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In many ways, John "Lofty" Wiseman's SAS Survival Handbook is like the Bible: you're not really supposed to read it linearly, but rather refer to it for support and answers no matter the little page number at the bottom.
Truly a great book—both are actually and, come to think of it, the Bible is also about survival.
I recently found myself reading the Polar Regions part of the Climate & Terrain chapter, out of sheer curiosity since I definitely have no immediate intention to go freeze my sensitive parts in these parts, and I found this most delicious cartouche offering a gourmet advice in the Food: Hunting and Trapping section:
Polar Bears
Confined to the high Arctic — in Europe only resident on Spitzbergen — they have a keen sense of smell and are tireless hunters on sea ice and in the sea. Feeding mainly on seals, with some fish, they swim well and can stay submerged for two minutes. Rarely found on land — though in summer they may feed on berries and lemmings. Like many cold-climate animals, they are larger than their warmer-climate relatives. Most are curious and will come to you — but treat these powerful animals with respect and caution.
Always cook meat: muscles always carry Trichinosis worm. NEVER eat polar bear liver which can have lethal concentrations of vitamin A.
In bold, the facts on polar bears that Al Gore, "He Who Claims Polar Bears Can't Swim", famously ignore. I, for one, learned something even more important and will make sure to cook the meat and avoid the liver of the next polar bear on my menu.
The SAS Survival Handbook truly is a mine of practical knowledge. Right after the bit on polar bear comes this:
When food is scarce animals will steal it — so cache it carefully. If there are signs of would-be thieves look out for them — they could be your next meal.
Practical, focused and informative: that is so my kind of books.
Comments
Comments thread (20)
3407 - mycroft69
mycroft69 Bristol, Vermont - United States
Oh, great. DF, ya got a Marxist infiltrator on board! Someone break out the steaks!
3408 - Frozen Tex
Frozen Tex Yellowknife, NT, Canada
Hmmm... I've had Moose, Caribou, Musk Ox, Char... No Polar Bear yet, though.
3409 - Frozen Tex
Frozen Tex Yellowknife, NT, Canada
And what's Al's deal with Polar Bears not swimming? They're classed by some as aquatic mammals, fer cryin' out loud!
3410 - VladMartel
VladMartel
Oh great, because I hate the traitors and the deluded morons, I suddenly became a marxist.
3411 - the dissident frogman
the dissident frogman France
Mycroft69: in fact, this one has been around for some time but (until now) never got around registering.
I consistently sent his ludicrous rants on my "betrayal de la patrie" down where the pointless pixels go to die; I guess it frustrated him enough to learn what "comment moderation" means. He apparently doesn't realize that just because members' comments don't get held in the moderation queue doesn't mean he's got a free ride to pollute my property and annoy my guests. He'll learn as soon as he becomes more annoying than (involuntarily) amusing.
He's French, unsurprisingly, and a patron of (French) Internet Service Provider Free ([url=http://www.free.fr]http://www.free.fr[/url] - Spam/Abuse requests: mailto:abuse@proxad.net) -- The things one learns, when one knows a bit about how things works under the hood...
Incidentally, judging by the content of some his previous "comments" and the care with which he constructed his nickname, I suspect he's more of the French Nationalist/Sovereignist/Fascist branch of despicable morons rather than the Marxist one, though that is really just a technicality.
In the end, Nationalists, Marxists and Islamists are just heinous Collectivists, with far more in common than any of these idiots can reckon.
I confess that over the years, it's been my pride and honor to find myself at the receiving end of these f***ers' (pardon my French) bitter comments, hurled abuses and other death threats - you know you're walking the right path when all the enemies of freedom stand on the roadside throwing stones.
3412 - VladMartel
VladMartel
Now [Edited, clueless - DF]? [Edited, pointless - DF]? lol [Edited, the heck does that mean anyway? - DF].
Traitorous [Edited, tired, old, silly National Front type of rant. Oh, and seriously clumsy English - DF]
btw, [Edited, now that wasn't any sort of known articulated language, wasn't it? - DF]
NOTICE: Dear Member, your membership has just been promoted to the "Overwatched" group. Thank you for commenting at the dissident frogman.
3413 - the dissident frogman
the dissident frogman France
KL: I heard briefly about the Lionheart blog and its owner around January, when he allegedly received a letter from "the police". I must confess I found there were some inconsistencies in his story, and after reading through a fair bit of his blog, found that some of his posts had sometimes a bit of a, I don't know, "weird" tone (But then, looks who's speaking) - notably the parts on his "former identity".
In any case, that's definitely not a cause for arrest in a supposedly free country like Britain -- if he has indeed been arrested, that's frankly beyond belief.
Then again, in contemporary Britain, a pack of "Asians" (lead by one multi-recidivist "wannabe militant" carrying a screensaver of the collapse of the WTC on his mobile phone), can assault a "gora" (white) schoolboy with red hair, yelling "that's what you call Paki-bashing" while smashing his skull with a claw hammer - and not raise much of a fuss from the Police and the School's administration (well, at least they're being prosecuted...) > Mother slams multiculturalism as cause of Asian bullying of her son
So what's a blogger's freedom of speech in all that?
Update: and then, there's this. I never thought I would write that, but I rather fear Britain fares worse than even France in the struggle against the Islamic fifth column - for the moment at least...
3415 - Proof
Proof Stockton, Callifornia, USA
"why are you a traitor? "
Frogman: What does the flea bitten chimp have against free speech? (And perhaps, someone could buy it a dictionary - assuming it knows how to read!)
3416 - Proof
Proof Stockton, Callifornia, USA
"He'll learn as soon as he becomes more annoying than (involuntarily) amusing."
Since Bill Clinton was the one who claimed to smoke pot, but "Never inhaled", perhaps we could call him:
Vlad, the Inhaler?
3417 - TooTall
TooTall Utah
Like DF I find his postings somewhat amusing in a childish sort of way (at least for now) but I can only wonder why he chose a thread about the food chain to post. Is there some deep inner meaning that I'm missing?