Category: preppers

What hath Detroit wrought?

This: (via The Southern Nationalist)

One of the many significant disadvantages to Southerners of being in the Union is the periodic transfer of wealth by the US Federal Government of Southern tax dollars to non-Southerners, including foreign dictators, Islamic terrorist groups and failed Third World countries. Recently, the US government decided to transfer $300 million to a Third World city – which, in this case, happens to be located within the United States. The City of Detroit’s decline over the past half a century has become the stuff of legend. It is now symbolic of the decline of the USA as a whole, a microcosm of the loss of industry and the demographic transformation of much of the US into a Third World society. In 1940 Detroit was 90% White and an industrial power-house. It was one of the most affluent and productive cities in the world. By 2010 the city was just 10% White and 82% Black. White flight from the failed city has dropped the total population of Detroit by 40% over what it was in 1950.  Any way that one looks at the numbers associated with Detroit it is clear that it is a Third World city in the middle of the United States. If one took a Haitian city such as Port-au-Prince, dropped it in the middle of North America and periodically transferred wealth to it from outside it would look very much like Detroit.

As much as it pains me to admit this; Michael is absolutely correct. Sad I am from the “Detroit Area” currently and I grew up in Southwest Detroit in the 1980’s. Even back then, Detroit was a different place in a different time. There are a ton of reasons why Detroit ended up like it did; I blogged about that in the past.

There are times, when I honestly wish that I could just pack up everything and move to another part of the Country. The flathead valley in Montana is where I would love to go; but, as many Americans, I simply cannot afford to move and I have parents that need me here for the time being. SighSo, I do what I can and wait.

10 years after blackout the grid still isn’t safe.

I saw this and I thought it merited comment:

The U.S. electrical grid is better managed and more flexible a decade after its largest blackout but remains vulnerable to increasingly extreme weather, cybersecurity threats, and stress caused by shifts in where and how power is produced.

Many worry the grid isn’t fully prepared for the new and emerging challenges, even though an analysis conducted for The Associated Press shows maintenance spending has steadily increased since North America’s largest blackout.

“This job of reliability is kind of impossible, in the sense that there’s just so many things that could happen that it’s hard to be sure that you’re covering all the bases,” said William Booth, a senior electricity adviser with the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

via 10 years after blackout, U.S. grid faces new threats | The Detroit News.

Which is precisely why I have links to websites like Survival Reality.  For years Survivalists, and preppers were dismissed as wackadoodles. Nowadays, with the electrical grid being suspect to terrorist attacks, cyber attacks, natural disasters, and weather being brought on either because of weather cycles or man-made climate change; the wackadoodles are not seen as so crazy anymore.

The article goes to say that the grid is much more safe now. But, I just do not buy it. If it is so safe, then why is it every time a major storm blows through somewhere, the power goes out? It is because the grid itself is just as unsafe as it was before.

I realize that not everyone can afford to live “off the grid,” as it is quite expensive to do so. However, some simple planning in advance can prevent troubles down the road. Something as simple as a battery-powered flashlight and a decent cooler and even bottled water, can be quite helpful during a power outage. It is simply a matter of common sense, something that seems to be in short supply today.