In polite company should one never discuss politics?

The text below was written for the  liberal forum over at the Prepper Forum 

Not only am I liberal among the prepper community but I am also a liberal living in Arizona. Talk about being a minority. My guess is there probably about 100 conservatives for every liberal in the prepper community. And I know for a fact that there are few liberals in AZ. In fact, we got more registered Independents in Arizona than democrats.  Which means, in Arizona we have, in order of population, Republicans, People who believe Republicans don’t go far enough, and a few Janet Napolitano supporters.

http://azcapitoltimes.com/news/2011/01/24/arizonas-registered-independents-now-exceed-democrats/

Not that conservative-bent preppers are a bad bunch, in fact if the end of the world happens there is no one else I would better like to hang out with.  If for no other reason, there are going to be a lot more of them than me.

Talking politics is such a tricky thing.  Somewhere along the way America became a very shrill place.  Maybe we always were, Exhibit A: Burr versus Hamilton.  

I like my fellow preppers, even though I sometimes get tired of the completely outrageous statements  I hear among my conservative brethren.  I tend to keep my mouth shut when they start talking politics because I know I am a minority and flame wars just wear me out.

This post has turned into a very long-winded version of my question.  How do you handle being a liberal in the prepper world?   Do you engage in political discussions with the not-like minded?  If so, how do you handle it without it just descending into anger?    How do you remain friends and also disagree?  Maybe I should have learned the answer to these questions in kindergarten.

Below: Just a joke people, just a joke, and about a 6 year-old one at that.

 

fishing in the wild waters of PHX

I need to learn how to fish.  Because if you teach a man to fish he can fish in the canals. I know fishing in the canals sounds disgusting, but fish make for good and cheap fertilizer, especially for corn.

Here and here is the info I have found about fishing in the canals.

Short version, you can fish pretty much all the canals except the CAP.

Cut and pasted…..

Can I fish in the canals?

Yes, unless posted “no trespassing.” Anglers must have a valid fishing license in possession for state waters (not an urban fishing license) as per ARS 17-331. Learn more about fishing regulations in Arizona by visiting the Arizona Game and Fish Department’s Web site at azgfd.gov/fish.

Below:  Not a Phoenix Canal.

Update to solar still

Update to solar still.  This would have been a good idea.

Solar Still

Back in March I built a solar still in my backyard.  As Arizona is a dry place and my backyard does not have a creek in it, I tried to suck moisture out of plants.

This did not work.

I finally got around to editing the video.  Watch below if you care to watch my failed attempt as well as my first use of the fast-forward function.  If you don’t care to watch the video, the short version is that a solar still is a ridiculous amount of work for a ridiculously small amount of water.

On a side note, the raised garden did not work either.

Uni-comic at the lost cove open mic

A little bit of spoof of Twilight Zone, a little spoof of the survivalist community.  Which I hope they like the jokes, because they are probably the only ones who would get the jokes.

Please note the character and jokes are fiction.

Summer break

I realize that the Apocalypse is going to be tough, but it is really hot out there.  It’s been a little tough to practice the necessary skills with this heat.  ”Sure,” I can hear you saying, “You are going to be fine during the nuclear holocaust, you can’t even take a little sunburn.”  But trust me people, the AZ sun is no place to practice throwing one’s rabbit stick.

As a good friend reminded me the other day, the best rule of surviving in AZ in summer is to respect the sun.  So I suppose I am taking summer off, unless I can figure out a skill I should learn/practice inside.  I am not interested in learning how to sew, some people were just destined to go without pants in the end times.

In the meantime, here are some re-runs.

How to deal with bad sewing skills.  Filmed during the Wednesday night Open Mic at Conspire.

Below is a video my friend Amy Jean and I filmed a while back.  It really demonstrates my bad sewing chops.

Been a little lazy lately

So I haven’t been working on my skills too much in the last couple of weeks.   The CERT class being cancelled got me off-track a little because I had planned to get a lot of skills to practice from that class.  I still got skills I can practice that I learned at the Ancient Pathways school but every time I go outside to practice I about die from the heat.  I did manage to make it to the summer solstice before I turned on the air.  But lordy it is getting hot in AZ, maybe not as hot as the end of the world, but definitely too warm.  I also got off track because I got distracted by all the post-apocalypse television and books.

In the last couple of weeks I have read “The Day of the Triffids” by Edmund Morris, the short story collection “Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse” a bunch of “Walking Dead” graphic novels, and “Patriots: A Novel of Survival in the coming collapse” by James Wesley Rawles.    While this has been fun, it was not that practical for learning real skills.

Anybody got a suggestion what I should work on next?  Preferably something inside.

I got no class

Sad news, at least sad for me.  The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) class was cancelled.  Apparently only two people (out of 4 million) signed up for it.    Now I will never know how to triage.

Upcoming weekend plans

This weekend I will be in class on Friday night from 6 to 10, then 8 hours on Saturday and 8 hours on Sunday.  Sounds like fun, no?  I am taking a CERT class to learn how to help my community in the event of a national emergency.

The class sounds intense.  Not only is it a whole weekend dust in the wind, but we are covering the following……

• Session I, DISASTER PREPAREDNESS:  hazards one can encounter and how familys should react before, during and after.
• Session II, DISASTER FIRE SUPPRESSION:  Fire chemistry, hazardous materials, fire hazards, and fire suppression strategies.
• Session III, DISASTER MEDICAL OPERATIONS PART I: Diagnosing and treating airway obstruction, bleeding, and shock by using simple triage and rapid treatment techniques.
• Session IV, DISASTER MEDICAL OPERATIONS, PART II: Evaluating patients by doing a head to toe assessment, establishing a medical treatment area, performing basic first aid, and practicing in a safe and sanitary manner.
• Session V, LIGHT SEARCH AND RESCUE OPERATIONS: Planning a rescue, including size-up, search techniques, rescue techniques, and most important, rescuer safety.
• Session VI, DISASTER PSYCHOLOGY AND TEAM ORGANIZATION: Signs and symptoms that might be experienced by the disaster victim and worker.
  Session VII, COURSE REVIEW AND DISASTER SIMULATION

I did find it ironic that I had to sign up for the class by filling out a paper form in pen and mailing in my form by snail mail.

Below:  I hope the end of the world happens during the AZ State Fair.

what will most likely not be the cause of the apocalypse

Since 7 Minutes in heaven is going on at Space 55 right now, I thought it was a good time to post this video from a past 7 minutes show, performed by Kevin Flanagan and Ashley Naftule.