Heard the News?

A few moments ago, I ran a couple of ‘home pages’ for news. The first thing that came up was a feature about Lady Gaga’s sister…not the pop star, just her sister, making a red carpet debut. The second was about Kate Middleton wowing people in a $6,000 dress. On the TV, the big news is about some U.S. congressman sending risqué photos to people via his phone, and which team will win a largely meaningless trophy after a hockey game.

As seeming afterthoughts there are stories about Libya and some flooding in Manitoba. There was little of what I’d call important news, and certainly nothing in depth. This worries me, because despite the increasingly connected world we live in, obtaining ‘hard’ news is getting to be much more difficult. The noise to signal ratio, to use an old radio term, is just too high. That makes it a little more dangerous for preppers.

In many scenarios, the ability to recognize the onset of a crisis is crucial to your ability to deal with that crisis. Is there a food crisis? Possibly, but to find out what the outlook is for the world’s food supply will require a lot of hard work and digging. Is a financial crisis immanent? Maybe, but trying to sort out some good solid advice in the masses of information and disinformation out there is a Herculean task.

Part of the problem is that much news coverage is geared to keeping the attention of the MTV generation. If you can’t get it into a 60 second sound bite you’re going to lose the audience. It leaves little time for digging into the heart of the matter, if anyone still cared to do so.

It is a situation that you as a prepper need to remedy for yourself. Turn off Family Guy, and try to find some in depth news in that 200 channel cable package. Subscribe to some magazines that don’t just report on Justin Bieber’s new tattoos. Buy a newspaper that doesn’t have a page 3 girl and does have a international news section. If you’re on the net, look for a discussion board about the world at large, not just a specific hobby or interest.

Most importantly, find some news sources that do not fit in with your particular viewpoint. It makes an neccessary check and balance on your own worldview to have to consider and weigh the merits of opinions contrary to your own.

Will this keep you safe? Of course not. At least not until newspapers start carrying predictions of earthquakes and tsunamis (and getting them right!). However, if you are well informed, you might know what your local government can and cannot do in the event of a natural disaster, and allow you to plan accordingly. You might not be caught completely flatfooted due to an economic crisis or other calamity that might show warning signs.

It’s not easy to sort the wheat from the chaff in the information world, but it is a task you need to start doing. Find those sources you consider reliable and stay informed. Knowledge is power, and the more you have, the better prepared you’ll be. Think of it as a higher level situational awareness.

It's just common sense.

Originally posted June 12, 2011 @ CPN

Mr. Blogger's Neighbourhood, Part Deux

In the first installment of Mr. Blogger’s Neighbourhood, we discussed being aware of the potential threats in your region. Today I want to talk to you about another side of being well acquainted with your locality, whether in a small town, a large city, or the middle of the wilderness. I want to ask you if you know, really know, your neighbourhood, whatever form it might take?

The reason I’m thinking about this is because recently I was very surprised to find a route in my local area of which I was completely unaware. This surprised the hell out of me, because I’ve always felt that I’ve thoroughly explored and knew the lay of the land wherever I’ve lived. I’ve made a point of ensuring I knew every way in or out of the area, what resources might exist nearby and so on.

When I first moved into the area, I conscientiously walked every point of the compass, noted all of the significant features and out of the way trails I could travel, and the places where I might hole up if the need arose. I checked the availability of resources, animal and vegetable, as well as making sure I knew where I might find useable water. I even mapped (using google) those areas that were off limits for one reason or another to fill in any blank spots in my knowledge.

These are all steps I feel that any reasonable person should take in becoming prepared, and I was fairly confident that I had covered all the bases. (Confidence is the state of mind where things are most likely to rear up and bite you in the backside, by the way...) Over the next few years, I wound up travelling most of my immediate area regularly in the course of recreation and the travel necessitated by my daily routine. And routine is what got me.

Although I kept up with changes in most places, there was one area that I never got back to, for a variety of reasons. I was aware of and noted changes in most of my neighbourhood, but got into a rut and failed to make regular checks of the area I had not regularly travelled. Thus, it came as a shock when an errand took me through the neglected sector and I found a footpath had been cut through some very dense brush down to an area of the riverbank I had considered inaccessible to all but the most determined. The wide new path (which took quite a bit of work for someone to create) led along the bank for quite a distance until it was only a short and easy push through some grass and up to a hill that overlooks one of my usual rambles. As I stood atop the hill, I realized that I had gotten over confident, and resolved to make sure I recheck all parts my area at least quarterly.

I realize it doesn’t seem like a big deal, but awareness of your physical surrounding is at least as important as situational awareness regarding people. A change in geography might be minor and of no consequence, or it might mean that an escape route you planned on is cut off when you need it, a resource you had counted on has disappeared, or that you are less secure and safe than you think.

Changes can occur for a variety of reasons. Shortly after I resolved to recheck my local area, we had quite a bit of weather here in Manitoba. We had lots of rain and lots of strong winds. I went for a walk the next day and found that several of the trails I frequent, while passable with work, were partly blocked by fallen trees. Some low lying areas were flooded, and a lot of detouring ensued. The flooding will cure itself, but some hours of quiet cutting with my collapsible saw will be required to restore some of my routes. On the up side, I can use the firewood.

I’m not advocating that you play Rambo Hood and spend all your free time traipsing through the countryside here. I am saying that it is worth your while to get off of your couch and/or usual path, out of the rut, and see what’s new in your area. Heck, it’s even fun. Grab your bike or your hikers, your favourite dragoness and a picnic lunch and make an afternoon of it. It will relax you, entertain you, and perhaps make you a little fitter. It will certainly make you much more cognizant of what’s going on around you, and thus better prepared. And being prepared is what it’s all about.
Welcome to the neighbourhood.

Originally posted June 2, 2010 @MPN

Mr. Blogger's Neighbourhood

“It’s a beautiful day in the neighbourhood
For transportation of dangerous goods…”

Eh, I can’t think of any more lyrics, and it was a dopey song anyway. So onwards to today’s topic. And that is: Just what is in your neighbourhood?

Here in Manitoba, we tend to think we live in an almost rural fashion, despite the fact that most of our population is concentrated in a few large centers and a plethora of smaller ones. Our towns tend to cluster around major highways and are dotted along rail lines for the most part. Along those rail lines and roads run trains and trucks filled with deadly goodies like acid, anhydrous ammonia, and propane. Often, these cargos pass through heavily populated areas, often right through the middle of town. Derailments and accidents are not common, but do happen.

Then there is the question of industry. Even the smaller towns have some sort of large business providing employment and keeping the town alive. In most cases, these are pretty much innocuous, but there are exceptions. The bulk fuel dealer, the fertilizer depot with an anhydrous ammonia storage tank or large amounts of nitrate fertilizer on site, perhaps an industry where the product is not inherently dangerous, but the components are (There are an infinite variety of things that give off toxic fumes when burned or even better, go boom).

Then too there are the infrastructure items that pose a hazard, such as natural gas pipelines. One blew up in the western part of Manitoba a number of years ago. Luckily, it was some distance from the nearest town, but I’m told that the explosion and subsequent fire were heard and seen at a distance of many miles and it was sheer luck no one was killed.

Everyday, we walk, drive by, or live close to potentially dangerous goods. Our tendency is to dismiss these, because most of the time they are not a danger to us, although there are a variety of situations that can change them from potential to actual hazard.

The immediate concern in day-to-day life is an accident, of course. Trucks crash, trains derail, and fires or other events happen despite everyone’s best effort to minimize the risks. The root cause in these sorts of incidents can range from human neglect or equipment failure, to the occasional act of god in the form of tornados or earthquakes.

Additionally, one should look at the longer term. In an economic or larger societal collapse, simple abandonment or deliberate vandalism can transform a usually safe resource into a deadly hazard. The serious prepper should take this into consideration, and as always, knowing what you might face is the first step.

The thing to do is find out what exactly is located in or moving through your area that can affect you. There may be none, one or multiple things to worry about in your immediate vicinity. A quick drive around town, a look through the phone book, and an open eye on what goes through town by road and rail are a good start. Your local emergency measures organization may be a source for this information, and most fire departments have a good grip on hazardous materials in their area of response, so ask around.

Once you know what you’re dealing with, you can take steps to minimize the risk. You might need to devise an evacuation plan, purchase a respirator, take steps to safeguard your water supply from leaked chemicals, or a dozen other things. Your exact plan will depend on the particular risks in your area, if any.

Remember, this is nothing more than situational awareness written large, and doesn't need to be hard to do or complicated. The important thing is to find out what the threats are in your neighbourhood now, so you can prepare and plan for if or when.

Originally posted April 28, 2010 @MPN