30 November 2012
Make A Survival Washing Machine
U.S. government actually planned to nuke the moon as a show of force
(NaturalNews) The U.S. government has come up with some crackpot ideas before, but one of the goofiest was a plan during the 1950s, just as the Cold War was heating up, to - of all things - nuke the moon, simply as a show of force.
In what can only be described as part of the madness of the post-World War II and Korean War era, U.S. scientists and government officials actually debated over whether to detonate a nuclear weapon on the surface of the moon as a way to send a menacing message to the Soviet Union, according to Asian News International.
The secret plan, dubbed, "A Study of Lunar Research Flights," was nicknamed "Project A119." Amazingly, it was under serious consideration until it was finally scrapped by a dose of sanity among military leaders who feared the blast could wind up hurting people on earth. Obviously, it was never carried out.
Still, it was a serious plan for a time and involved some of the brighter minds of the day. Among those was noted astronomer Carl Sagan, who was at the time a young graduate student; he was tasked with figuring out what the behavior would be of dust and gas generated by the atomic blast, The Daily Mail reported.
Plan was to fire missile at the moon
Scientists and U.S. officials believed that if the Soviets could view the blast from earth, it would intimidate Moscow while boosting confidence in Washington following the launch of Sputnik, physicist Leonard Reiffel told The Associated Press in an interview in 2000.
Now 85, Reiffel says he directed the planning at the former Armour Research Foundation, which has since become part of the Illinois Institute of Technology, AP said. He went on to serve as a deputy director at NASA.
Sagan later became famous for popularizing science on television; he passed away in 1996.
The author of one of Sagan's biographies hinted that the popular scientist could have committed a security breach in 1959 by revealing details of the classified project in an academic fellowship application, a suggestion that Reiffel agreed with.
According to details of the plan, here's how it would have worked: A missile fitted with a small nuclear device would have been launched from an undisclosed location, then travel some 238,000 miles to the moon, detonating on impact.
Scientists determined it would have to have been an atom bomb, because a hydrogen explosive would have been too heavy for the missile to carry.
Reiffel said the country's space program, which was in its infancy in the 1950s, could have carried the mission out by the end of the decade, when the Air Force began to deploy intercontinental ballistic missiles carrying nuclear warheads.
In the end; however, military officials nixed the plan because they feared it would put people on earth in danger should the mission have failed.
In addition, scientists involved in the project voiced concerns about contaminating the moon with radioactive materials, said Reiffel.
Nuking the moon as a show of force was not the only hare-brained idea concocted by the government in years past. Nor the most evil.
Nuking the moon not the worst thing
From 1955 to 1975, military "researchers" at Edgewood Arsenal, located near the Army's Aberdeen Proving Ground base in Maryland, used animals and military "volunteers" to test a collection of drugs and chemicals ranging from potentially lethal nerve gases like VX and sarin, to incapacitating agents like BZ, CNN reported.
Military scientists also tested the effects of tear gas, barbiturates, narcotics, tranquilizers and hallucinogens like LSD.
This diabolical research was done under a secret Cold War program that ostensibly looked for ways to defend against a potential chemical or biological attack by the Soviets, who were, at the time, thought to be way ahead of the U.S. in "psycho-chemical" warfare, according to Army documentation at the time.
In 2009, a class-action suit filed by the Vietnam Veterans of America and individual soldiers, charged the U.S. Army and the Central Intelligence Agency, with the help of former Nazi scientists, of using at least 7,800 vets as guinea pigs to test the effects of as many as 400 different types of drugs and chemicals. They included mescaline (psychedelic alkaloid), LSD (psychedelic drug), amphetamines, barbiturates, nerve agents and mustard gas.
The suit also says the government worked to cover up the testing and the nature of its experiments, which began in the 1950s under such exotic code names as "Bluebird," "Artichoke," and MKUltra."
Sources:
http://washington.cbslocal.com
http://www.dailymail.co.uk
http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/01/health/human-test-subjects/index.html
http://www.naturalnews.com
Learn more:
http://www.naturalnews.com/038152_nuclear_bombs_moon_government.html#ixzz2DhhFMVxH
Friday, November 30, 2012 by: J. D. Heyes
In what can only be described as part of the madness of the post-World War II and Korean War era, U.S. scientists and government officials actually debated over whether to detonate a nuclear weapon on the surface of the moon as a way to send a menacing message to the Soviet Union, according to Asian News International.
The secret plan, dubbed, "A Study of Lunar Research Flights," was nicknamed "Project A119." Amazingly, it was under serious consideration until it was finally scrapped by a dose of sanity among military leaders who feared the blast could wind up hurting people on earth. Obviously, it was never carried out.
Still, it was a serious plan for a time and involved some of the brighter minds of the day. Among those was noted astronomer Carl Sagan, who was at the time a young graduate student; he was tasked with figuring out what the behavior would be of dust and gas generated by the atomic blast, The Daily Mail reported.
Plan was to fire missile at the moon
Scientists and U.S. officials believed that if the Soviets could view the blast from earth, it would intimidate Moscow while boosting confidence in Washington following the launch of Sputnik, physicist Leonard Reiffel told The Associated Press in an interview in 2000.
Now 85, Reiffel says he directed the planning at the former Armour Research Foundation, which has since become part of the Illinois Institute of Technology, AP said. He went on to serve as a deputy director at NASA.
Sagan later became famous for popularizing science on television; he passed away in 1996.
The author of one of Sagan's biographies hinted that the popular scientist could have committed a security breach in 1959 by revealing details of the classified project in an academic fellowship application, a suggestion that Reiffel agreed with.
According to details of the plan, here's how it would have worked: A missile fitted with a small nuclear device would have been launched from an undisclosed location, then travel some 238,000 miles to the moon, detonating on impact.
Scientists determined it would have to have been an atom bomb, because a hydrogen explosive would have been too heavy for the missile to carry.
Reiffel said the country's space program, which was in its infancy in the 1950s, could have carried the mission out by the end of the decade, when the Air Force began to deploy intercontinental ballistic missiles carrying nuclear warheads.
In the end; however, military officials nixed the plan because they feared it would put people on earth in danger should the mission have failed.
In addition, scientists involved in the project voiced concerns about contaminating the moon with radioactive materials, said Reiffel.
Nuking the moon as a show of force was not the only hare-brained idea concocted by the government in years past. Nor the most evil.
Nuking the moon not the worst thing
From 1955 to 1975, military "researchers" at Edgewood Arsenal, located near the Army's Aberdeen Proving Ground base in Maryland, used animals and military "volunteers" to test a collection of drugs and chemicals ranging from potentially lethal nerve gases like VX and sarin, to incapacitating agents like BZ, CNN reported.
Military scientists also tested the effects of tear gas, barbiturates, narcotics, tranquilizers and hallucinogens like LSD.
This diabolical research was done under a secret Cold War program that ostensibly looked for ways to defend against a potential chemical or biological attack by the Soviets, who were, at the time, thought to be way ahead of the U.S. in "psycho-chemical" warfare, according to Army documentation at the time.
In 2009, a class-action suit filed by the Vietnam Veterans of America and individual soldiers, charged the U.S. Army and the Central Intelligence Agency, with the help of former Nazi scientists, of using at least 7,800 vets as guinea pigs to test the effects of as many as 400 different types of drugs and chemicals. They included mescaline (psychedelic alkaloid), LSD (psychedelic drug), amphetamines, barbiturates, nerve agents and mustard gas.
The suit also says the government worked to cover up the testing and the nature of its experiments, which began in the 1950s under such exotic code names as "Bluebird," "Artichoke," and MKUltra."
Sources:
http://washington.cbslocal.com
http://www.dailymail.co.uk
http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/01/health/human-test-subjects/index.html
http://www.naturalnews.com
Learn more:
http://www.naturalnews.com/038152_nuclear_bombs_moon_government.html#ixzz2DhhFMVxH
Friday, November 30, 2012 by: J. D. Heyes
SURVIVAL: RECOGNIZE GRIZZLY BEHAVIOR
As a bear biologist and wildlife filmmaker, I’ve made it my business to get close to big grizzlies in the wild. So I wasn’t worried when I took my dad backpacking to a secret spot just north of Yellowstone in 2004. He’d never seen a wild grizzly, and I was sure we’d have an encounter. We camped by a river and set out hiking before dawn. As the sun crept over the mountaintops, we found our first bears: two sub-adult grizzlies digging in a meadow. We hunkered down to watch them until, about five minutes later, an angry-looking grizzly emerged from the nearby edge of the forest. I could tell right away that this guy meant business. His legs were rigid, he kept his head low, and he was chomping his giant jaws together.
Instead of backing away before any of the bears saw us—as we should have done—Dad and I sat transfixed. Then we made an even bigger mistake. When the grumpy griz followed the younger bears, Dad and I tagged along. In a display I now know as badass grizzly bravado—and wish I’d better recognized and appreciated then—the big griz walked over every tree in his path, pissing on them as he passed.
I should have known what would happen next. Suddenly, the bear turned on us. He sniffed, whuffed, and started advancing. Instantly forgetting the first rule of bear-attack avoidance—don’t run—we sprinted for a cluster of Douglas firs. But the limbs were too high for my 65-year-old father to grab. After missing the first signs of threatening behavior, I made no mistake now: It was get high or get eaten. So I boosted Dad up, then found my own tree to climb.
The grizzly was in no hurry to leave. Instead, he wanted to show us who was boss. He didn’t try to knock us out of our perches, but he promptly began digging in the dirt below. (Black bears can scale trees, but grizzlies’ long claws aren’t great for climbing.) Dad and I prepared to spend the night; we envisioned fatigued limbs, hunger pangs, and possibly hypothermia. But then another bear charged into the meadow, forcing Mr. Big to defend his territory. While the dominant bear chased the intruder away, Dad and I took the opportunity to hightail it out of there.
I’ve spent 16 years studying grizzlies, but it took getting treed by one to make me pay closer attention to grizzly behavior toward humans—and how to react to it. I’ve learned that it’s really hard to stay calm and act smart when a 600-pound mass of muscle, claws, and fur is coming at you. So you have to prepare yourself mentally to suppress the urge to run. I take deep breaths, talk in a low voice (which calms the bear and me), and try to exude an aura of unruffled confidence. The good news? By understanding what grizzlies are communicating through their behavior—and faking serenity and being smart—you can feel more confident and comfortable on your next grizzly country adventure.
THINK LIKE A BEAR
Anderson studies grizzly behavior year-round—both in the wild and at his Montana Grizzly Encounter bear sanctuary near Bozeman. “Bears do all kinds of things to let you know what they’re thinking,” says Anderson. “But rarely, if ever, is it, ‘I’m going to eat you.’” Here, he offers four signs to recognize, plus tips for how to react.
1. Whuffing or Jaw Popping
A “whuff” is like a combination between a cough and a dog bark, and jaw popping sounds a lot like the human version, only louder and with more drool. Both are bear signals for “I’m uncomfortable,” says Anderson. Calm an irritated grizzly by identifying yourself as human. Calling “Hey bear, I’m going the other way,” as you slowly retreat should do the trick.
2. Turning Sideways
“This is the bear’s way of saying, ‘I’m annoyed that you’re here, and look how big I am,’” says Anderson. If it turns and looks at you out of the corners of its eyes, it’s sizing you up. Wearing a pack? Turn sideways as well, to make yourself look bigger. Either way, slowly raise your hands overhead. Now slowly back away, speaking confidently, while exuding calm.
3. Shoulders Squared, Ears Pinned
“Watch out if a bear faces you and pins his ears to his head,” Anderson says. “He’s saying, ‘I’m going to handle this aggressively.’” Take the safety off your (EPA-registered) bear spray as you back away slowly. “I’ve used bear spray more than a dozen times. If the bear gets to within 60 feet, aim the nozzle toward the animal, slightly downward at its feet. Give a half-second blast. If the bear is moving toward you, this will create a pepper cloud that it’ll run into. If the bear continues, unleash more short blasts as needed to deter it.” (It typically doesn’t take much.) Note: If it’s raining or there’s wind in your face, don’t spray until the bear is much closer.
4. Sows With Cubs Always Mean Business
Fifty percent of bear cubs are killed in their first year by adult male grizzlies, says Anderson, which explains why sows are so protective. If you know a sow and cubs are nearby, immediately ready your bear spray. “If a cub approaches you, resist the urge to panic,” warns Anderson. “If you back away too quickly, it’ll freak out the cubs, who’ll alert their mom to danger. Slowly retreat, but be ready to defend yourself at any moment.”
MAKE FIRE
Magnesium Block
Need convincing to pack this failsafe firestarter, which combines spark and tinder in one ultralight package? Magnesium burns as hot as 5,400°F, which is almost three times hotter than a standard flame. It even burns under water. The technique: Scrape a small pile of magnesium shavings (Cody Lundin packs the end of a hacksaw blade to avoid damaging his knife), and ignite them using matches, lighter, or the striker included with the magnesium block. To create a spark using the striker embedded in the magnesium, scrape it with your knife (if that’s all you have) or hacksaw blade. Tip: Pull back on the magnesium block, holding the blade in place, to prevent your hand from accidentally slipping forward and disturbing the tinder. Magnesium blocks cost less than $10, and practice makes a huge difference in performance, so buy two, one to train with and the other to pack.
Thou Shalt Not: Waste a good fire. Make gourmet s’mores: marshmallow + peanut butter cup + graham cracker. Plus scotch.
20 November 2012
Pemmican: The Original MRE
Invented by the natives of North America, pemmican is the original MRE.
Pemmican was used by indian scouts as well as early western explorers as an instant, ready-to-eat, high-energy food. It was light, compact and high in protein, good carbohydrates, and sustaining fats.
Given the incredible amount of concentrated nutrients and calories, pemmican would be a fantastic addition to any bug-out bag.
Traditional pemmican is very simple to make:
What you’ll need:
lean meat (beef, venison etc)
raw beef fat (I get this for free from my local grocer’s butcher)
(optional) berries (blueberries, cherries (no pits), cranberries etc)
Making pemmican step by step:
Pemmican is a combination of rendered animal fat, pulverized dehydrated meats, and if desired some dried fruits. Here’s the process:
Step 1: Dehydrate the meat and berries
Cut up the meat into thin slices and place the meat and berries on drying racks
Dehydrate until the meat and berries are brittle and break when bent (not rubbery)
In the photo above I used my home dehydrator. In college, since I didn’t have one, we would simply sandwich the meat and berries between two window screens and set them out in the sun to dry for a day or two. It was just as effective.
Step 2: Render the fat
For the fat portion of pemmican, you can use tallow (rendered beef or mutton fat) or lard (rendered pork fat). There are multiple methods of rendering your fat. Here’s the three most common (with my favorite being the Crockpot method) (I’ll be rendering beef fat in this example):
Method 1: How to render fat in a Crockpot
Cut up your fat in small pieces and place the fat into the crockpot.
Set the crock pot on low heat.
Cook until you’re left with mostly clear or golden liquid (they’ll be bits of hardened stuff on top).
Remove from heat and strain into a mason jar through a metal strainer lined with a coffee filter, paper towel or cheesecloth.
Method 2: How to render fat on the stovetop
Grind or chop up fat in a blender/food-processor/meat-grinder
Place a pan on the stove and add the ground fat.
Set the heat on the lowest possible setting. Cover and let cook, stirring occasionally.
Cook until you’re left with mostly clear or golden liquid with bits of hardened stuff on top.
Remove from heat and strain into a mason jar through a metal strainer lined with a coffee filter, paper towel or cheesecloth.
Method 3: How to Render fat in the oven
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
Cut up your fat in small pieces and place the fat onto a pan into the oven
Cook until you’re left with mostly clear or golden liquid with bits of hardened stuff on top.
Remove from heat and strain into a mason jar through a metal strainer lined with a coffee filter, paper towel or cheesecloth.
Step 3: Combine the ingredients
After dehydrating the berries and meat and rendering the fat you’ll be left with the following:
Before you can combine the ingredients though, you’ll need to shred the berries and the meat. In the old days they’d pound it with a rock to turn it into a “powder”. In our days a blender is a lot easier:
Blending the meat and berries:
Throw the meat into a blender or food processor and blend until it turns to a fluffy consistency
Repeat with the berries
Now look at the ingredients:
After you’ve dried/shredded your meat and fruit and rendered your fat, simply combine the ingredients as follow:
Pour the liquid rendered fat over the meat/berries until it becomes somewhat saturated (if your fat has already turned to a solid, be sure to slowly heat it until it turns back to liquid before doing this step).
You’ll want to combine enough of the liquid fat over the meat/berry combination until it is saturated
You’ll know when it is saturated enough when you can easily form a ball and it doesn’t crumble apart:
If you dislike the idea of using animal fat as a binder you can replace it with honey instead. It will keep for a long, long time just as normal pemmican will.
Just keep adding honey to the dried, shredded meat and berries until it binds enough to form it into a ball shape.
http://www.tacticalintelligence.net/blog/how-to-make-pemmican.htm
Pemmican was used by indian scouts as well as early western explorers as an instant, ready-to-eat, high-energy food. It was light, compact and high in protein, good carbohydrates, and sustaining fats.
Given the incredible amount of concentrated nutrients and calories, pemmican would be a fantastic addition to any bug-out bag.
Traditional pemmican is very simple to make:
What you’ll need:
lean meat (beef, venison etc)
raw beef fat (I get this for free from my local grocer’s butcher)
(optional) berries (blueberries, cherries (no pits), cranberries etc)
Pemmican is a combination of rendered animal fat, pulverized dehydrated meats, and if desired some dried fruits. Here’s the process:
Step 1: Dehydrate the meat and berries
In the photo above I used my home dehydrator. In college, since I didn’t have one, we would simply sandwich the meat and berries between two window screens and set them out in the sun to dry for a day or two. It was just as effective.
Step 2: Render the fat
For the fat portion of pemmican, you can use tallow (rendered beef or mutton fat) or lard (rendered pork fat). There are multiple methods of rendering your fat. Here’s the three most common (with my favorite being the Crockpot method) (I’ll be rendering beef fat in this example):
Method 1: How to render fat in a Crockpot
Cut up your fat in small pieces and place the fat into the crockpot.
Set the crock pot on low heat.
Cook until you’re left with mostly clear or golden liquid (they’ll be bits of hardened stuff on top).
Remove from heat and strain into a mason jar through a metal strainer lined with a coffee filter, paper towel or cheesecloth.
Method 2: How to render fat on the stovetop
Grind or chop up fat in a blender/food-processor/meat-grinder
Place a pan on the stove and add the ground fat.
Set the heat on the lowest possible setting. Cover and let cook, stirring occasionally.
Cook until you’re left with mostly clear or golden liquid with bits of hardened stuff on top.
Remove from heat and strain into a mason jar through a metal strainer lined with a coffee filter, paper towel or cheesecloth.
Method 3: How to Render fat in the oven
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
Cut up your fat in small pieces and place the fat onto a pan into the oven
Cook until you’re left with mostly clear or golden liquid with bits of hardened stuff on top.
Remove from heat and strain into a mason jar through a metal strainer lined with a coffee filter, paper towel or cheesecloth.
Step 3: Combine the ingredients
After dehydrating the berries and meat and rendering the fat you’ll be left with the following:
Blending the meat and berries:
Throw the meat into a blender or food processor and blend until it turns to a fluffy consistency
Repeat with the berries
Now look at the ingredients:
You’ll know when it is saturated enough when you can easily form a ball and it doesn’t crumble apart:
Just keep adding honey to the dried, shredded meat and berries until it binds enough to form it into a ball shape.
http://www.tacticalintelligence.net/blog/how-to-make-pemmican.htm
Updates and Toys
My usually boring schedule has suddenly become busy lately, causing me to fall behind on "blogging". Sorry but I still consider it a strange verb. But I suppose that's common with any evolving language / vocabulary.
It may seem rediculous to some people, but with the rising uncertainty of what kind of future we are facing, I've been putting more energy into making sure my car is in decent running condition and stocked with emergency necessities, as well as updating my bug out bags. I keep more than one to be sure I'm prepared to sustain not only myself, but my wife and our dog as well.
My biggest additions to the bags have been a variety of homemade jerkies (beef, chicken, & venison), a new hatchet to replace one I lost, and more ammo for my pellet gun. I know that last item might seem odd to some people, so ill explain my reasoning real quick. I have a simple Powerline 201 by Daisy that shoots BBs and pellets. Its small and lightweight but does the job on small game. The pellets I use are the destroyers. They are basically the pellet version of a hollow point bullet. In a situation where you don't want to give away your location, a quiet weapon seems to me to be a better choice. Personally i'd rather be safe and eat squirrel and rabbits. Small game also doesn't require preservation like larger amounts of meat would; leaving us capable of staying mobile if need be. It's also helpful when you dont have electricity or solar/wind/water generated power.
This is just my opinion of course. Each person should do what they feel is best for themselves and their family. Cheers.
07 November 2012
Make Your Own Hard Cider
One of the easiest alcohols to produce is apple cider, or "hard cider" here in the states. Really it is just fermented apple juice, and comes in around 6% alcohol by volume. Apple cider is so easy to make, nature actually does it on its own. In fresh milled apple cider there are enough yeast particles found to ferment under its own control, as long as you contain it properly. To make a natural batch just put some fresh apple cider into a glass jug (this is your primary fermentation vessel), attach an airlock and rubber stopper(or a balloon with a small hole if you are wanting to MacGyver this shit prison style), add a quarter cup of brown sugar (molasses, sorghum, or some other natural sugar) and allow it to sit at room temperature for a few weeks. You'll soon notice some bubbling action, and gas being released as the wild yeasts come to life and start pissing out alcohol into your apple juice (called must at this point).
After a few weeks of bubbling and gurgling, you'll notice this action slowing and coming to a halt. This occurs once the yeast has eaten all of the sugars in your must, and alcohol production slows to a halt. Now you'll want to switch your must into a freshly cleaned glass jug. Use a small hose to siphon the top 90% of the liquid from inside your fermentation vessel, leaving behind particulates, yeast and the rest of the unwanted crap (called lees) at the bottom of the jug. Now, you cannot leave head-space (open area) inside the jug above the surface of your fresh brew, because it will oxidize and begin to turn to vinegar. Top it off with some sterilized water, so that your jug is full while you let it age to perfection (also referred to as secondary fermentation).
For around 21 days (or even up to three months) you can leave your brew in secondary fermentation to allow your cider to mellow and age properly before you bottle it (if you plan to go that far, I'd just leave it in the jug and cap that shit). You don't want your brew to slosh around during this time, as you want it to clarify and all the leftovers to settle out once again. I mean, you could have drink your brew before now, but it wouldn't have tasted all too great. So, since you've waited this long, have your buddy post guard, and kick back with a tall glass of brew!
Most of us here in the States have heard of Johnny Appleseed and how he roamed the country planting apple orchards. Many of our greatest cities sprang up right along side these orchards, but many of us never learned that he didn't plant the apples for us kids to eat. He planted them for us to make cider. Don't make a waste of his efforts!
As a quick side note, since i failed to mention this before. This is for making still cider, not sparkling. Sparkling cider has dangers of exploding bottles if you arent careful, so I wont teach you how to carbonate your cider.
Sage as a Mosquito Repellant
Throw a stick of sage or powdered sage into your fire. The sage scented smoke that the fire will emit keeps mosquitoes and other annoying bugs at bay for the entire area.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)