“The U.S. military expects to have 20,000 uniformed troops inside the United States by 2011 trained to help state and local officials respond to a nuclear terrorist attack or other domestic catastrophe, according to Pentagon officials.”

This is a major shift in our government’s policy on civil defense. In fact since the end of the cold war most of us have completely forgotten about the possibility of a nuclear threat. It sounds like the threat still exists but it’s changed from world-wide mass destruction to the possibility of small isolated nuclear attacks on specific high profile targets.

The good news is that a small nuclear explosion is survivable for many people if they have taken a few simple steps ahead of time. The bad news of course is that any nuclear attack on any part of the world would change the world forever and make monitoring for radiation and nuclear fallout a part of life. While that would suck to no end, most of us would still be able to live relatively normal lives.

In other words… the cold war global nuclear war was most likely not survivable, but today’s current threat is very survivable.

I’m I loosing it? I’m not sure but I do know that disasters happen and knowing what to do in case of an earthquake, flood, fire, storm, power outage, or even nuclear attack seems like a little time well spent. It’s like really cheap insurance.

Here is the news story on MSNBC.com. Below is the video on TED.com.

Another option I’m still keeping in the back of my mind is adding onto the house simply to raise the value. I definitely don’t want any more house myself… I have too much as it is… but I can see adding on right before selling. But for now we’ll just continue to hang on and hope for the best.

Then… if that wasn’t funny enough… moments later the COWBOY UP dude pulled in behind him and followed him in traffic for a while. All I have to say is that seeing this made the trip worth while. We laughed all the way home.

коли под наем

Personally I’ve given up on both the Democratic and Republican parties. Neither represents my beliefs or seemingly best interests. I’m some kind of hybrid as I suspect is the truth for almost every American. But I can also see that Obama represents an opportunity to shift the balance of power back from the richest minority back to the citizens of the United States of America.

In fact that leads me to describe what I think is the real underlying problem with American politics. The general consensus in Washington DC seems to be that protecting large corporate profits is the top priority. I’m not talking most corporations, I’m talking about the 1% that controls the 90%. On the surface this seems to make sense but just below the surface we see that this is just trickle-down-economics all over again, and it doesn’t work to put that much economic power in the hands of so few people.

I think Obama sees this too. In his speech (below) he even points out that to fix wall street we must not forget about main street. I think Obama sees that by creating a balanced economic environment where everyone can succeed that we, as a whole, will succeed. Today under G.W. Bush and our current Congress we’ve been suffering under the delusion that by supporting large corporations through deregulation and other mechanisms we somehow make life better for everyone. This appeared true until the bubble burst. But the truth is, in the long run that policy only makes more money for the people at the top. The rest of us are now getting the shaft and the truth has been told.

This isn’t a partisan issue either. I’m pointing my finger at ALL of them, save a handful. Americans that still take sides and not looking at the issues for themselves are fooling themselves that somehow their party’s politicians are representing their best interests and positions. This isn’t a sporting event where you cheer for your team through tick and thin. This is freedom and democracy at stake. On the contrary… those citizens looking at the issues without bias and voting across party lines when appropriate are doing us all a favor. In this last election it appears the majority got smart… Thank God!

I hope that Obama turns out to be what he appears. He was not my first choice but at the end of the day on November 4, 2008 I definitely believe he was the best choice. I hope more conservatives begin to see it like I do and keep their eye on freedom, democracy, and and eye out for those representing corporate greed. They are everywhere in politics on both sides of the isle.

Now lets cross our fingers that the damage is not so deep it takes years to repair. I for one would love to see my home equity restored so I can again be free to choose where and how I live and leave the fear of foreclosure behind.

The Evidence

This chart from my Google Analytics account shows the traffic spikes over the last two months. As you can see there are three distinct traffic spikes that resulted in a slightly higher base traffic after each spike. The first little spike was the day an article was published about me in the New York Times. The next spike was a short national television spot on the tiny house movement. The third, tallest spike, was a CNN television story on two leaders in the tiny house community, Jay Shafer and Bill Kastrinos.

This next chart is from Google Trends and shows how my top keywords have been performing for the last twelve months. As you can see there is a direct correlation since most traffic comes from search engines.

This next chart shows my bounce rate dropping off significantly which means that something has either changed on my blog or the people searching for this content are really getting interested in it and are sticking around on the blog much longer.

This last chart shows average page views by visitor. It’s not surprising that it looks like the inverse of the bounce rate. But still interesting so see the correlation.

Little Known Secrets

First I am not doing all the normal marketing tricks pro-bloggers tell you to do. I’ve simply optimized my blogs and done a little bit of networking. I have however stumbled on some simple things that are driving my traffic higher and higher everyday. Here they are:

• Do something that really matters, then blog on it. Make blogging secondary and the quality of your content will actually improve because you will be making the story not just reporting on it.
• Choose a topic you’re passionate about and that’s growing in interest. The collapse of the housing market is actually fueling more interest in downsizing. It’s exactly what drove me to tiny houses in the first place. People from all around America are re-thinking how they live and the true value of a home.
• Real stories want to be told. The main stream media wants to tell your story if its real and timely. Reporters are combing the web for stories to tell. News agencies and television shows make their money by telling compelling stories.
• Use your real name. I’m also working on writing a couple books and figured it would pay in the long run to have my real name out there. Real people, with real stories, have real names. Use yours.
• Make real friends and connections. Get to know the people in your online and offline community. You are stronger together.

Warnings

• Avoid publicity stunts. The main stream media wants to report real stories. Be honest and real or everyone will see right through you.
• Don’t waste time with tricks. No real traffic comes from search engine optimization tricks. Spend less time commenting on other people’s blogs and more time doing something people value and writing about it. If you can video tape and photograph it even better.

Conclusion

As you can see this is just the beginning of something good. Ironically as the economy worsens the interest in downsizing increases. So I suspect my blogs on tiny houses will get the biggest boost in traffic during the upcoming lean years. In any event I think my strategy is sound and proving to be successful. I hope you fiud it useful.

Here’s a recap:

• Be real
• Do something real
• Do something your passionate about
• Write about it
• Video tape it
• Photograph it
• …and ideally pick something more people are moving toward.

Now take a look at my tiny house blogs/forum:

• TinyHouseDesign.com
• TinyFreeHouse.com
• TinyPalletHouse.com
• TinyHouseForum.com