About Urban Survival Techniques

If you have a suspicion that all is not as it seems with the economy, banking and credit, the integrity and benevolence of your government, etc., you may want to consider that if there is an economic collapse, how will it affect you, and how can you protect yourself with urban survival techniques from the effects of that, including total societal collapse.

Unfortunately, most people now live in cities. Typical wilderness survival techniques are not applicable. What are needed are urban survival techniques.

These essays provide a unique and valuable perspective regarding how an economic collapse could play out and how to protect yourself in the city from those events, coming as they do from a black man who has survived the ghetto as a youth and is now middle-aged.

"Golden Trumpet" has enormous native intelligence and has educated himself in many aspects of life and the world, and has attained an excellent grasp of political philosophy and economics. That education, in addition to his "street smarts", and his writing, provides us with some fascinating urban survival information, urban survival tips, and opinions that we may not have otherwise obtained.

Good luck. Even if you are prepared for the train wreck, you will need it.
DB

(continue to Urban Survival Techniques - Learn to Observe)

Urban Survival Techniques #6 - Government Terrorism - Editor's Response to Comments

(See post and comments at Urban Survival Techniques - Government Terrorism)

To Anonymous (comment dated 2009-06-24 5:26 AM)

About the USSR definition -- Yes, USSR = Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. It is also known (for short) as The Soviet Union.

To Anonymous (comment dated 2009-06-24 2:50 PM)

About the the Ukrainian and Armenian genocides, what is your point? -- I think it likely that GT is well aware of the communists and their financing by monopoly capitalists (bankers).

I think it quite likely that our real rulers did allow or otherwise enable the 9/11 attacks. I think it very suspicious that TPTB had thousands of pages of Homeland Security legal crap ready to go right afterwards. I don't know GT's opinion on that.

But GT wrote an essay, not a whole book. For more on 9/11 there are many entire books:

Rule by Secrecy: The Hidden History That Connects the Trilateral Commission, the Freemasons,
and the Great Pyramids, by Jim Marrs.

Inside Job: Unmasking the 9/11 Conspiracies, by Jim Marrs.

Sorry that GT didn't cover the exact facets that you are interested in.

To Anonymous (comment dated 2009-06-24 8:05 PM)

About our complicity -- revolutions occur only when desperation is almost total or a good chance for victory is seen. We aren't that close to almost total desperation -- yet. And chances of victory are nil. As you said, the heroes and revolutionaries are either dead or in prison. It seems that many, if not most, conservatives do not believe in evolution. Their loss. We have undergone an evolutionary selection process during the last 200 years. The heroic and revolutionary genes have been bred out as this civilization has become soft. All that is left are pussies and punks. That includes you and me, unfortunately.

Even if there were heroes and revolutionaries, there is no place to hide. There is no Sherwood
Forest to hide from the sheriff in. There are no Afghanistan mountains to hide in and no one for us to sell dope to like the Afghans do to us, to finance a resistance.

Our rulers have technology that you cannot imagine. Whatever you imagine, they have more.
Given that there are only a few malcontents such as us, their rule is secure, even if most of us starve in an economic collapse, a monetary collapse, or even in a political collapse. The military will prevail. Sorry to say, we are screwed.

To Anonymous (comment dated 2009-06-24 9:16 PM)

About when peaceful change is made impossible, violent revolution is made inevitable -- I'm not so sure about that today. That saying was about "then"; this is now.

To Anonymous (comment dated 2009-06-25 6:56 PM)

About "Muslims do not hate us because of sanctions and murder of children" -- I say, they hate us because we are not blind followers of their religion. Most of us are blind followers of some other religion. Yes, as you say, no amount of appeasement will change this condition.

To Anonymous REAL PATRIOT (comment dated 2009-06-26 11:53 PM)

Looks like your panties are in a bunch. Voting does not and never has led to freedom. To get freedom by voting requires an intelligent and informed electorate. That is something that never has been and never will. Deal with it. Yes, sheeple are the problem. But they will never change.
A leopard can't change its spots. There is a continuum of "freedom appreciation" just as there are ones of intelligence, musical ability, height, baseball pitching ability, etc. Most people are on the neutral to sheeple portion of the "freedom appreciation" continuum. Just as there is a sheeple to rational (atheist) religious continuum, where most people fall to the neutral to sheeple area of that continuum.

Your rant is so disjointed, I can't address most of it. Not that I have anything against rants; I have been known to indulge, myself. Some of your points are quite valid, but others...

Feel free to add your comments about these responses in the comments section of
http://urban-survival-techniques.blogspot.com/2009/05/urban-survival-techniques-protect_20.html

Urban Survival Techniques #2 - Avoiding Trouble - Editor's Response to Comments

(See post and comments at Urban Survival Techniques - Avoiding Trouble)

To Anonymous (comment dated 2009-06-24):

About the potential worker's comp settlement -- if it were me, and I didn't need the money to live on now, I would hold out for the bigger payday later.

My view is that neither $20,000 or $60,000 is going to make a huge difference in your lifestyle over time. Assuming the paper money collapse does NOT happen by then, you may as well hold out.

Now, as far as monetary collapse is concerned, who knows what either $20,000 or $60,000 would be worth then. If you need or want some additional cash now to buy urban survival preparedness gear, you can always (maybe?) put $5,000 or so on credit cards to buy some preparedness supplies. Then pay it all off when payday arrives. If there is somebody to pay it to. :)

In a fiat money collapse, your $60,000 might be worth 60,000 dog droppings in 6 months, but you would have to pay only 5,000 dog droppings back to the credit card company. And if the credit card company wants to raise your interest rate to 30,000% per year to compensate for their loss in the purchasing power, they cannot do that unless you continue to use the card. But if you make one little purchase or cash advance, your rate will then instantly go from the 12% to 30% you are paying now to that 30,000%.

As an aside, consider that some people -- maybe millions -- if the credit card companies raising interest rates significantly -- they would tell the credit card companies to go farkle themselves.

Another thing to consider, the manipulators have kept the plates spinning on the poles for years.
I have been expecting a collapse since the 1970s. This is a huge monster, and it will take a lot to bring it down. How weak it has to get to collapse, who knows? Think of the picadors in a bull-fight. Takes a lot of stabs to weaken the bull enough so that the matador can finish it off. Collapse is inevitable, but exactly when it will happen is impossible to predict. It can take a lot longer than expected to see this government and economic collapse take place.

A final note: This is not the 1930s. As fond as I am of gold, silver, platinum, and palladium, I think lead and copper will be more valuable, if you get what I mean. In the 1930s, people appreciated the value of gold and silver as MONEY. Now, hardly anyone does. Do not look for gold and silver to become money as soon as the fiat money collapses. Don't expect that your pre-1960s "junk silver coins" are going to be appreciated for their metal content. Most people won't value the silver ones any more than the tokens we have nowadays. I expect that the collapsed money system will just be replaced by another government money and credit fraud medium of exchange.

Feel free to add your comments about this response in the comments section of
http://urban-survival-techniques.blogspot.com/2009/05/urban-survival-techniques-protect.html

Urban Survival Techniques - Protect Yourself - Rebuilding After the Economic Collapse (#8)

(continued from Urban Survival Techniques - Fighting Words)

Editor's note: This is the last essay in the series of urban survival techniques. This essay is not itself about personal survival, but assumes that you have been able to protect yourself and you have come out OK on the other side of the chaos, and you and society are ready to start rebuilding.
DB

Here's GT's hopeful vision for the future -- building a free and prosperous society:

RECOVERING AFTER GOVERNMENT COLLAPSE AND ECONOMIC COLLAPSE HAS RUN ITS COURSE

The economy is in total shambles. I am talking about today. Not yet at the point we will have to rebuild. The government is trying by lying to get us into a war, hoping the economy will recover because of it. That is the history of World War II, but only America did well economically. The war was not good for our allies. England, France, China, Russia, all suffered tremendous losses. Both in money and lives. Their economies didn't recover until the mid 1950s.

I could point to a later example. We won the war with Iraq but the economy still suffered. That why Bush wasn't re-elected and it is why his son will also be a one term president. [Editor's note: Written in early 2000s. Well, there is tremendous economic momentum, so the collapse, while progressing, is doing so slower than many have expected.]

Also, while our leaders hoped for a World War II victory, nobody remembers how close we came to losing. We had several advantages. We knew their codes and plans. We could out-manufacture and out-man the Axis powers. Didn't matter. It was close, damn close. Hitler only lost the war due to his own arrogance and meddling. If Hitler has won, sooner or later we would have to fight Hitler on his own terms, not ours, like we did in World War II.

Our country (U.S.A.) is showing the same arrogance as did Germany in 1939. We think we can control the world single-handed. We could end up like the Germany of 1945, with everything in ruins.

With everything in ruins, the citizens of this country will be in the same position as a ragged, penniless immigrant arriving for the first time in this country. Since he is new, he has no one to help him. Many people think it is easy to succeed in this country. After all, their great-grand-parents did.

It isn't going to be as easy as it was at the turn of the century. The country was far different then. It had no income taxes. We were on the gold standard and Government was not as big or intrusive. It has become harder to go from rags to riches in this country. All the regulations make it almost impossible to start a business on a shoestring. I should know. I have tried my best, and still am, to achieve that very dream of becoming a self-made man. Many immigrants today will not achieve that dream. They will end up as store owners at best. The dream of success and super wealth will have to be achieved by their children. If possible at all.

Meanwhile, what about the children? Today's children know they will end up with less than their parents. That nightmare was realized when people learned their children would not share in the dream of owning their homes. Sure the parents could pass the house on to their children, but several factors still mean the children end up with less. Estates taxes can take a 50% haircut from the total property value. The World War II generation brought their homes fairly cheap. The War Generation were few. The Baby Boomers are many. Not all of them will get to share in the estate proceeds, or the estate will have to be split many ways. The proceeds will go to an average of four children and an uninvited mooch, the government.

Knowing the decreased chances of inheriting the same value as did their parents, the Baby Boomers gambled by going into the stock market. They lost. They lost big. There will be no money to supplement the small proceeds of what they will inherit for retirement. The market has crashed. Even if it was at the same level, the generation they could sell it to, Generation X, won't have the money to bail them out. Generation Xers can get only service jobs like working at McDonald's since the high paying manufacturing jobs have been shipped overseas.

This is a short list of the problems we will face when it is time to rebuild. Inflation and hyperinflation. A major cause of the destruction of our economy is the destruction of the dollar. It has gone the way of all fiat currencies and is now worthless. Whatever wealth we had will have been wiped out. The factories, one of the major sources of our wealth, have been shipped overseas. Our creativity and the "can-do" ability of the American citizen -- another source of our wealth -- is being wiped out by our schools dumbing-down and socializing everyone.

Yet, I don't think we will become a third world nation. The "can-do" spirit is still here and there are lots of companies that teach a proper work ethnic. Take McDonald's for instance. It is estimated that one of of four teenagers since 1975 has worked at McDonald. They learn the corporate culture and what it means to work. Yes, the jobs are low paying, but once you have the work ethnic they teach you, you can go on to better paying jobs.

With so many problems and a lot more to come, how do we rebuild? The problem of society is also the problem of individuals. In this case, it is my problem. I said to myself: I have survived the worst the ghetto can offer. Having done that, anything is possible. So now, I ask myself: "Starting with nothing, how do I become rich? I mean really rich? There's no one to help me. I have to stumble along using trial and error. That's part of the reason I have yet to succeed. But I will! It will take time. It will also take time to rebuild society.

In the future to come, the United States can expect no help. We will have made too many enemies; there are too many countries mad at us. It will be hard to rebuild, damn hard! If I can succeed on an individual level, it will be possible for society. So let me tell you my individual dream.

I want to make money! The amount of money I want to make is staggering. You won't believe my greed, but to give you an idea, if I succeed I will end up the second richest Black man on Earth. Just behind J.J. Johnston. Why do I need so much? I sat down and wrote down my dreams and how much is would cost to achieve them. My dreams don't come cheap.

My dreams are based on ideas. I want to get as many ideas out to the world as possible. I want to be able to produce ten movies a year and publish a hundred books. Currently, the cheapest it costs to produce a movie is about 10 million. Books are a lot cheaper, costing only $25,000 for a 5,000 print run. If you figure the cost of what it takes to make one movie or publish one book and multiply that out, I am probably still understating the amount of money it will take. In addition, if I want to achieve my dream I will have to help save and rebuild the world. At least no one has ever accused me of thinking small. I know that as audacious as my dream is, it is possible. And if it is possible for an individual, it will be possible for a society. It will take individuals willing to dream as big as possible to rebuild the United States.

With the foresight you had in buying gold and silver, you are one of the few in a position to help rebuild. Because of your foresight, you have money, real money to invest in rebuilding. Rebuilding after the crisis is the only way I can think of to get back the wealth we are now accustomed to. All the other ways of increasing your wealth -- the stock market, real estate, venture capital -- will be former shadows of themselves.

WHAT INVESTMENTS SHOULD BE AVOIDED IN TRYING TO HELP REBUILD THE COUNTRY?

1.) Government.
Government bonds, treasuries, education, government anything. The government will be desperate to get the credit for rebuilding. In the currency crash, in the collapsed social security Ponzi scheme, in their failure to have the Security Exchange Commission protect investors, the government has lost the one thing they had going for them: Confidence, the trust of the people. The government will want to try to rebuild and will sing siren songs to those who can provide capital or have the ability to rebuild. It can't. You can. Even if the government comes up with some rebuilding plan, why would you expect it to work; their crisis plan didn't.

People are going to be desperate. Desperate enough to listen to the lies of the state once more. The government will make lots of promises to rebuild. Even you as a skeptical gold bug might be fooled by its promises. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Hopefully enough people won't be fooled twice.

You will be one of the few in a position to rebuild. What I want to warn you about, is government. They can't rebuild. They will just use you. Don't deal with them no matter how much they plead or promise. You can avoid being seduced by remembering one simple question. If I am involved with the government in any way shape or form, how do I know they won't make things worse instead of better?

2.) The Stock Market.
In a bear market, at the very bottom, no one is interested in buying. We know that from being long suffering gold bugs. The stock market has yet to reach that fabled bottom. When the stock market is at its bottom, there will be bargains galore, many way below replacement cost. The advantage precious metals have over stocks and bonds is that gold cannot go out of business. There will always be someone interested in buying. It is different for stocks. Companies can go out of business, making their stock worthless.

Knowing that, it will take at least a generation, probably more, before the stock market will be a place to invest again. Maybe some brokers will try the methods of Corporate Raiders by breaking a company into parts and hoping it is worth more that way. The only problem is there will not be enough gold-backed money to pay for all the companies doing this. In a bankruptcy sale, many companies are lucky to salvage 10 cents on the dollar. Since we will have gone through a super crash, there will be super bankruptcies. I expect many businesses to be getting less than a penny on the dollar.

There is an advantage for you. Since many companies will be selling parts of themselves, it may be the chance of the lifetime for you since gold bugs will be one of the few with money. I doubt I will get the chance or the money, but if the price is right I will buy and completely own Disney. For that to happen, gold will have to go up beyond our wildest dreams and Disney's stock would have to drop below its investors' worst nightmares, but at least I can dream. The parts I will keep will be the entertainment/movie division. I would not keep the theme parks or ABC television. I may or may not keep Ringling Brothers Circus. I love the circus but the expense of keeping a troupe of several hundred on the road during the depression will be a killer.

3.) Luxury Items.
The crash and after will be a time of severe belt tightening. There are many things you will have decided you can do without. Go to the mall and see how many stores are selling luxuries and how many are selling necessities. Some of the luxury stores may have already closed up in the mall. Once you've seen this, you'll have a clearer idea of what to avoid.

WHAT WOULD BE WORTHWHILE INVESTMENTS THAT WILL HELP REBUILD THE COUNTRY?

Since we are rebuilding, I would invest in anything that has to do with setting up new trade and travel routes, distribution channels, long distance shipping, and so on. I would chose these because they were the first step to establishing cities and civilization in the past. Except for a very few exceptions, such as Las Vegas, all cities are connecting points to trade routes or a port of entry. A city like Rome grew because it was the center of two major trade roads. New York and Los Angeles grew to their size because of their protected harbors for ships.

Since civilization got its start on the trade routes, I expect the rebuilding to come first to cities near a port, or that are major granaries like in the Midwest. Also, cities with major railroads or highways, because of their open access for trade, will also be ones to recover first.

I would avoid cities such as Las Vegas. Las Vegas is in a desert. Much of its shipping comes in by air freight. Its water comes from neighboring states. In the chaos to come, it will be to easy to disable air traffic and water. What will the city do then?

Another thing I should mention about air freight is that it is the highest transportation cost in gasoline use there is. It is only efficient because of the speed. It depends on "just-in-time" shipping like nothing else. If there is a hyperinflation traffic jam like I predict, you can kiss just-in-time shipping good-bye. I think railroads will be better since they offer the lowest cost per gasoline mile.

OTHER INVESTMENT POSSIBILITIES.

1.) Insurance.

Trade made cities possible but I believe more than anything, insurance, especially industrial and transportation insurance turned this country from farming to industrial to the highest living standard for all. Anything and everything is insured.

Most think this country grew because of the industrial revolution and that is true to a very large extent. Before you could build the plant, you have to raise the money. And to protect the investors you had to have some way of covering the risks involved. You offer business insurance.

Insurance is one the main reasons why Islam has not been able to match the growth of the Western nations. It is specifically forbidden in the Koran to buy or sell insurance. It is considered gambling against the will of God.

Why did the lack of insurance keep Islam from growing? Both Christian and Islamic Nations had entrepreneurs -- risk takers. They would save and start their own business. There would come a point where if you wanted to grow, you would need insurance. The entrepreneurs of Islam couldn't get insurance and so their economy couldn't develop advanced technical and industrial plants. The religion limited them.

There comes a point where no matter how skilled the entrepreneur, it becomes beyond the skill of one man to raise the capital needed for an industrial concern. The entrepreneurs would go to banks, and private investors. They, by their nature, are not risk takers. In order for the entrepreneur, the banker, and the investors to get together, another party had to join. Insurance Companies. Insurance companies would cover the risk the entrepreneur was taking. The nature of insurance is to spread the risk from one person to hundreds. That way if there is a loss, it will be small for each person. Insurance would satisfy the fears of investors. It could protect them.

Insurance nowadays, Investment, Business and Financial Insurance, has gotten so complicated, no one can be sure if they are protected. Derivatives are the prime example. All I know is if there is a blow-up at say: J.P. Morgan, it will destroy both the banking and insurance industry. Already there is a billion dollar lawsuit. One of the insurers want out of the contract because it will ruin them. It takes a lot to ruin an insurance company. They are among the richest companies in the world and have the highest assets to liabilities ratios among all companies. If the insurance industry is destroyed, it will be time for the people like us to offer protection. It will make rebuilding easier.

2.) Entertainment.

The last investment I would consider would be entertainment. Not because it will rebuild, but it will boost peoples' spirits during the crisis. I am also basing it on historical fact.

During the Depression, movies thrived because for most people it was their only escape from the harshness of the Depression. The movies made the Depression fun. When I think of movies of the 30's, I think of Hollywood Musicals like Gold Diggers of 1933, 42nd Street, Hollywood Party, the comedies with The Marx Brothers, and more. Sure, there was a Depression going on, but in the movies, while everyone was broke, they still had fun. Even today, those movies are a fun-filled relaxing way to spend an evening.

Hollywood deliberately made most of their movies of the Depression era very upbeat. It worked. People would count the pennies out out of the quicksand of their earnings to go see a movie on the weekend. It made the rest of the week so much more bearable.

Since I am trying to be an entertainer, investing in entertainment makes sense to me. You may have other ideas in what to invest in or what it takes to rebuild. I would like to hear them.

This is the last in the series of my "Protect Yourself" urban survival techniques. Thank you for putting up with my ramblings and my delusion thinking that I can write. If you think there is something I didn't cover, let me know. I may write an revision on things I didn't cover and the possible ways I would deal with it. Feel free to submit comments on any of the posts on this site.

Thank you.
The "Golden Trumpet"

Urban Survival Techniques - Protect Yourself - Fighting Words (#7)

(continued from Urban Survival Techniques - Government Terrorism)

Editor's Note: This urban survival techniques essay from GT is in part an extension of essay #2 (Avoiding Trouble). It then continues with techniques of possible use in fighting back in case you cannot run away. It even includes mentions of -- horrors! -- guns in self-defense.
DB

Here's what GT has to say about "fighting words", avoiding trouble, and protecting yourself:

I remember watching a Three Stooges short where Moe finishes slapping Curly around. Moe, then shouts at Curly: "What are you? A moron?"

Trying to regain his dignity, Curly shouts back: "THEM'S FIGHTIN' WORDS!"

Moe replies: "Yeah! Them's fighting Words! What are you going to do about it?"

Curly shrugs and says: "Oh,... nothing! I'm just letting you know 'Them's Fightin' Words'"

I am here hopefully to let you know a few things you can do if you get to the "Fightin' Words" point and beyond.

I have some knowledge of fighting but take it with a pinch of salt. You're not going to win any ultimate fighting contest. The best thing that can save you in a fight is to use your instinct. It is always right. Mostly it will tell you to run.

RUN AWAY!

An obvious thing you can do is run away! This is the best survival technique. Do not let such foolish notions such as bravery, honor, or pride prevent you from running as fast and as far as your legs can carry you. Take it from one who knows. A basic rule of urban survival is: He who runs away, lives to run another day. I admit to feeling ashamed of the coward I truly am. Remember! by running, you survived! The first thing you can and should do is RUN AWAY! You're not Superman! There's no "S" on your chest.

BLUFF

Various bluffs I have tried

"Look behind you."

Hey, it works in the movies. Surprisingly, this survival tactic works best in the gangs fights I've seen. With all the ruckus going on, everybody has their eyes out for the cops and if someone even hints the cops are coming, everybody disappears.

GIVE THEM A CRAZY LOOK

One thing a policeman fears is fighting a madman. They are dangerous! They can go from sanity to madness in a instant. It will surprise you quick and scare you quicker. A totally insane madman has adrenaline going, so he's super strong. Plus, he probably is under the influence of something. He will hurt you! He will hurt you bad! Sure you can shoot him. Your aim better be perfect. Police have shot madmen point blank in the heart. You need a really big gun to bring him down. You shot him, but he keeps coming. That would scare the pants off anybody, especially a cop. Most officers are too to surprised to do anything else at that point. He is a dead man but he intends to take the officer with him.

Moral: Unless today is a good day to die, you don't get into a fight with a madman.

If you are going to pretend you're mad, be convincing. Do things no normal person would think of doing. If you want to convince someone you're raving insane, one way is to eat trash and let your imagination work its way down from there.

MAKE THEM DEAF

You can do this by yelling as loud as you can. I can do it by playing my horn. I can play at a loud enough volume to be heard two miles away. Imagine me playing that loud right in your ear. That will keep the music critics from complaining.

GET THEM TO FIGHT SOMEONE ELSE

Most brawlers are cowards trying to prove their bravery by pounding a can of whoop-ass on someone. It doesn't matter who they beat up. You, me or themselves if nobody else is around. I've noticed this in some cowboys bars. If you can convince them to pick on someone else, you can slink away with your hide intact.

THREATEN TO KILL THEM OR AT LEAST PUT THEM IN THE HOSPITAL

Sometimes, if someone was bothering me, I would ask: "Look! Are you ready to go to hospital or the morgue?

"If I have to fight you I WILL try to kill you unless you kill me. I've been in fights to the death and survived. Have you? I'm still alive. I am also willing to get into another knife fight but this time I am not going to be the one going to the hospital. YOU ARE! So if you ready to fight let's get a couple of knifes and see who comes out alive."

So far I haven't met anyone willing to take me up on my offer. I scare them enough where their pants need cleaning.

This works when you have someone mouthing off but he has never seen, much less been in, an all-out street fight. Let him know what he is getting into. A real fight, unlike in the movies, can be painful for both winner and loser. It can also develop over time, into a feud where somebody will end up dead. You might as well let your opponent know from the start you're not afraid of dying, going to or putting someone in the hospital. Or turning it into a feud.

SET UP THE FIGHT ON YOUR OWN TERMS

If someone is looking to fight you, its already on their own terms. Run away! When you can no longer live with the shame of being a coward, go looking for them. That way, you get a chance to set up the fight on your own terms.

Gangs will try to fight that way. Ten or more people will gang up on you. That is why it is called a "gang". Sometimes the gang-up becomes a rumble when two gangs meet. Depending on how angry the gangs are at each other, a rumble might last a few seconds or up to 10 minutes. Gang fights are surprising short and sometimes very bloody.

HIT AND RUN

Sometimes you unexpectedly find yourself in a fight. For instance, you're involved in a fender bender and, suddenly, the guy takes a swing at you. You dare not turn your back on him. If you cannot flee, nature has made it possible to fight instead. Then you run. You have to be ready to sucker punch him or wallop him good.

Speaking of sucker punches, many will think of kicking the man between the legs. It's a hard target to reach and most men will instinctively protect themselves there. However, if you do have the chance to make your opponent a Darwin candidate, by all means take it. Who wants jerks like him to reproduce and make life miserable for the rest of us?

Be aware, some people can take a sucker punch. I remember the scene where James Bond was facing Lurch, I means Jaws. Bond sucker punched Jaws only to have Jaws smile that awful smile of his. Big mistake. Here's a clue for the clueless. After you sucker punch someone, run! If he is still standing, you want some distance between you and him. You're in a real fight now, and by having some distance, you can plan your attack or defense.

YOU CAN RUN BUT YOU CANT HIDE! However,...

The only place that I knows that applies for certain is The Ring, either Boxing or Wrestling. In real life, you have a better chance of having less wear and tear on your body if you fight, then run, then fight, run, fight run, etc...

There are tons of fighting movies. Notice how they fight. They fight, retreat, fight, run, fight, run, until someone wins. Even in a fight, running is a very good option.

Also, in boxing, there are what is known as combination moves -- right punch, left jab, uppercut. That is a simple combination. After such a combination, the boxer steps back and goes into a defensive posture. He can assess the damage. If you see a chance, you might want to try a combination of sucker punches.

BARROOM BRAWL

I worked in a Disco. While every night was fight night, weekends were known for barroom brawls. You had a lot of people fighting and they would fight with whatever they could grab. By the way, if you're ever in a barroom fight, conking someone on the head with a beer bottle, unlike in the movies, seldom knocks your foe unconscious. It will just put a lump on their head. No, if you want to do real damage with a beer bottle, swing it in a good long roundhouse swing and hit their jaw. You can break their face.

Brawls can be easy to break up. Grab one of the fighter from behind in a bear hug. Make sure he stays grabbed. It is hard to hit some holding holding you from behind, but if he works his way loose, then you will be his dance partner in the fight. Also, make sure the person you grabbed doesn't flip you over their back. Pull him away from the person(s) they're fighting. Usually you'll have lots of help. A lot of people just want the fighting to stop and so they will help you once they see you're trying to stop the fight. Once you got them in the bear hug, hold them until they calm down.

KNIFE FIGHT

When I was sixteen, I was attacked for being a know-it-all. Usually my reaction was to just run away. I should have obeyed my instinct. Instead, I was tired of being abused, insulted and worse. So I made a stand and fought. We traded a few punches and then the guy pulled a knife. Before I knew it, my neck was wet. He tried to cut my throat.

This is what saved me: He did not know how to use a knife. Cutting somebody's throat is something you want to do when your opponent is disabled. Otherwise what tends to happens, or at least happened to me, is that the knife hits the jaw and makes a very shallow cut. It is messy but you can survive. I guess he expected me to drop to the ground or something, but I kept fighting him. Since he didn't expect that, he ran off.

I felt to see what the wetness was, and realized it was blood. I took my shirt off and wrapped it as tight as I could to stop the bleeding without stopping my breathing.

I was lucky in several ways. The ruckus drew a lot of attention. Someone noticed I was bleeding and called an ambulance. The fight took place only four or five blocks from the hospital so I could be treated immediately. I remember getting into the ambulance and passing out. I awoke in the hospital. They put a tract tube in me but since the wound was no more than a shallow cut, I was released a few days afterward with lots of stitches. (I forget how many.) It left a wicked looking scar and I swore I would learn what to do if I was ever in an another knife fight.

You may not get the chance, but try to see how your opponent holds the knife. If he holds it in a stabbing motion, he is an amateur. The ribs can deflect the blade. If he hold it so he can slice you, you're in trouble! That man has used a knife before. He will try to slice you up bit by bit, until you are disabled by pain or loss of blood. Then he can take his sweet time carving his initials into you.

You want to avoid that at all costs. Try to establish some distance. You want to be as far outside his reach as possible. If you can keep your distance, the attacker will have to come to you. Keep moving! If you keep him on the move, he will get tired. When he gets tired enough you'll get a chance to escape. As for you getting tired, your body is not going to let you. You're fighting for your life, which gives you an extra edge.

You may be in a position where you are blocked and have no place to run. In that case, you can still come out alive but you will have some serious cuts. First, if your instinct tells you something better, use it. My instinct told me this: Grab the blade of the knife. It will probably cut up your hand something fierce. Worry about that later. For now, the problem is getting out alive, not necessarily in one piece.

Grab the blade. The attacker will be surprised. The instinct is to move away from the blade. He will leave himself open to attack. Next, kick him in the shins or knees as hard as you can. You're trying to break his leg with that kick. Hurt him enough that he won't be able to block you. Use that opening to escape him and run for your life!

Best advice, don't get into a knife fight unless...

BRING A GUN TO A KNIFE FIGHT

You've all seen this scene. Our hero is running like crazy. Suddenly, he's trapped! He's blocked by this monster with a monster sword -- a scimitar. He wants nothing more than to cut our hero into itsty-bitsy hero-bits. To show the hero what kind of bad-ass he is, he starts swinging his sword around. It looks bad! What is our hero to do?

If you're Indiana Jones, you look bored at this display of swordplay, and take out your pistol. Carefully aim, and blow the bastard away to Kingdom Come. You could tell Indy didn't like messing around with small caliber.

Understand, I've been one knife fight. I have no intention of being in any more. While the fool getting his knife, I will be getting my gun. Hey! I lied! It's not going to be a knife fight after all. Sucker!

THE DUEL

This is where you have a gun and your opponent has a gun. Who wins? The only type of duels I have seen are gang fights. They are really quick. Usually what happens is the two groups show up, they cuss each other out working up the courage to pull out their weapons. The shooting starts and everybody is firing lots of wild shots. A few second later, everybody realizes they could get killed here and high tail it for parts unknown. Basically they are trying to show the other gang members their courage by showing up. No one wants to be capped by a bullet. But it happens. There is no way to out run or outfight a bullet.

OUTGUNNED AT THE OK CORRAL

First, I can't think of a more dangerous situation for you. This situation is where the people you're facing have guns and you don't. (This is such a vicious world, there are even MORE dangerous situations but you're not likely to run into them unless you're the police, war correspondent, Hero...)

You can try everything I suggested. Another thing is just to surrender. After all, you can't outrun a bullet. Fight them later.

You can also "go crazy"! I mentioned cops are afraid of madmen. Another thing they are afraid of is a full blown attack on a crack house. The dealers will go crazy. Sure, the cops have busted individuals but attacking a crack house takes serious thought. First, if you don't completely surprise everyone inside and arrest them in seconds, you've got a battle. Second, the crack house is much better armed then the police. I mentioned you can get a very good gun on the street for $20 bucks. While it is a good gun for me, it is a piece of junk to them. The latest hardware is laser equipped pistols. Few cops have those except maybe the SWAT teams.

The cops knows crack houses can be very hard to crack. The dealers would rather die then go back to jail. And if they take a cop with them, they're heroes to many in the neighborhood. One reason they will fight so hard is what I mentioned in essay #3, the black market. The dealer will protect their customers. The crack-head goes there knowing he won't be bothered by the cops while inside.

The cops realize they have bitten off more then they can chew, and they call in the army. The dealers have enough weapons to hold off an army. The gangs have been buying grenade launchers -- RPG and AK-47 with explosive armor piercing shells. My prices may be slightly off but on the black market you can buy an AK-47 for about $150, and grenade launchers from around $200 to $500. The army will eventually win but any military man knows it is easier to defend then to attack.

There another problem. Even if the police managed to conduct a successful raid, a cop could still get killed. In this case, the cop was on the gang's payroll. If a raid is pulled off, he will have to do a lot of explaining as to why he didn't tip the house off. If his answers aren't good, he dies.

I can't think of any other way to protect yourself if you're outgunned. Maybe you can. After all, these posts are to give you ideas on how to protect yourself. Maybe you thought of some ideas I haven't. Feel free to leave a comment to this post.

WHAT TO DO IF YOU'RE NOT A FIGHTER?

I suspect a lot of people have never been in a fight. So here are my suggestions to you.

Hire someone to do your fighting for you -- a bodyguard.

Join with others who are as weak as you. One of the most successful ways mothers have found to defend their children from the gangs is to band together. Drop-a-dime doesn't work; that only guarantees you will be the target of a drive-by.

The women who ban together are far weaker in physical strength and are usually unarmed. But when they come together they gossip. The gossip will reach the ears of the gang member's mother. The gang member want to prove how tough he is but more importantly, he doesn't want his mother to feel ashamed of him. So the gangs reach a truce. I won't try to get your kid into my gang and you don't talk to my mother.

OTHER TYPES OF FIGHTS

FIGHTING THE GOVERNMENT

Will protecting yourself come down to fighting the government? If it gets to that point, I don't have much advice to give. I would have to give it a lot more thought. However, other have given it thought. Check out the anarchist sites. There are lot of other articles I have seen on the internet that tell how you can attack the government and (hopefully) not get caught.

The only thing I can say if you are going to fight the government is not to fight them on their terms. Of course, the government will label you a terrorist, but what else is new?

WAR

War is not healthy to children and other living things. On the other hand, war is a godsend for governments. How do you protect yourself from the random violence of war? You can't. Your crisis plan preparedness checklist should include: Just be lucky.

Other things I should mention, if you find yourself in a fight, there will be a moment you hesitate. Accept it. But also understand the longer you hesitate the more you increase the odds of getting yourself killed.

The reason you hesitate is instinctual. Our eyes, like the eyes of many hunting animals are designed to detect motion. If you are absolutely still, you blend into the background. It is what animal do when under attack. Stand still and maybe that lion will not see you. Be aware you will hesitate. If you are aware, you can snap out of the trance quicker and then either fight or run.

Every fight is different. The advice I gave you here may be totally wrong in your situation. Instead of using what in this essay, it is best to relay on your survival instinct.

One of the best books I ever read about fighting or finding yourself in dangerous situations is by Gavin De Becker called: "The Gift of Fear". Get it today! What that book does is teach you how to spot dangerous situations long before they turn into a matter of life or death.

I've talked a lot about fighting but I am also aware due to age, strength, lack of speed, and so on, you may be unable to fight. I understand perfectly. I feel the effect of age and know I am getting too old for this kind of nonsense. What do you do?

GET A GUN!

That evens a lot of odds. Even a scared homeowner who has never used his gun, facing off a burglar in his home, has evened the odds much more in his favor with a gun. You can get hurt, true -- the crook may grab the gun from you. These people also grab the guns off trained police officers.

I want you to know one of the argument used by the pro-gun forces: That the criminal might get the gun also equals his chances of getting shot. The crooks know this and so are scared if someone points a gun at them. They have no idea if the person at the other end never held a gun in his life or is an expert marksman. They also known any sign of nervousness on your part is no sign of how good you are with a gun. A fact you may not know is that a lot of professional hit men get nervous just before they shoot someone. They try not to show it.

GET A GUN!

It doesn't matter if it is legal or illegal, get a gun. The people running Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership give many reasons why is is a good idea to have an unregistered gun to protect yourself. This is their site: http://www.jpfo.org/

There more I could probably say. This is based mainly on my own experience and opinions about urban survival techniques, so there is a lot I haven't covered, such as financial protection. The aim of these essay was to give you some ideas about survival techniques for better physically protecting yourself. Other ways are probably beyond my scope. We change direction slightly in the last essay of this series.

Thank you.
The "Golden Trumpet"

(continue to Urban Survival Techniques - Rebuilding After the Economic Collapse)

Urban Survival Techniques - Protect Yourself - Government Terrorism (#6)

(continued from Urban Survival Techniques - Suburban Gangs

Editor's Note: This urban survival technique essay by GT actually applies to everyone, everywhere. Government is not your friend; it is your enemy. Whatever you try to do protect yourself -- whether it be arming yourself, storing food, using real money (gold and silver) instead of their funny money fiat currency, tokens, or credit instruments, trying to secede or asserting your sovereignty -- the government will object to. Their actions against you will range from merely thwarting you, to punishing you, to imprisoning you, to killing you.
DB

Here's what GT has to say about protecting yourself from governments.

=*=*=*=*=*=

First, the following discussion of problems and urban survival techniques is protected under my right of free speech and, on this site, the right of a free press.

Sure, the government ignores the constitution, and especially The Bill of Rights, but I as an individual am still aware they are the laws of the land even if the government chooses not to follow these laws. Now that I have tried to protect myself legally, let's get on with the real protection.

In the last century, the 20th century, it has been estimated that up to 200 million people were murdered by their own governments and up to 250 million murdered in wars. I believe that in the new century we could see over a billion deaths.

There are promises of improvements to come in this new century but, as a whole, it seems more threatening than promising. The government will be a part of that threat. It has killed before. It will kill again. And you might be the target. I want to remind you that the ultimate power of the government is to kill without question or opposition. Among those you will have to protect yourself from will be the government.

This country's government is perfectly capable of murdering innocent people in the millions and getting away with it. Anyone notice how well the government handled "The Injun Problem"? But maybe that example is so old no one thinks about it. (If you do, and complain about it, you'll most likely be put on a trouble-makers list.)

So, we switch forward to today. You will not see Janet Reno on Death Row. Yet she claimed responsibility at one time for commanding the forces at Waco, Texas. That was when the BATF, the FBI, and the Army murdered a bunch of children and one possibly crazy religious nut. Guess what, as far as the United States government is concerned, they don't care because:

THEY GOT AWAY WITH IT!

Now the Iranians and Muslims are mad at us, claiming we have murdered a million and half of their children because of our sanctions. I disagree with their numbers but it is highly possible there have been deaths in the thousands. But remember this about the Government: "THEY GOT AWAY WITH IT!" No one cares about those children.

Is it true? Yes or No. That what you have to ask. No fumbling for excuses. You don't excuse a bank robber if someone died as a result even if he wasn't the killer, even if he wasn't inside to prevent the killing. The intent to commit a crime was there. Sanctions and blockades are considered acts of war. The intent is there. No saying: "We didn't murder their children, we just stopped the Iranian from trading." Is the result, large numbers of children dead because of our government's policy? Yes or No?

If it is true, I can't think of anything else to cause them to hate us so much. The worse type of scum is the murderer of children. Everywhere in the civilized world, the harshest punishment is reserved for child killers. That is how they see us. What's worse: We (our government) got away with it.

The lie we tell ourselves is that they hate us for our freedom is bulls---! They hate us as anyone would hate a child killer. The even worse lie we tell them: "It is only collateral damage." It's not. It's murder. Murder that will drive them beyond hate. I believe very soon, instead of calling The United States "The Great Satan", they will call us "The Great Child Killer!"

When they do, that means we will have the worst reputation in the world. Far worse than the Nazis. To a very large segment of the world we will have surpassed Hitler's evil. He was an equal opportunity killer. We kill children. Theirs and our own.

Maybe the United States isn't so bad. There are a lot of other countries with much bigger mass murder rates. They have killed children. They have killed their own citizens and others. Lenin, Stalin, Mao Tsu Chu and Hitler probably murdered 100 million in the name of their governments. Guess what? Those governments got away with murder too!

Beside murder, what else is The Government capable of? Not much really. Basically what most governments do, especially the United States government, is to make everything and anything illegal. Of course, there are enough laws on the books; we may have already reached that point.

They try to sneak their agenda by -- to make everyone a criminal so the government can cash in on the guilt. Occasionally, events happen that allows the government to make wholesale power grabs. The attack on the World Trade Center was one. The crash of the currency, and the hyperinflation and rioting that follows, will be another excuse to grab power, limit freedoms, crack down and crack heads. They are so busy passing laws that they don't have time to protect you, which is supposed to be their job, their ONLY job.

The government doesn't want you to protect yourself. At best, it thinks of its citizens as children unable to protect themselves. You better leave that to the Mommy government. At worst, being able to protect yourself means you can protect yourself from the government when it becomes too oppressive.

You may not have any intention of fighting the government. You only intended to protect yourself from bad guys. The police don't seem to be able to provide protection. And you want to protect yourself? How dare you! If everyone was allowed to protected themselves to the fullest extent possible in the free market, who would need or want "government protection"? They don't really want you to even have the barest survival essentials. As an example of government protection, I give your exhibit #1, the Dollar! The government offers its protection to our currency. In fact it promises: THE FULL FAITH AND CREDIT OF THE UNITED STATES.

How is the promise working? It's not. Look at the stock market disorders, and the nervousness over bonds and other investments. People are now calling the housing market a boom about to go bust. [Editor's note: This was written in the early 2000s. Now it's 2009 and the bust has occurred.] Business failures and lies, the high unemployment and high inflation the government statisticians try to hide, are all signs there is going to be a complete collapse of the global economy.

If some nations are unhappy because they see us as a global bully, imagine how unhappy they will be when the dollar collapses, going the way of other fiat currencies. They lost their money. They are not only going to be unhappy, because the world was forced to be tied to the dollar, I believe quite a few will declare war on us. Not much makes people madder than losing all their money.

The Government solution to the problem of a collapsing economy will be to issue a new currency. Once the world has lost its trust in the Dollar, why should anyone trust a new paper currency?

The government will lie. It will say its new fiat currency is backed by gold. It will be the same kind of lie the Europeans are using with the Euro. The Euro is supposedly backed by 15% gold, but no one (at least not you or me) can redeem the Euro for gold.

New currency won't work. It must be those gold bugs' fault! Get them! A lot of people feel confiscation is not going to be possible. I think it will be. [Editor's note: It has already started -- e-gold confiscation in 2008.] First, it won't be called "Confiscation". I am not sure what it will be called, but it will probably be called something patriotic so as to induct guilt. The effect will be the same. I know the government will rob people of their gold because I see it in cop shakedowns and with the drug forfeiture laws. I'm sure, soon enough, there will be a "Terrorist Forfeiture Law". The result will be to separate gold bugs from their gold.

There will be more laws. However, if the drugs laws are any indication, the new laws will take away more freedoms and hurt the innocent, instead of punishing the guilty. I see laws on hoarding, precious metal ownership, laws restricting travel, and more.

Also, I see laws that have nothing to do with protecting people, crime or terrorism. They will pass these laws because they can and the government passionately hates the people doing these things. I see laws against home schooling, religious expression and, of course, laws against successful businesses and commerce. (I think sooner or later they are going to come after e-gold and the other electronic gold backed businesses. Can't let people have an alternate to paper money.) [Editor's note: Already happened.] If people can buy e-gold how can they launch their next fiat-money scheme?

Rabble-rousers and big mouths like me who are on the internet will be illegal if we aren't already. To the government, we are the one who causes riots, not the opportunists, criminal minded, or the desperate. Well before the riots, they will be coming for me. I plan to be long gone. One reason I am writing this a year, three, five years before you need it is so that it will be there when I've stopped writing and started hiding.

Things that are really useful for citizens to protect themselves, but the government hates, tend to spread very far and wide on the internet. An example is PGP encryption. The government doesn't really care about your individual personal survival. They do only what is necessary for the groups that support them, to keep themselves in power.

What will the government be doing during the riots? Most riots have ten to fifty times as many spectators as looters. When the police come they don't care whether or not if you're an innocent bystander. They are there to crack heads.

To prevent the next riot the Government will pass laws against protesting. (There goes our right to peacefully assemble and have the government address our grievances.) To force people to use the new worthless currency, you will be given the choice of taking their money or the government can take your inventory, manufactured goods, and crops because you're "Anti-Prosperity".

Where are they going to lock up all these "criminals"? Their crisis plan includes a mad rush to build prisons, but those will not hold everybody. There is talk of building open air camps. It is a trial balloon. How many remember the camps of Germany, Russia, Cambodia and other hellholes? I do.

I have a memory of the concentration camps from my father. He was a World War II vet and told me a little about them. He was assigned to bury the dead at Dachau. That gave him nightmares for the rest of his life. Thanks to him, I have a first-hand horror of government "camps".

World War II wasn't that long ago. I think their trial balloon will fail. Enough people have a horror of camps and will do anything to prevent the government from having them here. Of course, protesting may not enough. Remember, the government is used to getting away with whatever it wants. It did not prevent Japanese-American citizens from being sent to camps during World War II.

Is shooting the bastards a solution? I don't believe so. The government has more than enough media supporters to turn you into the bad guy.

"It was self defense," you might say. So did Randy Weaver.

"It was an accident," they say. Waco was an accident.

It doesn't matter that people are upset over those and other outrages. From the government's point of view, the victims were the bad guys. What is even more important from the government's point of view: "We, the government, got away with it!"

Since the government knows it can get away with murdering millions of its citizens, there has to be more than a willingness for the citizens just to shoot the bastards.

One tactic is just to refuse to help the government in any form. That can be hard. Most of the things they ask are "reasonable requests". Or it takes less time to pay or say yes or otherwise go along. There is a hidden price. You don't have rights to protect yourself any longer. No, you "volunteered".

If they ask you to do something, refuse and then disappear so they can't force you to help them. What you're trying to do is take the first step in destroying the government's legitimacy.

No doubt the government will make it illegal to refuse to help. This is going to be a life or death struggle. There is going to come a point where you will have to decide to break the law. Remember, no matter what the government says, it is not against the higher laws of God, Karma, or the Universe to refuse to serve evil or corrupt people. If you're worried about breaking the law, you will already be breaking it if you do the following:

Do I stock up on food and other necessaries? FOOD HOARDER! Go to Jail! Do not pass go. Do not collect 200 worthless dollars.

Do I buy gold or silver? TERRORIST! You're helping to sponsor the international terrorist network. You'll be tried in a secret military court like John Lingh and other would be terrorists. Best plea bargain before you get into real trouble.

Do you buy a gun to protect yourself and family in the riots to come? GUN-NUT! Well, you've already broken the law. Come along quietly! What if you say: "The only way you're getting my guns is to pry them from my cold dead hands!" No problem! Remember they already killed a bunch of them gun-nuts in Waco, in Ruby Ridge and too many other places to bother naming. Remember! "WE'VE GOTTEN AWAY WITH KILLING THEM! WE WILL GET AWAY WITH KILLING YOU!"

By writing this I probably am breaking quite a few laws. Never mind the protection of the First Amendment. Well, if they haul my sorry self to jail, I'll will make sure as many people know as possible since I am trying to become famous. If I can't become famous, I'll settle for infamous!

That is another way of protecting yourself. Go for the glory and make yourself famous or infamous, as the case may be. They are many people, mostly whistle blowers like Philip Agee who worked for the CIA, who the government would like to kill. They let it be known if they committed suicide, it was not their idea. If they die or disappear, they want their friends and the press ask a lot of embarrassing questions. They won't like me in jail anyway. I know too many trouble-makers and if I'm in jail I'll make friends with a lot more. I am sure to lead the other prisoners in rabble rousing. I've been in riots. I know how to start them too. My songs will become even more filled with satire -- you see how I treat Greenscam! -- and I can communicate intelligently.

Be aware, I am not ruling out shooting the bastards! Some will think it will be the only way to restore a constitutional republic. If you do, DON'T GET CAUGHT! Else,... Woe is you!

The government will not protect you. It will PROTECT ITSELF! If they catch you, the government will probably torture you, and kill your family and friends while making you watch. You'll have to make the hit in such a way it can't be traced back to you. Just like after almost a year, we still don't know who was behind the World Trade Center. We just accused Osama without proof. Otherwise, why not share it? The Muslim would love to have proof. They are not known for mercy and if they had proof they would be sure to execute him in a way sure to hurt. The Trade Center attacks were especially heinous in their laws. [Editor's note: Muslims can justify any heinous act, just as can Christians, by selective quoting of their so-called sacred texts.]

Is secession an answer? Maybe. We originally seceded from England. If people secede, they will have to avoid the mistakes the South made in Lincoln's War [Editor's note: The War of Northern Aggression was not about slavery; it was about establishing the federal government as master over the indivdual states instead of as their servant. Lincoln was a traitor the the Constitution, which explains why he is so revered today by the federal government and its lackeys.] The most important one: You must not secede for an immoral cause. Every country that broke away and succeeded in becoming a new nation had the support of at least one other nation. The South failed because the biggest possible supporter -- England -- detested slavery. The South wasn't about to give up their slaves for England's support. That was a mistake. If they had England behind them, it would have broken the blockade. The British Navy was the best at the time -- the reason the British Empire being at its prime.

Another mistake the South made in seceding was that the South was seen as firing the first shot. It is true that Lincoln did all he could to provoke that first shot. The South fired first and thereafter they could be seen as traitors and rebels.

Be aware that if there is secession, the Federal Government will fight the secessionists dirtier and meaner than they do in a "regular" war. This, in a history of mean knife fights. There will be no mercy for the secessionists if they lose. There will be one thing going for the secessionists. The United States will be fighting the world at the same time. You don't have to join the enemies of The United State if you secede. Just let other countries know you are no longer part of the United States.

What is my answer? It is probably the most improbable. I will not recognize, serve, or be a part of any government. My hope is that government is seen for what they are. Bloody murderers. Child Killers. I want decent people to shun all forms of government. Instead of relying on government to protect you, have insurance companies protect you.

It will be the method with the least bloodshed, and the quickest way of eliminating one of the worst evils the world has known. A few see government as I do. I am hoping to get others to share my viewpoint.

You may think it may not work. I think it will, but I can't explain why. I can't explain that any more than I can explain why I survived growing up and all the other males are now dead. I only knew I would have no part of the drug dealers, the pimps, the winos, and others that I saw. To avoid them I needed to find the opposite, a strong positive male image. My father couldn't fulfill that role. He deserted his family.

I had no good role models. So I created one. It was an imaginary friend that became my best friend. He taught me. He said: "Whatever you see the people around you doing, just do the opposite." He also told me when to run and when, if cornered, to fight. With that advice I survived. Surviving and living to be 21 was a big and very pleasant surprise. I had a bigger surprise in store. Shortly after I passed my 21st birthday, I looked into the mirror. Instead of me, I saw my imaginary friend. I had grown into the man I envisioned. Being that man, I knew I could not only protect myself but others when the time came. The time to protect others is now, since I am writing this series.

Most people know how corrupt this country has become. They do nothing but throw their hands in disgust. There is another way. For better or worse, I've given you an image of the future with this series. You can create other images. Currently I believe this is not the image we want our country to be. One of the things I've learned from Napoleon Hill's "Think and Grow Rich" is you need a very positive image. I unknowingly created one for myself when I was growing up. I can create a positive image of this country and so can you.

First, we all must have the image of a constitutional republic.

Next, we must be aware of the faults of a constitutional republic: Mainly, they don't remain republics for long. Those placed in power as our servants ignore the constitutional restraints. They become the masters.

Third, you must willing willing to live and let live. If your fellow man is not hurting others but doing something you don't approve of or you are envious of him, you must not try to get the government to change his life or steal his wealth. It will only hurt you or your children.

We are trying to come up with a perfect image of our country to replace the evil real life one we see around us. To get there you must do this:

You must be able to see it,
Taste it,
Smell it,
Feel it and be surrounded by it.
Let your senses envelope with it until,... It is more real than real.

and then, you there!

I learned how to use the imagination from a 1970 movie called "Tribes". It works no matter what you imagine.

Let me tell the More-Real-Than-Real image I have for this country.

The United States no longer exists. (Just like the United Socialist States of Russia [sic -- s/b the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics aka the Soviet Union] -- The USSR no longer exists). The U.S. had a very brief shining moment but its reputation was ruined by corruption. People no longer think of themselves as citizens of The United States (capitalized spelling) just like the people of Nazi Germany or Vichy France could call themselves citizens of those counties. Instead the area once known as the United States has split into regions -- The Northeast, The South, The Midwest, The West, and The Northwest -- and into cities already known the world over -- The New York City Region, The Los Angeles Region, and so on. Each region has been recognized as a nation in its own right. Each region is true to the constitution.

The idea of regions is so you don't get a super-sized Federal government ruling and robbing 50 states. At most a region has 5 to 10 states. The states are free to withdraw or secede for any reason, with a vote of 65% of all eligible voters. They are free to merge as well. For instance: The Northwest and British Columbia may merge since they have more in common with each other than the other regions or Canada.

Each region has its own constitution based on the original united states (lower case spelling) constitution which allows no government regional or state to use anything but gold or silver as money. It wouldn't allow creation of a Central Bank, Federal Reserve or any other organization that usurps the nation's power to coin its money. It would correct flaws in the original constitution including adding the right to life, liberty and property as Jefferson wanted originally.

It allows for citizens to sue and hold personally responsible any government official or anyone who benefits from the government if they have been criminally victimized by that official or benefitter. No sovereign immunity for these guys. Impeachment is changed. If any government official is under impeachment or criminal charges, they are to be immediately removed from office and banned from using their powers. The impeachment process is to see if they should be reinstated. It's not a trial. No one has a right to a job. Each and every day they must prove they are worthy of the job. Politicians should prove they are worthy of their jobs, too. Bureaucrats would be subject to impeachment as well. Right now, it is impossible to remove a bureaucrat. Another important change, if they are not going to follow the constitution, they lose the office and have to go through impeachment to see if they should be reinstated. If they want to make laws but are unwilling to follow the highest law of the land, they should not hold office.

I know this has gotten away from the subject of urban survival techniques, but your "mental urban survival backpack" should include a vision of something positive as well as physical survival essentials.

Thank you.
The "Golden Trumpet"

Continue to Urban Survival Techniques #7 - Fighting Words
or make a comment below, or see editor's responses to comments

Urban Survival Techniques - Protect Youself - Suburban Gangs (#5)

(continued from Urban Survival Techniques - Riots Can Be a Riot!)

Editor's Note: This survival techniques essay moves its area of discussion from the cities to the suburbs. GT discusses the similarities and differences as to how it may go down in these areas.
DB

Here's what GT has to say about protecting yourself in the suburbs:

Most people think that when I talk about the potential violence and rioting and worse, they think I am only talking about the cities. No, I am talking about everywhere, including especially suburbia. I'm not talking only about urban survival techniques. You may run away to escape the violence of the city. But, guess what? It will follow you to the suburbs.

Most of you are likely over 50 and have no interest in what the youth are doing. Therefore, you may not have heard the term, "Wiggers". Essentially what they are is white teenagers imitating the underground gangster culture. This is nothing new. The earliest example I can think of in the U.S. is the Jesse James Gang. They were civil war veterans who decided to try and make a living robbing trains. Even today, the James gang is admired and is imitated in countless movies.

The next teen-age generation to follow the criminal culture comes from the age of prohibition. The girls were flappers and the boys all had hip flasks. Some of you may be old enough to have been teenagers at the time. That was your form of rebellion. Again, movies of the time and even now, glorify the criminals. Can you imagine Jimmy Cagney not saying: "You'll never take me alive, Coppers!"

In the early World War Two war years we had Zoot-Suiters. It didn't catch on like the others because of the war and the government was able to get everyone to toe the line and wear the same thing. Zoot Suits were banned because they used too much material. However, an idea whose time has come, will express itself. The baggy clothes of the zoot-suiters became the baggy clothes of the counter-culture of today. Now we have Wiggers. They dress in baggy clothing; the style is known as Hip Hop. They listen to rap music, the loudest and most foul mouthed they can find, and have their own slang. They want to imitate the criminal culture because they feel mistreated and misunderstood as has every criminal misfit either in the past or today.

These Wiggers have spread all over the country and they can be dangerous. How dangerous? Go the the seemingly safest suburb you can find and visit the police station. Ask if there is any drugs or gang activity because you are worried for your children. If the police are honest with you, you will get an education. The gangs are present in the deepest reaches of suburbia because drugs are in the suburbs and need gangs to distribute the poisons. Drugs and gangs are everywhere!

I don't understand why the young like the criminal culture. I just know they do. Some of their attempts to imitate are really funny. The music of the criminal culture and many of the young today is rap. Especially Gangsta Rap which tends to using lot of cussing and glorifies lots of rough sex. One of the funniest things I've seen was when I was out in the local farm country. It was harvest time. Out in the middle of a field was this crew-cut blond haired kid that looked like your typical farm boy. What made it funny was blasting in the tractor's CD player was some of the nastiest rap music I ever heard. The kid was dancing and getting seriously down. The tractor was rocking like a low rider car. (I didn't know John Deere made a low rider version.) I later found out it is quite common for the kids to listen to hard rap in farming communities. The family hates the music but puts up with it because the chores are getting done.

Most of the teenagers' attempts to imitate the criminal or gangsta culture aren't funny but dangerous. Things may have changed, but for years one of the most dangerous gangs where I live wasn't in the inner city but suburbia. These kids saw the gangsta culture and decided to be what real gangsta call "wanna-be's"! Of course this upset the wanna-be's. To prove how tough they were, they gave each other, the other gangs, and the police serious trouble. There is violence to match what I saw growing up.

These wanna-be's get their idea of what the gangsta culture is from Hollywood movies. Just like gangster movies were very popular and profitable back in the 30's, Gangsta films make big bucks today. If you think my writings show some of the seamier aspects of life and are shocked, that's nothing! I'm shocked at what I see in these movies. They teach depravity I didn't even think possible. Believe me, I've seen depravity! Writing about the hood or making movies has a purpose. It is real life, it's educational. So I am not for censorship; I just wish people, especially the wiggers, would not try to imitate what they see.

Imitating these movies is a bad idea. First, these children are too young to know you can get hurt imitating what you see on television of movies. A good example is that many children see Superman on TV and try to imitate him by flying. That alone has filled the emergency rooms. The latest imitative example I can think of, was from a movie a few years back where these teenagers -- to prove something or other -- would go to a busy highway and lie in the middle, right on the median strip. Good scene in a movie, bad scene in real life. A lot of kids died.

The main feature of the gangsta movies is the incredible amount of violence in them. For a wanna-be however, that violence isn't enough. You want to surpass what you see on the screen to prove you're a bad-ass and not some jive wanna-be nobody is scared of. When they try to be violent, they get caught by the local police. The violence they were attempting, scares the pants off the officers. So far, the police have been able to stop them. They won't in a riot situation.

When the currency collapses, what will the wanna-be, the junkies and just plain trouble-makers be doing? A lot. This is either the chance to prove themselves or rip off a big score. You will have destruction for destruction's sake. Only it won't be what you expect and it will be different from what is happening in the cities.

In the cities you have hundreds of stores crowded together. This makes it easy for the looter to go shopping. In the suburbs the stores are spread out. Malls, being private property, are pretty good keeping out drugs and the crime that accompanies it. (Well, yes and no. Prostitutes find malls an easy place to pick up dates.)

What do you do? You want to commit mayhem. You want an easy target and you want to destroy for the fun of it. Why not attack trucks? It is easy set to up a blockade to crash a truck. Then you can clean out the trailer at your leisure. No cops will stop you. Like I said, they will be busy elsewhere. These blockades will be dangerous for the ordinary motorist as well. It will be as dangerous as walking down a city street, turning the corner, and finding yourself walking into a riot. Only there is a riot taking place at 55 mph. The wanna-be will be using car jacking, drive-by shooting and road rage, the same techniques they learned in the movies, to hurt you. A lot of homeowners have guns and hope that will protect them but so do the wanna-be's. It will be a shoot-out situation. You'll be scared. Not the wanna-be's, or else they will be more afraid of showing they're scared to use their weapon. The wanna-be's want to prove nothing scares them.

As the highways get clogged up by accidents, even if the cops want to, they may not be able to. The rioters are going to get tired of watching car crashes, and sooner or later are going to get the idea of attacking homes. Remember, this destruction is for destruction sake. The rioters aren't going to be stupid enough to ring your doorbell and say, "Hello, I'm your neighborhood looter." They won't introduce themselves because they know you liable to reply with a shotgun blast to their faces. However, if their main goal is not robbery but to destroy things, they can start a fire. You see the fire coming, and head for the hills. The looters can then run into your house if they want, grab what they can, and with their stolen cars outrun the fire.

So what do you do in this situation to protect yourself? Well, knowing your neighbors will be a big help. It is obvious we are getting into bad times. It will soon be obvious to everyone we are getting into dangerous times. It is at that time, it would be a good idea to introduce yourself to your neighbors and offer to provide mutual protection for each other. You make even get to know the trouble-makers of the neighborhood so when the conditions are ripe for a riot, you can keep those trouble-makers isolated and under watch to keep them from starting riots.

What else can you do? I assume you have a gun or two to protect your family. Also get a couple of ABC fire extinguishers to include in your stash of survival essentials. I believe, as I said in the last essay, fire could be a very big danger.

You can set up blockades of your own to keep the bad guys from getting to you. Your neighbors may get you funny look but explain the possible dangers and then up set up a blockade for them.

Videotape the violence. It won't stop the riot in progress, but after it is over, the police will be very interested in knowing who the local trouble makers are. A tape could help the police lock them up.

Unfortunately, I can think of only a few survival ideas to protect yourself that I haven't already covered. Maybe this will help you think of some more survival techniques to add to your preparedness checklist. One thing you have going in your favor: The troublemakers in the suburbs are wimpier than those in the city so the rioting and looting shouldn't last as long. Maybe it will be only a few days before things get back to some semblance of order.

Thank you.
The "Golden Trumpet"

(continue to Urban Survival Techniques - Government Terrorism)

Urban Survival Techniques - Protect Yourself - Riots Can Be a Riot! (#4)

(continued from Urban Survival Techniques - Black Market Shopping)

Editors Note: This urban survival technique from GT is about protecting yourself during urban riots, civil unrest, whatever you want to call it. Advance preparation can include renting fireproof storage space for survival necessities such as dried food, and water in addition to what you have stockpiled in your residence. Be aware that police and firemen may be unable or unwilling to protect you and, in fact, may attack you or thwart your efforts to protect yourself.
DB

Here's what GT has to say about riots in the city:

Watching a riot can be a lots of fun. To make a really bad pun, it can be a riot. With a few caveats.

1. It is not your property that is being destroyed.

2. You manage to avoid the police who will try to crack open everyone's heads -- be they innocent or guilty.

3. The riot does not put you in personal danger.

Riots may start as fun, but later on they will become more dangerous. You may not be able to flee the city, but you may still want to stake out your own little separate hideout for cash, food and bartering. That is apart from what you have at home which you can keep an eye on. The separate stash is for if your home gets destroyed in the riot. Fire and being burned out of your home is a real danger.

Most riots have been in the cities but in the hard economic times to come, there will probably be riots in the cities, suburbs, everywhere. There are rowdies everywhere and they will take advantage of the situation.

When the riots start that will be the signal for you to do several things to protect yourself. First you may not be certain it is the right time. There's a very good chance you will not hear of rioting in your city on the news. There will be a news blackout. The only way you'll know if there is trouble is if you see it, hear about it on the internet, or maybe even get a gut feeling. If your guts says there's trouble, it couldn't hurt to take these steps.

1. One of the best urban survival techniques is to go to one of those big old fireproof storage warehouses and rent some space. I would prefer one of the older warehouses instead of the new ones with electronic gates. If there is a power outage, you may not be able to get to your stuff. It could be the smallest space they have, you will not need much room. Store some of your gold and silver, food for at least a couple of months, and some water. You need about a gallon of water a day, so try for 30 gallons per family member. If you have the space (actually, make the space, this will be one of the most useful items you can have) get a bicycle with a rear rack and side baskets. You can carry up to 200 pounds and go anywhere. Lastly, get some extra firearms and ammo -- at least one gun -- and some other things you've read about survivalists stocking up on in their hidey holes.

Why use a warehouse? You live in the city or suburb. If you start digging holes to hide your stash, most likely someone will think you're digging to bury a body. Next thing you know you've got the cops nosing around asking questions you rather not answer. They will enter without a warrant and will probably end up taking your stash, calling you a hoarder. Also, these places tend to be fairly secure. You won't have the safety of a safe deposit box in one of those bomb-proof vaults but OTH the warehouse owner is not likely to be a government stooge as are the banksters.

2. If you have the money, rent a second storage unit in a different location. You can store mainly food and things you may want to use for trading in the black market there. That way if someone decides to follow you home to rob you of your stash, this will prevent that somewhat. They won't know which locker your stash is in.

3. For your home buy an ABC fire extinguisher. The ABC type is useful for all types of fires. In the riots I foresee to come, fire will be a big danger. This may not prevent you from being burned out of your home but you never know.

4. Get a video camera. Try to get one that looks like a camera used by a TV station. They are really cheap now, since people are buying flat screen camcorders. They are also small and lightweight. You can tape people destroying things. That can be a perfect disguise. You can pretend you're part of the press. From what I've seen, rioters and the police will attack anybody or anything but they won't attack the press. Too conspicuous, I guess.

5. Talk to the warehouse manager and ask if they have studio space available. Starving artists and musicians like myself can no longer afford loft space. Too trendy. So we discovered other cheap places. Industrial storage warehouses. You wouldn't believe how cheap they are or how much space you can get. (You won't get much of a view, but at a time like this, do you really want to watch the city burn down?) A lot of musicians and artists rent studio space and the studio has electrify, running water and toilet facilities. They are not supposed to, but I have known people who lived in their warehouse studio. In fact, instead of bugging out to parts unknown like many survivalists, if things get too rough, I plan to lock myself in a fireproof warehouse. If the rioters burn down the city, I will be in a secure fireproof building. Hopefully it will offer me a chance for personal survival in the midst of chaos. I got my food, money (gold and silver) and other things to protect me. The manager will be having too many other problems to worry about me breaking the lease. Until I brought it up, has it occurred to you, instead of heading for the hills when TSHTF, to go looking for someone in a warehouse? It won't occur to anybody else, either, unless you're Batman from the 60's TV show. In that show, the villains always hid out in abandoned warehouses.

The riots I've seen in the past tended to be political. Some kind of protest that got out of control. The riots to come will be hunger riots and "Can't Get Money From The Bank" riots like what has happened in South America, particularly Argentina.

The last riot, I experienced was on January 1, 2001. I live in downtown Portland, Oregon. It looked liked it was going to be a dull New Year so I went to bed early. I was awakened by this loud KA-BOOM. Sounded like lightning but your building doesn't shake when lightning hits it. I didn't know what what happening, so I quickly got dressed and ran outside. What was happening was that there was a mob picking up 1/4 ton concrete garbage containers and using them to break plate glass store windows.

Now these windows are supposed to be shatter-proof to prevent smash and grab robberies. But toss a 1/4 ton concrete container through a window and you'll will find out they aren't shatter-proof. The reason my building was shaking was that the mob was working its way down the street smashing windows and had reached my block. Having someone toss a concrete container through a plate glass window will wake the dead.

There were several things that surprised me about this riot. First there were thousands of people everywhere but very few were actively looting. Most were watching, probably enjoying the thrill of their very first riot. Most even had camcorders taping every act of destruction, probably hoping the looters would do something funny so they could send the tape to America's Funniest videos. It seem every other person had a video camera. I would have gotten mine but I didn't want to miss any of the action.

The second thing was just how easy to satisfy the looters. They weren't going for big ticket items like televisions but the cheapest trinkets you could find. For example, across the street from me, is a store that sell shoes so shoddy and cheap, Al Bundy would be ashamed to work there. Well, the looters has a good time cleaning out the place. Also, the looters also didn't seem to be very smart. For the life of me, I don't know why, but a group of them spent at least a half an hour trying to remove a honking big pizza oven. What they intend to do with that thing I have no clue. They stopped only when the police came into view.

The third surprise was just long it took the cops to arrive. About 45 minutes later. Now, this is the middle of downtown, where if the cops wanted to, they could be here in less than a minute. By the time the cops got there, the looters were long gone. I don't think the police were particular eager to take on the looters. You could see and hear them coming with their sirens and lights a mile away. They finally got to my block and even through they were were in riot gear and protect by an armored car, the cops looked scared. I got the feeling there was an unwritten agreement between the looters and cops, "You don't give us any trouble and we won't give you any trouble."

The last surprise. Since there were video cameras everywhere, you would have thought this would have at least made the local news. Nope. It made national news because my sister on the East Coast saw it and called me. She wanted to prevent me going going out in the riot, "Are you wandering around in that riot so you'll have something to write about?" (Yes, I wrote this!) "You're going to get yourself killed." (Nope, I'm a SURVIVOR!) I guess it didn't make local news because it would have made the local politicians look bad, especially the new Chief of Police. I guess it made national news because of the News Motto: "If it bleeds, it leads!"

I know I went into a lot of detail about what turned out to be a small riot but it tells me a lot what is happening in Argentina and what to expect here.

First, the news blackout. We should be hearing a lot more what is happening in South America but we aren't. It isn't as if there is not enough people with camcorders. In the few videos I've seen of what is happening, there seems to be a lots of other people filming as well. I think the only way you will hear of the riots going on in your city is if you are actually seeing it or if someone puts the news on the internet.

Second, the danger from rioting is that is can be too much like a party atmosphere. That can make you, the rioters, or the police careless. I keep wondering how bad things could have gotten if someone decided that instead of looting, to set fires to these stores? Why not? They didn't want the junk, they just wanted to destroy things. Fire is an looter's or rioter's best friend. At least historically. My building has a sprinkler system but if fire was set to the building I doubt it could have handled it and I would have been burned out of my home.

Third, nothing is safe in a riot. Seeing the cheap junk the rioters were stealing made me realize this was destruction for destruction's sake. How do you protect yourself from something like that? If I was a store owner, I can see myself standing in front of my store with a shotgun to prevent looters from breaking into my store and running off with whatever they can grab. I see no way, however, to protect myself if the looters get frustrated and decided to burn down the block. I predict if rioting does happen here, the result will be a lot of burnt out stores.

One thing that helped, although it didn't seem like much. Everybody in my building knows each other. We were all awakened. We informally agreed it would be our duty to try to protect the stores on the ground floor of our building since they too are tenants of the building. We were unarmed but formed a small crowd in front of the three stores and verbally turned away anyone who tried to rob the stores. It worked. By protecting the stores we protected ourselves in case someone got the idea of setting fire to the block.

We knew each other. By dealing with people your neighbor and such on the black market, you get to know them. You have learned to trust your neighbor on the black market, where before I doubt you even knew them. They will help and protect you. Like I said in my last Protect Yourself essay, you will become a very good judge of human nature because your life may depend on who you can trust.

Since you started your black market dealing with your neighbors, those are who you will be trusting and vice versa. It works in a big city as well as a small town. But not if you're isolated in parts unknown. You have nobody to deal with, nobody you can trust. That's why I don't think heading for the hills is necessarily a good idea. In survivalist novels, you have a group with a crisis plan of running off with their survival backpacks to their hidey hole. Sooner or later, because of the need to trade, they will have to come out of hiding. What they will find is that they are outsiders trying to trade with people who will not necessarily trust them. The insiders have bonded together through chains forged by fire.

How bad will the riots be? The riots will probably start with either hunger protests or "Do Something About The Collapsing Currency!" These riots and protest will be in the cities, suburbia, the small towns, everywhere. In the beginning it will be no worse than the celebrations when a local team win a big game. You will have a bunch of drunken rowdies tipping over cars and yelling their heads off. You will have the looting but it will be for worthless stuff; they aren't even thinking of survival essentials. And the police will be able to control it fairly well. But, some of the rowdies will come to realize they can get away with being destructive.

The next day you again have a hunger protest, with more people. The father who no longer can stand the whine of his children complaining, "I'm Hungry!" will feel the need to do something, anything, just so he doesn't go nuts. So he'll go nuts at the local supermarket. The rowdies will push the limit. Maybe a store get looted or burned.

This goes on for a week. Meanwhile, the police have put in a lot of overtime and they are being paid in hyperinflated dollars. Some will decide its not worth the risk getting paid in worthless money. They will call in sick so they can protect their own homes. The rowdies notice there are less police than before and get even rowdier.

Here is where it starts to get nasty. The police will start cracking heads, or if the situation is bad enough, will start shooting into the crowd. It could be as bad as the civil war draft riots in New York City in 1863.

After the irrevocable step of shooting into the crowd had been taken, things will get really interesting. History tells me it will go in one of two directions depending on how much support the government has. If most citizens still say: "My country right or wrong!" the government will win although it might be bloody.

The other direction is if people are tired of the government. There have been a large number of people who have been alienated by the government and have decided: It's Time To Shoot The Bastards. They are waiting for an opportunity. They might want to restore the constitution or get rid of government altogether or they might want to put their own group into power.

For instance, one thing that seems to be causing the citizens to come one step closer to overthrowing the government is the state's inept handling and mistreatment of people going through airport security. The simple solution is obvious but it is also obvious the government isn't about to do it. That is to arm the pilots. The government method of airport security isn't working and won't prevent more acts of terrorism. It is just pissing off a lot of people.

Let's say the mood turns to shooting the bastards. There are lots of groups ready to do that. I know the street gangs The Blood and The Crips of Los Angeles are just waiting for a final showdown with Gangsta Blue (The Police). The gangs in other cities are preparing as well. The gangs have been buying up AK-47s and buying in huge numbers. Big enough numbers that if there is a showdown between either the police or the army, the government forces are going to suffer major causalities.

What will happen if the mood is to shoot the bastards, this country will end up going through a stage very much like the Russian Revolution of 1918. You'll have one group trying to set up their own oppressive government. The equivalent of the Reds. Another group trying to bring back the constitutional republic form of government. And another group trying to just get things to calm down. Who will win? I can't say. I hope it is the constitutional republicans. Naturally, at that point there will be riots. Calling what happens then "riots" will be an understatement! The only way for a chance at personal survival at that point will to try to keep a low profile and hope you're very lucky. I told you know where I will be laying low but I haven't given away all my secrets. We butterflies of the jungle have learned to be real careful so I haven't told you everything. Just enough to protect yourself. We also have really good imaginations. Maybe what will happen won't be as bad as I envision; maybe it will be worse. In any event, I hope I have provided you enough of a vision to protect yourself with this and other urban survival techniques.

Thank you.
The "Golden Trumpet"

(continue to Urban Survival Techniques - Suburban Gangs)