Category Archives: news

Article – Wisconsin family discovers fully-stocked fallout shelter in their back yard

Posted on by
5

Still have some Hardigg cases if anyone wants…..

======================================

For more than a decade after they moved into their house in Neenah, Wisconsin, the Zwick family knew they had a Cold War bunker in their backyard.

It was not until 2010 that anyone thought to open the heavy steel hatch, climb down the ladder and explore the 8-foot-by-10-foot chamber that the home’s previous owner had built to protect his family from a nuclear attack.

Floating in five feet of water that had seemed into the bunker were sealed U.S. Army boxed packed with all of the supplies a family would need to survive two weeks underground.

They apparently can’t figure out why there was a phonebook packed with the toilet paper. Uhm…for when the toilet paper ran out, mayhap?

Flooding is always a concern with any underground structure. I think that if I had to do it, I’d build an above-ground structure, bank it with earth, landscape and make it look like part of the hillside. Hopefully drainage would be much better.

I never find interesting crap like this. On the other hand, some folks get lucky, hit a grand slam, and discover entire bunker complexes. More on that in an upcoming post.

Asymetrical warfare example

Posted on by
31

An interesting observation about the events in Boston. The manhunt resulted in shutting down the mass transit system, creating a no-fly zone around the city (which I’m guessing means the airports were shut down), people were ‘strongly advised’ to stay indoors, crippling some cell phone areas, and traffic was disrupted by searches, roadblocks and checkpoints. So, what we have seen, interestingly, is that all it takes to completely shut down a (mostly) major US city is two guys who aren’t afraid to die. That’s it…two guys.

Imagine a larger, highly-motivated, technically-adept, group…maybe a small cell of four or six people all on the same page, working off the same plan, with the same level of dedication/fanaticism. Dude, you could totally shut down virtually any city.

Asymmetrical warfare is kinda what this seems to be an excellent example of. Two guys with a few hundred bucks of hardware shut down a city, suck the manpower of an entire city and surrounding regions, create a huge economic impact, and create chaos. Pretty big deal to pull off for just two guys. This, I suspect, is the future of ‘terrorism’ in this country.

I read a book about the 2004 Belsan school crisis and it was extremely interesting. The tactics, countermeasures and problems faced by both sides was illuminating and fairly concerning. In short, the only thing that keeps this sort of thing from happening more often is that lotsa folks who say they’ll die for their cause wind up just not really meaning it. When the choice is to either spraypaint revolutionary graffiti on a wall or put on a sports jacket made out of Tovex, most folks pick up the can of Rustoleum. But get a small, dedicated group that either is genuinely unafraid to die or genuinely believes they will escape unharmed and you’ve got some big problems.

Unfortunately, there really isnt any way to prevent or stop this sort of thing without engaging in even more ‘security theatre’ than we are already saddled with. The best you can do is try to be aware of potential trouble spots, stay away form ‘em, and be prepared to deal with the aftermath of things…’lockdowns’, communications failures, etc, etc.

Given the current administrations credo of never letting a crisis go to waste, I wonder where this episode is going to take us.

Followup article – Allure of Mystery Helps Recluse’s Gold Net $3.5M

Posted on by
3

You guys remember this post: $7 Million In Gold Bars Found In Reclusive Man’s Home Month After He Died

Well, the followup is that a portion of it was sold for $3.5 million the other day. Here’s the article:

The tale of a mysterious Nevada recluse’s gold has reached a new chapter when a portion of the trove raked in more than $3.5 million at auction.

The allure of mystery pulled some bidders to the courtroom where the auction took place Tuesday. For others, it was the sheer value of a collection unknown to the public before Walter Samaszko Jr. was found dead in his modest ranch-style home last year.

Regardless of motivation, those who converged on the auction could sense the immense value of the treasure upon arriving.

Numerous guards were stationed at the entrance, more in the hallway outside the courtroom, and finally several with bulletproof vests and others with helmets inside the room holding the gold.

Five bidders diligently inspected the 11 lots of gold displayed in plastic sleeves, tubes and felt jewelry display boxes heavily guarded room before the bidding wars began.

As I said, the sad thing about this is that The State found this guy’s stash before someone more deserving did. The article goes on to mention that the gold had been purchased as far back as the ’60s…so someone basically bought a little gold on a fairly regular basis. Sounds like the subscription plan my buddy offers. I suppose the major takeaway from this story is that you should let *someone* know about your stuff so that if you die those fiscally responsible guardians of public interests at the state don’t get it.

Article- Another survivalist development in Idaho?

Posted on by
28

ST. MARIES, Idaho (AP) — A group of survivalists wants to build a giant walled fortress in the woods of the Idaho Panhandle, a medieval-style city where residents would be required to own weapons and stand ready to defend the compound if society collapses.

The proposal is called the Citadel and has created a buzz among folks in this remote logging town 70 miles southeast of Spokane, Wash. The project would more than double the population of Benewah County, home to 9,000 souls.

Locals have many questions, but organizers so far are pointing only to a website billing the Citadel as “A Community of Liberty.”

“There is no leader,” Christian Kerodin, a convicted felon who is a promoter of the project, wrote in a brief email to The Associated Press. “There is a significant group of equals involved … each bringing their own professional skills and life experiences to the group.

 

Good luck with that. Getting 7000 families of people together in a demographic that encourages individuality and independence is a textbook definition of cat herding. Consider all the sub-groups, good and bad and wierd, that fall under the ‘survivalist’ umbrella – back-to-the-land folks, ‘anarchists’, christofascists, gold bugs, conspiracy theorists, christian identity, hippies, ‘anti-government’, pro-government, etc, etc – and you’d have a heck of a time finding seven families, let alone 7000, that are going to share quarters and make things work.

“Ties that bind” are formed in varying degrees of strength. First and strongest are familial or “blood” bonds. Siblings, parents and children, then weaker relations such as cousins and uncles/aunts. Next down the line would be ideological bonds such as a shared belief system (religious, political or philosophical). Next down would be the close friends..the guys you served with, childhood friends, etc. After that, casual friends and coworkers. At the bottom of the list, one step above ‘people I’m trapped in an elevator with’ is ‘people who paid an entrance fee to live in the same compound with me’. If the world truly comes to the stage that living in a Fujian Tulou improves your chances of survival, I would feel far more comfortable if that retreat were peopled with folks I loved and trusted rather than people who read the same websites I did and could afford a U-Haul.

Could such a ‘survival community’ work? Maybe. You’d have to start with a base of people who already had a well-developed sense of connection to each other…more than just ‘I love [liberty/jesus/guns/america].’ And even then, 7000 families just seems ridiculous. The Free State Project, the largest cat-herding project so far, is looking for 20000 people to commit to their cause and if you figure a family is defined as an average of three people then they too are looking for 7000 families….and theyre still coming up short and they have a much better campaign (and image) than this Citadel project.

A ‘survivalist’ community could work..heck, it already exists on some levels with just folks being good neighbors….but seven thousand families co-existing together as a unified group is just a pipe dream. Three or for families living along the same stretch of road, situated next to or across from each other, is probably about as big a ‘survival community’ as you can get without dipping into ‘Woodbury-esque‘ power games and intrigue.

Link – NY Democrat pleads with Republican not to share document proposing confiscation of guns

Posted on by
9

The State of New York this week passed some of the strictest gun control laws in the United States, effectively outlawing ‘assault weapons’ and limiting the size of magazines.

But if Republican Assemblyman Steve McLaughlin is to be believed, the New York State Democrats would have gone further if they could have. Much, much further.

In a video posted to his Facebook page, McLaughlin has shared the information of a ‘secret’ Democrat proposal not simply to make the purchasing of the crudely monikered ‘assault weapons’ illegal in New York, but also to engage in a mass confiscation programme, removing Americans’ weapons from their possession.

 

Now, before anyone gets all Alex-Jonesy here, keep in mind that this was proposed legislation that was shot down. Its entirely possibly, and even likely, that the folks that proposed it knew it wouldn’t go anywhere and simply put it forth to ‘send a message’. Having said that, don’t doubt that there were probably plenty of individuals in that room who thought this would have been a great idea.

I might have mentioned this in the past, but it’s a story that, while I get tired of typing it in, I never get tired of telling: many years ago, when I lived in Brooklyn (Chuck Schumers district, actually) I dutifully got my NYC Long Gun permit and, at the age of 18, acquired a nice collection of goodies. Among that collection were an HK93, an AR, AK, Mini-14, etc. Very soon after I got my permit, Ii moved to Montana. Never bothered to tell the folks at the “Firearms Control Bureau” because, well, screw them. So as far as they knew, I still lived at the address on file in Brooklyn. Some time goes by and one day a relative still living in NYC forwarded me a latter that was mailed to me at my old NY address. It was a note from the FCB telling me I was now in possession of those nasty ‘assault weapons’ and I had to either get ‘em out of the city or turn ‘em over to the cops. Now, I had been living in Montana for a couple years at this point and had no intention of moving back, so I scrawled in big letters “YOU WANT EM, COME AND GET EM” across the letter and mailed it back. (Yes, I was ‘Molon Labe’ before it was cool.) Some time goes by and I get a phone call from a relative saying “Hey, remember the house you used to live at? The new owner told me that the cops showed up there the other day looking for you and your guns.”

The moral of the story is that the only possible reason to register firearms is so they know where they are when it’s time to take ‘em. The folks in NY wouldn’t know where to go to seize those guns if they didn’t have a list of where they were…thats what registration winds up being used for, even if they say it’ll never come to that. Ask the folks in California how that worked out.

As an aside, I’m getting very tired of making posts about the recent gun issue. That isn’t what this blog is about, and there are plenty of blogs out there dedicated to the noble fight against those statist weasels. But…sometimes I just can’t help but feel I have to tell somebody about what’s going on in case they missed it. It wasnt the job of the guy waving the baton at the orchestra on the Titanic to warn of icebergs, but I guess he wouldve if he had the chance.

Biden: Obama Might Use Executive Order to Deal With Guns

Posted on by
27

There seems to be some disagreement on precisely what an EO could or could not do vis-a-vis firearms regulation. Something to think about: even if a law is found to be unconstitutional or illegal, until it is proved to be that (or a process is started to determine that…usually with an order to suspend enforcement pending further court drama), it is treated as legitimate. So, if an EO came through saying something bad, even if it were illegal and unconstitutional, it would still be the valid until the court challenges start.

 

“The president is going to act,” said Biden, giving some comments to the press before a meeting with victims of gun violence. “There are executives orders, there’s executive action that can be taken. We haven’t decided what that is yet. But we’re compiling it all with the help of the attorney general and the rest of the cabinet members as well as legislative action that we believe is required.”

 

The World Turned Upside Down

Posted on by
7

So…what kind of world is it when you want to flee a Socialist leader and his economic policies, you expat yourself, and the country that takes you in because it is a bastion of freedom from such Socialists is……Russia? I didn’t know they had a 13% flat tax. How amazingly…..progressive. Come up with better gun laws, less birthmarks on their women, and I might have to move.

In further examples of WTF-ery, we have these classified ads from yesterdays local paper:

img008The SKS has not been built that is worth $1300. And I don’t care how much cocaine and hookers it comes with, no Ruger AR is with $4300. And $2500 for an M&P that was dealering at around $600 a few months ago? Insane. And, please, lets not get started on the “Real US Army sniper rifle”. I will confess to being interested in the Ruger MKII, though…although I’de rather get it for $250.

And just to show that maybe things arent as hopeless as they seem, Here’s a shot from the post office today:

IMG_0582No more free Priority Mail tape for me to wrap my packages. Bummer. Hmmm…whats this scrawled at the bottom?

IMG_0581Well, someone has a sense of humour. Regrettably, it wasn’t me showing that sort of initiative.

Indeed, it’s an interesting world we’re in right now. Thats ‘interesting’ in the Chinese sense.

Article – Survivalists worry ‘preppers’ will be scapegoated for Newtown shooting

Posted on by
15

Ever since a relative of Newtown, Conn., shooter Adam Lanza suggested that his mother, Nancy Lanza, was a “survivalist” who stockpiled food and weapons, “preppers” have gone online to express concern that they may become targets of unwelcome attention.

“She prepared for the worst,” Nancy Lanza’s sister-in-law, Marsha Lanza, told reporters last weekend. “Last time we visited her in person, we talked about prepping—are you ready for what could happen down the line, when the economy collapses?”

Preppers, also known as survivalists, have been popularized by the National Geographic reality show “Doomsday Preppers.” They range from people who believe the world will end soon to those who want to be better prepared in case a natural disaster hits.

Man…preparedness finally started going mainstream and -whammo- back into the closet.

Article – Did paranoid, gun-crazed mother trigger son’s school killing spree? Friends say she believed world was on edge of collapse

Posted on by
11

 

The mother of the loner who massacred 26 pupils and staff at a US primary school may have played a major part in his catastrophic mental breakdown, it emerged last night.

Friends and family portrayed Adam Lanza’s mother Nancy as a paranoid ‘survivalist’ who believed the world was on the verge of violent, economic collapse.

She is reported to have been struggling to hold herself together and had been stockpiling food, water and guns in the large home she shared with her 20-year-old son in Connecticut.

Mrs Lanza, 52, was a ‘prepper’ – so called because they are preparing for a breakdown in civilised society – who apparently became obsessed with guns and taught Adam and his older brother, Ryan, how to shoot, even taking them to local ranges.

That backfired horrifically on Friday when Adam Lanza began his killing spree by shooting his mother dead in bed.

 

Oy. This is not gonna go well.

Some of those behaviors that were ‘strange’ or ‘suspicious’? They’re SOP around here. We never let people who aren’t close friends into the house. We don’t let people know where we live. We stockpile all sortsa goodies. And yet…we haven’t shot up a school.

You watch….the survivalist/preparedness community, such as it is, is going to go from being regarded as that odd-but-harmless-cousin you shake your head about, to being regarded as a ticking timebomb.

For giggles, I went to a local gun shop Friday just to see if the panic buying had hit. Yup…mags were moving briskly and there were several people filling out the forms to pick up their new AKs. Ammo was walking out the door too.

I’m not going to say it’s a conspiracy, but lets look at this broadly: Obama gets re-elected, Fast N Furious spotlight those evil black guns, throw in a couple mass shootings, toss in some end-of-the-world drama, get out the usual pot-stirrers like Schumer, and you’ve got a recipe for something ungood coming down the pike shortly regarding your firearms. Magazine ban? Certainly thats the easiest thing to do since it doesn’t fly in the face of any Second Amendment issues. Bring back the AW ban? Maybe.

Regardless, I’m hoping this hits the end of the news cycle in about a week and we get back to our regular doom-n-gloom, but this story may have legs and wind up being the casus belli that this administration has been needing in order to ‘do something’ about the ‘easy access’ to ‘military style weapons that have no place on our streets’.