• The Lost Generation,  is a term originating with Gertrude Stein to describe those who fought in World War I. The members of the lost generation were typically born between 1883 and 1900.

• The Greatest Generation, is the generation that includes theveterans who fought in World War II. They were born from around 1901 through 1924, coming of age during the Great Depression. Journalist Tom Brokaw dubbed this the Greatest Generation in a book of the same name.

• The Silent Generation born 1925 through 1945, is the generation that includes those who were too young to join the service during World War II. Many had fathers who served in World War I. Generally recognized as the children of the Great Depression, this event during their formative years had a profound impact on them.

• The Baby Boom Generation is the generation that was born following World War II, generally from 1946 up to 1964, a time that was marked by an increase in birth rates. The baby boom has been described variously as a “shockwave” and as “the pig in the python.” By the sheer force of its numbers, the boomers were a demographic bulge which remodeled society as it passed through it. In general, baby boomers are associated with a rejection or redefinition of traditional values; however, many commentators have disputed the extent of that rejection, noting the widespread continuity of values with older and younger generations. In Europe and North America boomers are widely associated with privilege, as many grew up in a time of affluence. One of the features of Boomers was that they tended to think of themselves as a special generation, very different from those that had come before them. In the 1960s, as the relatively large numbers of young people became teenagers and young adults, they, and those around them, created a very specific rhetoric around their cohort, and the change they were bringing about.

• Generation X  is the generation generally defined as those born after the baby boom ended. Demographers, historians and commentators use beginning birth dates from the early 1960s to the early 1980s. The term generally includes people born during all or part of the 1960s: According to Strauss-Howe generational theory, 1961 is the starting point. Birth years generally end in the early 1980s, usually not later than around 1981 or 1982.  The term has also been used in different times and places for a number of different subcultures or countercultures since the 1950s.

• Millennials, also known as Generation Y,  describes the generation following Generation X who were born from 1982 to the early 2000s. There are no precise dates for when the Millennial generation starts and ends. Comentators have used birth dates ranging somewhere from the later 1970s to the early 2000s . Experts differ on the start date of Generation Y. William Strauss and Neil Howe use 1982 to 2004 as Millennial birth years. while others use start years around 1982 to the early 2000s.  One segment of this age-group has often been called the “eighties babies” generation, in reference to the fact that they were born between January 1, 1980 and December 31, 1989.

• Generation Z,  and the “Digital Natives” by Marc Prensky and is the following generation. The earliest birth is generally dated somewhere between 1989 and the early 2000s.  Generation Z is highly connected, as many members of this generation have had lifelong use of communications and media technologies such as the World Wide Web, instant messaging, text messaging, MP3 players, mobile phones and YouTube. A marked difference between Generation Y and Generation Z is that older members of the former remember life before the takeoff of mass technology, while the latter have been born completely within it.  This generation has also been born completely into an era of postmodernism, multiculturalism, and globalization.

Part III: Ride the Rails

If you no longer have access to a vehicle, your next option should be hitchhiking. If for some reason this is not possible, you can also catch a ride on a commercial freight train.  Keep in mind freight hopping is very dangerous. It should not be risked unless there is no other option of escape.

There are numerous places to get on a train. Unfortunately the days of the straw filled boxcar are numbered. These days cars are mostly grain carriers and stacked trailer carriers that afford a lot less safe space.

If possible, before getting on a train, try to prepare as best you can to overcome the safety and comfort concerns of riding the rails.

Warm, dark clothing is a good idea to beat the cold and avoid detection.  Unless you can get out of the wind, layers of clothing is the only thing that’ll keep you from freezing. Trains traveling 50 or 60 miles an hour can suck every bit of heat out of you.  If you’re not prepared you could end up being caught simply because you couldn’t get up and run away.

Water and some amount of food are essential. You will dehydrate when exposed to the wind faster than you will if you’re not exposed. It’s also a good idea to bring something to read. You’ll be waiting for trains, waiting for information, waiting to get into the next town, and generally spending a lot of time doing nothing.  If time permits you should also bring rail maps, topographical maps, time tables, and a hand-held GPS unit.

As mentioned above, open box cars are getting rare. If you’re planning on hopping a freight train, find a place to hide where you won’t be seen and watch a number of trains go by and see what kinds of cars there are to get a feel for what kind of transport you can expect.

The best places to hide in the order of preference is: Open box car, rear platform of a grain hauler, bigback trailor hauler, in the well behind a cargo container, empty car carrier, empty gondola.

Part II: Escape Your Pursuers

Running is the easiest part. Hiding is a bit harder. Staying hidden is the difficult part. The difficulties are determined by the resolve and resources of those hunting you. If the US government is seriously determined to find you, they probably will unless you are willing to sacrifice everything.

If authorities have launched a manhunt against you, it is in your best interests to leave the city and run into the hills. 

When being pursued you will naturally want to put as much distance between yourself and your opposition as possible. Be careful, if they can see you, running directly away could  lead you into a trap. If they can’t see you, take an unexpected tangent to their pursuit. It won’t put as much distance between you at first but if they walk past you at a distance, you win for a while.

If dogs are involved in tracking you, don’t attempt to out run them.  You can confuse them by running around objects a few times and running downstream. Dogs will go for your feet or hands when you’re running, then for your hands when you’re down. They’re trained not to go for the throat. 

If a police dog confronts you with an officer, give up. If the police dog has been sent on ahead, kill the dog. You should sacrifice a bit of flesh to do this effectively: Offer your “dumb” hand to the dog and let it take it. (First wrap your arm in a shirt if you can.) Use the knife in your “smart” hand and try to drive it through the dog’s braincase.

Trying to get both hands around the dog’s neck is probably a mistake since doing so will be next to impossible. If you can get your hands around the neck and you don’t have a knife, lift the dog off the ground and shake it until its neck snaps. You can try to squeeze the dog’s windpipe closed yet that takes strength and time. It’s best to break the neck. You’ve been on the run and will probably lack the strength needed to strangle the dog.

If there are helicopters looking for you, it is always best to hide in a bush or up in a tree rather than running it out on foot.  However, keep in mind that at some point it’s expected that you’ll stop running and go to ground, so hiding in one place for too long should be avoided at all costs. 

When on the run, it is often worth doing things the hard way. If you’re tramping through the forest along a trail walking at high speed, making good time toward freedom, you may want to toss that away, break from the trail, climb the ridge if there is one, and crash through the bush for ten miles. They’ll expect you to take the path of least resistance. Always consider whether you are being too predictable.

At some point during a chase you will need to try to create a break in your trail. This could mean walking backwards a bit, climbing a tree, working your way through the branches to other trees, climbing down, and then working your way back the way you came. Even if you don’t suspect that you’re being trailed, it is probably a good idea to break your trail from time to time. 

Part I - Throw Yourself Away and Build a New You

Before you go to ground, destroy as much of the old you as possible. You want to go beyond making yourself disappear: You want to make it seem as if you never existed. This means that you should do as much of the following as possible before and after you disappear

Destroy all photographs you have access to before you disappear. Delete your entire online identity and request friends and family also get rid of any images that contain your face. This includes family volumes of photographs that family members have. Your family members may or may not be supportive, but at least try to get rid of the most recent and recognizable records of your face.  If you destroy all photographs of you, they can’t be shown around gas stations and quick food stops.

Discard all your worldly possessions except cash. Most importantly destroy and discard all of your credit cards. The instant you use a credit card or an ATM bank card while on the run is the instant the authorities or private investigators know where you are. Before you run you should empty all bank accounts anyway.  In fact, any magnetic card with your name or the name of someone you know can and will be used to find your general area. Destroy them all. 

Purchase clothes you normally wouldn’t consider wearing and put them on in a place where you won’t be observed. Cut your old clothes into pieces and flush them down the toilet. 

Abandon your car. Don’t bother driving your car into a lake or an ocean.  Since you’re giving up an asset, make giving it up work for you.  Abandoning your car in a place where you feel confident it will be stripped and sold by thieves is a good idea.

Leave the pink slip of the car in the glove box to make it easier for thieves to chop and sell your abandoned car. Leave a door unlocked so they don’t have to break a window. You want the car to be taken in mass rather than picked apart on the street where a cop will spot it so it’s best that you leave the key in the ignition while you’re at it. Before you walk away from your car, leave the engine running, in fact, so that a thief will feel more comfortable stealing it. 

Purchase another car. In America one can slap down $500.00 and buy a pile of junk with no questions asked and no identification needed. If the seller has the pink slip and a key, you buy it if it’s cheap and doesn’t have anything a cop might consider stopping you for a safety violation.

Don’t fill up your newly-acquired car with any of your personal belongings. You need to discard everything you own and don’t let it show that you’re doing anything other than commuting to or from work. Even if the cop doesn’t stop you, if word gets around that you’ve gone missing, the cop is more likely to remember a stuffed car than all the countless cars simply commuting. They’ll match your profile against your description and may recall the general — if not the exact — type of car you may be driving. If you want to escape notice of the cops, you need to blend in.

Cops work off of profiles: They are trained to spot the unusual as well as how to spot individuals fitting a variety of profiles. Someone on the run fits several profiles. You want to “fall out of the net” and slip through the typical police profiles.

A cup of coffee on the dashboard in front of a guy or gal wearing work clothes arouses no suspicions. You’re on your way to work, not running from someone.  Lean back in your seat, left arm on the window sill, right hand on the steering wheel at the 6:00 O’Clock position. Take a sip of your coffee, water, or Diet Coke every now and then, and try to act like you’re a mindless commuter getting from point A to point B.

Don’t tell anyone where you’re planning to go or what you’re planning to do. For as long as possible, don’t ask friends for help or shelter — most of all never ask family members! Don’t telephone anyone to say “good bye.” Don’t have any contact with friends or family! Police authorities will monitor their residential lines and private investigators can easily tap loop-start residential lines with not much more than two pieces of equipment costing all of $200.00 each.

Leave town. Don’t go to any place you’ve talked about or stated a desire to visit. Don’t run to any place predictable. Don’t hide in a city or town you’ve ever been to or contains known family members.

Alter your buying habits. When you throw your old self away, you need to discard as many predictable patterns as possible. One of the most common mistakes when hiding is maintaining old habits. This may seem an unusual step but you’re working toward disappearing. Patterns are predictable. Break them.

Markups are the small profit margins that retailers gain when an item is sold. It is a fundamental of business; it’s the reason that the amount we pay is not what the item is actually worth. In certain rare situations the mark-up is completely disproportionate to the real value of the item. This is a list of some of the most outrageous profit margins available in the market today.

1. Greeting Cards

The markup on a greeting card is around 100-200%; which is pretty modest considering some of the more vicious markups on other products.  Greeting cards are one of the best items to markup because they are so cheap, and unsold merchandise does not dramatically affect the bottom line. Paper is cheap, but paper with some sappy writing on it is expensive. It’s a retailer’s dream product; a little piece of paper with some writing on it that can be sold for three or four dollars.

2. Movie Popcorn

It’s no secret that popcorn and candy are expensive at the movie theater. Concession sales make up about 20% of total sales in movie theaters but make up to 40% of the average profit. Why? Because movie theaters need to sell overpriced food to keep ticket prices low. If ticket prices were high, no one would come in the doors and subsequently spend money on snacks. So the price of admission is cheap, but the snacks are where movie companies make the highest profit margin (the same goes with stadium events). So what is the average markup of movie theater popcorn?  According to Richard B. Mckenzie an economics professor at UC Irvine and author of “Why Popcorn Costs So Much At the Movies” its between 900-1200%.

3. Medicine

Prescription medicine is always near the top of the list for highest markups in America. Canada and European countries’ prescription medication prices are regulated by government imposed “ceiling” prices; essentially a limit on how high the prices can get for medicines. They also negotiate directly with drug companies. However, no such price controls exist in the United States. As a result Americans routinely pay 200%-5600% markups on every day medicines.

4. Sugary Beverages

At any restaurant the average markup for soda is incredibly high. A 12 ounce glass costs the restaurant nickels, but it is sold for dollars; and it is half filled with ice. However the real profits in beverage sales are made by manufacturers like Coke and Pepsi. All of their products, from soda pop and juice to energy drinks and sports refreshments, have massive profit returns. Most of the beverages consist of water, corn syrup and a few minor additives. The syrup concentrate to make 50,000 Cokes only costs $2.60 - including labour. That means that one penny buys enough syrup to make nearly 200 glasses of Coca Cola.