Survival Homestead

Source: FT.com

We made it. Christmas, new year and the End-of-the-World-Armageddon-Apocalypse.

But 2009 is all about survival. And what better way to prepare than to become a survivalist? Survivalist websites and books were last year’s sleeper hit, no longer the preserve of lone wackos. Barton Biggs, former chief global strategist for Morgan Stanley, rebranded survivalism “sensible”. In his book Wealth, War, and Wisdom , he said all right-minded people should “assume the possibility of a breakdown of the civilised infrastructure” and advised the well-off to invest 5 per cent of their income in creating a refuge “well-stocked with seed, fertiliser, canned food and medicine”. A number of self-help books are on the market such as Cody Lundin’s When All Hell Breaks Loose, which instructs readers how to get rid of bodies and feast on rats in the event of disaster.

Jim Rawles tells me traffic to his website, survivalblog.com, increased threefold in the past year: “The demographics of [readers] have noticeably broadened, to include far more left-of-centre and green people … from a wide range of backgrounds and income levels. In 20 years we may all qualify as survivalists [as] the world seems headed for a deep depression.”

If you are worried that EOTWAA may come in 2009, visit the site for tips. There are testimonials from readers transformed by Mr Rawles’s shopping secrets. Reads one: “Imagine waiting for the vaccine to arrive, and the last can of anchovies is empty.” Even in the EOTWAA, someone will be preparing antipasti.

Over Christmas, the Cat Man came to London, to Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Museum, which offers weird exhibits. Cat Man, whose real name is Dennis Avner, has spent much of his life transforming himself into a tiger by tattooing his body, filing his teeth into feline points and having whisker implants. A computer programmer by day, he spent a month in the north Michigan woods to see if he could survive.

Positivity is key. Preparing for EOTWAA may sound depressing. But Mr Rawles says: “Active preparedness is all about keeping a positive attitude.”

The girl group Destiny’s Child knew the power of positive thinking: “I’m a survivor … I’m gonna make it.” There are worse anthems for 2009.

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Technorati Tags: TEOTWAWKI, Barton Biggs

We stumbled across a site called EatTheWeeds.com and it seems to be a good source of info for foragers.  In a survival situation it is certainly a valuable skill to possess, knowing where to obtain food from the landscape around you. Really this goes without saying, but how many of us have the skills necessary to forage from the land without ending up with liver damage from toadstools?   Numerous videos that are available on YouTube.  Here’s one.

Finding and procuring Duck Potatoes

Technorati Tags: Foraging

Source:  Toronto

In an amazing story of survival, a 55-year-old Ancaster woman has been found alive after wandering in the snow and sub-zero temperatures for nearly three days.

Donna Molnar went missing on Friday afternoon from a local market in a rural Ancaster, near Hamilton. Police believe she became disoriented with the heavy snow and forceful winds.

Ms. Molnar, a secretary at a west Hamilton high school, was found late this morning about 200 metres from her car. She was buried under two feet of snow and still conscious.

Hamilton Police Chief Brian Mullan said Ms. Molnar appeared to be encased in snow, “and that’s what we think played a major role in her retaining her own body heat and surviving for two-and-a-half days, really in some of the more extreme weather that we’ve seen this year,” he said.

Ms. Molnar is suffering from hypothermia and is in the intensive care unit at Hamilton General hospital. Her husband Dave and son Matthew are with her at the hospital.

After police found her abandoned vehicle on Saturday, about 20 officers started an extensive search. A spokeswoman for the Hamilton police said despite the fact that Ms. Molnar was so close to her car, the officers weren’t able to find her because of the deep snow. She was eventually located after a search and rescue dog named Ace picked up her scent about 75 metres away and barked.

Family and friends had almost given up hope, said Mark, a friend of the Molnar family who would not provide his last name.

“Obviously, we were very happy and very relived,” he said from the Molnar family’s Woodland Drive home. “ It had been three days and two snowstorms. It’s very difficult for a family to be optimistic under those circumstances. You hope for the best but prepare yourself for the worst. I really think that is a Christmas miracle that she was found alive.”

Mark said he wouldn’t comment on what would have caused Ms. Molnar to become disoriented. But described Ms. Molnar as an “exceptional person.”

Technorati Tags: survival

Source: pjstar.com

Two men were stopped for speeding early Thursday in a truck filled with loaded guns, ammunition and military-style paraphernalia, and a comparable amount of weapons was found at one of their homes, authorities said.

Bryce A. Standley, 25, of Macomb and Nicholas R. Holik, 20, of Mount Prospect were charged Thursday in McDonough County court with three counts each of aggravated unlawful use of weapons and unlawful use of weapons.

Standley and Holik, both students at Western Illinois University, were released from jail Thursday afternoon on $25,000 bond each.

Both men have Illinois Firearm Owner’s Identification cards.

A sheriff’s deputy stopped their pickup truck northwest of Macomb near McDonough County roads East 750th and North 1700th at about 2:40 a.m. Thursday.

Prosecutors said the truck was stopped in the roadway near a home but made a U-turn and drove away as the deputy approached. The pickup was then stopped for speeding 70 mph in a 55 mph zone.

A later search of the vehicle turned up two rifles and two loaded pistols, most or all with paraphernalia including silencers, optical sites and laser pointers attached. One of the pistols, a .22-caliber, was under the driver’s seat, while the other was under the passenger’s seat.

Also in the vehicle, police found two military gas masks, two sets of military night vision goggles, 22 AR-15 loaded magazines and nearly 250 ammunition shells. Both men were also wearing bulletproof vests.

Prosecutors said the men told police they had fired the weapons at targets before they were stopped and that they were coyote hunting.

“There is absolutely no evidence of anything sinister here,” said Holik’s defense attorney, Craig Pierce of Bushnell, in arguing for a lower bond.

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Technorati Tags: guns, ammunition, paraphernalia

Source: CNN.com

A severe ice storm prompted President Bush to declare Saturday that a state of emergency exists in northern Massachusetts, a move that authorizes the use of federal aid to help the recovery effort.

The Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency are to coordinate relief efforts in the counties of Berkshire, Bristol, Essex, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, Middlesex, Suffolk and Worcester.

By Saturday night, there were 180,000 customers without power, said James Mannion, deputy public information officer for the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency.

The declaration “frees up resources from other states around us,” he said, adding that state officials have asked FEMA for cots to be used in 70 shelters, where 1,300 people were expected to spend Saturday night.

In addition, 750 National Guard troops were deployed in the affected area, he said.

Though much of the ice melted Saturday, it refroze Saturday night.

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Technorati Tags: ice storm