As I wrote to you yesterday in Part I, my nephew is on a week-long camping trip called Survival with his seventh grade class from Old Rochester Junior High School—the tri-town regional junior high school for kids from the towns of Mattapoisett (where I’m from), Rochester, and Marion, Massachusetts. I remember like it was yesterday boarding the yellow school bus and driving several hours not knowing where we were going, but seeing fewer and fewer houses and then no houses, and realizing we were a long way from home. When the bus stopped we lined up at the base of a rural dirt road and found … [Read more...]
Growing-Up in Mattapoisett/Rochester/Marion: Going on Survival
I’m excited for my nephew. Saturday he left for a week-long camping trip called “Survival.” It’s a rite of passage for seventh graders at the tri-town regional junior high school from the towns of Mattapoisett, Rochester, and Marion, Massachusetts. I went on Survival, as did my sister, and now her son. And in this hazy, hot and humid New England weather—it will feel like survival. This is not your average camping trip. The kids are tasked with doing their own shopping for gear and food. The phrase “shop wisely” brings new meaning as each one carries their goods up a 3 mile hill to base … [Read more...]
R.I.P Legendary Drummer D.J. Fontana
D.J. Fontana, the Hall of Fame drummer for Elvis died this week at age 87. “Opening with one of the most distinctive drum hits in rock & roll history, Elvis Presley's 1957 movie tune, "Jailhouse Rock," smashed its way to the top of the pop, r&b and country charts, becoming one of the most iconic tunes in the Elvis canon,” writes Stephen Betts at Rolling Stone. "Jailhouse Rock" by Elvis Presley Preview Drum Lesson … [Read more...]
Could a Solar Storm Slam the East Coast with a Geomagnetic Double-Whammy?
Under the ground in the heavily populated coastal region from Washington D.C. to Boston, lies a layer of rock that could potentially act as a reflector for a geomagnetic storm, forcing it to pass through electronic systems twice, rather than only once. Bloomberg reports that a forthcoming USGS study says the East Coast of the U.S. is at higher risk of this type of geomagnetic behavior. Bloomberg's Brian K. Sullivan writes: A solar storm is now viewed as enough of a risk in fact that grid operators across North America are working on plans to respond to just such a disturbance. And a … [Read more...]
America’s Grid is Vulnerable: Here’s How to Improve It
Over the years I've paid close attention to America's power grid. The grid is vulnerable. The electricity that comes to Americans' homes is vital to the standard of living. Some people even rely on electricity to power the medical equipment that keeps them alive. Survivalists and all Americans should be concerned about the deficiencies in the nation's power grid. The current system is really a patchwork of interconnected systems that hasn't had a fundamental upgrade since its creation in the 1800s. In recent years, new technology has been developed that, if implemented, could make America's … [Read more...]
Water You’ve Already Stored for the Next Disaster
I continue to believe this is vital intelligence for all of us today and as when I originally posted it on October 6, 2017. The first thing you want to do when it comes down to your water supply is to figure out your water sources. For example, we have town water and we live near a fresh water reservoir, but it’s at the bottom of a steep hill. It will be extremely difficult to gather water and carry it up the hill. But it can be done in small batches. Next, you want to determine how much water you have on hand right now. The first place to look is your hot water heater capacity. Go … [Read more...]
Mossberg 590M Review
Nice review of the Mossberg 590M by Clay Martin at GunsAmerica: In the United States we treat our pump shotguns like we do trucks, as in we tend to stay brand loyal. And we tend to fall into two camps on this one, the Remington 870 and the Mossberg 590. Both sides are equally fanatical, and the reasons tend to be less fact and more emotion based. Usually, we prefer whatever we started with, the duck gun our dad gave us at 13 sets the tone. Then it is all familiarity, mostly the safety position and pump release being the difference. I myself am an 870 guy, which is something I felt it was … [Read more...]
Lebron James is the GOAT
Proof that Lebron James is the GOAT? Look no further than last night’s personal-postseason-best 51 points in 48 minutes. Even though his dominant performance wasn’t enough—a reversed call, a free throw miss and a JR Smith gaffe lead to a Cavs loss—the case for Lebron as the GOAT is hard to refute especially when you read this piece by National Review’s David French: There is a certain class of basketball fan who scoffs at this notion. Fans my age and older vividly remember a singular night in June 1998. You know the moment. Michael Jordan slightly pushes off Utah Jazz forward Bryon Russell, … [Read more...]
Will You be Ready When the Lights Go Out?
Originally posted on April 2, 2018. A recent Congressional Research Service report warns that since 2014 "security risks to the power grid have become an even greater concern in the electric utility industry." The report cautions that the power industry "has not necessarily reached the level of physical security needed based on the sector's own assessments of risk." "There is widespread belief that bulk power critical assets are vulnerable to physical attack, that such an attack potentially could have catastrophic consequences, and that the risks of such attacks are growing," explains … [Read more...]
Hurricane Maria Death Toll in Puerto Rico: Deadlier than 9-11
Puerto Rico continues to deal with the aftermath of hurricane Maria—a natural disaster more lethal than the terrorist attacks on September, 11 2001. From the NY Times: As hurricane season begins this week, experts are still trying to count the number of deaths caused by last year’s devastating Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. The latest estimate: roughly 4,600, many of them from delayed medical care. Residents of Puerto Rico died at a significantly higher rate during the three months after the hurricane than they did in the previous year, according to the results of a new study by a group … [Read more...]
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