Preparedness Notes for Thursday – June 21, 2018

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June 21st is the birthday of Rex Applegate (June 21, 1914 – July 14, 1998), author of Kill or Be Killed. He was the friend and mentor of SurvivalBlog’s Senior Field Gear Editor, Pat Cascio.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today features another entry for Round 77 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $11,000 worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A $3000 gift certificate towards a Sol-Ark Solar Generator from Veteran owned Portable Solar LLC. The only EMP Hardened Solar Generator System available to the public.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses, excluding those restricted for military or government teams. Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
  4. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper. These have hammer forged, chrome-lined barrels and a hard case, to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR-type rifle to have a quick change barrel. This can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools. It also provides a compact carry capability in a hard case or in 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
  5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  6. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  7. Two cases of meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value), and
  8. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.

Second Prize:

  1. A Model 175 Series Solar Generator provided by Quantum Harvest LLC (a $439 value),
  2. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
  3. A gift certificate for any two or three-day class from Max Velocity Tactical (a $600 value),
  4. A transferable certificate for a two-day Ultimate Bug Out Course from Florida Firearms Training (a $400 value),
  5. A Three-Day Deluxe Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $190 value),
  6. A $200 gift certificate good towards any books published by PrepperPress.com,
  7. RepackBox is providing a $300 gift certificate to their site.

Third Prize:

  1. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  2. A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard, and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206,
  3. Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances, and
  6. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).

Round 77 ends on July 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

A Memoir On One Family’s Move To The American Redoubt- Part 3, by X. Liberal & China Doll

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As the title indicates, my wife and I are outlining our family’s move to the American Redoubt. In part 2, we began with an overview of our finances/expenses of our move and property purchase and began detailing the build activities. Today, we are continuing with our log cabin construction process.

Concrete Pour

(We required one day for the concrete pour.) At this point, your first cement truck will arrive, with spinning bucket and all. Back them up to the corner that you want to start at, and have him extend the chute to boom over to line up between the footer forms. That’s your target for pouring the first batch of concrete. He’ll hit the lever and start pouring the concrete fast or slow depending on the mixture. The footer mix has more crushed stones embedded in the mix than you will have for your floor or wall pours and is for strength.

As he repositioned the truck after exhausting all the movement in the chute extensions, take your trawl and smooth out the concrete along the footer. It is imperative you do this, as the IFC blocks have to be attached to footer via foam cement and you want a smooth surface without obstructions to have a nice leveled wall when affixed.

Now you can back fill dirt in around the footer on both sides. However, on the inside of the footer, the backfill must be four inches lower to the tops of the footer boards due to crushed stone being inserted for the future floor pour.

Plumbing In Place Prior to Your Footer Pour

You also want to be sure that all your plumbing is in place prior to your footer pour. The PVC plumbing pipes should be secured under the footer due to evading frost. If this is a crawl space, then the recommended depth is four feet. Some examples of PVC pipes under the footer would be from your water cistern or well (usually two inches in diameter), basement/crawlspace floor drains, sump pump if utilized, any venting for solar panel batteries (usually two inches to vent the nitrogen buildup), and sewer if required by code (not recommended as the septic tank is peculiar in its placement with exact slope from crawlspace/basement wall into the septic tank).

Continue reading

The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods:

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SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods— a collection of news bits and pieces that are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper from “HJL”. There is an interesting article on common gun control lies today.

Off-Grid Air Conditioning

Reader T.J. sent in this interesting video from YouTuber Engineer775. In it, he is installing his first true off-grid air-conditioner with a 75 SEER rating. They are currently unavailable till August 2018, but it is intriguing that you can have a heat pump that will run on 750W of solar panel. Since you generally need air conditioning when the sun is shining, the claim is that you don’t need battery storage with this system. They do recommend a utility connection as backup for those days where you have limited solar capacity. I suspect that the system would work well with an existing largish solar power system. However, don’t expect this to come inexpensively. At nearly $2000, it pretty amazing what it accomplishes, but that’s still quite a bit of money and power demand.

Sheepdog

Continuing along the thought process of wolves, sheep, and sheepdogs, reader H.L. sent in this article on being a sheepdog. Do you know if you have what it takes to be the protector of your family? The author does a respectable job of linking the character traits of people to these descriptions. In particular, I like the concept that the “sheepdog” personality despises injustice, bullies, and those who never tire of ingratiating themselves to bullies. His instinct is to protect those upon whom the wolves and fellow sheep pummel, whether he likes them or not. Do you know which you are?

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The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“We must be as stealthy as rats in the wainscoting of their society. It was easier in the old days, of course, and society had more rats when the rules were looser, just as old wooden buildings have more rats than concrete buildings. But there are rats in the building now as well. Now that society is all ferrocrete and stainless steel there are fewer gaps in the joints. It takes a very smart rat indeed to find these openings. Only a stainless steel rat can be at home in this environment…” – Harry Harrison, The Stainless Steel Rat

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday – June 20, 2018

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June 20th is the birthday of Audie L. Murphy. Born 1925. He died in a plane crash on May 28, 1971.

This is also the anniversary of the death of novelist Vince Flynn. (Born April 6, 1966, died June 19, 2013.) His death at age 47 was a loss to the literary world.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today features another entry for Round 77 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $11,000 worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A $3000 gift certificate towards a Sol-Ark Solar Generator from Veteran owned Portable Solar LLC. The only EMP Hardened Solar Generator System available to the public.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses, excluding those restricted for military or government teams. Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
  4. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper. These have hammer forged, chrome-lined barrels and a hard case, to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR-type rifle to have a quick change barrel. This can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools. It also provides a compact carry capability in a hard case or in 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
  5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  6. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  7. Two cases of meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value), and
  8. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.

Second Prize:

  1. A Model 175 Series Solar Generator provided by Quantum Harvest LLC (a $439 value),
  2. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
  3. A gift certificate for any two or three-day class from Max Velocity Tactical (a $600 value),
  4. A transferable certificate for a two-day Ultimate Bug Out Course from Florida Firearms Training (a $400 value),
  5. A Three-Day Deluxe Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $190 value),
  6. A $200 gift certificate good towards any books published by PrepperPress.com,
  7. RepackBox is providing a $300 gift certificate to their site.

Third Prize:

  1. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  2. A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard, and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206,
  3. Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances, and
  6. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).

Round 77 ends on July 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

A Memoir On One Family’s Move To The American Redoubt- Part 2, by X. Liberal & China Doll

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As the title indicates, my wife and I are outlining our family’s move to the American Redoubt. In part 1, we explained why we made the move to the American Redoubt and now we are getting into the nuts and bolts of our process.

Finances/Budget

Milestone Cost – USD
Property Search/Travel to locations $4,000.00
Land Purchase Classified
Log Package Kit $37,000.00
Foundation $15,000.00
Subfloor $5,000.00
Gables /Roof $7,000.00
Roof foam/frame $8,000.00
Tin roof $4,000.00
Porches $1,500.00
Stain/log jam $3,500.00
Temp Stove/Chimney $3,200.00
Septic Tank/chambers $3,000.00
Propane Tank/Filled $4,000.00
Grading Property $3,500.00
Interior walls/Insulation $2,000.00
Plumbing $2,500.00
Electric $3,000.00
Vents/interior wall $500.00
Tile Floors/board $5,000.00
Interior Wall/wood $4,000.00
Labour/Day help $5,000.00
Light fixtures $1,000.00
Washer/Dryer $1,400.00
Hot water Tank $800.00
Water Tank $500.00
Shower Kit $1,800.00
Move to AR w/wares $2,500.00
More to do…. See FUTURE section… ????
Grand Total w/o Land $128,700.00

Continue reading

Economics & Investing For Preppers

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Here are the latest items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. We also cover hedges, derivatives, and obscura. And it bears mention that most of these items are from the “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of JWR. (SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor.) Today’s focus is on global instability in the financial markets, triggered by higher interest rates.

Precious Metals:

Frank Holmes: Confirmed Interest Rate Hike Inspiring Bullishness In Gold Traders

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Jim Wycoff: Silver Is Presently A Longer-Term, Value-Buying Opportunity

 

Forex:

The Conundrum Of The US DOLLAR

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Forex Daily Outlook – June 19, 2018

 

Cryptos:

What Crypto Thinks About the SEC Saying Ether Isn’t a Security

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Crypto Startup Circle Reveals How It Chooses New Token Listings

 

 

Economy & Finance (Global Instability):

Charles Hugh Smith: Here We Go Again: Our Double-Bubble Economy

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Wolf Richter: Next Mortgage Default Tsunami Isn’t Going to Drown Big Banks but “Shadow Banks”

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And at Zero Hedge: “The Global Bond Curve Just Inverted”: Why JPM Thinks A Market Crash May Be Imminent

 

Tangibles Investing:

Spitznagel: “Hard Assets Will Return… The Heartland Will Matter Again”

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How Are Farmers Affording High Land Prices?

 

Provisos:

SurvivalBlog and its Editors are not paid investment counselors or advisers. So please see our Provisos page for our detailed disclaimers.

News Tips:

Please send your economics and investing news tips to JWR. (Either via e-mail of via our Contact form.) These are often especially relevant, because they come from folks who particularly watch individual markets. And due to their diligence and focus, we benefit from fresh “on target” investing news. We often “get the scoop” on economic and investing news that is probably ignored (or reported late) by mainstream American news outlets. Thanks!

JWR’s Recommendations of the Week

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Here are JWR’s Recommendations of the Week for various media and tools of interest to SurvivalBlog readers. This week the focus is on jerky and biltong. (See both the Books section and the Gear and Grub section.)

Books (Jerky and Biltong):

Make your own biltong and droewors

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Jerky Everything: Foolproof and Flavorful Recipes for Beef, Pork, Poultry, Game, Fish, Fruit, and Even Vegetables (Countryman Know How)

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Long Range Precision Rifle. Note: Sadly, Paladin Press went out of business last year, so these books are getting scarce.

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Blog reader E.E. suggested this: The Gift of Fear: And Other Survival Signals That Protect Us from Violence, by Gavin de Becker.

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I Can’t Believe It’s Food Storage! Updated and Expanded Version

 

Movies:

Nicky’s Family. An inspiring documentary about a young Englishman who saved hundreds of Jewish children from death in The Holocaust. Available on DVD. Also available for free streaming for anyone with an Amazon Prime membership.

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The Devil’s Arithmetic. Available on DVD. Also available for free streaming for anyone with an Amazon Prime membership.

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The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“The liberties of our Country, the freedom of our civil constitution are worth defending at all hazards: And it is our duty to defend them against all attacks. We have receiv’d them as a fair Inheritance from our worthy Ancestors: They purchas’d them for us with toil and danger and expence of treasure and blood; and transmitted them to us with care and diligence. It will bring an everlasting mark of infamy on the present generation, enlightened as it is, if we should suffer them to be wrested from us by violence without a struggle; or be cheated out of them by the artifices of false and designing men. Of the latter we are in most danger at present: Let us therefore be aware of it. Let us contemplate our forefathers and posterity; and resolve to maintain the rights bequeath’d to us from the former, for the sake of the latter. — Instead of sitting down satisfied with the efforts we have already made, which is the wish of our enemies, the necessity of the times, more than ever, calls for our utmost circumspection, deliberation, fortitude, and perseverance. Let us remember that “if we suffer tamely a lawless attack upon our liberty, we encourage it, and involve others in our doom.” It is a very serious consideration, which should deeply impress our minds, that millions yet unborn may be the miserable sharers of the event.” – Samuel Adams, from an essay written under the pseudonym “Candidus,” in The Boston Gazette (14 October 1771), later published in The Life and Public Services of Samuel Adams (1865) by William Vincent Wells, p. 425

Preparedness Notes for Tuesday – June 19, 2018

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June 19, 1834 was the birthday of Charles Haddon (C.H.) Spurgeon, who died 31 January 1892. He was a noted  British Particular Baptist preacher. His fine sermons are often quoted by modern preachers who share Reformed theology.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today features another entry for Round 77 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $11,000 worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A $3000 gift certificate towards a Sol-Ark Solar Generator from Veteran owned Portable Solar LLC. The only EMP Hardened Solar Generator System available to the public.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses, excluding those restricted for military or government teams. Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
  4. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper. These have hammer forged, chrome-lined barrels and a hard case, to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR-type rifle to have a quick change barrel. This can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools. It also provides a compact carry capability in a hard case or in 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
  5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  6. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  7. Two cases of meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value), and
  8. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.

Second Prize:

  1. A Model 175 Series Solar Generator provided by Quantum Harvest LLC (a $439 value),
  2. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
  3. A gift certificate for any two or three-day class from Max Velocity Tactical (a $600 value),
  4. A transferable certificate for a two-day Ultimate Bug Out Course from Florida Firearms Training (a $400 value),
  5. A Three-Day Deluxe Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $190 value),
  6. A $200 gift certificate good towards any books published by PrepperPress.com,
  7. RepackBox is providing a $300 gift certificate to their site.

Third Prize:

  1. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  2. A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard, and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206,
  3. Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances, and
  6. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).

Round 77 ends on July 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

A Memoir On One Family’s Move To The American Redoubt- Part 1, by X. Liberal & China Doll

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Epigraph, Genesis

“And God said unto Noah, ‘The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms though shalt make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without pitch.’”

– Genesis 13:13-14 KJV

Background

Let us give you a little background about ourselves. X. Liberal is a man with athletic build who played ice hockey in college, where he was educated with a master’s degree in accounting, and is a CPA. X. Liberal’s wife, China Doll, is the only thing in our home that is “Made in China”. She is educated with a PhD, serves as the family anchor, and is scripturally rooted, a prayer warrior, God fearing, speaks three languages, knows advanced calculus, and keeps an efficient household in order while cooking healthy meals. Both of us are Christians, love life, love each other, and love the Lord.

Our Nicknames

A Marine once corrected me when I asked, “So you’re an X. Marine?” He quipped, “No, an X. Marine is someone who served and that wants nothing to do with the corps, its creed, or brotherhood. Once a Marine always a Marine… I’m a former Marine!” Enough said, “I’m an X. Liberal.” As for my wife, China Doll, it should be self explanatory.

The Why

In 2011, after reading JWR’s book How To Survive The End Of The World As We Know It, I had a stark realization when he contrasted moral relativism to God’s moral code written in stone—the 10 Commandments. I was searching. I had just witnessed my career field in accountancy yield unattainable results that my father and grandfathers’ careers yielded: That is, I wasn’t going to be able to retire, provide for a family, have family medical benefits all as my forefathers had. The American Dream I realized, for my generation, is now unattainable.

There are two primary catalysts for this societal debacle, and this will offend some, so get ready.

Continue reading

SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt

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Here is SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt. This weekly column features news stories and event announcements from around the American Redoubt region. We also mention companies of interest to preppers that are located in the region. The emphasis this week is on the seventh anniversary of the founding of Radio Free Redoubt.

 

Region-Wide (Radio Free Redoubt):

We’ll start with a recommendation for an inspiring monologue from John Jacob Schmidt: Radio Free Redoubt 7 Year Anniversary Episode (#18-20). Congratulations to John Jacob Schmidt!  His yeoman service as a broadcaster has helped catapult the American Redoubt Movement onto the national stage. He has also been an instrumental and guiding force in the Liberty State movement. May God bless his ventures.

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Our SurvivalRealty.com spin-off has published a two-part Q&A with JWR on Idaho relocation in their blog section:
Part 1 and  Part 2.

 

Idaho

Video: The widow of LaVoy Finicum addresses an audience in Sandpoint, Idaho.

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Idaho Child Diagnosed with State’s First Case of Plague in Humans Since 1992. (Thanks to D.B. for the link.)

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I found a fascinating video of a sea-going power boat tour of the Columbia and Snake rivers. They motored all the way up to Lewiston, Idaho: Venture to Idaho. (The Redoubt region portion begins around the 13 minute mark.) They took a 57-mile side trip up Hell’s Canyon, via jet boat. (That begins at the 30:20 mark.)

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The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods:

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SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods— a collection of news bits and pieces that are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper from “HJL”. Wait till you see the AR in .338 Lapua Magnum!

Armed and Dangerous

Eric Raymond, of the Armed & Dangerous blog, penned a quite plausible followup to JWR’s recent essay on The Mathematics of Countering Tyranny. The author starts with the numbers JWR derived and uses them to further calculate the difficulties the United States government would have in disarming the American gun owner. From a gun rights perspective, the numbers are very encouraging and only require a fraction of gun owners who are willing to fight for their rights to bring the entire forced collection program to a halt. The American Revolution was essentially kicked off by a gun confiscation order. It would be wise for the would-be gun grabbers to remember that.

Tommy Robinson

Anyone wishing to mail a letter of support to Tommy Robinson (aka Stephen Lennon) in his prison cell, can mail it to:

Stephen Y. Lennon (A2084CG)
HMP Onley
Rugby
Warwickshire
CV23 8AP England

He can also be reached through the commercial “E-Mail A Prisoner” service, at a cost of just under $1 per e-mail::

Stephen Y. Lennon (A2084CG) ONLEY PRISON at: https://www.emailaprisoner.com/

Let’s do our best to cheer him up! Let him know that he has people praying for him, all around the world.

#FREETOMMY

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The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“Racism is the lowest, most crudely primitive form of collectivism.  It is the notion of ascribing moral, social or political significance to a man’s genetic lineage—the notion that a man’s intellectual and characterological traits are produced and transmitted by his internal body chemistry.  Which means, in practice, that a man is to be judged, not by his own character and actions, but by the characters and actions of a collective of ancestors.

Racism claims that the content of a man’s mind (not his cognitive apparatus, but its content) is inherited; that a man’s convictions, values and character are determined before he is born, by physical forces beyond his control.  This is the caveman’s version of the doctrine of innate ideas—or of inherited knowledge—which has been thoroughly refuted by philosophy and science.  Racism is a doctrine of, by and for brutes. It is a barnyard or stock-farm version of collectivism, appropriate to a mentality that differentiates between various breeds of animals, but not between animals and men.” – Ayn Rand, in her essay “Racism,” from The Objectivist Newsletter 2, No. 9. (1963)