How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It - James Wesley Rawles [113]
RV: In the context of nuclear weapons, a reentry vehicle—a method of delivering a nuclear weapon. In the context of survival retreats, a recreational vehicle.
SCADA: Supervisory control and data acquisition.
Schumer: A euphemism for the stuff that the septic-tank pumper truck hauls away
Schumeresque: Intolerably bad (post-TEOTWAWKI) living circumstances. See also: WTSHTF.
SHTF: Schumer Hits the Fan. See also: WTSHTF
Spec: Specification(s)
Starlight: An electronic light-amplification technology that was first developed during the Vietnam War. A starlight device literally amplifies low ambient light by up to one hundred thousand times, turning nighttime darkness into daylight—albeit a green and fuzzy view. Starlight scopes are critical tools for retreat security, especially in a grid-down situation. Note: Starlight is also the name brand of a manufacturer of heavy-duty mil-spec gun cases.
Steyr: Steyr-Daimler Puch, an Austrian firearms and military-vehicle maker. See also: AUG.
S&W: Smith and Wesson, an American gunmaker
TA-1/TA-312: U.S. military hardwired field telephones
TEOTWAWKI: The End of the World as We Know It (acronym coined by Mike Medintz)
The Crunch: See WTSHTF
Trijicon: A maker of tritium-lit sights and rifle scopes
Tritium: A glowing radioactive gas (a hydrogen isotope) with an 11.2-year half-life
Truck farming/Truck crops: Farming crops that are not processed before selling and that are directly used or sold fresh, such as lettuce, celery, and flowers
TSHTF: The Schumer Hits the Fan. See also: WTSHTF.
USDA: United States Department of Agriculture
U.S.G.I. or USGI: United States Government Issue equipment specifications
USGS: United States Geological Survey
UV: Ultraviolet (commonly called black light)
VDC: Volts, direct current
VHF: Very high frequency
WAPI: Water pasteurization indicator
WTSHTF: When the Schumer Hits the Fan. Synonymous with
TEOTWAWKI, the Crunch, worst case, and the old military saying “when the balloon goes up.” See also: Schumeresque and TEOTWAWKI.
YOYO: You’re on your own. When government ceases to provide essential services such as fire and police-department protection, and when utilities no longer provide water, sanitation, electricity, and phone service. Acronym coined by David Weed.
Appendix B
BOOKS AND ONLINE RESOURCES
There are more than seven thousand archived articles and letters on family preparedness available at the author’s blog site, SurvivalBlog.com.
The author’s book and DVD recommendations can be found at survivalblog.com/bookshelf.html.
The author’s recommended Web sites for preparedness supplies, trainers, and further research can be found at survivalblog .com/links.html.
Appendix C
PROTECTING YOUR FAMILY FROM AN INFLUENZA PANDEMIC
The emerging threats of the H1N1 (“swine”) flu and the still-present Asian avian flu virus bring into sharp focus the vulnerability of modern, highly mobile and technological societies to viral or bacterial infectious diseases. The last major flu outbreak (H2N2 in 1957, which killed 69,800 people in the United States) took five months to reach the U.S. With the advent of global jet travel, it is now clear that highly virulent disease strains can be transmitted to population centers around the world in a matter of just a few days.
You can take measures to protect yourself and your family from the next great pandemic. Although the likelihood of H1N1 mutating into a more virulent strain is relatively low, the potential impact if this were to occur is devastating. The current strain of the virus has a low lethality rate for humans, but even if H1N1 turns out to be a nonevent, in the next few decades there is a very high likelihood that some other disease will emerge. Influenzas have a tendency toward antigenic shift. Because influenzas are viral and are spread by casual person-to-person contact, the majority of the world’s population could be exposed in just a few weeks or months.
Here are the key things that you need to do to protect yourself and your family,