Cosmic Echoes…by Rich Fleetwood

Archive for March, 2007

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Here in Wyoming we’re in the beginning stages of a snow storm of historical possibilities…biggest spring snow storm in years….

But, the entire midwest is also getting hit with all kinds of OTHER weather…

Be Careful Out There!

Rich

My thanks for Morgan of GlobalIncidentMap.com for this forward…

In the midst of a tornado outbreak …

James Bryant, Meteorologist, The Weather Channel 34 minutes ago

Severe thunderstorms, including several that are unleashing twisters, have exploded over the western High Plains. More than 45 tornadoes have been reported during the evening hours. These big and dangerous storms will persist into early tomorrow as they coalesce into one or more squall lines with a threat of heavy rain. The area under greatest threat extends from south-central Nebraska southward into West Texas. But isolated nasty storms have blossomed as far north as western South Dakota and as far south as the Rio Grande River in Texas. Isolated severe storms, primarily packing large hail, may also chimney up along a cold front in North Carolina, southwest Virginia and northeast Tennessee this afternoon and evening. Overnight, as an offshoot of the severe thunderstorms in the Plains, heavy downpours are expected to unload on parts of western Kansas, the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles, and the northern portions of West Texas. On Thursday the slow moving thunderstorms along the I-35 corridor will feature rounds of repeat severe thunderstorms with a real concern for excessive rainfall. Please don’t drive over flooded roadways or during flash flooding. You are better to turn around and don’t drown. In the Interior West, heavy wind-driven snow is plaguing a good chunk of the Rocky Mountain region. Heavy snow, winter and storm warnings and even are posted for much of southern Montana, most of Wyoming, a large area of Utah and the mountains of western Colorado. Blizzard warnings are in effect for a small portion of southeast Montana and northeast Wyoming where travel over I-90 and I-25 is extremely difficult if not impossible. Travel in the region is discouraged till the storm weakens late on Thursday. By the time the storm winds down late Thursday to early Friday, snowfall in some spots could reach three to four feet with drifts as high as a house. Heavy snow is currently being reported from Buffalo and Sheridan, Wyo., and winds have gusted as high as 60 mph.

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This evening, I took my wife out on a date. This one we planned for a few days in advance. It was a fun evening…filled with facts, video, pictures, fun, laughs…and deadly serious work.

We both went to the Weather Spotter class held on our college campus here in Riverton, Wyoming, with Chris Jones of the National Weather Service (now a good friend after 3 years) leading a great evening of VERY educational information for folks who, among other things, just like to be part of an active community wanting to help their neighbors.

This spotter school is the second one I’ve taken (the first one was in Spring 2004), and was even better than the last time. The college class room was crowded, with close to 30 folks showing up from all over the county, and even some from neighboring counties.

The class earned Spotter cards, which contain the info we need to report troublesome weather in our area of the state. Most threats we’ll see here are occasion thunderstorms, outflow boundaries, a rare twister or two, straight line winds (86 miles an hour last August), flash flooding from spring runoff in the nearby Wind River Mountains, and the good old Wyoming winter weather.

A quick look at the web found the Skywarn homepage, the very interesting Storm Spotter Guides Online!, the National Weather Service Skywarn info page at Weather.gov, and more. Interested in looking for a local class? Click there and find your state, for a list of upcoming classes you can attend.

What does a Skywarn Spotter report?
Although all reports are welcome, the National Weather Service is particularly interested in the weather elements described below.

Do something good for yourself…and something good for your community. Become a certified weather spotter for your area.

Rich

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Some days I think it can. Other days…well, that is the reason I have spent years collecting thousands and thousands of pages of real, authentic nuclear survival documentation…as published and printed by the printing offices of the United States of America…and several other nations as well.

Then…articles like this one in the New Yorker get me to thinking again.

Are WE doing enough? Us? You? Me? The average citizen?

PLEASE comment…

Rich

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Watch this video by Penn and Teller. It’s an irreverent, satirical, yet biting commentary on the whole issue of gun control, 2nd ammendment rights, and firearms in general.

CAUTION: The name of the show is “Bullsh*t”, and there is blue language…however, I think this show is worth watching for the broad overview these two bring to the subject.

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One of the big problems we’ve seen in the US, and just as much around the world, is how to obtain needed items (food, water, shelter, etc) in disaster areas. The best thing to have on hand in times of extreme distress is enough cash to get the basic survival needs covered…as frugally as possible. This can always be mitigated to a NON need if you are prepared with a 72 hour kit, bug out bag, or a safe place that is already stocked with those same basics of survival.

Here is a excellent article posted on The Simple Dollar blog a couple of weeks ago. Give it a read, and see what you can apply to your life to make the future, however safe, or not, at least a little easier.

Rich

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I found this jewel of an article reposted on Timebomb2000.com, and felt it covered all the bases of survival in hard times (disaster, ecomonic downturn, civil strife, etc.) that I just had to make sure it was seen by a wider audience.   Many of the items here could by applied and used in worse case scenarios, including pandemic bird flu, which seems to have the biggest echo on the governments “Fear Radar”.

Rich

From the old Greenspun board

Fair use
http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=0011Lt

How to Survive Really Hard Times
greenspun.com : LUSENET : TimeBomb 2000 (Y2000) : One Thread
Moderator: ed@yourdon.com

——————————————————————————–

How to Survive Really Hard Times
In the old days, folks were accustomed to periodically having to live through hard times. They knew how to survive the hard times with the least amount of wear and tear on their families. Nowadays, most folks don’t know what hard times really are. Even those folks who think they have it hard right now can usually still depend on some type of government handout or charity assistance, and therefore they don’t truly know what hard times really are.

My definition of hard times is when things ain’t what they use to be and they don’t look like they will return to normal anytime soon. This frequently happens in times of war, floods, tornadoes, and hurricanes. Which are also usually accompanied by power failures that last for days, weeks, or months.

Following are some suggestions for surviving these types of hard times.

Shelter:

Let’s start by assuming you now live in some type of dwelling and your dwelling is not in the immediate path of a flood, hurricane, marching troops, etc.

First, stay inside unless you must absolutely go outdoors. In the old days, folks had enough sense to come in out of the rain. During hard times, you don’t need to get wet, cold, or frost bitten. That just makes matters worse.

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This story was front page news for many of the nation’s largest newspapers this Sunday morning. I’m afraid I have to agree. The US has NEVER been prepared for ANY nuclear attack…terror, all out assault, or anything in between…except for our leaders. They have PLENTY of shelters for themselves.

Just none for we taxpayers…

THAT sucks…

Link to source…

U.S. unprepared for nuclear terror attack, experts say

12:44 AM CST on Friday, March 2, 2007
McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON – Although the Bush administration has warned repeatedly about the threat of a terrorist nuclear attack and spent more than $300 billion to protect the homeland, the government remains ill-prepared to respond to a nuclear catastrophe.

Experts and government documents suggest that, absent a major preparedness push, the U.S. response to a mushroom cloud could be worse than the debacle after Hurricane Katrina, possibly contributing to civil disorder and costing thousands of lives.

“The United States is unprepared to mitigate the consequences of a nuclear attack,” Pentagon analyst John Brinkerhoff concluded in a July 31, 2005, draft of a confidential memo to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “We were unable to find any group or office with a coherent approach to this very important aspect of homeland security. …

“This is a bad situation. The threat of a nuclear attack is real, and action is needed now to learn how to deal with one.”

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