Crisis What Crisis? Is my friend over doing the stockpiling and am I too? Continuation thread (2)

[RedToothBrush]

Continuation of the AIBU to think my friend is overdoing emergency stockpiling thread for discussion about the government advice to stockpile for an imminent emergency and what the heck that emergency might actually be.

I'm moving it over to chat from AIBU as it makes a bit more sense to be there at this point.

Previous thread
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5576816-aibu-to-think-my-friend-is-overdoing-emergency-stockpiling?page=1

Spoiler: it's more of a perfect storm of lots of factors coming together to potentially form one great clusterfuck from economic woes, global energy shortages (mainly diesel), potential food shortages, war and madmen to crazy weather patterns rather than a clear identifiable singular thread.

This is a practical thread and a bit of a handhold thread to make sense of events and how they may affect you. This is not an end of the world thread.

We are however going through a period where various governments throughout Europe think there is an elevated risk of some kind of problem due to global instability and we should start to get our heads around the possibility of needing to be ready for anything.

Remember an emergency can range from a temporary unexpected event to a much longer crisis but the underlying principles generally stay the same.

So this is for everything from tips and considerations about what might be a good idea to do /save minimise potential risks to just straight old political bollocks talk about how things are developing.

This is the official government information and advice, if you want further details on what the actual recommendations are:
https://prepare.campaign.gov.uk/get-prepared-for-emergencies/

This does actually explicitly say to write a personalised plan for your household which everyone knows and understands and to talk about the issues you may face to help you be able mobilise for any situation which might arise. Which is exactly what this thread is ultimately for.

Tax breaks for farmers and DEFRAs budget doubled? Give Jeremy Clarkson free reign to set agricultural policy?

That's be a interesting reversal.

Productive agricultural land should be a blessing not a taxable object.

We have a four pack we use for camping for cheap ones we were quite surprised at how clear and the distance you can go even into the forest with them working.

With climate change, there's an opportunity here.

If we can get our heads around it.

DS had a pair. I found one yesterday and put it in the doomsday drawer. I really need to find the other one.

Didn’t Labour want to re-industrialise?

Isn’t this what they’re after rather than closures

Hairy, mottled, yes a bit purplish, slightly wrinkly finish to it. Has a weird smell.
Ok I'll stop! 😂

So 32 postcodes of London just had a power outage today of several hours.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/london-power-cut-liverpool-street-b3061454.html

Around 32 postcodes, including thousands of homes and businesses across east London, were affected by the outage on Monday, according to UK Power Networks (UKPN) which maintains the electricity networks across the capital, the South East, and east of England.

The agency said the outage was caused by a fault with an underground electricity network in the local area.

Pictures on social media showed London Liverpool Street’s departure screens were blank and shops were left in the dark. Offices came to a standstill as wifi was switched off during the power outage and monitors turned black.

People with personal alarms or equipment that monitors their health, such as diabetes sensors, may also be affected by power cuts.

Quite a wake up call I'd say! Also a lack of generators for what you'd imagine was important services such as the financial district!

Maybe a good wake up call though?

What about people in lifts, how does that work..does the lift stop as soon as power goes?

@TemporarilyCantDoMyself thanks for the laugh 😂😂😂

I apologise if this has come up before but DON’T assume that just because you’ve got solar panels you’ll have energy on sunny days. You must get the right battery set up too since regular solar panels will NOT supply energy if the national grid is down. I had no clue about this until dh explained it all to me - Google can tell you why, it’s all to do with inverters and battery storage and flow.

We have got ourselves set up so our solar panels work even if the grid is down. It cost £4k more but we decided it’s worth it. Our solar installation pays for itself within 6 years.

"bollack pink"😂

So with the possibility of civil unrest shall I add a new front door to my apocalypse cupboard, ours is very weak and could be kicked in fast.
However I've always resisted because the frame also looks weak

I added one packet of yeast today and will get some bread flour next week.
We have a bread maker we don't use ! This is if we still have electricity of course.
I did a thermal clothes stock take and it's looking good.
I need some thermal socks however for myself and DH.
We are nearly there on water I think just for the three days that is.
Tinned fruit /more uht and butter and I think I'm nearly there.

DH still has not told me how many gas cannisters we have however they are in the shed which i can't access because of spiders and much of our survival strategy does hinge on that camping stove.

.

Pro Palestinian protesters shut down a British defence company in Kent this morning. They were chanting “Zionism is a crime”.

Dan Rivers AT danriversitv
Scoop: I have heard from a source familiar with the RAF Fairford story that the US feared a drone a attack similar to Ukraine’s Operation Spiderweb last year which destroyed 10 Russian aircraft. They fear Iran might copy the tactics and that drones might even already be in UK, hence abrupt departure of B1s.

Politics UK AT politicsuk
NEW: The UK will expel 27 Israeli diplomats and their families if Israel proceeds with closing the British Consulate in Jerusalem

Great timing that last one.

This reminded me of a power outage in our neighbourhood a few years ago.

My office building has an electronic fob entry system so I couldn’t even get in 🙄 DD’s school also had no power so they sent the children home. Many couldn’t leave though because apparently (I hadn’t heard of this!) the bloody lockers were on electric power so nobody could get their phone, schoolbag etc out of their locker! (We live close by so DD could just walk as she always does.)

Northsound News AT Northsoundnews
(Local news for North East Scotland based in Aberdeen)
A strike by over 160 North Sea oil workers in a pay row could seriously disrupt the UK’s fuel supply, warns the Unite union.

Apache staff voted 95% for industrial action.

Thanks everyone for all the useful updates.

I have not seen much regarding AI on the thread yet. I think this is another concern and more knowledge and understanding of the topic is useful.
There is a great YouTube video by kurzgesagt about the hacking incident in July:

Kurzgesagt is generally a very good science channel, properly researched and well made.

Perfectly normal things for an American President to say:

Trump: "With the war, it's just artificial. It's a little bit high. It's a small price to pay ... let them take out Los Angeles, let them take out San Diego. This is a very small price to pay."

Re Nuclear Attack.

Steven Swinford (The Times)
EXCLUSIVE from @oliver_wright

Andy Burnham is considering delaying a decision about when the government will increase defence spending until the autumn of next year in the hope that Britain’s economy improves

The government had been expected to hold the spending review, which would set out a timetable for increasing defence spending to 3 per cent of GDP, in the spring. The review will set out plans for all government spending up until 2030

However, ministers are now considering delaying the review so it can take place alongside the next budget, enabling the government to raise taxes or cut spending to fund the increase. Hitting the Nato defence spending target would cost an extra £10bn a year

One Whitehall source said the “working assumption” was that the spending review would be pushed back until next October, pointing to the decision by Rachel Reeves to hold only one fiscal event a year

A government source said it would be wrong to characterise it as a delay as ministers had never set a date for the spending review

Spoiler. The economy isn't going to improve between now and then.

Kevin Esvelt (co-chair of MIT's scientific advisory board)
Russia's five-hospital quarantine, FSB involvement, and reported hazmat use in response to the death of a single researcher at a weapons-lineage Irkutsk lab are inconsistent with a lab-acquired plague infection, which would have been treated with prophylactic antibiotics.

Russian authorities have surely sequenced the Irkutsk pathogen, but refuse to identify it.

Physical lockdown indicates it cannot be controlled with prophylactic antibiotics, implying engineered pan-resistance or that it isn't plague at all.

None of this means the Irkutsk pathogen will cause a pandemic.

But the response clearly indicates that Russia believes an epidemic is possible – and that the responsible agent is likely a pandemic weapon or otherwise embarrassing for the government.

Vaccines will be ineffective against competently designed pandemic weapons. Russia may not be competent yet, but future AI will democratize competence.

We should stockpile pandemic-proof PPE and install germicidal far-UV and glycol misters in public spaces.

Yeah no one's doing that are they?

Gosh it really is Armageddon isn't it with a plague thrown into this terrible mix

My workplace has electric locks, always thought they were a bad idea.
I remember during the electric crisis a few years ago when they were thinking they might need to use rolling blackouts, the schools and daycare in my town practiced operating with no power (which meant disabling the locks on the daycare doors), DD had to do an exam by torchlight! But at least it means they won't shut the schools for a short term powercut here.

So they’ve been fiddling in cold and isolated Siberia to create a strain that antibiotics are ineffective against. But we should not be worried..?

Fucking hell. And people will still support him I bet.