There is no doubt that Elizabeth Warren is the bottom rung on the ladder. What kind of a human being would concoct a Native American ancestry to advance her career? Eric Convey: Elizabeth Warren—Liberal Sweetheart, Massachusetts Underdog?
Warren openly proclaims that she is the intellectual force behind the Occupy Wall Street movement. Let’s hope the 35,000-strong investment industry force at Fidelity, State Street, et al. will rise up to administer Warren the thrashing she deserves. My small business clients are aghast that a candidate for the U.S. Senate would proclaim, “You didn’t build that. Somebody else did.” No business owner in his or her right mind would vote for the radical Marxist-influenced Warren.
This closet socialist knocked down $349,000 teaching at Harvard in 2009. Mass residents must glare at this number in total disbelief. I am neither a Republican nor a Massachusetts resident, but I have met the affable and independent-minded Scott Brown and much like what I see. Massachusetts residents are fortunate to have a senator with such independent integrity. One can only hope Scott Brown will represent Mass residents in the U.S. senate for many years to come.
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You don’t want to learn survival lessons the hard way. When our house alarm went off at 3:00 a.m., Becky and I realized we weren’t prepared to deal with an intruder. But at that point, it was too late. We couldn’t hear each other over the shrilling sound, the kids were panic-stricken at the noise, my mind went blank trying to remember the code for the ADT rep on the other end of phone, and meanwhile someone could be in the house. That won’t happen again. As a family, we’re now far more prepared. Emergencies happen. Be ready for them, whether they’re man-made or natural.
Our latest work on self-reliance and survival ranks all 50 states on a broad array of threats. In ranking the states, we first looked at broad categories of threats, and then ranked each state on its exposure to that risk. Violence from mobs, criminals, and miscreants was first on our radar for personal security. After measuring crime, gun laws, and other data related to keeping yourself safe from violence perpetrated by your fellow man, we ranked the states according to those that gave Americans their best chance against such threats.
Next, we moved on to natural disasters. Ranking the threat posed to man by Mother Nature is one of the hardest tasks of all because climate and geology are so unpredictable. But we built a scale that we found to be representative of risk among the states and ranked them accordingly.
Finally, we focused on what can be done in the aftermath of a disaster. We considered variables like crop yields and farmland costs. What will it take for you to carve out a piece of America for you and your family to survive on, and even thrive in the chaotic period after a major catastrophe? We ranked the states on their ability to sustain your family.
Based on these three main groups of criteria, we ranked the states and found the best places for Americans to survive in a disaster situation. Remember, these are broad characterizations—like politics, most disasters are local. Use the list as a guide before you do your own analysis. Don’t let a 3:00 a.m. burglar alarm remind you that you’re unprepared.
Over the next two weeks we will countdown the ten best, and ten worst states for survival and personal security. Check back every day to see if your state makes the list.
How to read the Survival States Index: The scale for the Survival States Index stretches from 10 to 50, with 1 being the best score, and 50 the worst. The brief summaries of conditions in the survival states do not explain in exhaustive detail all the criteria used to judge the states. The summaries simply review the more critical findings.
The 10 Best and 10 Worst Survival States: #10
10th Best Survival State: Montana
Survival Score: 16.2
With its low population density, unobtrusive gun laws, low crime rates and inexpensive farmland, Montana leads off our top 10 survival states. Montana, perhaps because of its cold climate, comes in somewhat further back in the pack in farm output. That makes sustainable living in Big Sky Country a bit more difficult, but not impossible by any means.
10th Worst Survival State: Nevada
Survival Score: 30.9
Nevada is the nation’s leading state for violent crime, and spends a lot of money to control its rowdy population. Unemployment is the highest in the country, creating a tinderbox for social unrest. What little farmland there is in the Silver State is inexpensive, but output is low in the desert climate. On the bright side for Nevada, gun laws are lenient, and the population is sparse outside the few large cities.
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Facing an extreme survival situation like the one depicted in NBC’s Revolution is a nightmare for anyone, but for the unprepared it could mean the end. The report from the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack lays out the details of what Americans could expect if the country were to be hit by a high-altitude EMP attack. That world looks eerily similar to the one depicted in Revolution.
Below is an excerpt from the report describing the dire situation in the aftermath of an EMP attack (with our emphasis added).
Depending on the specific characteristics of the attacks, unprecedented cascading failures of our major infrastructures could result. In that event, a regional or national recovery would be long and difficult and would seriously degrade the safety and overall viability of our Nation. The primary avenues for catastrophic damage to the Nation are through our electric power infrastructure and thence into our telecommunications, energy, and other infrastructures. These, in turn, can seriously impact other important aspects of our Nation’s life, including the financial system; means of getting food, water, and medical care to the citizenry; trade; and production of goods and services. The recovery of any one of the key national infrastructures is dependent on the recovery of others. The longer the outage, the more problematic and uncertain the recovery will be. It is possible for the functional outages to become mutually reinforcing until at some point the degradation of infrastructure could have irreversible effects on the country’s ability to support its population.
So what happens when the power goes out? If you’re not concerned with such things, you probably stumble around until you find your flashlight and light a few candles. Under normal circumstances, those should last you a few days until the authorities and the utility companies get things running again. But an EMP attack could take the grid down for months, or longer. What if it gets cold? Even oil and gas furnaces need electricity to spark their fuels.
If you’re more prepared, you’ll have a generator and fuel for it. But how long will that last? Does your home’s oil tank contain enough fuel for an entire winter? That’s doubtful. And do you have enough gasoline, propane, or diesel to run your generator until spring? Maybe. But fuel will become scarce fast, and the means of fossil fuel production will be idled by the same EMP attack that turned out the lights. So no new production is forthcoming.
What next? If you have access, wood is a great fuel alternative. It’s been used since man discovered fire. Stockpiling wood seems plausible. But there isn’t a lot of wood in the suburbs. There is a better alternative.
There is a fuel that lasts billions of years. It won’t rot if it gets wet. It won’t gel like diesel fuel in the cold. You can stockpile it and it won’t go bad, and you can have it delivered to your door anywhere. If your food supply should last 25 years, why shouldn’t your fuel? The fuel we’re talking about is coal. This is an often-forgotten fuel source that heats homes around the world every day. The use of coal for heating homes has declined in the U.S. but is showing signs of a resurgence as Americans look for stable alternatives to imported oil at sky-high prices. Consider your survival preparations and whether or not adding a coal stove and stockpile of the black rock to your home is the right choice for you.
But what about the second survival essential we promised you? Come back next week to find out which essential survival item is hiding right under your nose.
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9th Best Survival State: Wyoming
Survival Score: 15.3
Exceptionally low farmland prices, lenient gun laws, low crime rates and low unemployment make Wyoming our 9th best survival state. The Cowboy State is also sparse, with the second lowest population density in the nation. Neighbors won’t be knocking down your door in Wyoming. But farmland in Wyoming isn’t fantastic, and keeping the population peaceful comes at a high cost for such a low crime state in terms of dollars spent per capita on law enforcement.
9th Worst Survival State: Alaska
Survival Score: 31.2
Some survivalists are surely looking at Alaska’s low ranking on our list and wondering what gives. Alaska has great gun laws, and the nation’s lowest population density, but it’s also a haven for violent crime, with mostly unproductive land. There are areas where farming is possible, but the state has varied climates, most of which are hostile. Threats of blizzards and extreme cold also combine to make Alaska a difficult place to survive. Inuit peoples have lived off the land in Alaska for untold generations, so it can be done. But The Last Frontier is so remote that in a disaster situation nothing like a normal life would be possible.
Read the intro to our Top 10 Survival States and find out which states came in 10th in each category by clicking here.
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From the Cato Institute:
Cato Institute Welcomes New CEO, Announces Changes to Board
October 1, 2012
Media Contact: (202) 789-5200
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Cato Institute will welcome John A. Allison, former chairman and CEO of BB&T, as its new President and CEO on October 1. Edward H. Crane, founder and current president, will remain with the organization for a transition period, and will then assume a new role as a consultant on fundraising.
“As a long time admirer of Cato’s important work, I am excited about joining the Cato team in enriching the understanding of the principles of individual liberty, limited government, free markets, and peace which are the foundation of a free and prosperous society,” Allison said.
Cato also announced today a new Board of Directors:
- John A. Allison, Retired Chairman & CEO, BB&T
- K. Tucker Andersen, Director, Above All Advisors
- Richard J. Dennis, President, Dennis Trading Group
- William A. Dunn, PhD, President, Dunn Capital Management
- Ethelmae C. Humphreys, Chairman, Tamko Roofing Products, Inc.
- David H. Koch, Executive Vice President, Koch Industries, Inc.
- Robert A. Levy, Chairman, Cato Institute
- John C. Malone, Chairman, Liberty Media Corporation
- Preston Marshall, President, MarOpCo Inc.
- Nancy M. Pfotenhauer, Consultant, Washington, D.C.
- Lewis E. Randall, Former Director, E*Trade Financial
- Howard S. Rich, Chairman, Americans for Limited Government
- Donald G. Smith, President, Donald Smith & Co., Inc.
- Nestor R. Weigand, Jr., President, J.P. Weigand & Sons, Inc.
- Jeffrey S. Yass, Managing Director, Susquehanna International Group, LLP
- Fred Young, Former Owner, Young Radiator Company
In June, Cato reached an agreement in principle to settle lawsuits filed by Charles Koch and David Koch against Cato, its CEO, and several of its directors. Terms of the agreement include moving Cato from a governance structure under which stockholders elected the Board of Directors to a new structure under which the Board elects its own successors who oversee the Institute. “With this mutual resolution, we can now put these issues behind us and turn our focus toward advancing Cato’s mission,” said Board Chairman Robert Levy.
Levy also noted the significance of Crane’s tenure at Cato.
“This is a new chapter in Cato’s history, but also the end of an era. From the Institute’s inception, Ed Crane has played an indispensable role, co-founding, managing and shaping it into one of the nation’s leading research organizations.”
Crane extended his gratitude to Cato’s employees, directors, and donors for their ongoing support. He welcomed Allison, whom he described as “a great champion of liberty and an outstanding choice to build on Cato’s success as the foremost non-partisan, non-aligned, independent source of libertarian perspectives on public policy.”
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8th-Best Survival State: Vermont
Survival Score: 15.2
Although it is known as a stronghold of liberal sentiment, Vermont has relatively free gun laws, low crime, low unemployment, high homeownership, and safer-than-average exposure to natural disasters. The Green Mountain State is not for the poor, though—farmland is expensive there.
8th-Worst Survival State: Maryland
Survival Score: 31.5
Maryland is the first of our 10 worst survival states that lies on the Eastern Seaboard, but not the last. In fact, 7 of our 10 worst survival states border the Atlantic, while only one of our 10 best does. Maryland has a high crime rate and a very dense population. And the Free State is no friend to gun owners. Buying farmland for a subsistence farm will cost you quite a bit in Maryland too. Unemployment, though, is relatively low, and the state is not plagued by natural disasters.
Follow our countdown of the best survival states every day until we get to #1!
Find out which states came in 9th in their categories by clicking here.
Find out which states came in 10th in their categories by clicking here.
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Some suggested reading about the first debate:
Hope for a Change, Ramesh Ponnuru, National Review
Romney gave Republicans a lot of it tonight. He was crisp, clear, and commanding, while President Obama flailed, forgetting to drive home any message in particular. On twitter, liberals were offering Obama a lot of suggestions for what he should be saying–just as conservatives have done for Romney in recent weeks. They know he lost this debate, and lost it soundly. I cannot think of a single exchange Obama won, and even his best lines were curiously flat when delivered. Obama’s strategy, to the extent he had one, seemed to be to make the race a referendum on the challenger. The cost of that strategy, at least as implemented tonight, was that it made Romney look more presidential than the president.
Do I Really Need to Say It?, Michael Graham, National Review
Mitt had everything: The facts, the points, the arguments and the energy. When he delivered his arguments, he looked at President Obama. When Obama responded, he looked down at Jim Lehrer.
B.O., K-O-ed., Jim Geraghty, National Review
Early on, Obama said, “I want to talk about the values behind Social Security” – and it was revealing that Obama wanted the topic to be on the warm and fuzzy feelings about the subject, instead of the numbers, the long-term solvency, the details of the reform proposals. He looked like a student who hadn’t done the readings and who wanted to desperately steer it towards a previous chapter.
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Election 2012 is nearing the home stretch, and the time has come to speculate on who might win. We will be analyzing the polls in the battleground states in the weeks ahead to determine possible outcomes. As a baseline for this analysis, we will rely on the battleground states identified by Criton Zoakos, president of Leto Research, Inc.
Mr. Zoakos has identified seven states as battlegrounds, including Colorado, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, Florida, Michigan, and Ohio. He calls these “facts-based” battleground states. A number of other states commonly thought of as battlegrounds are what he calls “opinion-based” battleground states and have been assigned to either Barack Obama or Mitt Romney. President Obama is given credit for wins in Connecticut, Minnesota, New Mexico, and Pennsylvania, while former Governor Romney is given credit for Arizona, Indiana, Missouri, North Carolina, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
The result of these assignments leaves the Electoral College vote split between the two major party candidates, with Mitt Romney receiving 229 Electoral College votes and Barack Obama receiving 221. The remaining battleground states Zoakos has identified represent 88 Electoral College votes.
Using the latest Rasmussen Reports polling spread, we will determine who would win the election if it were held each Friday. To win, a candidate must amass 270 Electoral College votes. Of the 88 available in Zoakos’s identified battleground states, Romney must collect 41 to win, while Obama must collect 49. Keep up with our scorecard every week until Election Day.
| State |
EC Votes |
|
Rasmussen Poll Spread |
| Colorado |
9 |
|
Romney +2% |
| Iowa |
6 |
|
Romney +2% |
| Nevada |
6 |
|
Obama +2% |
| New Hampshire |
4 |
|
Romney +3% |
| Florida |
29 |
|
Obama +2% |
| Michigan |
16 |
|
Obama +12 |
| Ohio |
18 |
|
Obama +1% |
Romney Predicted Pickup: 19
Obama Predicted Pickup: 69
Predicted Winner Today: Obama
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7th-Best Survival State: Nebraska
Survival Score: 15.2
Nebraska tied Vermont’s survival score of 15.2 by being home to free gun laws, low unemployment, productive land, and a sparse and peaceful population. Unfortunately, Nebraska is prone to some disasters, like flooding and tornadoes. Build your bunker on high ground in the Cornhusker State.
7th-Worst Survival State: Connecticut
Survival Score: 32.5
With a dense population, living on expensive land that doesn’t produce very much, Connecticut is not a survivalist destination. The Constitution State is also heavy on gun control and (ironically) light on the Constitution. Unemployment is high, and it takes a boatload of money to keep the population under control. One positive note for Connecticut is the state’s low rate of property crime.
Follow our countdown of the best survival states every day until we get to #1!
Find out which states came in 8th in their categories by clicking here.
Find out which states came in 9th in their categories by clicking here.
Find out which states came in 10th in their categories by clicking here.
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Cato Chairman Bob Levy gives you the real story behind the Roberts/Obamacare decision.
From a constitutional perspective, the decision was a mixed bag. The good parts are new limits on the Commerce and Spending Powers. Those limits are very important going forward. But the Taxing Power argument could be pernicious. If the Roberts opinion were interpreted to mean that Congress could force you to do whatever it wants by penalizing you for not doing it — and if your only recourse were the ballot box — that would eradicate the notion of limited government under a republic bound by a Constitution.
And Levy concludes:
The Roberts opinion is a masterpiece of political compromise. It gives something to everyone. It suggests that Justice Roberts was intent on consensus-building and ensuring that the court doesn’t have an overtly political or ideological cast. Those motives aren’t inherently bad unless, as in this case, they lead to legal analyses that condone an unconstitutional law. That’s why Justice Roberts’ Obamacare opinion ultimately failed. Once again, the court found a way to expand the reach of the federal government at the expense of individual liberty.
Read the entire article by clicking here.
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