And so it begins, we are beginning to see the effects of all of the money that has been created even down to the "can of sauce" level of the economy, what used to be 98 cents is now 1.19, add in the coming increase in sales taxes and we are looking at a 1.25 a unit price.

The way around this is to rely on oneself and purchase Canning Jars and lids and the industrial sized cans of stewed tomatoes, and stir up your own sauce with a blender and can it before hand. Doing thus also lets the cook make their own sauces to taste, add basil from the garden or oregano or extra onions or garlic in either whole form, or powdered form.

Another clever way to enjoy pasta and to save some money is to harvest wild greens such as Nettle Tops or Kale or what have you, and make Pesto sauce with them, leave out the pine nuts and such pesto will be much more affordable to create and it utilizes one's own environment to improve your bottom line.

The Knife in self defense mode, cheap, handy and effective

Knife use in self defense is a pecuilar passion of mine as to me their potential is underrated and their effectiveness at defense (by being offensively defensive) is without a doubt. Fortunately there are some wonderful resources on the WWW that are not only free, but also were used in WW2.

W.E.B. Fairbairn's Get Tough comes to mind. Colonel Fairbairn designed a stiletto style dagger based on his years in the Changhai Police Force, in fact such a dagger is the picture at the top of the Blog.

More pertinent for this post is, Col Fairbairn also created a chart showing the major arteries in the human body along with an estimate of how long consciousness would be lost if one were severed as appears above.

A recent work by Paladin Press entitled Contemporary Knife Targeting studied Col Fairbarin's chart and asked medical professionals about it's accuracy or lack thereof. The work claimed Fairbairn was overly optimistic and that the volume of blood and heart rate would make the chart impractical and of lesser value.

My conlcusion is Col Fairbairn was too optimistic, but the Paladin Press work was to conservative in that the rate a injury will cause shock in an attacker varies from person to person, from situation to situation, they also failed to account for the increased heart rate and blood flow internally that a conflict will create. Authors Grasz and Janich however, did offer an effective biomechanical cutting program that relied more on targeting muscle groups then arteries.

That said, taking Col Fairbairn's chart and authors Grasz and Janich's study, it can be reasonably said that either penetration into the body cavity, or slashing a artery or muscle group can be done with the smallest of knives.

That 2 dollar steak knife literally can be used to save one's life in a pinch, if not knowing knife use system is a problem, it is one of a lack of knowledge only, the triceps, qaudraceps, radial artery (inside the wrist) are well known to most.

A steak knife one may ask? Of course, it is the deadliest blade in America, often a domestic dispute will erupt and the first thing that comes to hand is used, be that a chair or a knife from the butcher's block on the counter.

Of course things can be more complicated then this, and training never hurt, especially if one's life is in the balance, or could be in the balance, but do not let the "ninja master" syndrome effect one, mankind has used knives for thousands of years, it is not rocket science at a most basic level it is quite simple.

Frugality is the new fad...

When a major media outjest manages to run a story on the new sincerety, one has to take notice.


The nightmare of a consumer driven economy, the Urban Professional cuts back spending even when there is disposable income available, no worries though, tax increases and regulatory burdens and the hidden tax of inflation will destroy the value they are hoarding. That is the issue with merely hoarding cash under the mattress, it loses it's buying power to inflationary termites.

It could be said that official inflation is quite low, and that would be a truism, however in this downturn we are experiencing producer price hikes at the overseas manufacturing locations, the US inflationary measures also do not account for food or fuel, they basically are worthless as a economic measure in a Global Economy.

Those new to value hoarding would be well served by purchasing items that will increase in price over the long term that are fit to warehouse. Otherwise sticker shock at the local Wally World could make it to America's Funniest Home videos.

The idea to use plain vinegar over even plain jane fabric softener is a good one.

Spring is here, time to plant a garden.

The mini warehouse is located in an urban environment where tilling the soil would be frowned upon.

No problem, instead of a subsistence garden as would be the case in Europe, I've decided to use the limited space to grow herbs to supplement the variety of food during the year.

These work well:

Basil
Oregano
Field Onions

The only realistic food items that there is space to grow is jalapeno peppers and maybe a heavy yielding variety of tomato, both items are quite expensive at the store, as are the herbs when they are fresh, so this makes financial sense.

And it should be pointed out that culinary matters count as well, a few fresh basil leaves can light up a otherwise bland pan of scrambled eggs, and that also adds to the comfort factor, Fresh Oregano is wonderful when added to the typical can of spaghetti sauce which has little flavor of it's own.

So if one has the time, look into a small herb garden, it pays both in the wallet and in the comfort factor.

Gold is spiking in price

Gold has suffered a surprising upward trend, almost 80 dollars in a single week.

Normally Central Banks then sell gold to depress the price, however in this case, a rising gold price means the Central Banks now have more assets on hand and that helps to keep them solvent.

Silver, or poor man's gold, has also seen a upward trend, however not as large percentage wise as Gold has, there is perhaps still some room to purchase Silver in expectation of a rising price and a profit, however Silver is purely an investment as no Central Bank holds silver reserves.

Buyer beware on silver purchases for anything other then a small fast profit or as a minor hedge against inflationary presssures.

There will be no Hunt Brothers this time out, and the commodity bubble bursting effected silver.

Mormon Index rising...Alpha Strategy in effect?

Now I must confess my issues with Mormon Theology, however on the whole I've found such differences to be no barrier to friendship and good natured conversations with my fellow Mormon Americans.

That stated, I must say the "Mormon Way" of preparing for one year of hard times with no commercial food or personal care products is a great and wonderful example of what Americans of any creed or even no creed or faith should practice if possible:

A contrarian view of what is really happening in the US Economy is Mormon Index, a compendium of the utilization of the services of a Mormon Warehouses:

.....Winona and Kevin Black began stocking their shelves a couple of years after their 1985 wedding. When they moved to St. Louis, in 1990, they had two small children and began their food storage in earnest. Kevin Black was a resident at Barnes Hospital at the time, and the family was spending $30 a week on food.

Today, with seven children, the Blacks have increased their food budget to $100 a week, and they've abided by the church's food-storage suggestions for two decades.

One of their daughter's twin mattresses was set up on boxes filled with cans of powdered milk, potato flakes and red beans. Shelves in an upstairs closet of their Crestwood house are balanced on the large No. 10 cans used in the church's cannery operation and filled with wheat.

In a separate storage room downstairs, more boxes of wheat, pasta, sugar and oats sit next to multiple jars of mayonnaise, boxes of soup mix, bags of popcorn and cans of refried beans.

Winona Black keeps a black marker in the room to help her keep track of the rotation of supplies

The Bishops Warehouse also provides services such as resume writing and faux interviews that are video recorded and played back so any flaws in the interviewee's performance may be crtiqued and improved.

Quite impressive, and everyone whether atheist or other, could take a lesson from those remarkable preperations.

Individuality, Privacy, and the need for effort

I'm occasionally struck by the reality of modern Internet Communities and the amount of private information they can reveal.

From Facebook to Twitter, people are literally taking their most private details, and making a public spectacle out of them, which seems a bit foolish. The Internet is "forever" meaning 10 or 15 years down the road, what is youthful behavour now, will be cringe worthy later as people, believe it or not, change over time.

And it should also be mentioned that Officials frequently look for MySpace pages during the course of investigations, or when they are merely fishing around, and there has been two cases of such information leading to people's deaths at the hands of law enforcement simply because some well meaning, but misguided soul posted pictures of themselves with firearms on their myspace pages, in one case in NC, a poor slob simply had pictures of his friend holding firearms and he was killed in a incompetent SWAT raid on his home near a college campus.

It makes some sense to participate in such social sites, it makes even more sense to publish as little actual person information as possible and still participate with ones friends.

In Biblical terms, "Behold, I send you out as sheep among wolves, be ye wise as serpents, and gentle as doves"