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Barry Eisler wrote a new diary post: That Power of Accurate Observation Is Called Political By Those Who Have Not Got It
I’m glad to say that most of the Amazon customer reviews for my new short novel, London Twist , have been positive. Among the negative ones, there’s an interesting theme: that the story is either disturbingly pro-gay or disturbingly anti-drone, and in all events too liberal. I think it’s worth <span [...] -
Barry Eisler commented on the blog post FDL Book Salon Welcomes Matthew Stein, When Disaster Strikes: A Comprehensive Guide for Emergency Planning and Crisis Survival
Thanks Bev and Mat and everyone for coming by. Again, I highly recommend Mat’s excellent book — an incredibly low-cost way of acquiring information that really could save your life and the lives of your loved ones.
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Barry Eisler commented on the blog post FDL Book Salon Welcomes Matthew Stein, When Disaster Strikes: A Comprehensive Guide for Emergency Planning and Crisis Survival
Agreed, Suzanne — after watching the aftermath of Katrina, I decided three days was way too low. Though of course better than nothing.
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Barry Eisler commented on the blog post FDL Book Salon Welcomes Matthew Stein, When Disaster Strikes: A Comprehensive Guide for Emergency Planning and Crisis Survival
Once you’ve fashioned the materials and created the kindling, if you’re skilled (and maybe a little lucky) it take just a minute. But that’s under optimal conditions, which are unlikely to prevail in an emergency. And gathering and fashioning the materials takes a long time. Much better to have multiple other sources of fire-making in multiple locations.
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Barry Eisler commented on the blog post FDL Book Salon Welcomes Matthew Stein, When Disaster Strikes: A Comprehensive Guide for Emergency Planning and Crisis Survival
One of the things I liked about Mat’s book was all the information on herbal medicines. We keep a pretty good stock of commercial stuff on hand (you have to watch the expiration dates) but as for everything else, it’s smart to have layers of defense. Like fire… the reason to know how to make a bow drill isn’t because that’s how you want to start a fire. It’s just good to know after all the primary means have failed.
That said, having learned how to start a fire with a bow drill… man, I am *never* going to have to do that in an emergency. I have so many fire-making layers in place before that I can’t imagine every one of them would fail. But still, if they did… good to have backup.
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Barry Eisler commented on the blog post FDL Book Salon Welcomes Matthew Stein, When Disaster Strikes: A Comprehensive Guide for Emergency Planning and Crisis Survival
Good question, Mary. The only thing I can think of (unless you live in a cold climate, in which case there’s always the garage or outside) is a generator. But running even a small refrigerator for weeks at a time is going to use a lot of fuel, I would think.
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Barry Eisler commented on the blog post FDL Book Salon Welcomes Matthew Stein, When Disaster Strikes: A Comprehensive Guide for Emergency Planning and Crisis Survival
One creative place where I keep extra water is in the base of BOB, my Body Opponent Bag. Don’t be without one. :)
http://www.amazon.com/Century-BOB-XL-Base-Unit/dp/B003QOHSLQ/ref=pd_sim_sbs_sg_2 -
Barry Eisler commented on the blog post FDL Book Salon Welcomes Matthew Stein, When Disaster Strikes: A Comprehensive Guide for Emergency Planning and Crisis Survival
Yes, BevW, lots of overlap on the basic first-aid for fractures, shock, etc. The info is useful, but I really need to take a wilderness medicine class, too, and a refresher for CPR.
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Barry Eisler commented on the blog post FDL Book Salon Welcomes Matthew Stein, When Disaster Strikes: A Comprehensive Guide for Emergency Planning and Crisis Survival
Hi Mat, looks like our responses crossed. For everything and especially the most important thing, agreed, it’s good to have layers of defense.
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Barry Eisler commented on the blog post FDL Book Salon Welcomes Matthew Stein, When Disaster Strikes: A Comprehensive Guide for Emergency Planning and Crisis Survival
Water’s a big concern of mine. Plenty stored in various places, plus backup in the form of filters, Steri-pen, iodine, bleach… would suck to run out of drinking water.
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Barry Eisler commented on the blog post FDL Book Salon Welcomes Matthew Stein, When Disaster Strikes: A Comprehensive Guide for Emergency Planning and Crisis Survival
Beans and rice is something I could do a little better on. But rotating canned food, MREs, power supplements, freeze-dried… check.
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Barry Eisler commented on the blog post FDL Book Salon Welcomes Matthew Stein, When Disaster Strikes: A Comprehensive Guide for Emergency Planning and Crisis Survival
Mary, some of the most basic and essential steps are the least expensive. Plenty of water on hand, for example. Rotating food you’re going to eat anyway, too. Zombie-proof bomb shelters are another matter. Though it would be fun to have one.
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Barry Eisler commented on the blog post FDL Book Salon Welcomes Matthew Stein, When Disaster Strikes: A Comprehensive Guide for Emergency Planning and Crisis Survival
Dakine, definitely a good idea to fill the sinks, tub, etc if you have warning of a potential grid-down situation. But also a good idea to have plenty stored in case you don’t get the warning!
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Barry Eisler commented on the blog post FDL Book Salon Welcomes Matthew Stein, When Disaster Strikes: A Comprehensive Guide for Emergency Planning and Crisis Survival
Welcome everyone, and Mat, thanks again for taking the time to discuss this interesting and important topic.
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Barry Eisler wrote a new diary post: David Ignatius, Civics Expert
There really ought to be some sort of remedial civics licensing course for the David Ignatiuses of the world. Here’s the pundit’s latest in the Washington Post . It’s about Katheryn Bigelow’s new film Zero Dark Thirty , her ” almost journalistic ” account of the hunt for Osama bin Laden. Note that in his entire article, not once does Ignatius offer [...] -
Barry Eisler commented on the diary post Interrogators Speak Out: Why Not a Torture Turing Test? by Barry Eisler.
Thanks for the comments, everyone. TVT, what I mean by the Turing Test reference is a simple, elegant test. If you can’t tell whether the machine engaging with you in an online conversation is human or a machine, we can judge the machine to be an artificial intelligence. If Jose Rodriguez, with all the countervailing [...]
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Barry Eisler wrote a new diary post: Interrogators Speak Out: Why Not a Torture Turing Test?
I’m proud to be part of a series of articles by intelligence and military interrogators denouncing torture this week at the Huff Post. Here’s my entry .When I wrote my eighth thriller, Inside Out , in 2009, the villains were a group of CIA and other government officials who colluded to destroy a series of tapes depicting Americans torturing [...] -
Barry Eisler commented on the diary post Leon Panetta is Full of Shit by Barry Eisler.
See the update in the post regarding a tweet in response from George Little, Secretary Panetta’s spokesperson at the Pentagon.
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Barry Eisler commented on the diary post Leon Panetta is Full of Shit by Barry Eisler.
Thanks for the thoughts, everyone, and KilgourTrout, if only the system could be that transparent! :)
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Barry Eisler wrote a new diary post: Leon Panetta is Full of Shit
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta wants you to be scared. In a letter to Senators Lindsey Graham and John McCain , Panetta warned that after possible cuts in the military budget, “we would have the smallest ground force since 1940, the smallest number of ships since 1915, and the smallest Air Force in its history.” Which would be [...]
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