay leaves at a time and then thinly shred and place in dry dish. Do for all 8 leaves – two at a time.
  • Place holy basil leaves in a small bowl of water.
  • Dice long green peppers. Do small cross sections so look like wheels and place in dry dish.
  • Skin 4 small rats. Clean and place heart and liver in separate bowl.

Cooking preparations:

  • Place oil in a wok over an open flame and heat
  • Place small rats on a grill, and lightly cook over an open flame on both sides until medium cooked. Do not cook well done.
  • Mix red chili paste with hot oil and stir well.
  • Finely chop rats on a wood chopping block over and over until makes a smooth ground meat texture. Be sure to chop all the bones well.
  • Add chopped rat meat to the red chili paste and oil and stir well.
  • Add diced green peppers and stir well. Let cook for 5 minutes.
  • Add 1/2 tablespoon of salt.
  • Add whole liver and heart and sir in.
  • Add holy basil leaves to mixture and stir in well and let cook for another 5 minutes. Be sure not to burn the chili paste – add a little water if necessary to keep moist but not runny.
  • Add chopped garlic cloves
  • Add shredded bay leaves and stir in and cover and let simmer for 5 minutes or more to let all the flavors mix well.

Serving:
Serve ground rat meat on an oval dish with livers and heart on the top. Circle with garnish of basil leaves and halves of lime. Serve with white rice. The flavor will be hot and tangy with a mild crunchy chew to it. It is not to be considered the main dish, but a nice hot and spicy accent to other prepared dishes. Very good on crackers.
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.B. Conibear Traps
From Captain Dave’s Survival Center, Buckshot’s Trapping Tales, see:  http://www.captaindaves.com/buckshot/110.htm
#110 conibear, this trap is 4-1/2 by 4-1/2 ” with a single spring. It’s very popular among trappers because they’re easy to use and reliable quick kills for muskrat, mink, rabbit, squirrel, and some of the larger weasels. [Image below: a #110 Conibear trap]

#220 conibear, this trap is 7″ by 7″ with double springs and requires a setting tool to compress the springs. The #220 is popular among the raccoon trappers and is also used to catch raccoon, otter, muskrat, mink, squirrel, rabbit, and ground hog (woodchucks). Care must be used with this trap because if a dog or house-cat sticks his head in there, they will die quickly just like a raccoon. Some states have regulated this trap, so if set on land they may need to be in dog proof boxes or at least 4 feet off the ground.

#330 conibear, this trap is 10″ x 10″ square with double springs, this is the most powerful and is NO kids toy. The same setting tool that can be used for the #220 will work for the #330. What a wonderful beaver trap. I have trapped 100’s of beaver with this trap. The trap was designed for beaver but can also be used for otters, raccoons, and snapping turtles.

Just as there is no one perfect gun, what trap that suits you best depends on where you are in the country. What animal has the highest population in your area? In general, a great survival set-up would be 6- #110 for the smaller animals, 4- #220 for medium size animals and 2-#330 for beaver size animals. This batch of only 12 traps should keep you in meat and fur just about anywhere in America.

The #110 Conibear is a wonderful little trap. I caught my first muskrat with one back in 1975. The trap is 4 1/2″ by 4 1/2″ with a single spring. To set the trap you squeeze the spring down and open the jaws bringing them together. The trigger is made out of two thin pieces of wire connected to a folded piece of metal on the top jaw. There is a slot in the middle of this piece of metal where the second piece of the trigger hooks on. There are three settings and I generally used the middle one. You flip the top trigger and hook on the middle setting, now before you release pressure from the spring make sure your hand is clear. The easiest way is to set it down on the ground upright and hold your finger on the top trigger and release the pressure from your other hand. Now the trap is set. Just play around with it for a while until you get use to setting them. Take a stick about 18 inches long hold one end and with the opposite end push on the trigger. The trap may fire or it might fall over. Try it both ways holding the trap spring to keep the trap from falling over and unsupported. The reason I wanted you to do this, is so you could see first hand why the trap HAS TO BE STABILIZED. This is very, very, important on Conibear style traps. I don’t care what size, you have to stabilize them! What this means is the trap is designed for the animal to stick his head in. Well, the trap has to be supported or it will fall over and spring off without catching the animal. Now, you just educated that animal to be scared and trap-shy of traps and he will be much harder to capture.

One way to make a great stabilizer for the #110 Conibear is either buy lath boards, or if you know of someone remodeling an old house and their ripping out the old lath board, so they can put up drywall, they will probably give you all the lath board for the asking. I cut mine 12-18″ long (it is not critical), sharpen one end to a point, let them weather if they are new, you now have an easy-to-use stabilizer. Remember , this is for stabilizing the trap and not to be confused with a stake.
[Image left: #220 Conibear trap, staked and stabilized.]
Take the lath board and at about a 45 degree angle, push the stake into the ground between the compressed spring and the open part of the two jaws. You want a downward pressure on the trap to keep it from being knocked over. Now, try pushing the 18″ long stick on the trigger. The trap should fire, closing on the stick. Remember to keep your hands back — these little trap hurt if they whack you one.
Of course, there are several ways to stabilize these traps, you can use two sticks and form a X over the top of the trap, you can weld a 6″ long piece of 1/4″ stock to the rivet, or if setting in boxes you can notch the box, etc.

 Where to set the #110
The #110 can be used three different ways: den entrance, trail set, and bait set.

1.  Den entrances for cottontail rabbits. The best way to learn how to trap, is wait until first snow and track the rabbit to its den hole. Then place the #110 over the hole at whatever the angle of the hole is. You may have to make a small stabilizing stick on the spot. Place two 2-3″ long approximately 1″ diameter sticks on the bottom jaw this will keep the trapping from freezing to the ground. Take the chain off to one side, out-of-the-way and wire it to a tree or handy branch. The next time a rabbit comes out or in the hole, he is caught.
2.  Heavy brush piles will have a beaten path in the snow where the rabbits run and hide. Pick the spot with the most tracks and find a spot that is just about the size of the trap, all narrowed down with a top stick to keep the rabbits from jumping over. Place the trap there, if you have to you can add a couple of side sticks to help narrow it down and a top stick. Set the trap upright, so if the rabbit wants to get in the brush pile his only choice is through the trap.
3. Another way to get rabbits — and this will work on all rabbits — is with an old stove-pipe 6″ in diameter. Take a piece 12″ to 24″ long and cut a notch in the side for the spring to slide in, about 3″ long, then bend the pipe down a little smaller, then the trap on both ends. Now, you slide the trap in making sure it fits snug, two traps, one on each end. Test to make sure there is enough room for the trigger to fire. Always test your pipe with a trap in it first. You may have to take a stick or two to close off the end opposite the spring, just make sure that the only way to get in the pipe is through the trap.

This stove-pipe trap will work on squirrels , muskrats, ducks, rabbits, anything that can fit in the pipe and your bait attracts. Now wire the chain off to something solid. Place near berry bushes in the woods for rabbits and game birds. Around marshes, lakes, river, streams, etc. for muskrats, ducks, etc. All you do is take bait such as corn and make a trail going in each end to a pile of corn in the middle of the pipe. Of course, remove the trap before you place the corn in!! Pheasants, grouse, quail, etc. will go in for the corn, so will coons , so make sure you wire it off to something solid or the coon will run off with the trap. A big coon will just power his head out but smaller coons will be alive and in a bad mood when you arrive. I don’t think the trap would kill a pheasant, but I know it will flatten the smaller game birds. Check the trap once a day. Mice will steal the bait so don’t get upset, just re-bait or move the trap.
Pasted from: http://www.captaindaves.com/buckshot/110.htm

 New traps
When you buy new traps they are coated in a grease. You need to remove this. I wash them well with dish soap and scrub, others simply place new traps in the dishwasher.

After removing the grease, adjust the traps. The pan is the part an animal steps on to fire the trap on their paw. There is a screw that adjusts how much pressure is needed to fire the trap. You need to adjust this so the pressure is not too light and not too heavy. You will want it a little heavy for coyotes though, and very light for raccoons and between this for foxes. Foxes – take 1-2 pounds of pressure to fire the trap, raccoons 1 pound or less, coyotes 3-4 pounds except small coyotes such as Texas ones, same as fox.

The dog is the metal piece that fits into the notch on the pan that holds the trap in the set position until an animal steps on the pan. The dog must fit into the notch properly and allow the trap to fire quickly. The pan notch can be filed to make the notch much smaller, this allows a crisper firing of the trap. Also the pan must be level with the set jaws, not sticking up or too low. If the pan is setting too high when set, bend the base that the dog is attached to, inward.

After making these adjustments, set the traps outside to get a light rust coating. Once rusted you can dye in walnut hulls or logwood crystals. Logwood can be purchased from a trap supplier and has directions on the bag. Walnut hulls- just collect a bunch of them and put in a big pot of water. Put your light rust coated traps in the pot with either the logwood or walnut hulls and simmer for 30-45 mins.

Once they have taken the dye you can remove the traps and hang them up to dry. After dry you can either use as is or wax them as well. Waxing helps keep the dye on and resists further rusting if the traps are set in the ground a while to try to catch an animal. Waxing involves clean white paraffin wax melted down and kept below the boiling point, and the traps are immersed in it until the traps have taken the wax on as a thin coat, and no more white shows on the traps in the wax dip, from the wax. Remove the trap and hang to cool, when cooled, remove the wax on the tip of the dog and the trap pan notch.

Staking traps
In areas where coyote may be caught – always double stake or use a large grapple with long chain or heavy drag ( both of which require some tracking of a caught animal and also require suitable brush for said animal to tangle in), or a cable stake such as sold in the supply catalogs. Make sure all staking connections are strong. Do not just wire the end of the trap chain to something.
Foxes– a single 24″ rebar stake with a welded nut or washer top is all you need,driven through the swivel end on the trap chain, unless there are some coyotes in your area, then see above.
Raccoons, same as fox, however in water I use the trappers tie wire sold in the catalogs, 11 ga or 14 ga (use 11 always if you have big coons such as in New England or the lakes). I will wire the trap chain end to a drag such as a cement block.
Bobcats– often coyotes live in the same area, so stake as for coyotes, or use the grapple or drag system if you have the brush and extra time to track.

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..For further information read: Buckshot’s Complete Survival Trapping Guide © 2009 by Bruce ‘Buckshot’ Hemming, published by Bruce Hemming, Gackle, ND, 157 pages.
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C.   Simple Survival Snares
Pasted from: http://www.simplesurvival.net/snares.htm
When it comes to procuring meat in the wild, you will have to work for your next meal. Usually, it takes a lot of work and then you will most likely have to lower your meat standards a bit. You may prefer beef, but in the field, you will be lucky if you dine on squirrel or rabbit. Animals are difficult for the inexperienced hunter to catch. They are very shy of man and often their senses are highly tuned toward survival. However, you can trap most small game, if you know what you are doing.

There are all kinds of traps that can be made in the bush. Some use boulders, huge logs, deep pits, and so on. Those are more work than they are worth. Well, at least they are for the average person who needs meat quickly and is not hoping for a lion, bear or other large game. We will concentrate on small game. Mainly because they are easier to trap and they are more abundant. Not to mention, they are less dangerous to catch.

The most common method of catching small game is by using snares. Snares can be made using line, cord, wire, or even vines. I can tell you from experience, it will take a lot of traps to yield one animal. Unless you get lucky and discover a place that is full of small game! I recommend you set them out by the dozens and check them first thing each morning. Try to find small game trails, which are small trails through the grass and weeds. Often, rabbits and other small game use the same trails over and over to move to food and water sources. Like man, they are creatures of habit. You may also find trails that lead into briar patches, thorn bushes and other types of brush. Small game uses those types of places as protection, or places to hide. They are good places to put a snare as well.

Snares can be purchased ready-made, with a locking loop. Or, if you prefer, you can make you own from wire, string, cord or vines. I have found wire to work the best and as you may have guessed, vines work less effectively. But, in a survival situation, if you don’t have an item with you, then you must use what Mother Nature provides, or do without. I carry about 50 feet of snare wire and about 25 feet of parachute 550 cord. The parachute cord is nylon and has strands of smaller “string-like” cords inside. I simply cut the cord and remove a single strand of the smaller cord and use it to make my snares with. It is small, light, and very strong.

When making a snare there are two very common designs. One type of design simply holds the animal at ground level and may or may not strangle the victim. The second design will flip the animal into the air and hold the carcass off of the ground. Of course as the animal is held off of the ground it is strangled to death. While they are both are easy to make, each design has strengths and weaknesses.

Both designs require the loop in the wire, cord, string, or vine, to tighten and hold the animal. The loop (see the illustration) should be free moving. This free movement allows the loop to tighten as the animal struggles or moves forward into the snare. With the flip-up design, movement of the wire will trigger the device and fling the animal into the air, which using the animal’s body weight tightens the loop. Make sure the loop has free movement.

In both types of snares you should set the loop diameter for the type of animal you hope to catch. I am using the most common small game here, due to the fact that they are most abundant. Additionally, keep in mind that different animals require the loop diameter to be different sizes and to be placed at different heights on the game trail.

  • Rabbits: the loop should be about four inches in diameter and placed about two inches above the trail.
  • Squirrels: the loop should be about three inches in diameter and two to three inches above the trail.
  • Beavers: make the loop about five inches in diameter and place it about one to two inches off of the ground.

For the holding snare, let’s say for a rabbit, you make a loop (about four inches in diameter) and place it about two inches above the center of the game trail. Make sure the end of the snare wire, opposite the loop, is secured to a bush, stake, or other stationary object. Make sure what you use to secure the snare cannot be pulled away by the animal. Then, if needed, use brush, logs or other debris to make a funnel toward your snare. In other words, force the animal to the snare and do not allow them to go around it. Since most animals will continue to use a trail they have used daily, this should not be a big issue. But, by using the tunneling affect the game will usually continue down the known trail. The animal’s head will then enter the loop and as it continues to move forward the loop will slide and become smaller. Eventually the loop will be so small is size the animal cannot get out. Any struggling will only tighten the loop. Thus, you have dinner.

In the flip-up snare the principle is the same as far as tunneling the animal. The difference is when the animal’s head enters the snare it will eventually pulls the wire far enough to trigger the flip up part of the trap. At that point the animal will be flipped into the air and strangled. The diameter of the loop and the distances off the ground remain the same in this snare as in the other.

To make a trip snare, you need a flexible limb or bush, the snare wire, a trigger and a method to hold the trigger. The illustration shows a couple of examples. I do not recommend this type of snare in extreme cold because the flexible part of the trap often freezes in place and does not function as a spring any longer. If the weather is really cold use the standard holding snare.

[Above: Various snare, deadfall and spring traps.]

I stated early in this article to check your traps each morning. This is important to remember. Some animals, if snared by the leg, will actually chew the limb off to get out of the trap. While I have no problems snaring my dinner, I do not want to cause pain or suffering to any animal. My goal is to kill the animal so I can survive, not to inflict pain.

When you approach the snare you will usually see right off if it has an animal. If an animal is there, use a club or spear to kill it instantly. Most animals caught in a snare will be dead already, but be prepared. The choice of ‘how’ is yours, but keep in mind to kill quickly. Many animals, even small game, will be capable of inflicting pain on the person checking the snare. They may bite, scratch or claw you.

For some of you, snaring an animal may not be a very pleasant task. It may prove to be even more difficult to kill an animal so you can eat. In today’s society we are rarely involved in the processing of our meals and it can be a shocker for some folks. I can understand your views, but in an emergency, you will need the fats and protein the animal will provide. Something must die so you may live. Survival is not a game. In a real survival situation your life may very well depend on your ability to snare game, eat insects, or even the eating of certain plants you may not like. It is necessary for your survival. Can you do what it takes to survive? Can you make a snare?

Snare Cable sizing
 See: http://www.raymondthompson.com/page/www.thompsonsnares.com/page/cable-sizing.aspx
We offer a full line of snaring products in six diameters of steel cable and two diameters of stainless steel cable.  The cable sizes with our Thompson Snare size reference number are listed below along with recommendations for use to capture various species of animals.

Size:     Cable Diameter:               Target Animal:
00         1/32 inch stainless        very small game and birds
0            1/16 inch                         mink, bobcat, small raccoon, rabbit, fox
1             5/64 inch                        bobcat, fox, lynx, coyote, large raccoon
2             3/32 inch                       beaver, otter, lynx coyote
3             7/64 inch                       cougar, medium bear, wolf, alligator
4             1/8  inch                         cougar, large black bear, wolf, crocodile
5             5/32 inch                        large black, grizzly & Kodiak bears
4SS        1/8  inch stainless        feral hogs, alligator

When properly set, Thompson Snares are guaranteed to hold the animal which they are recommended.  Many professional ‘snaremen’ have used smaller sizes with excellent results.

See also Dave Canterbury’s web site, The Pathfinder School at: http://www.wildernessoutfittersarchery.com

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Monday, February 24, 2014 · 12:10 AM

EMP: A pie in the sky concept?

(News & Editorial/ EMP: A pie in the sky concept?)

A.  Report: China building EMP weapons for use against U.S. carriers
Pasted from: http://www.china-defense-mashup.com/report-china-building-emp-weapons-for-use-against-us-carriers.html
2011-07-24 (China Military News cited from http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/jul/21/beijing-develops-radiation-weapons/”>Washington Times and written by Bill Gertz) — China’s military is developing electromagnetic pulse weapons that Beijing plans to use against U.S. aircraft carriers in any future conflict over Taiwan, according to an intelligence report made public on Thursday.

Time bomb jpgPortions of a National Ground Intelligence Center study on the lethal effects of electromagnetic pulse (EMP) and high-powered microwave (HPM) weapons revealed that the arms are part of China’s so-called “assassin’s mace” arsenal – weapons that allow a technologically inferior China to defeat U.S. military forces.

EMP weapons mimic the gamma-ray pulse caused by a nuclear blast that knocks out all electronics, including computers and automobiles, over wide areas. The phenomenon was discovered in 1962 after an aboveground nuclear test in the Pacific disabled electronics in Hawaii.

The declassified intelligence report, obtained by the private National Security Archive, provides details on China’s EMP weapons and plans for their use. Annual Pentagon reports on China’s military in the past made only passing references to the arms.

“For use against Taiwan, China could detonate at a much lower altitude (30 to 40 kilometers) … to confine the EMP effects to Taiwan and its immediate vicinity and minimize damage to electronics on the mainland,” the report said.

The report, produced in 2005 and once labeled “secret,” stated that Chinese military writings have discussed building low-yield EMP warheads, but “it is not known whether [the Chinese] have actually done so.”

The report said that in addition to EMP weapons, “any low-yield strategic nuclear warhead (or tactical nuclear warheads) could be used with similar effects.”

“The DF-21 medium-range ballistic missile has been mentioned as a platform for the EMP attack against Taiwan,” the report said.

According to the report, China’s electronic weapons are part of what are called “trump card” or “assassin’s mace” weapons that “are based on new technology that has been developed in high secrecy.”

“Trump card would be applicable if the Chinese have developed new low-yield, possibly enhanced, EMP warheads, while assassin’s mace would apply if older warheads are employed,” the report said.

According to the report, China conducted EMP tests on mice, rats, rabbits, dogs and monkeys that produced eye, brain, bone marrow and other organ injuries. It stated that “it is clear the real purpose of the Chinese medical experiments is to learn the potential human effects of exposure to powerful EMP and [high-powered microwave] radiation.”

The tests did not appear designed for “anti-personnel [radio frequency] weapons” because of the limited amounts of radiation used.

However, the report said another explanation is that the Chinese tests may have been research “intended primarily for torturing prisoners,” or the tests may have been conducted to determine safety or shielding standards for military personnel or weapons.

The medical research also appeared useful for China’s military in making sure that EMP weapons used against Taiwan and “any vulnerable U.S. [aircraft carrier] would not push the U.S. across the nuclear-response threshold,” the report said.

[And where else might EMP weapons be use, besides the US Fleet in Asia, our government and military think Washington might become a target, see below. Mr. Larry]

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B.  The Missile Defense Spectator
The Silent Threat
21 Dec 2012, spectator.org, Peter Hannaford
Pasted from: http://spectator.org/articles/34752/silent-threat

emp2 first view

Riots over the Middle East and South Asia get everyone’s attention, but a clear and present danger to the United States homeland exists that virtually no one is talking about and for which we have no defense: missile attack.
A Russian military officials says the recent covert visit of one of their submarines to the Gulf of Mexico proves that they could, without difficulty, launch a missile high over the U.S. that could trigger the explosion of an Electro-Magnetic Pulse (EMP) bomb that would shut down virtually all electrical and electronic activity in a large swath of the nation. There would be no radiation, no deaths — “only” economic paralysis and chaos.
Add Iran and North Korea to the list of potential launchers of such a weapon.

While we have worked for months to develop missile defense capabilities in Europe to protect against a possible Iranian attack there, we have only tested such systems from bases in California and Alaska. Nothing is ready to deploy and given the threat of “sequestration” of large amounts of defense funds, that situation is unlikely to change.
While Congress and the Administration stew and stall over the sequestration issue, the danger is both clear and present and there is something we can do to protect the U.S. homeland from such attacks. It is called the Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netter Sensor. That mouthful is shortened to JLENS.

The Army developed JLENS to detect, identify, track and engage multiple hostile targets, including low-flying cruise missiles, as well as those launched from submarines and merchant vessels. The threat is that such attacks might involve EMP, chemical or biological weapons.
JLENS is deceptively simple, consisting of two lighter-than-air ships that lift to 10,000 feet (or more) both a fire-control and surveillance radar from where they detect potentially hostile targets at ranges of more than 200 miles. It gives field commanders considerable advance warning of threats. The system was tested successfully last April at the Utah Test and Training Range, destroying a simulated hostile cruise missile with a Patriot missile.

Development of JLENS has involved an investment of $2 billion so far. The next step is to answer requests from combat commands for this system by testing it again in the field to fine-tune it. Congress appropriated $40.3 million for such a test; however, before it could be conducted, the Department of Defense asked Congress to allow these funds to be reprogrammed for other purposes, presumably including budget balancing in the face of sequestration.

Since its creation in the 1950s, the Committee on the Present Danger has focused on the changing nature of threats to the United States. With the potential threat to the U.S. homeland increasing daily, the Committee has written to the Secretary of Defense to urge him to withdraw the request to reprogram the funds so that development of JLENS can proceed. Its cost, in the greater scheme of things, is low when measured against the nature and growth of the threat to our homeland.

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C.  A Fleet of Blimps Will Soon Serve as a Missile Shield Over Washington
24 Jul 2013, Gizmodo.com, by Adam Clark Estes
Pasted from: http://gizmodo.com/a-fleet-of-blimps-will-soon-serve-as-a-missile-shield-o-885030187

emp2 JLENS blimp

A still-chilling consequence of post-9/11 America is that we remain all too aware of the fact that we could be attacked at any moment. And so with worst case scenarios in mind, the military is constantly upgrading our defense systems in increasingly creative ways. Washington DC is next in line. It’s getting blimps.

To call Raytheon’s JLENS system mere blimps, though, is doing the defense contractor a disservice. These house-sized flying spy fortresses can identify threats on the ground that even the most powerful land-based radar would miss. They can spot and track incoming cruise missiles, mine-laying ships, armed drones, or anything incoming from hundreds of miles away in 360-degrees and react in real-time. Perhaps most impressively, the JLENS system can stay in the air watching over a base or a city for up to 30 days, all day and all night, without needing to be resupplied or refueled. Obviously, this is preferable to the very expensive fleet of five spy plans that it would take to do the same work that the JLENS does with less than half the manpower.

emp2 JLENS system

Sometime in 2014, the Defense Department will deploy a pair of JLENS blimps over the Washington DC to watch over the nation’s capital. At 74-meters long, the aircraft aren’t exactly Goodyear blimp-sized, but they’re not inconspicuous either. The JLENS system is made up of two aerostats: One equipped with a fire control radar that provides targeting data and the other with a surveillance radar that can see in all directions. Floating at 10,000 feet above the ground, the JLENS system will also be able to see all the way out to the Atlantic Ocean.

The JLENS system is already on its way to the Washington DC area after having finished a successful test out in Utah. With over 100 soldiers trained on the system, the Army ran early user testing in a number of different complex scenarios. The next step is to transport the whole outfit to the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland where it will undergo an operational evaluation and eventually enter into active duty, so to speak.

It’s unclear exactly when the JLENS system should take flight, but it’s hard to see the downside in the arrangement until then. When all said and done, the Defense Department will be spending up to 700 percent less on the JLENS system than on spy planes, and will ostensibly get better protection. And who knows? They might be able to pitch in some aerial photography for Redskins games.

[OK, so Washington DC has JLENS system protection, what about the rest of us? The following article discusses what personal-social-utility systems you normally depend on to live, that will be affected by an EMP strike on the USA, form the not protected northeast coast, southeast coast,  Gulf coast, or entire west coast. An EEMP attack along any of these coasts would take out power almost half way across the country in a huge circle from the near space nuclear explosion. You won’t see it, you won’t hear it, the power will simply be gone. Mr Larry]

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D.  Rolling to a stop and living in the dark
28 May 2013, P.R.E.P. Personal Readiness Education Programs,  by PREP
Pasted from: http://readygoprep.com/website/rolling-to-a-stop-and-living-in-the-dark/

Recently I saw some controversy about the book “One Second After” by William R. Forstchen. The opinion was that too many people were treating the book as gospel with respect to their prepping for a long-term power outage.EMP2 book

The book details an Electro-magnetic Pulse attack on the United States by an unknown entity. Actually none of the characters knows exactly why the power went out, but everything operated by electricity to include all vehicles and generators just stopped working. In the blink of an eye, everything rolled to a stop, including life, as we knew it.
This is not a book review

Although I regularly recommend the book as a primer to anyone curious or on the fence about prepping. The story does a great job of revealing how people may react when the lights go out, transportation stops, food disappears, medical supplies run out and help isn’t coming.  Is it an extreme example? Maybe, maybe not, depends who you ask. But it is an emotional page-turner that might just draw you in and have you cursing, crying and cheering throughout. Either way, you may find yourself asking some questions about your level of preparedness. And that is a good thing.

So where is the controversy? It’s in our freedom to prepare anyway we wish.  Prepping already gets a bad rap in general by the population at large.  It’s been open season by TV and media for a while now. So why do we in the prepperverse feel the need to down on each other. Without pointing fingers, a couple of the biggest names in survival have criticized those who prefer to be self-reliant in a world without power.

There is every reason to be prepared for a long power outage. First, let’s define what long term may mean to you. An EMP is considered a high impact low frequency event. NASA had a page on its website that warned about the US East coast possibly being without power for 4-7 years after an EMP or severe solar weather event. That page has since been pulled but interestingly; they still have the urban survival page placeholder in the employee area of the site. But aside from an apocalyptic event, let’s consider events that have actually happened? Hurricanes Andrew or Katrina, Sendai Provence Japan after the 2011 earthquake and subsequent tsunami and nuclear meltdown. There was no power for months in affected areas. These are just a couple of actual examples of a time when 72 hours of supplies wasn’t even close to enough.

If the event is large enough, there may be nowhere to actually go. How about a possible earthquake on the New Madrid fault line that severs critical cross-country infrastructure? Is someone going to flip a breaker and shazaam, we have lights? No, it doesn’t work that way.

As our colleagues stated, there will always be someone to turn the power back on. But how long would a repair take after the grid is catastrophically damaged by Mother nature, physical attack or cyber terrorism?

Electricity is arguably the easiest area of survival to adjust to a life without. We have survived without power as a species until only recently. With that being said, it would be a major adjustment in our way of life until the lights come back on. Take a moment to reflect on how electricity has changed our world and how things would be when all the machines stop working.

In this world where everyone has an opinion and a website, you need to do what you must to extend your survival and comfort in times of crisis. Don’t be swayed by those who speak the loudest but haven’t actually lived what they preach. There may come a day when you are sitting in the dark, cursing, and can’t even tweet @ them that they were wrong and you regret listening to them.

EMP2 power out

So what can you do to mitigate the effects of a life without power?
We at P.R.E.P have taken the less than glamorous approach of actually attempting to identify threats to our safety and survival by performing a hazard analysis in all the areas we feel are important to our everyday life.  One of those areas is electricity.

Take out some paper and ask yourself some questions. Once you have considered the potential problems of living without power, devise some solutions to lessen the impact of such an existence.

“Think about short and long-term periods at home, and then consider the impacts of distant places without power to really get a feel for what conditions you may be forced to endure.”

There are seven main areas of survival. How could a power outage affect you in a survival situation? What other problems can you identify?

 Food:

  • Transportation from farmer through the food processing/delivery chain.
  • Refrigeration and preservation
  • Cooking and preparation
  • Will you be able to produce, preserve and prepare foods for safe consumption?

Water:

  • Municipal water systems inoperable
  • Sewers inoperable
  • Fire hydrants/extinguishing may not be available
  • Water quality, not safe to drink without treatment
  • Will you have water for the many needs of survival? Drinking, hygiene, medical, laundry, sanitation of surfaces, flushing, irrigation, animals?

Shelter:

  • Lighting, (candles are a major cause of house fires after a hurricane or power outage)
  • Appliances
  • Warmth
  • Cooling
  • Electric tools
  • Farm housing and animal care
  • Will your physical location be affected? Maintenance?

Safety / Health:

  • Medical machines
  • Drinking/hygiene/medical water quality concerns
  • Sanitation, cleaning/sewage
  • Medical supplies,  pharmaceuticals
  • Access to care
  • Night visibility
  • What medical capabilities will be affected? Short/Long term?
  • Will you need medications?

Security:

  • Security systems may be down
  • Outdoor lighting inoperable
  • Automated systems offline
  • Will the outage affect your physical security plan?

Communication:

  • Computer systems down
  • Communication systems down.  Ham, CB, data, voice, video
  • How will you communicate locally/distantly?

Energy:

  • Fuel may be unavailable for power generation and transportation at all levels
  • Nuclear power offline without cooling systems, even offline, the rods need to be cooled or they will meltdown
  • Grid may be down for extended period without replacement transformers. Power is needed to manufacture  transformers. Some types take months to make and transport
  • Did the event damage your alternate energy equipment or plans?

In this case we will add transportation because it affects all the other areas of survival in some way. If there were an outage that disabled our mechanical way to move great distances, it would effectively shut down the economy on a grand scale, especially in this globalized and interconnected world.

 The Moral of the story:  Feel free to prepare as you see fit. Don’t let others make you feel foolish for thinking outside the box and having a contingency plan. Additionally, don’t be afraid to ask for help, this is all uncharted territory for a modern society.

Before leaving this post…You should know, it’s not just Washington DC that may be threatened, but our fleet, our allies, the lower 48. If enemy and potential enemy nations are planning to use their nuclear weapons specifically for an EMP attack,  1st World nations are not safe, continent wide destruction of electronic infrastructure could lead to 90% death rate within a year.

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Thursday, February 13, 2014 · 12:10 AM

Antibiotics for TEOTWAWKI

(Survival Manual/ 6. Medical/d) Medicine & supplement/ Antibiotics for TEOTWAWKI)

Medical advice
The information, ideas, and suggestions in the 4dtraveler.net blog are not intended as a substitute for professional advice. Before following any suggestions contained in this post, you should consult your personal physician. Neither the author or Word Press shall be liable or responsible for any loss or damage allegedly arising as a consequence of your use or application of any information or suggestions in this blog.
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I.  Emergency Antibiotics for TEOTWAWKI
Ampicillin, Amoxicillin, Doxycycline, Tetracycline, Azithromycin and their non prescription, pharmaceutical grade forms

A.  Ampicillin
Ampicillin is a wide spectrum antibiotic in the penicillin group of drugs. It fights bacteria in your body and is used to treat many different types of infections caused by bacteria, such as  lungs (pneumonia),  infections of the middle ear, tonsils, throat, larynx (laryngitis), bronchi (bronchitis), sinuses, stomach and intestines, bladder infections, urinary tract, skin infections, kidney caused by susceptible bacteria, E. coli or salmonella infection. It also is used for treating uncomplicated gonorrhea, meningitis, endocarditis and other serious infections.
Preparations: Capsules: 250 and 500 mg. Powder oral suspension: 125 and 250 mg/5mL.
* Amazon.com: Fish Cillin (Ampicillin) 250 mg – 100 Caps, $27.97 free S&H

Product Features
Standard pharmacy quality Ampicillin antibiotic.
Labeled for use in fish tanks, in pull apart capsules for easy use – 250 mg. strength

Product Description
Fish Cillin exerts a bactericidal action on gram positive and some gram negative bacteria. Useful for control of some common bacterial diseases of fish including Aeromonas and Pseudomonsa denera and Mysobbacterial group (gill diseases & chondrococcus). Directions: Add contents of one capsule (250 mg) into aquarium for each 10 gallons of water to be treated. While duration of treatment depends on type and severity of infection, it is recommended that extended medication baths continue for a minimum of 5 days and for not more than 10 days. Discontinue treatment if no improvement is noted within 5 days.

 Customer reviews
1) Pharmacy Grade Product, January 11, 2011
By moonjogger (MI)
This review is from: Fish Cillin (Ampicillin 250 mg) – 100 Caps (Misc.)
“This is an excellent product. Is all 100% sealed and is Usp grade antibiotic. Manufacturer is West-ward Pharmisuiticals of New Jersery. This very same tablet is what Walgreens and Rite aid are despensing for their Generics. OF COURSE, I was thrilled that my fish would not suffer from any kind of ill effects from any kind of odd fillers or additives that may have been added. Fish are very sensitive to any kind of changes in their enviourment. Thus I am 100 % confident in the Knowing that all are safe with this Antibiotic.”

2) SAVED MY DOG’S LIFE., November 1, 2007
By Lavern A. W. (Ohio This review is from: Fish Cillin (Ampicillin 250 mg) – 100 Caps
I WISH I WOULD HAVE FOUND THESE EARLIER. I lost my Scotty (12 years old and Sheppard 13 years old in 2006). The vet could not save them. It cost a lot of money and no dogs to show for it. When my Scottie’s twin sister got sick in April of 2007 I gave her four tablets a day and on the fourth day she started to eat again. This was the same time that the tainted dog food was happening. I still have her and she was 13 in July and this is November. Plus I saved hundred of dollars in vet bill and have a dog to show for it.
.

 B.  Amoxicillin
Amoxicillin is a penicillin group antibiotic. It fights bacteria in your body.
Amoxicillin is used to treat many different types of infections caused by bacteria, such as ear infections, ear/nose/throat (upper respiratory infections) bladder and urninary tract infections, pneumonia, gonorrhea, and E. coli or salmonella infection. Amoxicillin is also sometimes used together with another antibiotic called clarithromycin (Biaxin) to treat stomach ulcers caused by Helicobacter pylori infection. This combination is sometimes used with a stomach acid reducer called lansoprazole (Prevacid).
Preparations: Capsules: 250 and 500 mg. Tablets: 500 and 875 mg. Chewable tablets: 125, 200, 250, and 400 mg.
1.   Fish Mox (Amoxicillin) 250mg, 100 Capsules, $14.99
2.   Amazon.com: Fish Mox (Amoxicillin) 250mg, 100 Capsules, $16.28 + free shipping.
_a)  Standard pharmacy quality Amoxicillin antibiotic
_b)  Labeled for use in fish tanks, in pull apart capsules for easy use – 250 mg. strength

 Product Description
Fish-Mox exerts a bactericidal action on gram positive and some gram negative bacteria. Useful for control of some common bacterial diseases of fish including aeromonas and pseudomonas genera and mysobacterial group (gill diseases, chondrococcus).

Add contents of one capsule (250 mg) into aquarium for each 10 gallons  of water to be treated. It is recommended that extended medication baths continue for a minimum of 5 days & for not more than 10 days. Discontinue treatment if no improvement is noted within 5 days.
 _a) [10 gallons  water per 250mg Fish-Mox * 8.3 pounds per gallon water =83 pounds of water per 250mg Fish-Mox capsule,
_b) there fore, 500mg Fish-Mox per 166 pounds water, ie. pounds body weight.]

Customer reviews
‘For most infections, the dosage weight of this drug is 500mg for an average 160-200 lbs adult, taken 2 to 3 times a day. Take a total of 1 Gram (1000  mg) per day, using 500mg Fish Mox that would be two pills a day. Water mass is considered in determining dosage, since this is a Penicillin class of drug. You can double the dosage for short-term, serious infections. A bottle should cost $25 for 100 Pills. It’s a human grade pharmaceutical medication, the same pills humans take.’ Pasted from http://www.godlikeproductions.com/forum1/message813524/pg1>

1)  Review of product “Fish Mox“, February 11, 2007
By Cathy F. Elkiss (Gettysburg, PA USA This review is from: Fish Mox (Amoxicillin) 250mg, 100 Capsules (Misc.)
“I run a sanctuary for abandoned and homeless cats in my community, and I like to keep a supply of amoxicillin and ampicillin on hand for treating the occasional upper respiratory infections to which these animals are prone. They are both excellent products – safe, inexpensive, easy to use and most important, effective. Thank you! Cathy Elkiss”
2)  It’s The Real Stuff!!, April 17, 2009
By A.A.Roxx (PA) This review is from: Fish Mox (Amoxicillin) 250mg, 100 Capsules (Misc.)
“I had a bad sinus infection, tried to get a doctors appointment and was told I had to wait 2 weeks. I ordered the Fishmox received it fast from Amazon, took it 4 times a day and within 5 days the sinus infection was gone! Stayed on it for 10 days total. I saved $100 doctors visit and $90
Amoxicillin purchase (I have no medical insurance). It is real Amoxicillin. It worked for me.’
3)   Pharmaceutical Grade Amoxicillin, February 25, 2011 By J. Ellison (Silverton, oregon) –
This review is from: Fish Mox (Amoxicillin) 250mg, 100 Capsules (Misc.)
“Fish-Mox is pharmaceutical grade Amoxicillin made in Tolleson AZ, & is same as Human Antibiotic. Capsule has FDA lot & Registration number printed on each Cap. Is non-suspended yellow powder in a pull-apart gelatin capsule. It’s the Real-McCoy; Excellent value. JE Oregon”
4)  Fish Mox (Amoxicillin) 250mg, 100 Capsules, February 2, 2011 By nubbles. This review is from: Fish Mox (Amoxicillin) 250mg, 100 Capsules (Misc.)
‘This is the real deal pharmacy grade Amoxicillin, 250mg, 100 caps. Of course it’s for aquarium use only, but if you accidentally take some yourself, for let’s say calming your abscessed tooth down, you will be very OK. and if your dog accidentally eats a couple a day it might accidentally calm down his ear yeast infection. Order with confidence! and upon arrival you can inspect the pills, enter the ID on them ‘westward 938’ into google and you will see info from FDA and others telling you these are the real deal.”
5)  100% Amoxicillan, See Below……, December 10, 2010 By Westfin. This review is from: Fish Mox (Amoxicillin) 250mg, 100 Capsules (Misc.)
“I just received my order of Fish Mox, which will be used for my fish, but I was curious so I looked up the name and number from one of the capsules and here are the results: http://www.drugs.com/imprints/west-ward-938-15375.html
[“West-ward 938”, Pill imprint West-ward 938 has been identified as Amoxicillin 250 mg. Amoxicillin is used in the treatment of urinary tract infection; bacterial infection; bladder infection; bronchitis; upper respiratory tract infection (and more), and belongs to the drug class aminopenicillins. There is no proven risk in humans during pregnancy”….]

. 
C.  Doxycycline
Doxycycline is a synthetic (man-made) antibiotic derived from tetracycline.
Doxycycline is used for many different types of infections, including respiratory tract infections due to Hemophilus influenzae(1), Streptococcus pneumoniae(2), or Mycoplasma pneumoniae (3). It also is used for the treatment of nongonococcal urethritis (due to Ureaplasma), Rocky mountain spotted fever (tick, flea & lice bites), typhus, cancroids, cholera, brucellosis, anthrax, bubonic plague, syphilis, diarrhea, and acne, chronic prostatitis, sinusitis, chlamydia, pelvic inflammatory disease, acne, rosacea, and Rickettsial infections.
Preparations: Capsules: 40, 50, 75, and 100 mg. Tablets: 50, 75, 100, and 150 mg.
*  Amazon.com: Aqua-Doxy  (Doxycycline) 100mg Tablets – 30 Count, $6.99 =$5.00 S&H=$11.99 each.

Product Description
One bottle of Aqua-Doxy 30 Tablets. 100 mg USP pharmaceutical grade Doxycycline Hyclate per capsule. What you see is what you get – no generic substitutes. Labeled for ornamental fish use.

Customer review
1)  Successfully helped our “little guy“, January 1, 2010 By Jeffrey Baitis re.  Aqua-Doxy 100mg Tablets – 30 Count (Misc.)
“It’s very good to take your animals to a vet if you suspect illness. That stated, we suspected one of our guinea pigs had an upper respiratory tract infection, and read on guinealynx.info that guinea pigs are often treated successfully with doxycycline 5mg/kg q12h. With a pet that costs $5, I elected to medicate the fuzzball myself. It was great to find a few doxycycline hyclate tablets for a low price on Amazon, shipped directly to our door (and quickly). Our guinea pig improved within about three days; within a week, his cough was completely absent. We continued to medicate him for another five days to try to ensure that any possible antibotic-resistant bacteria would be eliminated.
Of course, in this case, causality cannot be established since we merely guessed that the pig had a bacterial infection… but we think this stuff did the trick!”
2)  works well, September 16, 2010. By lynn (ct) Aqua-Doxy 100mg Tablets – 30 Count (Misc.)
“my rats suffer from frequent uri’s and with my vets permission i can treat flare ups at home with this product without the hassle of an office visit. i follow my vets dosage instructions and if they dont improve i schedule a vet visit but so far these have saved me a bundle.”
.

 D.  Tetracycline
* Amazon.com: Fish Cycline (Tetracycline) 250 mg – 100 Caps, by Thomas Laboratories, $13.79  + free Shipping

Product Features
•  Exerts bacterial action on gram-positive
•  And some gram-negative bacteria
•  For ornamental and aquarium fish only

Product Description
Non-prescription tetracycline labeled for fish or aquarium use for the control of common bacterial infections. Each capsule contains 250 mg tetracycline. Directions: Add contents of capsule to aquarium water at the rate of 1 (250 mg. capsule) per 10 gals. Repeat in 24 hours. Continue treatment for 5-10 days.

 BE CAREFUL WITH TETRACYCLINE! Make sure you know the expiration date and mark it down on EVERY bottle you store it in. After it expires Tetracycline becomes toxic.

 Customer reviews
1)  It’s Tetracycline, pure and simple, February 16, 2007, By K. Yates
This review is from: Fish Cycline (Tetracycline 250 mg) – 100 Caps (Misc.)
“Tired of $75 to ??? (Where is the limit?) doctor’s visits to get an antibiotic for an infection? If you are savvy enough to know when you have what, you may want to know that the exact same antibiotic is available to dope your fish tank and retard the growth of unhealthy bacteria. And you won’t go to the pharmacy and pay $50 to $100 for 30 to 50 caplets. This is a bottle of 100 caplets for less than $28 or, at least it was when I reordered from the vet supply house that ships it. (Where I also found 100 – 500mg caps for the same price.)”
2)  I haven’t died yet!, June 14, 2009, By lisa simpson ” This review is from: Fish Cycline (Tetracycline 250 mg) – 100 Caps (Misc.)
“I have used these Thomas Labs antibiotics for years. They are USP grade- United States Pharmaceutical grade. If you really want to pay $85 for an office visit, $30 for a strep screen, then $30 for 30 Amoxicillin capsules, then go for it! But I don’t have that kind of $$$$$!”

. 
E.  Zithromax
* Amazon.com:  Aquatic Azithromycin, (Zithromax) 250mg. 30 Count Tablets, Antibiotic USP by Aquatic Pharmacy

Product Features
•  All our products are pharmaceutical grade [USP ] The highest quality.
•  Not for human consumption or aquatic species meant for food.
•  Labeled for aquatic use only. (Therefore no prescription needed)
•  Dosage and direction for aquatic use, on bottle.
•  All bottles are safety sealed and have child resistant cap

Product Description
Each tablet contains: Azithromycin, 250mg., 30 count tablets USP…..Azithromycin is a semisynthetic broad spectrum antibiotic, for treatment against many gram-positive and gram-negative microorganisms.

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II.  Antibiotic prescription, general dosage
Pasted from: http://www.survivalistboards.com/showthread.php?t=14441
Also: http://www.allthingsnow.com/all/survival/shared/15584307/Fish-Antobiotics-For-Human-Use-Survivalist-Forum

Penicillin, give 500 mg by mouth 4 times a day (qid) for Streptococcal, pneumococcal infections, anaerobic infections “above the diaphragm” such as abscessed teeth. Although its spectrum is limited, this drug is relatively cheap and causes fewer side effects such as diarrhea and vaginitis. Unfortunately, streptococci and pneumococci are increasingly resistant.

Amoxicillin,  250mg. Give 250 to 500 mg by mouth (id) every 12 hours, for urinary, middle ear, and lower respiratory infection (bronchia and lungs). This is a broader spectrum penicillin. Staphylococci are usually resistant.

Erythromycin, 400 mg. Give two tablets twice daily (bid) for pneumonia or Streptococcal sore throat. The drug is also of some benefit in Staphylococcal skin infections.

Tetracycline 250 mg Give 250-500 mg by mouth 4 times a day (qid)  for plague and various other insect-born infections; urinary infections; bronchitis; infected animal bites; some venereal diseases; Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Avoid this class of drug in pregnant women and young children, if possible.

Doxycycline 100 mg, which is given once daily (twice for severe infections). Doxycycline has fewer gastrointestinal side effects and is better absorbed than tetracycline with food in the stomach, but is more likely to sensitize the skin to sunlight.

Metronidazole The usual dose is 500 mg three times a day (tid), higher for some infections (e.g. amebiasis). The drug is effective against certain protozoans including amoebae and Giardia, and for anaerobic bacteria such as those that normally inhabit the bowel and the female genital tract. It can be extremely useful in intraabdominal , pelvic, and wound infections caused by such bacteria.

Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole Give one double strength (DS) tablet bid for urinary infections and some types of bacterial diarrhea, or as a back-up drug for sinusitis, bronchitis, ear infections (for resistant organisms or allergic patients).
Pasted from: http://www.survivalistboards.com/showthread.php?t=14441

.
See also the informative YouTube videos with, “Patriot Nurse”. The following link takes you to her discussion of the  “Top 5 Antibiotics for SHTF”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOfthwm_v3E&feature=relmfu

.

 See also the book, “The Doom and Bloom(tm) Survival Medicine Handbook” (Keep your loved ones healthy in every disaster, from wildfires to a complete societal collapse),  by  Joseph Alton, M.D. and AMY ALTON, A.R.N.P., sold through Amazon.com
.

III.  Things you should be aware of
A.  Why do people feel they need antibiotics without a prescription?
http://www.coreynahman.com/antibiotics.html   by Corey Nahman, Registered pharmacist in the Sate of New York.
(or, ‘Why not do what everyone else does – go to the doctor, get a prescription and take it to the drugstore?’)
There are many reasons people don’t want to obtain antibiotics the traditional way:
•  Persistent Infections – such as urinary tract infections.  You feel burning discomfort down there with an urgency to urinate and you know right away what you have because you get it all the time.  It is a pain in the neck having to run to the doctor for an expensive examination when you know what you have and what you need.
•  Skin Conditions – People who suffer from acne or rosacea often take antibiotics propholactically to prevent flare-ups.  They prefer to buy a large quantity of medicine for a cheap price rather than visiting dermatologist every time they need a refill.
•  Poverty, Lack of Insurance, Cultural Norms – many people, such as undocumented immigrants, work for small businesses.  They get zero benefits.  They can’t afford the doctor and they can’t afford American drug prices.  Often, they come from cultures where prescriptions are not required for antibiotics.

 .
B.  Why is buying prescription drugs without a prescription potentially dangerous?
http://www.coreynahman.com/antibiotics.html   by Corey Nahman, Registered pharmacist in the Sate of New York.
If you get your antibiotics without going to a doctor and getting a prescription, you can get yourself in trouble, just understand the following as they may refer to you:
•  Misdiagnosis: Antibiotics (of any kind) are not a cure-all.  They are only effective to against bacterial illnesses. They are not effective against  viral illnesses.
Antibiotics are designed to combat specific ailments.  For instance, penicillins (a family of drugs with names ending in “-cillin” such as penicillin, amoxicillin, ampicillin) are effective against streptococcal infections, syphilis, and Lyme disease but for community-acquired pneumonia, bacterial diarrhea, mycoplasmal infections or gonorrhea you would be better off using a quinolone (a family of drugs with names ending in “-oxacin such as levofloxacin (Levaquin) or Ciprofloxacin (Cipro).
A doctor is an expert in knowing which antibiotic to use for specific ailments.  If an untrained person uses the wrong antibiotic his condition may get worse and as a result, he may wind up in the hospital.
•  Side Effects: Antibiotics can cause side effects.  If you take an antibiotic that you are allergic to you could develop an anaphylactic reaction, go into shock and die.  Other  antibiotic side effects include nausea and diarrhea, abdominal pain, liver toxicity, brain and kidney damage or even pseudomembranoous colitis.
•  Interactions (Drug, Food, Alcohol): Certain antibiotics should not be mixed with other drugs, foods  or alcohol. For example, drinking grapefruit juice with erythromycins or taking erythromycin with theophylline (a drug used for respiratory ailments) can cause fatal heart arrhythmias. There are many other interactions that doctors know about but you don’t. [Erythromycin is  not one of the antibiotics considered in our TEOTWAWKI medicine chest.]
•  Resistance: No-prescription antibiotics are likely to be misused leading to drug resistance.  Drug resistant germs are difficult to treat and have spread into the community wreaking havoc on our healthcare institutions.
•  Conclusion: Buying antibiotics without a doctor’s prescription is easy.  The drugs are inexpensive.  This is a potentially dangerous practice but it is unlikely to stop because it is a low priority for law enforcement institutions.

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