The Texas Gambit

A possible scenario in the not too distant future.....?

Things really go to hell in a handbasket down south. The drug/border war spills into Texas in a big, big bloody way. US.gov opts (for change) to sit on its hands and issue some sternly worded statements to Mexico thinking that will make the evil go away. Texas mobilizes the Nat'l guard to man the borders and makes plans to start its OWN border construction to stem the tide of drugs and violence. US.gov tells Texas, "Don't even try it." The people of Texas tell US.gov to do something obscene with itself, sideways. A movement within the state to secede (again) begins to gain momentum. Again, US.gov tells Texas, "We really mean it. Don't even think about it, because if you do...NO SOUP (money) FOR YOU!" Texas starts legal procedures to declare its independence, anyway.

In a surprise move, troops in Mexican uniforms and armor under the control of 1 or more of the cartels stream into Texas to "reclaim" their land "stolen" from them just a little more than a century ago. The Mexican gov't claims they're not responsible for the unfortunate incursion and that it's really the work of the Cartel(s) that they cannot themselves control.

Texas becomes the new "Front Line of Freedom" as tens of thousands of Modern Minute Men head for Texas to push Mexico back to their original border in house to house clashes.

US.gov simultaneously declares Martial Law in all states bordering Texas in an attempt to prevent armed patriot citizens and any kind of goods/aid from entering Texas. US.gov however then realizes it is not yet ready for a full country-wide lockdown; (which is what would be needed) as the number of those willing to aid Texas by any/all means necessary are much greater and more resolute than anticipated.

US.gov not wanting to create a further international scene offers to lift martial law if Texas agrees to submit their complaints to a disinterested neutral third party in hope of amicably resolving the differences between themselves and Texas, and Texas and Mexico. In return, US.gov will try to broker a "peace deal" between Texas and Mexico. It won't however, consider providing military support to thwart ongoing Mexican aggression as Mexico and La Raza really might have a point about "stolen" land. And, as we all know territorial conquest matters are best resolved by...wait for it...the U.N. (Just ask Israel about the bang-up job the U.N. does to stop Palestinian rocket launches from the Gaza Strip.)

Possible?

Finding My Ass

I've got a lousy sense of direction. Mrs. Brick and most of my friends and associates will all confirm this. One good friend once remarked as I turned the wrong way out of a parking lot we just pulled into thinking I was heading back home, "You couldn't find your ass with both hands AND a GPS." Hence the title of this entry.

So last week walking through the sporting goods section at the local China Mart I stumble across one of these.

A Magellan Triton 1500 Adventure Pack. $449.00 red-tagged down to $199.00. Even the guy @ the counter had to double check because @ the time, it was the only one marked down. And all the other units were still at regular price. The manager said that on last inventory, the whole Magellan rack came back "deleted." Whatever, that means. Oooh boy! Always wanted one of these GPSr things and this was less than 1/2 price, waterproof, AND my birthday is pretty soon so...Happy Birthday to me!

Trying to get smart on this thing...it came with "Vantage Point" software to manage map information and then transfer it to the unit itself. It also came with a program called Topo Deluxe that lets you download free 1:100,000 scale topographic National Geographic maps off of included CD's. (seems they're the benchmark map) If 1:100,000 scale isn't detailed enough, you can purchase 1:24,000 scale topographic quadrangle maps or "quads" as they call them. This adventure pack deal gives you 25 map credits to purchase 25 quads that can be transferred to the unit directly via USB cable. The free maps from NG aren't bad but at higher zoom levels, the detail blurs out a bit. Haven't purchased any quads yet so can't comment on how they look.

You can see the details okay but not equivalent to a google map zoom. I understand there's a hack in the works to import Google maps but I haven't had time yet to test it yet.

So, to test the unit the Bricks went a-geocaching this afternoon and found our first geocache today near a local slurp and go. Mrs. Brick not only navigated right to the location, she also spotted the cache as well. They're both keepers. Mrs. Brick AND the new GPSr unit.

Don't Tread on Me

A little fun with Gimp and an apt banner for Americans who have had enough. A new twist on an old theme.

Comin' to your place. No way, Grasshoppah.

I'm an ant. If you're reading this, you're likely an ant too. A like-minded co-worker and myself were talking amongst ourselves about the upcoming political change, the historical surge in firearms sales, preps each of us has done general (always nice to compare notes), and the fact that he has on order 2 rifles for more than 45 days from a local shop. At this point, Ms. Nosy Noneofyerdamnbusiness pops around her cube and remarks, "Well, if things get that bad, I know 2 places where we can come." (Ms. Nosy is a product of the improved public school system, people don't need guns, U.N. good, America bad.)

My co-worker was quicker on the draw than I was and deadpanned back to Ms Nosy, "If you get past the fence and the dogs, then you're welcome to stay." Which left me with simply..."Y'all can come on over to my place, but we won't be there, because staying put is NOT in our plan." It's really for her own good, you see. I wouldn't want her and her family to have to compromise their principles of being near evil guns and things of the like just to have someplace safe to go to.

Apparently Ms Nosy thinks it's not enough that I and every other working person on the planet including herself already have a significant portion of our incomes confiscated for the purpose of subsidizing the perpetually lame and lazy. Somewhere in her misguided passive/aggressive sense of self-entitlement she thinks that I or my co-worker would voluntarily just assume her and her family as one of our own.

So, I posed to her 2 rhetorical questions...
"You've heard what our concerns are, and what we're doing to try to mitigate them as best we can. If you share similar concerns, which you probably do or you wouldn't have been eavesdropping, what are YOU doing to put you and your family in a better position if those concerns should actually materialize? Second, what kind of person refuses to prepare themselves or their families for a possible emergency and would instead rather rely on the charity and kindness of strangers to provide for you?"

Then, I told her, "I'm not passing judgment by any means, but my family is too important to me to rely on strangers' benevolence to see that we're taken care of in an emergency. In any emergency situation there's only so much help to go around. Katrina, the Tsunami in Indonesia, Quakes in Iran...If we don't have to accept any help in an emergency, then that help can go to someone else unprepared who really needed it. Someone like you."

I think she got the point. Either that or she was just really pissed off.

There's nothing wrong for preparing for something that might never happen. If it only happens once, you've put your lineage head and shoulders above all of those who did not. Think about it. Even brand new cars come with jacks and spare tires.

In the parable of the Ant and the Grasshopper, when Winter comes it's always the grasshopper looking to leech off the hard work of the ant. I don't mind sharing with, or even sacrificing for other ants, in fact I encourage it! I do however, have a difficult time rectifying the notion that somehow the grasshopper is entitled to anything beyond that which I or my fellow ants may or may not choose to give a grasshopper. I resent it even more when an even bigger insect "makes" me give to grasshoppers who aren't unhealthy, or unable but simply perpetually lazy; under the auspice of "making things fair."

The figurative Winter's a day closer than it was yesterday.

Erosion of Shame

People behaving badly. In my little neck of the woods the other day there's this. Grown people fighting at a Chuck E. Cheese restaurant.

I used to think that some people just have no damn sense at all. Now I realize it's not sense or, common sense they're lacking. It's shame.

Shame is necessary for an orderly society. Shame serves a purpose. It is a mechanism of control. It's effective because the behavioral restraint is self-imposed and group reinforced. Religion has made a cottage industry out of it. The powers that be have relied on it in some form or another to help power economic engines, inspire nationalism, and maintain order for centuries. As the erosion of shame progresses and the numbers of Americans behaving badly continues to rise; the question that follows can only be...What happens in a country when shame is no longer effective as a means of control?

The gentle erosion of shame here in America has transformed once unthinkable behavior to...eh, it's no big deal. Think about it. All the things that currently plague our society can be attributed to a simple lack of shame. All types of crime, corruption, perpetual laziness, generational welfare, stepping outside of the marriage, and outright embrace of many things diametrically opposed to traditional American values wouldn't be possible without a distinct lack of shame. I suppose the crystallized version of this is that bad behavior is perfectly acceptable when you have no shame. Which to my way of thinking is patently shameful.

Everything Old is New Again-Mosin 91/30

Milsurps. My name's Brick and I'm a milsurp addict. There's just something about milsurp rifles. Whether it's the long slender lines of a Russian Mosin 91/30, ice pick like bayonet, and clunky bolt operation or, the more modern Century Arms C-15 semi-automatic with innards directly from the jungles of Venezuela; handling a military surplus rifle emotes a reverent blend of utility and history. If only they could talk, the stories they might tell.

They're also in my opinion a prepper's best bet for a defensive firearm. Take the lowly Mosin 91/30. Just about anyone can purchase one for a single weeks worth of pay. Even at minimum wage you can still get a Mosin 91/30 at today's prices (less than $100) and have enough left over to buy a few boxes of ammunition. They're heavy brutes that shoot a brute of a caliber (7.62x54r) and ammunition is still plentiful and relatively inexpensive. They also have a steel butt plate for crushing walnuts, and a long slender bayonet that functions nicely as a BBQ skewer. Most Mosins I've seen are 60-70 yrs old but still capably do what they were originally designed to do which is make holes at a distance. They're also more than capable of doing double duty as a deer rifle.

The Mosin 91/30 may be the best kept non-secret secret in the milsurp world. Using milsurp 147gr light ball ammo, all of our Mosins will shoot minute of basketballs at 100 yards. They make great loaner/handout rifles and are simple to operate. The only 2 downsides to using them as a first trainer type rifle is that the safety is awkward to use and even with light loads there is a bit of kick and muzzle blast that might put off a first-time shooter.

The above 2 faults inclusive, an "old" Mosin 91/30 is unquestionably one of the better "new" purchases one could make if looking to acquire a dependable, simple to operate rifle on a very limited budget. More details about the Mosin 91/30 can be found here, and here.

I've seen 91/30s priced as low as $70.00. If you have a Dunham's Sporting Goods nearby, check them out as they frequently have Mosin 91/30s on sale for less than $100.00

None so blind.

I know a guy. A real family guy. A nice guy, just doesn't pay attention to current events. He sends kids to private school, has a giant monthly nut between 2 car payments, camper payment, boat payment, tuition, mortgage, and other monthly "frivolities."

So he asks me today, "Yo, Brick. I'm thinkin' about gettin' one of these. How 'bout it?" He hands me a new truck brochure for some big-ass Toyota 4x4 truck that stickers out at like $40k and change.

"They can roll the payoff on my current truck into this one, and my payment will only go up by about $100/mo." Um, yeah...but your current truck will be paid off in about a year, right? So, if you get this one your payment goes up by $100 AND gets extended for an additional 5 years!

"Yeah, but," he says, "it's a NEW truck!" Do you need a new truck? Is there anything wrong with the truck you've got now? "No. But, Brick...this is a NEW truck!"

You know what? Go for it, dude.

I kinda felt prickish raining on his parade and all...but he did ask.

Don't misunderstand. I understand wanting things. I understand the connection between Madison Ave, Wall St. and Main St. America. But somewhere in that cycle of making, buying, having, wanting, making, buying, having, etc...don't you have to stop sometime and ask yourself, is all this really necessary? Is it really necessary to replace object x with object y simply because object y is "new" or "improved?"

One of the things we've found ourselves doing since starting to prep is trying to pare down the unnecessary stuff we've accumulated across some 4 decades. Much of it really is...junk. A battery operated spinny tie rack with a light. Junk. The stuffed dog wearing sunglasses that says, "wazzzup" when you push his belly. Junk. An old motorcycle helmet from my 1st motorcycle. Junk. Tupperware plastic containers without lids. Junk. Tupperware lids without plastic containers. Junk.

It's astounding to me just how much we've bought into the system. This from someone who once said to his marketing prof, "I don't pay attention to advertising. It means nothing to me." Now I know why he laughed.