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THURSDAY 17/2020

MORE GRID VULNERABILITY

This article is really a puff piece for a new novel which I might just read since it is related to a subject about which I have done a lot of research. It appears that the premise is an attack on the U.S. power grid by nefarious people. I'm certain the prevail and in the nick of time he/she will prevent the evil-doers from achieving their ghastly goal.

But in discussing the background of the book the fact is thrown out there that attacking and disabling just 9 substations would shut down the entire U.S. grid for 18 months or more.

Since there is not enough emergency capability in the world to feed the entire 350 million people in the U.S. for that long, much less provide water, shelter and medical care the effects would pretty much be the same as the first 18 months of a Solar EMP. While the world watched helplessly 90% of the U.S. population would simply die.

It's bad enough that no one will act to harden the grid against a Solar (or manmade) EMP. But that they won't spend the money to protect of backup the most critical equipment is...

Well I'd say criminal but it's not. There are now laws regarding it. Evil? I think evil requires a mindset and an intention. Negligent? Well causing the death of 300+ million people probabaly qualifies but who specifically was negligent? Which President, CEO or COO of which of the myriad power companies responsible for the specific substations? The Federal Legislature for not passing laws? The State Legislatures who actually pass the laws which regulate the power companies.

That's the problem in a nutshell. The danger exists. The solution is known. But everyone involved assumes it's someone else's responsibility so nothing is done... ever... by anyone.

Which pretty well leaves you and me on our own.

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/terror-bio-attack-nukes-threat-power-grid

The Librarian

TUESDAY 09/15/2020

KENOSHA

Just posting the link. It speaks for itself.

https://www.theorganicprepper.com/eye-witness-kenosha-riots/

The Librarian

SATURDAY 09/06/2020

DHS EMP STATUS REPORT

DHS has released a status report about their efforts to defend against an EMP event. It's at the provided link below.

Not sure about the timing of such a report being posted two months before the election. Likely just typical D.C. reasoning which, from personal experience, has little or no relationship to the space/time continuum in which the rest of us live. The strange pocket universe that exists inside the Beltway there really is a very different world from ours. There are different rules of physics, law, and logic works in a very different way from the rest of the universe. One only has to watch a few politicians and bureaucrats speak to see the strangeness of that world.

I imagine there will be plenty of conspiracy sites pushing the theory that this is some kind of cryptic warning based on secret intelligence. Problem with those kind of theories is that they are very much like the prophecies of Nostradamus. If they are completely off the wall,as they are 99.9% of the time, everyone ignores them. On the few occasions when something does happen out of the ordinary there are those who point to them and say "SEE?? We TOLD you this was going to happen." and they stretch the description of what happened to match the prophecy.

If there really was credible intelligence that there was someone planning an EMP attack on the U.S. it would be on all the news channels, all the cable news outlets and on every website in the world since the U.S. government, particularly the Congress, leaks like a bucket with no bottom. CNN would be running exclusive interviews with the military leaders of the country planning the attack asking whether it was Trump's evil or the systemic racism and intrinsic evil of the U.S. that was the driving impetus.

But for those of us who live outside the Beltway in the normal universe there are some interesting links in the report that have some good insight into what the government is currently doing about the EMP threat. Lot of nice intentions and planning but honestly little concrete action.

Still at least the danger is recognized by some of the people who have the power to actually do something.

https://www.dhs.gov/news/2020/09/03/dhs-combats-potential-electromagnetic-pulse-emp-attack

The Librarian

TUESDAY 09/01/2020

JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT IT WAS SAFE TO GO BACK OUT IN THE SUN

Seems some scientists at Nagoya University in Japan have been studying Japanese and Chinese historical records for references to historical solar events. What's news is that their conclusion is that events such as the Carrington Event may be much more common and occur more frequently than is currently thought.

Spaceweather.com has the brief synopsis of the study but the study itself, which is definitely worth reading, is found at:

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2019SW002269

The Librarian

MONDAY 08/31/2020

MCGUFFEY READERS BACK IN STYLE

I found the linked article fascinating and deeply satisfying. I've promoted the idea for decades of the schools returning to Phonics and traditional Reading practices. Those techniques which educated generations of children into literate adults have been replaced with Sight Reading and a plethora of other techniques most of which have proven to be close to useless if not downright criminal.

The article author has a PhD in Education, is home schooling and uses the McGuffey Readers to teach reading. While not mentioned I'm assuming that Phonics is also being used since the McGuffey Readers assume Phonics based teaching as a precursor to reading.

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2020/08/a_simple_lesson_in_home_learning.html

It's interesting that when people are teaching their own family members they use what works instead of what several generations of"experts" have told them "should" work. It's tragic that the people in the U.S. have allowed the schools to deteriorate to the level they have reached today.

One of the few good things that appears to be coming out of this pandemic is that a lot of parents are suddenly discovering through online classes just what kind of "education" their children have been receiving... and they are not happy with what they see.

The Librarian

p.s. Copies of the McGuffey Readers are in the Teaching-Readers-McGuffey Category of the Library

MONDAY 08/31/2020

SOME ACTUAL THOUGH MINISCULE MOVEMENT ON THE GRID

The current administration actually stated a year or so ago that they were going to take action to make the U.S. Power Grid more resilient. Few people, me included, actually expected that to amount to anything other

Sadly I suspect that since there seems to be pushback against the proposed regulations from the energy industry those industries will pony up the required lobbyist fees and campaign contributions to put them to rest. But I could be wrong.

The Librarian

WEDNESDAY 08/26/2020

I WAS WRONG

I freely admit I was dead wrong. I knew that with Law Enforcement more or less officially abrogating their responsibility to maintain order in the areas hit with riots would create an environment of anarchy. I knew that when armed Citizens realized they were on their own they would step up to protect and defend their families, homes and businesses.

However I expected it to take at least a week, more likely two or three, before there were open armed clashes in the street with the local government simply standing aside.

I was dead wrong. It started last night less than 48 hours after Law Enforcement personnel in different areas announced that they were, in effect, surrendering their cities to the rioters.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/08/25/watch-man-shot-in-head-at-kenosha-riots/

Armed Citizens defended several businesses and had to open fire to defend those businesses and in at least one case to defend themselves from direct attacks.

The response tonight will likely be the rioters returning to work armed resulting in exchanges fire, a firefight, in the streets of American cities.

Stay safe folks, stay armed and avoid the cities.

The Librarian

TUESDAY 08/25/2020

ANOTHER DAY

No specific news or information to post today. At this point the threat of an EMP, however dire, sort of fades in significance compared to the very real and immediate threat of civil unrest and social collapse we are observing around us.

Just a recommendation to continue checking, reviewing and refining your emergency plans.

I'm seeing reports and videos of rioters in Wisconsin actually firing on Police armored vehicles. So the level of accepted violence has escalated even further. At first it was rocks and water bottles then it was bricks thrown at Officers with the very real intent to cause injury. Then it was fireworks and firebombs thrown at vehicles and buildings and at Officers. Now it is direct gunfire. Fortunately for the rioters the Police chose not to return fire or it could have been pretty horrific.

The things is that this was an escalation of force that had no consequences whatever. What I've observed in other areas over the last month or so is that once a new level of violence occurs and the actors suffer no consequences that behavior quickly becomes the new norm and it spreads rapidly via video and social media. I fear that is going to happen here and over the next week or two you will see and hear of an increasing number of people shooting at the Police in the middle of riots. Inevitably an Officer will be injured or killed and other Officers will return fire in self defense resulting in an actual firefight in city streets in the midst of a large number of people. Or perhaps just as bad the Police will simply withdraw and effectively surrender the cities to the rioters as has happened in some cities.

Considering that most Law Enforcement personnel in that situation will be wearing body armor, have communications, training and coordination while the rioters will not the results of a shootout will be pretty one sided. Even worse with the large number of unarmed and unarmored civilians participating in the riots and the armed individuals doing the shooting dispersed and moving among the unarmed, unarmored civilians there will inevitably be a significant number of casualties which the media will quickly exploit for ratings and sensationalism.

And let's face it some of the people promoting these riots who would be perfectly happy with a large number of civilian casualties at the hands of Police responding to gunfire directed at them.

The fires are burning and spreading and there are people there ready to throw buckets of gasoline onto them.

Stay safe folks and at this point if possible avoid cities since, so far anyway, most of the violence has been centered there.

The Librarian

MONDAY 08/17/2020

SURPRISE!!! CME FROM AREA WITHOUT A SUNSPOT

Nice little solar surprise yesterday. Key word though is SMALL.

https://spaceweather.com/

Little B scale flare so likely won't even kick up the Northern Lights much. NASA is not even 100% sure it will even hit the Earth and if it does it will just be a glancing blow.

Interesting aspect is that it occurred in an area with no sunspot activity since we often associate large solar flares with Sunspots.

The Librarian

MONDAY 08/17/2020

SOCIAL COLLAPSE PROGRESSING

The last paragraph of this article is the most cogent line.

"The ability to travel freely, in reasonable safety, is a signal mark of civilization. The blocking of public right of ways without legal consequence is evidence of a breakdown of the civil order, of anarchy and mob rule."

https://www.ammoland.com/2020/08/indianapolis-agitators-pull-pistols-to-enforce-street-blockage/#axzz6UoMTY3rP

Since I'm a shooter and reloader I follow Ammoland and Dean's posts. This one highlight some of what I have mentioned before. I, like many others, expect the violence to increase dramatically in mid November if Trump is reelected or the election outcome is close or there is any uncertainty about the results.

One a secondary note some ideological agendas are driving areas in the U.S. into 3rd world status.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/08/17/california-blackouts-expose-problems-in-states-transition-to-clean-energy/

One of the factors that defines a modern industrialized world is access to energy to power industry, healthcare, sanitation, water, comfortable homes, science, education, etc. What we are seeing in some parts of the U.S. and other parts of the world is a concerted, intentional effort to eliminate the sources of energy that allowed the creation and maintenance of the modern industrialized world. When you tear out the foundations of a building the building falls down.

In light of what is going evaluate your supplies for social unrest and possible breakdown of the social order and infrastructure at least in specific areas.

Hopefully this will not metastasize to a national level but that's not something I'd place any bets on for or against.

The Librarian

MONDAY 07/27/2020

TOO MANY SOCIAL COLLAPSE NEWS STORIES

I was going to post some links to news stories around the country that highlight the importance of preparing for social turmoil, shortages, supply chain disruptions and the like but there were just too many.

I think anyone who has any exposure to the news is fully aware of the growing social disruptions around the U.S. and the fact that the situation is getting worse and not better. Portland, Oregon has just passed 60 days of rioting in the streets with it's accompanying destruction with no action being taken by anyone in a position of power to stop it. As of this morning there is still no indication that anyone is going to do anything about it. Which suggests it's going to continue growing and spreading.

In the post-apocalypse novels and movies the global pandemic is always either a Zombie virus or one that kills the majority of the population. No one ever imagined one that was not ultimately a lot worse than the flu but that led to a hysterical, politically driven shutdown of much of the world's economy, religious activity, business, travel and social activity. Indeed much of the hysteria and panic is driven by the media itself despite the toll the collapse of business is surely taking on their own revenues.

In the U.S. right now we have states that are pretty much back to pre-pandemic life and others that are still in almost complete shutdown mode with governors and other elected leaders exercising rule by fiat with most laws essentially suspended except those they allow and those are selectively enforced.

In one recent event homeowners who defended their home by standing outside with their guns were criminally charged while the armed rioters who threatened them and destroyed the gates to enter their neighborhood were given a pass and, in fact, defended by the city government. That kind of behavior significantly undermines the Rule of Law.

In Las Vegas the Casinos are open but Churches are closed. In other cities "demonstrations" are actively defended by elected officials while businesses and churches remain closed or are punished if the "disobey". Elected officials are mandating what people must wear and under what conditions they may leave their homes. The fact that in many places there is little or no legal basis for their actions is simply contributing further to the collapse of the Rule of Law. More and more people are losing respect for the Rule of Law. The uncontrolled rioting in many cities suggests that the Rule of Law is completely collapsing in some areas.

In other cities the business owners and residents who pay significant taxes to the city, part of which is to provide security and protection, are watching their city officials support and defend the rioters and actively prevent Law Enforcement from protecting the businesses and residents. This not only undermines the Rule of Law but also the belief that their government is even functional.

What we are seeing is, in essence, a social collapse in many areas imposed or abetted by political figures and groups which isn't something most post apocalypse novels ever imagined. That the imposition is, at first glance, almost random from city to city, state to state makes it even more damaging since there seems to be no rhyme or reason to any of it and therefore no rational way to address it. The demands of many of the groups carrying out the rioting are completely irrational and impossible in most cases.

The one thing most people agree about is that it is going to get a lot worse before it gets any better... if it gets better.

So dust off some of your old post-apocalypse novels about social collapse. Looks to your own preparations, self sufficiency, self defense and what you can do to prepare for an weather what's coming down the pike.

The Librarian

GOOD EMP VIDEO

Nice little 17 min video about how prepared the world is for a Carrington Event leave EMP. He points out how, since they take the threat more seriously than the US, Britain has actually been replacing their large transformers with newer ones that are more resistant to electrical surges like those a solar EMP would cause.

While there has been discussion about this in the U.S. I don't believe any action has been taken because the power companies don't see any short term profit in it and therefore put it off for someone in the future to deal with. It's going to take some significant pressure from the Federal level or else a direct mandate before they will act.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBxjwzKwVl0

The Librarian

SUNDAY 07/11/2020

SOMETHING COMING

I sincerely hope Patrice Lewis is horribly wrong. That if Biden is elected the world will descend into a utopia of Peace and Harmony and Equality. Or that if Trump is elected the Left will accept the will of the American People and choose to continue to pursue their goals peacefully within the political process of the Nation as Conservatives did when Clinton and Obama were elected.

https://www.wnd.com/2020/07/somethings-coming-folks-must-become-self-dependent/

Problem is I don't think she is.

I've been a student of history since I was young, particularly the history of the first half of the 1900s which saw the Russian Revolution, the rise of Fascism in Italy, National Socialism in Germany, Militarism in Japan and Communism in China. And, of course, the aftermath of all of them. I think we are past the tipping point as were all of those examples after a certain date.

The U.S. has passed it's tipping point as well. The movement pushing Socialism have come out in the open and have pushed far enough into open revolt and violence that they can no longer retreat to fight another day. They are building momentum and will have to either succeed or be scattered so far to the winds that it will take them a generation to rebuild.

If The Democrats win they will be emboldened and will grow even more demanding and expect their goals to be implemented immediately. Those who refuse or even hesitate will become "enemies of the People" and mob justice will be meted out by them and by the media. The transition will be rapid, will accelerate and within a year there will be chaos and ruin. Go find some of the blogs from Venezuela to see what is coming.

The other alternative under a Democratic victory is that the mobs will be dealt with violently and harshly just as the Bolsheviks and NAZIs did with their useful idiots after seizing power. The last thing a Revolutionary government wants running around while they consolidate power is rabble rousers and revolutionaries.

If the Democrats fail to win the Presidency and control of Congress then expect a level of outrage and violence the U.S. has not seen in anyone's living memory. If you think it's unsafe to drive into large cities now if the Democrats fail to achieve power in Nov think of major cities as absolute No-Go zones. There will be a constant stream of those able to do so leaving those cities as quickly as they can.

There is no good scenario when you look at the Nov elections. Either is bad. One of probably worse then the other but neither is something to be anticipated.

So think about this past several months, the shortages, the things you most needed and could not find. Stock up. Look to your garden if you have one and to starting one if you don't. Think staples, potatoes, cabbage, beans not fresh salad greens and garnishes like parsley. Think survival garden.

Something is coming folks though I really, really do hope that Patrice and I are both badly wrong.

The Librarian

MONDAY 07/06/2020

HOPEFUL TREND OF PEOPLE HEADING OUT OF THE CITIES

Ran across this today and it's a nice story to read.

https://thehill.com/opinion/finance/505944-americans-leave-large-cities-for-suburban-areas-and-rural-towns

People are increasingly leaving the cities and relocating to rural or at least suburban areas.

In the event of any kind of catastrophic event like an EMP cities that rely 100% on an advanced infrastructure for water, power, food and sanitation cities will rapidly become uninhabitable wastelands. No place to grow food, no resources to harvest other than scavenging which rapidly runs out. No access to water and a massive population that will quickly descend into violence as starvation, dehydration and disease take hold. The prospects for long term survival in a city without a power grid are pretty grim.

In the event of that kind of event the first priority of people who want to survive will be to escape the city as quickly as possible for more survivable locations. Problem is there will be thousands or perhaps millions doing the same thing.

Add to that the response of people in those survivable areas being inundated by millions of hungry desperate people fleeing the cities and the situation is not a pleasant one to contemplate. The more rural the better the chance of weathering the event itself as well as the influx of refugees from suddenly uninhabitable cities.

So it's gratifying to see more and more people leaving the cities before it is forced upon them. Certainly some of it is people fleeing failing city governments, increased crime and now the social and political disruptions occurring in the cities. Regardless of the reasons it's a good thing to see.

People in those rural and even suburban areas have a much higher chance of surviving any kind of catastrophic event especially if they are part of a rural community.

The Librarian

FRIDAY 06/26/2020

ANOTHER SHORTAGE

Ran across another interesting shortage this week.

While out and about on various errands I've stopped by a couple sporting good stores to pick up a couple boxes of shotgun ammo.

Apparently there is a complete absence of 12 gauge 00 buckshot ammo in the Cape Fear area of North Carolina.

I spent some time chatting with one of the gentlemen at the gun section of the local Academy Sports this morning. He said that for several weeks every time they get some in it's gone within an hour after putting it on the shelf. He said the last several days they haven't even received any in their daily deliveries from the regional distribution center.

He pointed out that if I looked at the shelves most of the popular calibers of handgun ammunition were either gone or sparse. He said the same was true for 5.56/.223 (AR) and 7.62x39 (AK) ammunition. People appear to be hunkering down.

The Librarian

TUESDAY 06/23/2020

GROCERY STOCK LEVELS DROPPING SLOWLY?

I've noticed something recently in the grocery stores. There is a decreasing stock of many products on the shelves. I wouldn't call it a "shortage" in any real sense of the word but there is a noticeable difference now from a few months ago.

It's small things. the canned fruit and vegetables shelves of the store in which I usually shop always had two layers of cans on the taller shelves and a full layer all the way to the back of the shelf on the shorter.

Today I noticed that where there used ot be two complete layers of cans there are now single layers with a few scattered cans on the second layer. The single layer shelves are about a third to a half full. A few rows pushed to he front with the space behind them empty.

A few varieties of items had a smaller variety of brands. There are normally 4-5 brands of a particular type of beans. Today there were only two brands and a couple scattered cans of a third brand. A few brands of other items were simply not present at all.

Walking the aisles I frequently saw all of a particular product was the same brand with no other brand present. There were, of course still noticeable shortages of paper towels and toilet paper. Several stores I was in this week had the same two brands of toilet paper and no others.

I asked a few folks at work (a totally unscientific, non-random survey) and after thinking about it a moment they all said that yes they were seeing the same thing in stores around the area.

I don't know whether this is simply a lingering effects of the supply chain disruptions of the last few months or people stocking up extra out of the continuing scare stories from the media or perhaps supply chain disruptions from the street violence going on around the country. During the peak of the lockdowns last month it was usually specific items like meat and toilet paper. This is becoming more widespread across a much wider variety of items and products though more subtle.

Perhaps it's unique to this area I can't say. But look at your own stores and see if you see any noticeable differences in stock levels.

The Librarian

FRIDAY 06/19/2020

ONCE AGAIN THE GRID VULNERABILITY

I'm not suggesting the Chinese/NORKSs/Russian/Iranians/etc are about to attack us. I think they would have to be pretty foolish to do so considering at a minimum our submarine launched nuclear deterrence would be unaffected by such an attack. But then starting war is often an irrational act on the face of it so what do I know.

However considering the continuing vulnerability of our power grid it would be remiss of our potential enemies to NOT take advantage of one of our greatest weaknesses and at least plan for using that against us in the event of a conflict. They would be foolish not to and any military leaders who failed to do so should and would be replaced as incompetent for failing to do so.

It still comes back to the same subject. Our national power grid is totally vulnerable to an EMP event whether from a Solar Event, which would also affect the rest of the world, or from a man made nuclear EMP which would only affect the targeted areas.

Regardless of whether you lose power long term from the Sun or from a nuclear EMP you are still in the same situation and should make your plans and contingencies accordingly.

https://www.newsmax.com/politics/emp-pearl-harbor-attack-nuclear/2020/06/18/id/973016/

The fact remains that we rely on a power grid and infrastructure that is completely vulnerable to being destroyed without warning from multipel causes.

The Librarian

WEDNESDAY 06/10/2020

RENEWABLES AND THE GRID

Interesting article about the power situation in the UK and it's consequences for the People there.

The gist of the problem is that "renewable" energy sources have a pretty much fixed cost especially when you consider the government subsidies that are paid. In normal circumstances the cost of the subsidies can be spread across every one buying power. But with so many businesses and especially industrial users closed due to virus concerns the amount of power being used is a fraction of normal.

Unlike a coal or gas plant you can't just turn a windmill or solar farm off until it's needed again. The maintenance costs remain as well as the contracted subsidies which are paid regardless. As a result a fixed subsidy and maintenance cost is having to be spread across a much smaller group of consumers. Even worse they are not business and industrial consumers who are used to paying large power bills. They are home users, families and small businesses who can least afford a mushrooming power bill.

We have a similar situation in the U.S. but it is more easily masked since power is more easily transferred across grid here and electrical rates are generally much lower than in Europe.

Still i highlights the dangers of playing politics with something as fundamental to Western Civilization as the electrical grid. When ideology trumps engineering everyone loses.

http://www.thegwpf.org/uk-consumers-face-2-3-billion-annual-bill-to-prevent-green-energy-blackouts/

The Librarian

MONDAY 06/08/2020 (Updated)

SELF SUFFICIENCY AND UNREST

(Not going to say anything new, just reiterate what I said below. Nothing fundamental has changed since I wrote this except to possibly become worse. I expect this to continue into the summer and peak towards election season. If Trump is reelected, as is likely right now, I expect the street violence to explode far past what it is now.)

Those who are familiar with the threat of a Solar EMP understand the importance of preparation, accumulating knowledge and information which enhance your ability to become completely self sufficient after such a disaster.

We all probably think of that danger as something hypothetical and somewhat remote since it's not something immanent and could occur any moment or not in our lifetime. So there is a certain distance between such an event and our normal daily lives. It becomes a tad abstract.

Someone once said "90% of life if maintenance." and we often can get so caught up in our daily "maintenance" that we develop a sort of normalcy bias assuming that tomorrow is going to be pretty much like today.

I think the last month or two of externally imposed shutdown of much of the world has been a shock to a lot of people. Shortages of various products driven by media hysteria and quite real shortages in some parts of the food supply driven by hysteria over potential illnesses. Even now large portions of the country's economy are shut down by political mandate while others operate at close to normal.

Civil unrest is occurring, political and social divides are growing to levels not seen since the days just before the Civil War. Our daily "normal" is becoming less so every day.

Self sufficiency is not something to put on the shelf till "the big one". It's something everyone should be moving towards to the extent possible in your individual situation. If nothing else download The Book of the Farm from the Farming Category and have it on hand.



I watched a movie the other day about a disaster in the U.S. in which one of the FEMA folks asked a military officer how long it would take to get emergency supplies and relief to the people cut off after an emergency.

He replied "Two weeks sir."

One of the other FEMA personnel said into the silence "We told everyone to keep 3 days of food an water on hand."

The exchange was followed by a much longer silence.

The Librarian

TUESDAY 05/19/2020

POSSIBLY INTERESTING GAME

Surviving the Aftermath is a new game for Xbox and PC that is close to release. It's in what's called Early Access which is where the customers get to do the game testing while the game is still in development.

New features are added as it continues to develop. It's a lot less expensive than an in-house testing program and gives customers a chance to try it out ahead of time. It also provides developers a better range of feedback from actual customers that can help develop a better game.

The premise is a group of survivors trying to Rebuild after some unknown catastrophe. Traditionally post-apocalypse games are run and gun games. Lone individuals fighting off hordes of zombies/mutants/bandits/etc. and it's all about the combat.

This one is a different approach since it focuses on rebuilding. I haven't looked into it too closely but thought I'd throw it out for folks to look into. Might have value as a tool to explore what kind of challenges might exist in such a scenario.

From the looks of it the period is just after such a catastrophe and doesn't really focus on the long term stabilization and infrastructure rebuilding but it still seems like it might have some promise.

https://www.survivingtheaftermath.com/

The Librarian

WEDNESDAY 05/13/2020

THE GREAT GEOMAGNETIC STORM OF 1921

Here's one few people know about. The great Geomagnetic Storm of 1921. It lasted 3 days and damaged equipment all over the world.

Here's a review article at AGU (American Geophysical Union).

You can do a search of Geomagnetic Storm 1921 and find a lot of information about it.

Most interesting thing is that there were a lot more instruments to record various measurements of the effects of it, instruyments which did not exist at the time of the Carrington Event in 1859.

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2019SW002195

The Librarian

MONDAY 05/11/2020

SOME GOOD NEWS ABOUT THE GRID

I've been meaning to post this but with one thing and another it just sat in my list until today.

Seems the President has finally issued an Executive Order declaring some of the vulnerabilities of the Power Grid a National Emergency. News about it will be totally lost in the ongoing "situation" related to this years virus outbreak from Asia but nonetheless it is a significant action even if few hear about it.

The Order addresses the fact that almost all bulk power equipment used in the U.S. power grid is made in foreign countries. As I have alluded to many times in the past few of the large power transformers such as those used in major substations are made in the U.S.. Most of them come from Europe and the lead time between ordering and delivery is generally about a year.

The other major focus is on protecting the grid from terrorism and physical attack. While that's laudable the reality is that a terrorist or group of terrorists are not going to take down the grid. They may cause a blackout, perhaps even an extended one. A disciplined and coordinated attack, not something most terrorists are famous for, could conceivably even cause blackouts over a wide spread area.

Fortunately such events would be temporary and the rest of the country would be available to help repair and/or rebuild damaged substations.

In the event of an EMP however, particularly a Solar EMP which effected the entire world, there would be no one with a functional infrastructure to provide aid.

That there would be national companies able to construct large transformers is a major benefit. Power transformers are not particularly advanced technology. While the control systems in the power grid are computerized a transformer is essentially a lot copper wires wound around iron cores suspended in a bath of mineral oil. It's a bit more complex than that but the reality is that is exactly what a transformer is.

And here's kicker... we started building them in the late 1800s.

So having factories in the country which build transformers means a much improved opportunity for survivors of an EMP event to start rebuilding a power grid. Without such factories they would be starting from scratch.

So good news all around. While the order does not address hardening the grid against EMP effects or stockpiling needed transformers it is clearly a step in the right direction which will make rebuilding after an EMP a bit less difficult.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-securing-united-states-bulk-power-system/

The Librarian

FRIDAY 05/01/2020

ANOTHER REMINDER OF HOW FRAGILE THE INFRASTRUCTURE IS

I've often written in the past about how after an EMP the entire infrastructure supply, industrial, technological will completely collapse within hours or days. When the power grid goes down everything goes down. No communications, not lights, no machines. You can't pump gas into the trucks to move food. You can power the pumps to pump oil from the ground of the pumps in the refineries to make gasoline or diesel.

I always kind of scratch my head when people argue that no it would not be so bad. The government would step in with assistance and the power company workers would have the lines repaired in a few days maybe a week or two. I don't even try to discuss it with them since they exist in a world where logic and physics and reality are very, very different from that of the world in which I live.

Today there is a stark hint of this. It doesn't even take an EMP or a hutricane or a tornado or some other Act of God to break the supply system. As I mentioned a few days ago all it takes is a Decree from a governor or some other elected official who really, REALLY wants to be king.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8277063/Americas-meat-crisis-laid-bare-shelves-sit-country.html

Add to the decrees from on high a media which delights is causing controversy and so makes a big a story of the coming shortage of meat thus prompting a run on the stores thus generating even more headlines....

Back in 1918 there was a revolution in Russia. For the next 75+ years the Soviet government tried and failed miserably at having the government control the economy. For 75+ years it was an abject and complete failure. Apparently that lesson has not been learned by the present generation of political leaders. Perhaps it simply wasn't taught to them.

So... sobering thought that it doesn't take something as catastrophic as an EMP to take down part of the infrastructure.

The Librarian

p.s. Also a reminder that perhaps you should look at your own level of self sufficiency and not count on a local grocery store for all your food needs.

MONDAY 04/27/2020

SAD YET FUNNY???

I wasn't sure whether to feel sad or to laugh when I ran across this essay/article. In the end I had to laugh a little because it really was a little absurd when you think about it.

Here we live in the most technologically advanced world ever seen by Man. We have virtually instantaneous access any knowledge we desire, entertainment at our fingertips, our physical needs like food and water virtually within our reach or at least no more than a few steps away. Yet most people would indeed starve next to a field full of cows and wheat due to simple lack of knowledge.

This very fact is the reason the Library exists and why most of the people who frequent it do so. To learn how to survive when the technology is not there to do the work for you.

One of the things that I take the greatest pleasure in is when someone emails me and says "I never knew how to [xxxxxxxxxxxxx] until I read some of the books in the library and tried it for myself. It's wonderful to know how to." and I get them frequently.

It's nice to see a fairly well known columnist openly acknowledging what most of you already know.... that most people are woefully lacking in the most basic knowledge of how the world works and how to make use of it to survive and prosper.

https://www.wnd.com/2020/04/death-knowledge-self-sufficiency/

The Librarian

SUNDAY 04/19/2020

WHO KNEW???

One of the richest men in the world is a survivalist. Who would have guessed.

Of course considering that he is responsible for Windows running on so many critical computers in the world perhaps he has a much better understanding of just how fragile and vulnerable our computer and thus technological and industrial infrastructure is.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/278829

(hint: Windows is the spawn of SATAN created to drive the human race to madness and despair And no Linux is not much better. I don't have the energy and time to deal with Linux on a daily basis.)

The Librarian

TUESDAY 04/14/2020

HOW FRAGILE IT IS

Do I expect there to be food shortages soon? No not really.

I'm fairly sure that businesses will start reopening soon since this virus is turning out to be a LOT less scary than the models said and the media trumpeted. When it comes right down to it I don't think it will be too long before people simply start ignoring Governors and Mayors and do what they have to do to survive and prosper. There aren't enough police or jails to put the entire country in jail though I imagine some of the more pompous officials will demand that it be done.

That being said it is something to notice when Congressmen start warning about possible food shortages due to plant closings which will interrupt the supply chains.

https://pjmedia.com/trending/congressman-warns-u-s-could-be-weeks-away-from-food-shortages/

Those of us interested in the subject of EMP effects know that something which takes down the power grid would interrupt all supply chains. But it's sobering to have to acknowledge that something as simple an an emergency declaration and a few bureaucrats and elected officials issuing decrees could potentially have that effect on the food supply.

In 1906, Alfred Henry Lewis stated, “There are only nine meals between mankind and anarchy.”

That brings to mind the statistic that grocery stores routinely only stock 3 days worth of food.

So... sobering thought that it doesn't take something as catastrophic as an EMP to take down part of the infrastructure.

The Librarian

p.s. Even more concerning is that the very fact of someone in the government making such a public statement will likely drive a lot of people to go out and help CAUSE a food shortage.

MONDAY 04/13/2020

A LITTLE HUMOR AMIDST THE INSANITY

A nice laugh on a dreary rainy Monday morning (Here anyway)

https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/man-girlfriend-beans-stockpile-buried-woods-coronavirus

Well... except for the Offendee in the last paragraph.

Some days I almost think it would be worth enduring the apocalypse just to be free of the folks who are offended at EVERYTHING in God's creation.

The Librarian .

FRIDAY 04/10/2020

AGU PUBLISHED STUDY OF EMP EFFECTS ON THE POWER GRID

The AGU is the American Geophysical Union.

This from a couple months ago but I just ran across it this week. For folks who want a more detailed set of data about how an EMP effects the power grid this is a good source of information.

While it is probably a bit technical for most folsk you can skip over the math and examine the maps and conclusions. It also contains a number of links to other good sources of technical information on Magnetic effects.

When they speak in terms of a 100-year Geoelectric Hazard I suspect they are essentially speaking of something like the Carrington Event of 1859.

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2019SW002329

I think you can probably make a good guess as to the projected effects.

The Librarian

TUESDAY 04/07/2020

GOVERNMENT SEIZURE OF SUPPLIES

One of the things that will happen after an EMP is a collapse of the supply system and an almost immediate shortage of supplies of all types.

One of the things that people do, who are aware of the potential for a Solar EMP to shut down the power grid, is stockpile essential equipment, material and supplies. Alternately some people pursue a self sufficient lifestyle which minimizes their reliance on a fragile supply infrastructure.

One of the most important lessons that has come out of the current medical emergency is that local and state level governements will not hesitate to seize what they consider to be "essential" supplies from private citizens.

I won't bother to post links to all these stories since they have become so common that you can find several every day of governments seizing supplies from "hoarders" which means anyone who has something the government thinks they should control. Do a Google search for "government seizing medical supplies" and you will find a large number of links to stories from all over the country.

In one case the governor of New York plans to order the state National Guard to seize ventilators from hospitals to distribute to others. i.e. the military is being used to seize "essential" supplies. That is a step further than other government seizures when the military is used.

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2020/04/04/ny-gov-cuomo-orders-national-guard-seize-ventilators.html

In some case they offer justifications saying they will pay "fair market value" to the owner at some later time since the U.S. Constitution prohibits government from seizing property for Public Use without compensation. In other cases they simply demonize the property owners as "bad" people who refuse to share their property with others.

Regardless what you think of the morality, legality or ethics of the issue the bare fact remains that governments at all levels WILL seize what they believe to be necessary.

That puts an entirely different perspective on your supplies and emergency stocks and your overall preparedness.

Whatever supplies or materials you stock could, and likely will be, be declared "essential" by whatever remnants of government survive the immediate aftermath of an EMP. Those surviving governments will, based on current behavior, seize your supplies and materials.

Eventually of course, and most likely rather quickly, those governments will cease to function in the absence of power, communications, transportation, food and water but before they do they could easily do enough damage to make it difficult if not impossible for anyone else to survive even those best prepared to do so.

Right now toilet paper and a few other items like soaps and antibacterial supplies are in short supply. When the stores restock them they are bought out again immediately. Most other essentials are readily available and easy to procure. There are no widespread food, power, fuel or water shortages.

The aftermath of a Solar EMP that destroys the grid will be many, many magnitudes worse than the current situation.

After an EMP the stores will be shut down completely within a day or two and there will be no restock at all... of anything.

So accept it as a given, based on their current behavior, that remaining governments WILL seize everything they believe they need, medical supplies, food, ammunition, farming supplies, seed stocks, fuel since ALL supplies will be out of stock and not resupplied. If you have it then YOU are a greedy hoarder and the bad guy. People will inform on you and they will be rewarded for doing so.

How you manage your stockpiles and supplies is a good question. How you will retain them when governments start seizing whatever they deem "essential" is another good question.

Traditionally the rule of thumb is you don't tell anyone about your supplies. Not your neighbors, not your family, not your friends. How realistic that is is questionable.

Even if you do maintain perfect operational security and no one outside your immediate family has any knowledge of your supplies other people will notice, in time, that you are not starving, you are not standing in line for food, you are not desperate and will come to the conclusion that you must be one of those "prepper" people which means you have food.

If people see you outside weeding a garden it will quickly become widespread among others that you have a garden which means you must have supplies which means you must have food...

One of the most disturbing items I've seen in this current situation is the Mayor of a major city rewarding people who snitch on their neighbors who violate the "orders" of the Mayor.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/la-mayor-garcetti-residents-report-violators-stay-at-home-order

If they will do that for the current emergency they will not hesitate ot do so after an EMP.

So take a new look at your planning. In addition to planning for the direct effects of an EMP (or any emergency) add to that how to plan for government seizing what they classify as "essential" which will likely mean everything you have stored.

And for those whose reflex is to reply that I am fostering "conspiracy" theory please go read the news. The stories are all over the media in both liberal and conservative sites.

Interestingly only a few very conservative sites even see it as any kind of problem. Most folks in the media see it as a perfectly normal, expected and even praiseworthy behavior.

I don't think anyone can make any kind of reasonable argument against the fact that governments (local, state and to some extent federal) can, will and ARE seizing property of individuals and businesses which they deem to be "essential" in an "emergency" situation.

It has long been speculated that governments would do so and it has always been dismissed by many as absurd, fantasy, conspiracy theory, etc. Current events and the current behavior of governments at all levels prove beyond any doubt that it is a reality everyone will have to confront after an EMP.

The Librarian

P.S. As an aside... at some point in the past while discussing the aftermath of an EMP I mentioned that living near a military installation was a mixed blessing. In one sense a good thing since that meant a trained group of people who could maintain security as a community worked to rebuild. In another sense a bad thing since any surviving remnants of government would, inevitably, direct the military to seize "essential" supplies to try to address the immediate needs of survivors without any real regard for the long term.

I was pilloried by those who objected that the U.S. military would never, ever under any circumstances do such a thing. I made that prediction with full respect and admiration for our military and have spent the first 20 yrs of my life living on and growing up on military bases all around the world AND with the knowledge that one of the primary rules of the military is to OBEY THE CIVILIAN LEADERSHIP.

To those those who so roundly condemned my prediction all I can say is... New York, current day.

That story is from several days ago. To my knowledge no one in the New York National Guard has voiced any objection to those orders or voiced any reluctance to carry out those orders.

WEDNESDAY 04/01/2020

COMMUNITY SELF DEFENSE

Another story that keeps popping up this week is cities, counties and states closing their borders, stopping "outsiders" and either quarantining them or even turning them back and refusing them entry.

One county in North Carolina is simply blocking traffic from outside their own county. (This is just one of many similar stories.)

https://www.wbir.com/article/news/local/graham-county-nc-blocks-entry-to-fight-covid-19-spread/51-a7707d53-892b-42aa-bcca-ff15472898d6

I'm not sure it's legal. It's probably overtly unconstitutional but legality doesn't seem to be a big issue right now at any level of government.

I've pointed out a couple times that a "public health emergency" does not nullify the Constitution but no one really seems to care.

The important take away is that even a relatively minor crisis (in the larger scheme of things) brings out reflexive Human Nature which is to protect the tribe/family/community and treat everyone else as an "outsider". That's not new in human history and is not likely to ever change as long as human beings exist.

But is is a verification of a behavior that you will see after something like an EMP event. Communities will protect themselves from "outsiders". Accept that as an inevitable behavior of humans when under threat.

So something of which to be aware and assume will occur. Working together is all well and good as long as it is within the "tribe/family/community. If you're not one them them then you are an "outsider", an outlander, a sassenach, a stranger...i.e. unwelcome.

The Librarian

TUESDAY 03/31/2020

ESSENTIAL PEOPLE

One of the stories that keeps appearing this last couple of weeks is how essential certain people are; people like Farmers, Truckers, Supermarket Workers, Power Plant workers, Water Treatment Workers, etc. Below is a link to just one of the many stories highlighting that growing awareness.

In other words the people whose skills are actually necessary to provide the goods and services we need to survive day to day; to eat, to keep the lights on, to keep the water running, to find fuel for our vehicles, to make and distribute toilet paper.

Much of the commentary in the news recently is from people who aren't on that list, actors, celebrities, politicians, journalists, economists, and a hundred other "experts".

Hopefully this situation the country is in will bring a heightened awareness of the value of these people which will last more than a single news cycle afterwards.

It brings home the point we often forget which is that some skills actually are essential to life while others are mere luxuries or frivolities or applicable only in certain specific environments.

In the aftermath of an EMP or other large catastrophic event who would you rather have showing up to join your community? A Farmer, a Blacksmith, an Athlete, a Carpenter, an Actor, a Journalist?

Acting or Athletics for instance are highly valued and often highly paid in today's world. In a world rebuilding after an EMP such skills are of very little value.

The farmer that so many people in the modern world either look down on or simply dismiss as a "manual laborer" will be the most sought after individual after an EMP event. The Actor will be weeding the field trying to learn a useful skill.

The man or woman who can take some basic hand tools and some wood and build a bed or a chair or a table will be valued and honored. The Journalist will be an apprentice.

The individual who can take scrap metal and make a plow or a hoe will be a person of importance in their community. The Athlete will be pumping the smith's bellows while aspiring to learn smithing.

So while cooped up at home it might be a good time to do an assessment of our own skills and determine just where our own skillsets fall in the spectrum between Luxury and Essential.

It's never too late to learn new skills, to collect and acquire new knowledge.

Knowledge however is not a substitute for skills. Knowledge is merely the starting point for skills. But is is a necessary starting point.

A Physician spends years acquiring knowledge but it is not until he/she starts practicing medicine that they truly begin developing skills.

A Woodworker can read every book in the world about woodworking but until they start sawing, drilling, sanding, fitting and finishing wood they don't really have any skills to speak of.

You can read a hundred books on botany, biology, gardening and farming but until you get your hands in the soil and start growing plants your skills are non-existent.

Look through the Library Categories. Delve into one that strikes your interest. Perhaps download and page through a few of the books in that category. See if something in there intrigues you or captures your imagination.

Perhaps it's time to start developing some new skills... essential ones.

You don't have to become an Expert in a skill but at least some basic knowledge and hands on experience can give you a good basic working knowledge. At the very least you will have a better idea of what you don't know and what you need to learn.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/03/30/exclusive-usda-secretary-sonny-perdue-the-real-modern-day-heroes-are-farmers-ranchers-truckers-supermarket-workers/#

The Librarian

MONDAY 03/30/2020

STRESS BUYING EMERGENCY SUPPLIES

Appears that a lot of people are becoming last minute "preppers".

https://dnyuz.com/2020/03/28/america-stress-bought-all-the-baby-chickens/

Chicken hatcheries are running out of chicks due to "stress buying". A lot of people who suddenly have found themselves faced with an actual nationwide emergency and frequent talk of a an economic collapse. Whether there is any truth to such speculation is moot. The talk exists and a lot of people who follow the media believe it to be a possibility.

As Lee Atwater once said "Perception is reality."

To most Americans those people who fall in the category of "preppers" or who live off grid or who try to practice self sufficiency are weirdos and kooks. But when they perceive that there just might be a real threat they immediately buy up all the toilet paper and now all the chickens.

Toilet paper I can see. All you need is a bit of floor space to store that. But chickens (or any livestock) requires housing, feed, protection and at least some basic knowledge of how to care for them. I fear there will be a lot dead an abandoned chickens over the next month or sop as people realize they have no clue how to care for them or even the capability to do so.

I talked with an individual once about the subject of self sufficiency and the subject of it's advantage after a catastrophic event like the hurricane we had here a couple years ago. The subject of chickens came up. She said she'd just buy some when it looked like there might be a need. I asked her if she knew anything about raising or keeping chickens. He response was "Oh I'll just look it up on YouTube."

I changed the subject. I just couldn't find the words to respond to such a perception of reality.

But it does bring home again the point of planning, acquiring knowledge and skills and thinking preparedness. If you already have chickens who knows you might be able to increase your flocks for free if you find neighbors have bought chicks but realize they have no way to care for them.

It also brings home the point that waiting until the last minute to do something that requires planning and preparation beforehand is likely not the best way to approach being prepared.

The Librarian

SUNDAY 03/29/2020

EMP THOUGHT EXPERIMENT

While stuck at home during Corona you have an opportunity to do what I call an EMP Thought Experiment. Something I do often.

The purpose is to get used to thinking more outside our normalized assumption of an intact infrastructure which quite frankly is hard to do.

One of the primary reasons behind the Library is the fact that most modern books on subjects like gardening, farming, construction, weaving, pottery, etc. assume access to the existing infrastructure for materials, supplies, power and tools.... and infrastructure which would not exist after a Solar EMP destroyed the power grid and most advanced electronic devices.

The EMP Thought Experiment works like this:

Every time you do something during the day at home, every time you use something, every time you consume something... think of each item or material this way:

HOW WILL I REPLACE (OR USE) THIS WITH NO ELECTRICITY, NO STORES, NO COMMUNICATIONS, NO INTERNET, NO TRANSPORTATION?

Obviously you likely have batteries. You have more food on the shelf. You have more clothes in the closet. But when they are gone... where will you get more?

When your shoes wear out how will you acquire more shoes. In a world after an EMP you might be able to find another pair in some other house but eventually all the used shoes will be either gone or dry rotted and useless. So where are you going to get a new pair? Don't just thing short term like today or tomorrow. Think next year, two years, five years, when your young children become adults.

Here's a more current example. There a national toilet paper shortage. Everyone bought up (and is still buying up) every available roll. The stores keep restocking and people keep buying. After an EMP the stores will remain closed. Factories will no longer operate. Trucks will no longer roll.

Toilet paper will NOT be restocked... EVER. Then what?

Seems a trivial example but it is only one of a million with which survivors will be faced. Being home with time on our hands is a good time to ponder those. A good time to work on breaking our thought patterns and perceptions outside of the electrical and electronic box in which we live.

We are so immersed in an Electrical and Electronic Age that it's almost impossible for us to think of a world without that infrastructure that surrounds and binds us.

So take advantage of some time at home and spend a little time thinking of how we will cope with the world after an EMP event changes it in ways that are hard to even conceive.

The Librarian

SATURDAY 03/28/2020

STILL NOT PANICKING

A friend in the UK sent me a good link this morning which I've posted below. It points out the continuing lack of any progress in or even intention of hardening the U.S. Power grid to survive the inevitable solar EMP. It even details some of the efforts to completely downplay the threat internally within the Federal government. Neither of which surprises me anymore.

At the moment of course the present threat is all around us. And no not the Chinese Corona Virus. We had 80,000 flu deaths in the U.S. last year. Doesn't look like this will even approach that in worldwide deaths, much less in the U.S. alone.

What is a threat is if the hysteria and mass insanity continues too long. Due to the interdependence of our entire infrastructure it is not built to just "shut down" for extended periods. There's a real chance that it will strain and perhaps even break if it goes on too long. The resulting economic collapse will ripple world wide and will take a long time to repair. The worst threat would be government efforts to "help".

There a lot of economists who believe that the Great Depression in the 1920s would have ended much sooner without government intervention. Many of them argue that the government efforts to "help" prolonged the Depression for over a decade when if left alone the economy would have recovered within a couple of years.

Unfortunately we live in a world with much larger and more powerful governments than we had in the 1920s. The political urge to "help" will be much stronger as is their capability to do so.

The virus doesn't scare me. The economic collapse of the economy made worse by government does.

A solar EMP that took down the grid would, of course, be far, far worse than what is happening now. At least now there are stores to go to where you can still buy pretty much everything except toilet paper and hand sanitizer.

After an EMP there would be no stores and pretty quickly no toilet paper either. After a EMP toilet paper will be the least of your worries.

I guess that's how you can differentiate between a temporary emergency and a collapse. In the temporary one you know there WILL be more toilet paper available eventually. In a collapse like an EMP... there WON'T be.

https://www.newsmax.com/peterpry/emp-infrastructure-grid/2020/03/26/id/960038/?fbclid=IwAR2xV50sFfViiZrjPedjGvcT2zLs6UquaMaz2wjPZVls_MrSbKzsci0nVYw

The Librarian

THURSDAY 03/19/2020

ASSESSING THE CURRENT SITUATION

It's too early to start getting very concerned but it is a good time to start doing daily assessments of changing social and economic conditions.

In novels and movies "collapse" always comes quickly and in a clear unambiguous way. The protagonists can easily see and predict the coming fall of society and the economy and have a chapter or two to get ready for it.

In the conditions we're in today we're in the midst of a "pandemic" but unlike in the fictional world it's not really killing that many people. Compared to past epidemic illnesses like Avian Flu, Swine Flu, Asian Flu, the yearly Flu season, etc. the number of deaths worldwide is actually fairly low.

What is unprecedented is the world, national and regional government responses.

The U.S., as well as other nations have essentially shut down their economies. The market has crashed and shortages are occurring nationwide in stores. So far, fortunately, the shortages have been limited to things like toilet paper, hand sanitizer and in some stores the meat counters contents.

I visited my local supermarket 2 days ago and the meat counter was bare as was the paper product shelves. (I sent a copy to a friend and reminded them that this is what stores look like under Socialism.)







I, personally don't feel greatly concerned about the virus going around even though I'm approaching 70.

What I do feel concern about is the effect on the economy of the effective quarantine of people. The company I work for has everyone working from home except a limited number of people in the warehouse packing and shipping orders. We are fortunate in that Amazon is continuing to accept shipments to their warehouse of our products. Many internet retailers are having their products refused by Amazon for the duration if the product is not considered "essential" or high priority.

Many hourly and restaurant employees are essentially unemployed until this situation resolves. The market has crashed and Nancy Pelosi is calling for the government to seize the means of production.

https://hotair.com/archives/ed-morrissey/2020/03/19/pelosi-trump-seize-means-production-now/

In short there are all the pieces in place for a complete economic and social collapse in the U.S. if the political situation gets out of hand. Considering the hatred, vitriol and division within the country that's not outside the realm of possibility.

So bottom line is, Don't Panic. But DO reassess the situation on a daily basis. Review your plans, perhaps reinventory your stores and supplies.

Fortunately Spring is not far away and it will soon be time for planting. It's actually not too late to start some seedlings in case you do decide you need to plant a significant garden in a month or so. Interestingly while supermarkets are experiencing shortages of many items local hardware and garden centers have plenty of gardening supplies.

If you haven't already done so, take the time to download some of the books from the Farming Section and spend a little time, if you're stuck at home, getting familiar with what is in them



As always stay vigilant, stay safe and don't let your guard down.

The Librarian

WEDNESDAY 03/18/2020

NUCLEAR EMP THREAT FROM CHINA

In the midst of a world pandemic of a virus that originated in China the Chinese wanted to add some icing and sprinkles to the cake.

China is not so subtly threatening to use nuclear EMP weapons against U.S. forces in the South China Sea.

Just goes to prove the old maxim that goes "It can ALWAYS get worse."

https://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2020/03/17/china-threatens-emp-attack-south-china-sea/

The Librarian

SUNDAY 03/15/2020

CURRENT PANIC

I'm going to pretty much stay out of the current hysteria about Corona. At this point you can roam the internet and find sites that range from promoting panic and hysteria and "Oh My God! We're all going to die!!!" through "Nothing to worry about." and every gradation in between.

And as everyone knows, if it's on the internet it has to be true.

Death rates are unknown at this point with so many sources of stats and so many different methods used to calculate those stats that those are pretty worthless as well. What we do know is that the world wide death count so far is a little over 5,000.

The CDC says this years flu deaths is 22,000 – 55,000.

https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/preliminary-in-season-estimates.htm

The biggest impact I can see is the panic buying and what appears to be hysteria over a little over 5000 deaths worldwide. (38,000 people died last year in traffic accidents.

https://www.nsc.org/road-safety/safety-topics/fatality-estimates)

So my personal response is to take advantage of a dramatic drop in the stock market to flesh out my IRA and to enjoy the time off from work. Like most people who frequent the site I already have a few extra cases of toilet paper tucked away. Already have emergency food supplies and am comfortable spending an extended period of time at home if that is imposed.

I tend to think those who have spent the time and energy to ponder and prepare for potential emergencies are those the least likely to panic over media inspired emergencies.

The Librarian

THURSDAY 03/12/2020

SOCIAL DISTANCING

Good article on two different responses to the 1918 Spanish Flu and how one slowed the spread which allowed medical services to better respond to those who were ill.

https://qz.com/1816060/a-chart-of-the-1918-spanish-flu-shows-why-social-distancing-works/

In one way I'm happy to see it. It gives scientific support for my own general aversion to having to deal with people at all.

Of course part of that is just being a traditional, grumpy, old man but still pleasing to be able to say there's a scientific basis for not having to put up with other people.

The Librarian

MONDAY 03/01/2020

CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE EAST VS WEST

The fear mongering and attempts to sow panic continue unabated in the media and some political circles.

Ran across this article which provides some enlightening perspective on some of the cultural and national differences between China where the Corona illness is so widespread and the U.S. indeed the entire industrialized Western World.

https://regiehammblog.wordpress.com/2020/02/27/birth-of-a-virus/

Whatever your political persuasion the cultural differences and their affect on phenomenon such as disease vectors are very real.

Despite the trite aphorism so popular today that "All cultures are equal." the reality is that "No. They aren't" and this is a good example of some of the differences.

Those differences also provide some understanding of why the U.S. and Europe are not likely to undergo the same kind of problems that occurred in China.

The Librarian

THURSDAY 02/27/2020

CORONAVIRUS PANIC MONGERING

For those folks reading and watching the news this week I want to point out a some salient facts.

First a lot of the warnings and press releases coming out are presenting a picture of the Corona Virus as a pandemic reminiscent of the Zombie Apocalypse. This morning's warning was from CDC about stockpiling 2 weeks of foods and water in preparation. I'm not going to bother posting a link to it. It's replete with "might" and "maybe" and "could" and "possibly" and other weasel words. No real information in it.

While that's good advice in general since everyone should have a stock of food and water on hand, issuing such a warning as a precaution against the dangers of Corona Virus is little more than panic mongering and trying to create a sense of panic in the People of the country.

I won't speculate on whether the motive is political (blame someone for political points), financial (a Federal agency's PRIMARY imperative at all times is growth and a larger budget) or personal (TV face time) or some combination of the three or some other motivation entirely.

But that fact is there are people in government and the media who are making a concerted effort to start a panic in the country for whatever reason. Perhaps it's as simple as ratings and drama.

Second, here are some hard facts from John Hopkins...

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus/coronavirus-disease-2019-vs-the-flu

The simple reality is that it's not much worse than the yearly Flu. The death rate is actually lower than the flu which we endure every year. Why something not significantly worse than the yearly flu has become the new Zombie Apocalypse is an interesting question for Sociologists to write papers about.

Third, the biggest threat to our lives in this situation is most likely to be overreaction by local governments and business leaders who respond to what they perceive from the media to be rising public panic which itself becomes more grist for the mills of the media dramatically announcing school and business closings pushing the narrative that if the government and business leaders are taking such actions they must know something we don't.... which simply feeds more panic.

Wash you hands frequently, keep your hands away from your face. Use cleaning wipes. Stay away from sick folks and stay home if you're sick.

The societal disruption being promoted by the media and some of the "expert" talking heads in the media are the greatest danger.

I assume most of the visitors to this site already have at least some stocks of food and water and basic medical supplies such as masks and sanitation supplies.

Think of it as a good rehearsal for a real emergency and a chance to review your supplies.

The Librarian

p.s. Someone at work was upset that N95 face masks on Amazon were taking weeks to deliver or were out of stock. Lowes and Home Deport sell N95 masks in the sheet rock section as do most hardware stores.

THURSDAY 02/20/2020

NEW EMP SURVIVAL MOVIE: RADIOFLASH

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7288408/

I can't really say a lot about the movie since I haven't seen it but the ratings are middling at least. There have been a couple of movies in the last few years about grid failures but all of them were just so abysmally bad that I refuse to even extend them the dignity of mentioning their names.

Suffice it to say your life is improved by NOT seeing them.

This one looks from the trailers and reviews to have decent production quality, actual professional actors and some decent cinematography. Can't speak to the writing but hey it's a survival movie.

I did notice, in the trailer, that a lot of very modern computer controlled cars were still working. Some advanced digital equipment appeared to still be working so I'm not real clear on the EMP effect involved. However we are talking Hollywood where physics and reality are required (by California Law) to submit to the demands of movie makers (and politicians) so some suspension of belief is required.

If any of you folks see it please let me know what you think.

The Librarian

THURSDAY 02/13/2020

HARD DRIVE OPTION ADDED

As I mentioned some time back I was looking at a Hard Drive option to eventually replace the Flash Drives for distributing copies of the Library. I just added the option today.

It's a simple solution, a 2.5 inch Western Digital 320 GB hard drive, a silicone case for the drive and a SATA to USB 3 connector.

The immediate question I got about it was why not a regular portable drive like a Passport or something of that sort? There's a couple of reasons.

Reliability:

I use a fair number of those plastic cased drives and when they fail, which they do more often than most people think there is virtually zero chance of recovering anything form them. The connectors are fragile and easily broken. Once that connector is damage the drive is useless. If you've ever opened the case on one of them you'll find the drive is hard wired to the USB converter and cannot be separated. The USB connector is the only available interface to the drive.

The older 3.5 inch portables were standard SATA drives plugged into the converter inside the case. If the converter failed or was damaged you could remove the drive, plug it into a SATA cable and use any of several data recovery tools to recover the data from the drive with varying degrees of success.

With the hard wired type of 2.5 inch portable that is not an option. Once the USB converter circuit fails or is damaged the drive is toast. Standard SATA 2.5 inch drives they can be used with the cable, plugged into a standard SATA cable in a PC or into a docking station connected to a computer. They are much more versatile.

As my plastic cased portable drives fail I'm replacing them with this type of combination, a simple bare drive in a sleeve and some of the SATA/USB converter cables. I keep some laying on my desk at the office, at home and in my messenger bag with the drives. I've come to like them much better than the standard portable drives.

Size and Quality:

Second, portable drive manufacturers are constantly pushing to increase drive sizes and these days it's hard to find a small portable in the below 500 GB range. There are a good number of them available but the brand names make it pretty clear they are inexpensive imports from China. There are several on the market that look identical but have lots of different "brand" names on them. There is absolutely no way to even guess at the reliability of any of them or the quality.

By buying buying Western Digital (or Seagate or Toshibas, etc.) drives from the major drive manufacturers there's a much better chance that the drive is decent quality. And there are a LOT of smaller drives available at good prices. Currently the Library is pushing 256 GB and while it will just barely fit on the 256 GB flash drive I'm currently using it won't be much longer before the 256 GB flash drive won't be large enough. 512 GB flash drives are expensive. Don't bother pointing out all of the "inexpensive" 512 GB flash drives on Amazon and Ebay. They are all fake and simply small drives with a phony size signature embedded in them. Please don't waste your money on them you will be disappointed.

I expect that some time this year I'll give up on the Flash Drives or perhaps put the Scientific American files on a separate drive or something like that.

Scalability:

Third, it's easy to scale up drive sizes as needed as the Library grows since there are literally millions of drives from the major manufacturers in a huge variety of sizes. Best of all the smaller sizes are much less expensive than the cutting edge of drive capacity.

That helps keep the cost low.

Fortunately the 2.5 inch drive option is still less than a pound so the mailing cost is the same as the Flash Drives which also helps keep the cost down.

So as of today there is a hard drive option for copies of the Library.

The Librarian

MONDAY 02/10/2019

A LESSON IN CONNECTED SYSTEMS

Australia learned a lesson in how vulnerable and fragile the interconnected systems are which maintain our civilization.

I frequently highlight the electronics portion of those system because they are so fragile. In this case is was simply roads being cut off which cascaded into essentially a collapse of the infrastructure.

All of it is due to the fragile nature of our infrastructures, the lack of redundancy and the complete lack of fallbacks and alternatives.

As the article points out more and more business and industry use Just-In-Time inventory systems which eliminate maintaining significant stocks assuming that the transportation industry will maintain stocks as an adequate level. Which means grocery stores have at most 3 days of food at NORMAL CONSUMPTION LEVELS. So when an emergency hits and people try to buy extra the shelves are bare within a day.

https://m.phys.org/news/2020-02-food-fuel-bushfires-collapse.html

This wasn't an EMP. It was a brush fire.

Fortunately it was a localized event and the rest of the country and world were available to provide relief and assistance.

In the case of a solar EMP the entire world would be in the same situation.

The Librarian

MONDAY 02/03/2019

THE POOR MAN'S EMP NUKE

Technology marches on and provides us with so many wonderful benefits and empowers people in ways never imagined.

https://public.milcyber.org/activities/magazine/articles/2020/20200120-renda

Now there is even the ability to make your own EMP nuke equivalent without having to resort to such cumbersome requirements as building a nuclear device with all the headaches and expense that entails.

This is one of those articles that your read and while you find it interesting you have to wonder about just who else is reading it.

There is one bright side to it however. With such capability now available to pretty much anyone above the age of 6 years old perhaps it will finally serve as the impetus to get the grid and critical services hardened to withstand EMP effects.

That has been discussed for years with virtually no effort made by anyone to take any action. So perhaps this is a good thing in the long run.

The Librarian

WEDNESDAY 01/29/2020

LAW CATEGORY POSTED

I finally, FINALLY, after a lot of false starts and aborted attempts, got the Law Category Added. This is an important Category and I needed to be sure it was done correctly.

Problem was that every time I'd sit down to work on it I'd run across some major problem with one of the books that required slow, tedious and laborious reformatting or cleanup. I'd get started and something would interrupt and I'd save the work and it would be days before I could get back to it or simply had the energy to tackle that kind of tedious work.

But it's done.

Why a Category on Law? As anyone who has read a post-apocalypse book or watched the Walking Dead or any kind of post catastrophe movie knows there is not Law. It is chaos and random gratuitous violence (depending on the production and special effects budget) and Law has no place is such a society.

Thing is though that Law is the Human response to chaos and violence. It doesn't take long before a group of people who have survived and gathered together and formed a community get tired of chaos and violence and unpredictability.

Thomas Sowell in one of his books pointed out the counter-intuitive fact that the level of freedom a government provided was NOT a factor in how well individuals and small businesses did. What mattered was consistency and predictability. Even if the laws were harsh the fact that a person could count on the legal environment remaining consistent is what allows one to plan for the future.

It's hard to grow crops when you don't know if someone is going to come steal them or damage your farm or kill everyone. You can't barter and trade with the folks in the next town if the roads are not safe to travel or to transport goods or the people in that town simply seize your goods and chase you out of town.

So one of the first things communities will do once they have weathered the immediate survival crisis of a catastrophic event and start rebuilding is to establish Law. At first that might be as simple as forming a militia or police force then hunting down and eliminating bandits and outlaws. Over time it will grow into coordinating with neighboring communities and patrolling roads to make them safe for travel and commerce. It will grow towards agreements with neighboring communities on how relations will be handled, what rules will be enforced.

At first that will be volunteers taking time from their own work. As food surpluses begin to grow there will emerge full time "Law Enforcement" personnel who's job is like the classic town sheriff of the old Westerns. Keep the town and it's inhabitants safe.

Militia, military, law enforcement... all of those are centered on providing physical security to a community, region, nation state, country and keeping it's infrastructure and inhabitants safe from violence.And all of them were based upon a growing surplus of food and "wealth" which make it possible for an increasing number of people to spend their days doing something other than growing food.

That will emerge naturally as it always has in human history.

But once food, shelter and security from violence is achieved at least to the degree commerce and trade will begin to grow. As it does society starts becoming more complex and the Law begins to broaden and spread to cover trade, contracts and every other area where there are disputes between individuals.

I imagine initially the function of providing justice will be filled by whoever is the elected leader of a community... or just as possibly the person with the most physical power (i.e. the most guns, ammunition and willingness to use them). That's not much different from the older traditions of most regions of the world. The Lord of the Manor dispenses both High and Low Justice whether he/she is elected or takes power by seizing it. Eventually communities will agree on common Laws and there will emerge Judges like the old Circuit Courts of the U.S. and parts of Europe.

This collection contains a wide variety of books of different kinds. Some are more philosophical in nature and address the nature of Law itself. What is it, how did it emerge, how did it develop, what are it's sources and roots. The legal systems of Europe and Asia and other regions all grew out of the history of the areas and have very different fundamental precepts upon which the Law is built. Western Law is very different from the Law of other regions.

Other parts of the collection are Historical. They trace the development of Law from its roots in a country or region to the more modern form that existed when the book was written.

Yet others are books about specific areas of Law such as Maritime Law, Business law, Veterinary Law, Farming Laws and so on. One of the criteria for these books were ones that dated from the pre-electrical age since the issues of those periods are the ones most likely to be the once faced by survivors trying to rebuild.

Other books are collections of Case Law which may or may not be of interest to folks. It's easy to write a Law. Heck if politicians can do it it can't be all that difficult. However Interpreting the written Law as it applies to an individual Case that comes before a Court is where it gets hard.

If a situation is clearly covered by a Law that case probably never makes it to the Courtroom. The Cases that do are where there a lot of ambiguity and confusion and difference of opinion and definition that requires a judge and possibly Jury to decide. So Case law is useful to the extent that it can and does provide some guidance as to how Law are interpreted and applied. But it can be incredibly deadly dull reading unless there is a case that applies to you. As much as we all make fun of Lawyers and Attorneys and Courts that difficult job of figuring out how a specific Law applies to an ambiguous case is what the legal system is really all about.

Most of us instinctively think of Criminal Law since the media is so full of such cases and they generate plenty of ratings and emotions and drama. The real meat of the legal system however is Civil Law, things like contract disputes, land disputes, domestic disputes and so on. Those we seldom hear about but they are the lubricant that keeps much of civilization turning and provides the structure under which commerce takes place.

So this collection is a wide variety of resources reaching from what is the basis of how we create law, where did it come from, how did it evolve, what are the Laws regarding specific areas of human endeavor to how are specific Laws were applied in specific cases.

It's a valuable set of information. Survival Reality shows on TV focus on catching fish and lighting a fire. Post-Apocalypse movies and TV shows focus on violence, lots of explosions and intense emotional sharing moments in the middle of a firefight. (Which simply demonstrates that the writer has never been in a firefight.)

The real survivors of a catastrophic event like a Solar EMP that takes out the power grid will have to deal with the much more complex and difficult problems like how to rebuild a Social Infrastructure and the legal structure upon which it is based.

The Librarian

ELECTRICITY, CASABLANCA AND FOOD

What do those have to do with one another? What do they have to do with Survival and EMP?

A 98 kilometer long Conveyor Belt in in the desert of Morocco a few hundred miles south of Casablanca provides the majority of the worlds phosphates... which are used in fertilizer and animal food. If you eat food purchased in a grocery store you are heavily dependent on that conveyor belt in Africa.

The video below speaks about it in the context of the political situation there and you can see the electric power lines running across the desert to feed it and the phosphate mine where it starts.

Just a glimpse at one tiny piece of the worlds intertwined industrial infrastructure which would be lost in the event of an EMP. The entire worlds primary source of industrial phosphates upon which our agriculture depends...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67FzgaSWDDw

The Librarian

VACATION'S OVER

https://www.livescience.com/new-sunspot-solar-cycle-begins.html

Quiet time is over. The first sunspots of the new Solar Cycle are appearing. That mean the quiet period we've been in for a while now is coming to an end and we're moving back into the part of the cycle where sunspots start coming more and more frequently over the next 5 years heading towards the peak of this cycle.

This new cycle will increase until around 2024 at which point we'll be in the middle of the cycle as it begins to swing back down towards 2031.

A few years ago in 2012 there was a flare that fortunately missed the Earth. If it had hit us you would likely not be reading this since either you or I (or both) would likely be dead and the world would still be struggling to survive and recover from a collapse of the power grid and most of the industrial and technological infrastructure.

Despite the hopes of those aware of the dangers and the many articles and studies and committees pointing out the risk nothing has been done to harden the power grid or mitigate against the EMP effects of a solar flare.

If anything the vulnerabilities have increased. Compared to 10 years ago computers and fragile technology have spread even further making us even more vulnerable to a disruption of that technology.

We recently put in a couple surveillance cameras to observe the wildlife in our woods. Thing is they are wireless, they store images on the cloud and you have to access them through a browser on the internet or a phone app. They are 100% dependent on internet connectivity. Without it they are completely useless pieces of plastice glass and metal.

So the new solar cycle is here. Sunspots will be showing back up soon and we return to the visible risks of Solar EMPs.

Vacation's Over.

The Librarian

FRIDAY 01/03/2020

GOOD WRITE UP ON GRID SECURITY

Happy New Year everyone.

I hope this year is a good one for everyone and that stuff like EMPs and Survival Libraries are completely irrelevant to our lives this year.

That being said, here's a good write up on the problems with Grid Security in the U.S. Well actually it's more like a write up on the complete absence of any grid security in the U.S.

When I drive out to my farmhouse in the county I pass several power substations. Some of them have the large, expensive and difficult to replace transformers that require a year of lead time to buy. The security consists of a chain link fence gate that blocks ONLY THE ROAD INTO IT. There's no fence around the rest of it, just woods. Anyone with any nefarious intent could walk right into the place and do whatever they chose with no interference.

That's fairly common around here.

https://michaelmabee.info/grid-physical-security/

Here'a little article about the PG&E sniper attack

https://money.cnn.com/2015/10/16/technology/sniper-power-grid/index.html

The answer they suggest is 1/2 inch armor plating on the transformers.

Unless something has changed in the ballistics world a .50 round will quite easily penetrate 1.2 inch armor plate. .50 rifles are actually fairly common these days.

Make a point of glancing at some of the susbstation in your area when you pass them and see what kind of security, if any, they have.

The Librarian

SUNDAY 12/22/2019

CHILLING...

Merry Christmas to one and all.

Chilling article from Newsmax. I missed it but one of the site readers sent the link to me. Thanks by the way.

https://www.newsmax.com/peterpry/electromagnetic-pulse-attack-defense/2019/12/04/id/944503/

It's a chilling read.

The gist of it is that despite the President's Executive Order to take measures to minimize or at least lessen the impact of an EMP the Electrical industry and Bureaucrats at DOE (Department of Energy) are actively undermining it by trivializing the potential effects and EMP event.

Despite evidence to the contrary, despite DOD's decades of research, despite the known phenomenon that the Carrington event set telegraph stations on fire.... DOE and the Electrical are playing Pollyanna with the future of the country and our lives.

If and when an EMP event occurs it's not just the politicians who failed to act that will have to hide from the survivors. It's now the folks at DOE and in the Electrical industry itself.

The Librarian

MONDAY 12/16/2019

NO EMP NEWS RECENTLY

Merry Christmas to one and all.

I've noticed recently that there has been virtually no EMP related news in most of the media. Normally there are stories every week or so on the threat, actions being recommended or actions being specifically not taken by the government or the power companies. At least the issue has been visible.

Perhaps it's simply the political news that have just buried and swamped all other news. I ended up watching OAN the other night for news because all of the other "news" sources (even internet ones) are 100% impeachment with any other non-impeachment story being presented simply as proof of why impeachment was or was not justified. The media has become completely obsessed with this story to the exclusion of everything else going on in the entire world.

OAN (One America News) may be conservative in it's own bias but they actually reported on events going on in the world that were NOT directly related to impeachment.

It's refreshing to watch news that reports on events around the world.

The Librarian

TUESDAY 12/03/2019

AMUSING AND INTERESTING TAKE OF THE PROBABILITY OF COLLAPSE

Article with the Mathematical Evidence of the likelihood of a collapse and why "prepping" is an appropriate response.

https://medium.com/s/story/the-surprisingly-solid-mathematical-case-of-the-tin-foil-hat-gun-prepper-15fce7d10437

The Librarian

TUESDAY 11/27/2019

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ONE AND ALL

Take a moment to look around you tomorrow at all the things you have to be thankful for:

your family

your home

your job

your health

a working power grid

clean water

food

heating and cooling

automobiles

television and radio

the internet

and be reminded just how precious they are and how easy to lose.

The Librarian

TUESDAY 11/19/2019

I'M SHOCKED....SHOCKED TO SEE CORRUPTION

Well... no. Not really. Having worked for some years in D.C. and seen how the system works there I'm not the least bit surprised or shocked.

Politicians are always shortsighted but when the threat is as real as this one is and they will be the victims of it themselves you would think that their survival instinct would kick in. But perhaps they think they will retain their power in the world that results from an EMP and a collapse of the power grid. Boy are they going to be surprised...

https://michaelmabee.info/money-talks-grid-security-walks/?fbclid=IwAR0O8dcL27_1LeFcYNW_PeOF3KMgfFS4Mr3iqd-sYxHXAvp2Hy_TyXejSG4

The Librarian

TUESDAY 11/12/2019

FINALLY!!!

Finally got that Mathematics Category reposted which had gone missing at some point. It's been crazy busy the last couple of weeks; death in the family, trying to finish outside farmhouse renovations before cold weather arrives, fixing the tractor, putting up 500+ ft of fence to guard from a seriously vicious dog from a road a ways behind us that attacked my wife, trying to get Home Deport to cough up two cartons of siding that was due in three weeks ago, bunch of major projects at work, reorganizing my office to make better use of space, half sick from some kind of stomach bug, a large stone bruise on my foot from a the previous weekend. Probably more stuff I can't even think of right off the top of my head at the moment.

All in all it's been a pretty tiring couple of weeks. Fixing the category just meant adding it into the main library index. However at some point I lost, deleted or broke the spreadsheet I use to build the html for that index page. Had to rebuild it from scratch. No more than an hours work but I have been doing it in 5-10 mins increments since last week. Finally got it done this morning and put it online.

The Librarian

TUESDAY 11/05/2019

EVENTS

Been absent a bit. Extremely busy at work and death in the family last week.

1. Couple items... the Mathematics Category which somehow got lost at some point will be back either later today to tomorrow morning. The files are there but the index page with the links got lost.

2. Hopefully the Law Category will be posted within the next few days.

3. Keep an eye on Deutsche Bank in Germany. That is the top bank in the EU and it's in about the shape Lehman Brothers was in a few days before they announced their bankruptcy. A lot of economists expect that if/when Deutsche Bank collapses it will have a domino effect on the rest of the EU banks that have been leaning on Deutsche Bank to keep them afloat.

It has to potential to take the EU down with it economically as almost almost happened in the U.S. in 2008. Fortunately the Federal government stepped in and rescued the rest of Wall Street back in 2008. Was that fair or just? Of course not. Not by any imaginable standard. But it did likely prevent another world wide economic collapse as happened in 1929.

Deutsche Bank is laying off employees at an accelerating rate and rumors are flying around the EU today that it's a matter of weeks, perhaps only days before the collapse occurs. Remember Lehman Brothers was assuring depositors, stockholders and regulators that everything was just fine, no problems, nothing to worry about. A few days later employees were going out the door with their belongings in boxes.

The Librarian

WEDNESDAY 10/16/2019

BIT SCARY

A friend in the UK sent this link to me which I appreciate since I missed it completely. The Gist of it is that the 1921 Solar storm may have been even stronger than the famous Carrington Event. Why is it scary? Because it suggests that solar storms of that magnitude are more common than we thought. IN 1921 of course they are not quite into the electronics age so the effect of the storm on the infrastructure was minimal.

Today it would be quite different. Well aware of that since I'm home today waiting on the AT&T folks to arrive to install my fiber internet connection so I can finally get rid of the miserable DSL line I've lived with for years. With my luck that storm will arrive about the time he finishes the install and I see a real internet connection at home.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/new-studies-warn-of-cataclysmic-solar-superstorms/?fbclid=IwAR2RmjM3PKE56AvKmcViaxyBX83jXqSKQCIlgXogbvEDmpm0oOSTd7VbaME

And yes I'm still working on the Law Category files. Soon...

The Librarian

MONDAY 10/7/2019

ADDING HARD DRIVE OPTION

Since the Library is rapidly approaching 256gb and soon will no longer fit on a 256gb flash drive I've been looking at options. Best option appears to be a 320gb 2.5 inch hard drive. There are a lot in that range inexpensively and they are almost as handy as a flash drive. Most of the lower cost portables are Chinese knockoffs.I don't really have much faith in a Chinese USB 3.0 hard drive with a name I've never seen before.

What I'm testing now is just buying a bare WD or Seagate or Toshiba 320gb 2.5 inch SATA drive, just like you'd install in a laptop, and a case with USB 3.0 interface in it. That's about the same price as the Chinese knockoffs but is a brand name drive and by installing it in a USB 3.0 case you can use it as a portable drive, take it out and put it in a cradle or install it in a PC as a standard SATA drive.

Provides a lot more options and is large enough for continued expansion.

Any comments on the option would be appreciated.

The Librarian

SUNDAY 10/6/2019

STILL TRYING TO FINISH LAW CATEGORY

Sorry folks. Been a crazy busy week at work. Still working on the Law Category files. It's over 150 books so it's taking me longer than I thought. Few more days.

The Librarian

WEDNESDAY 09/26/2019

CARRINGTON EVENT VIDEO

I ran across this video and while it's a couple years old it's a good synopsis of the historical Carrington Event of 1859, what it is, how it occurred, the effects at the time and if it were to occur today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Iwpyvou1f4

Thought folks might 