From America to Zimbabwe, the coming anarchy

[Seahorse]

http://www.kval.com/news/local/67351992.html

EUGENE, Ore. -- Four shots hit the U.S. District Courthouse in Eugene sometime overnight, and three hit and broke the windows of Congressman Peter DeFazio's office, the FBI said. ... more at link

[TheDignityofStruggle]

Now that's some shit right there. Hold on to your butts.

[forager]

Katie, just head on down to Arbor Brewing Company, toss back a Red Snapper Ale, and all will be well with the world. 

Seriously though, U of M keeps that town afloat.  All it will take is a roll back in admissions and/or government financial aide, and that town is toast.  MZB's bearing Red Wing Jersey's will eat that place alive.

Yeah, I've thought of that  .

Don't forget the city hating, camo wearing Kamir Rouge out to the west of Ann Arbor either. "Them liberules are the root of all evil." Better ditch the eye glasses, books, and the Latte' when they roll in. "College educated idiot" is a favorite phrase in those parts.

My county, Monroe, is just south of Washtenaw County. I live in the county seat, the City of Monroe. We have been hit hard by foreclosures and the city coffers are obviously suffering. Two of the bridges in town are in grave need of repair. The town is divided equally by a river and would be screwed without it's bridges. There is a proposal on the ballot to increase property taxes to pay for bridge repairs. I don't think it will pass.

Many railways from Detroit head south through town and cross this river too. You should see the condition of these bridges. Rusting to hell with crumbling limestone foundations.

It really pisses me off that the banksters got the money we could have used to rebuild our essential infrastructure and put so many people back to work.

[TheDignityofStruggle]

It's a pity Ann Arbor is so surrounded by decaying cities and towns.  I lived in Ann Arbor for a little while, and quite liked it. If it weren't for the winters, it would be a great place to try to ride out the doom.

[forager]

It's a pity Ann Arbor is so surrounded by decaying cities and towns.  I lived in Ann Arbor for a little while, and quite liked it. If it weren't for the winters, it would be a great place to try to ride out the doom.

The surrounding countryside of Washtenaw County is a beautiful place. It is full of hills, swamps, rivers, streams, lakes, oak knolls, woods, and fields. It is still a remarkably robust ecosystem with great food growing potential. Many of the small towns around Ann Arbor are old picturesque, Victorian Era, pedestrian friendly communities surrounded by farmland. Tecumseh, Saline, Clinton, Manchester and others come to mind. The winters are a piece of cake with the right clothing. I love the fresh air, peace and solitude of winter walks in Michigan when everyone else is indoors watching the tube.

I also like many of the features of my town for similar reasons. It has an old pedestrian friendly downtown and old neighborhoods. The old factories have been demolished. Any condemned homes were demolished. We are not a microcosm of Detroit or Flint. The community is still a beautiful place and has been here since the 1700's.  The joblessness with likely be the death knell of the place. When I was a kid, we were home to numerous paper mills, an auto plant and suppliers (like Monroe Shocks and Struts and a place famously called the "Finger Plant" ), the LazyBoy factory and world headquarters, a foundry.... People could get fired from a job and get another the next day making enough money to pay for a home and a car while the wife stayed home to raise the kids. They are all gone except LazyBoy headquarters. Now we are like zoo animals in this town.

[cabacaba]

The problem of riding out the "troubles" in the Northern States is when Cap and Trade is signed, winter power bills are going to the moon... The Northeastern power grid is old and shaky and depends a lot on coal fired power plants which will be shut down if Barky has his way.... I warned my relatives that they better have a way to heat their homes without electricity, gas, and oil.. They didn't believe me until the last election. Now they  are coming to visit with the idea of buying property... They say the winters are getting worse.

You can get by in the summer here in the desert without A/C, when it is over 110. Not easy but doable..


 

[TheDignityofStruggle]

Which desert are you in? I used to brave Phoenix summers without AC.  I was at work all day, so no use keeping it on, and at night, I would just cover my whole body with cold water and then sleep under a ceiling fan.  Did the trick.

[forager]

The calculus is complex in deciding where the best area to be is when SHTF in a major way. Where will all the refugees go? Where will Phoenix, LA, and Vegas empty to? Where will the people of Atlanta go if they run out of water? Where will the population of the Eastern Seaboard head to if food becomes scarce? Where will the people of Florida and the Gulf Coast go to as a result of sea level rise or the event of chronic super hurricanes? A place that now seems ideal now may be overwhelmed in the future for those same reasons. I think the warm weather refugees will seek new areas with percieved mild winters.

A place called home and community always has it's share of advantages. As long as a fair number of essentials are in place.

Surviving in the desert without the umbilical cord of civilisation will be harder than surviving winters in areas with water, trees and food growing potential IMO.

[TheDignityofStruggle]

Yay for Texas! The summers get a bit dry here, but most of the year we are sufficiently soggy.  Hopefully by the six month bench mark, most people will have relocated or...you know...died.  Then the rivers should stretch a little farther.

[Seahorse]

Homeless students and families living in storage units.

http://www.doomers.us/forum2/index.php/topic,55917.0/topicseen.html

[steelmoon]

Mass. public transit system in hazardous disrepair, and there's no money to fix it!

A decade of systemic neglect and mounting financial problems has left the MBTA with public safety issues that are far more serious than previously revealed and swiftly growing worse, according to a devastating independent report ordered by Governor Deval Patrick.

The report, obtained by the Globe yesterday, found that the agency has left more than 50 critically important safety projects unfunded because of a “mountain of red ink.’’ In the unsparing words of the author, if the MBTA were a private firm, it “would likely fold or seek bankruptcy.’’

“It’s fair to say that they are not keeping up with the safety standards that they themselves subscribe to,’’ said David F. D’Alessandro, the former John Hancock chairman who led the review.

[cabacaba]

Here is an interesting link regarding a collapse of law and order..

http://www.survivalblog.com/2009/11/letter_re_some_ground_truththe.html

It isn't as easy as one might think...

[dagrove22]

So, from that bit of survival information ,it seems like a nightmare.
Where and how does someone find a small community of like minded people that is off the roaming hoards radar?
 

[owenmeany]

http://www.kval.com/news/local/67351992.html

EUGENE, Ore. -- Four shots hit the U.S. District Courthouse in Eugene sometime overnight, and three hit and broke the windows of Congressman Peter DeFazio's office, the FBI said. ... more at link

I waited for this story to circulate...and..nothing.  I have friends in Oregon, and they really know nothing about it either.  Any Oregonians here know something?

[PeakARoo]

Here is an interesting link regarding a collapse of law and order..

http://www.survivalblog.com/2009/11/letter_re_some_ground_truththe.html

It isn't as easy as one might think...

That is a brilliant find cabacaba. One of the best articles on survival I have read.

I keep telling people in America to get the hell out and move to a country with less firearms.

If I had a choice of places to go it would be either Tasmania (Australian island) or New Zealand.