Category: Current Events & Politics

Watching Out For Scammers on the Ham Boards, by R.B.

I’m a Ham operator and recently got scammed. I want to share my story and to give some pointers to those less educated, concerning what to look for when buying Ham equipment from ads posted online on any of the various Ham forums. I’m not talking about buying in person; I’m talking about buying sight unseen, like non-Ebay or non-Amazon purchases. My Story I was looking for an ICOM radio amp and found one. The price was reasonable for a used amp, so I contacted the person. He said, in broken English, that it was still for sale and he …


Two Letters Re: Unified Crime Reporting

Hugh, I work in law enforcement intelligence, and my team frequently creates policy papers, reports, and so forth that focus on crime trends. It is often tempting to use Unified Crime Reporting (UCR) statistics to make a point. Our policy is to only use that source if no other information is available, due to lack of reliability. UCR data is collected from local, state, and federal law enforcement agency reporting. We find considerable variations in reporting standards, timing, and reliability. Different jurisdictions categorize crimes differently, and this variation causes serious doubts in the validity of UCR data. Researchers and your …


Rapid Prototyping and TEOTWAWKI, by PMN

If there is a breakdown in the normal manufacturing system because of TEOTWAWKI, the usual supply of parts may be unavailable to replace the broken pieces of our machines. However, 3d printing might provide a solution by allowing us to make whatever we need as we need it, but we’d need to exercise caution. There are problems of strength, accuracy, and technical ability involved in this process, and it isn’t “Beam me up Scottie” quite yet. Some of you guys/girls may have heard of rapid prototyping, which is also called 3d printing. If you haven’t, it is roughly equivalent to …


Letter Re: Self Directed IRA

The topic of self directed IRAs has been one of great popularity on SurvivalBlog– especially the LLC IRA, whereby the individual can take home delivery of precious metals owned by the IRA and/or invest in almost anything he wants without approval or oversight.   We offer this piece to provide clarification on the taxable nature of distributions as expressed in this recent letter.  It often makes sense for an individual to setup an LLC IRA to take his assets off grid, rather than take an often 50% tax hit on the entire account.  However, when retirement age is reached, how does …


Letter Re: Free Word Processing Program

Hugh! Thank you for posting RBS’s link for the free WP program. We also use Libre Office, but even more, we have completely abandoned MS in favor of Linux. A fair amount of my work involves keeping our real estate website updated, which we use Kompozer photos for which we use a free program called GIMP, maps and more, and have gone completely down the open-source route. Linux has just released Linux Mint 17.1, which is, IMHO, by far the finest Operating System out there– even better than Apple’s. It’s not for everyone, but I encourage anyone who is looking …


Letter: Open Carry in the Wilderness Challenge in Canadian Law

Dear HJL and JWR, Could you please spread the following information? There has recently been some interest in bringing forward a legal challenge on the right to Open Carry of sidearms (handguns) in wilderness environments in Canada. Specifically, it questions the prohibition on carrying handguns and advocates Open Carry to meet threats from dangerous animals on (public) Crown Land and private rural land. It is not a challenge for concealed carry or open carry in urban environments, but it may be a good first step. As you know, the laws on handguns in Canada are not based on any form …


A Strategy For Profitable Investing, by JEH, CPA

I am writing this letter in response to the question posed in “Letter Re: Surviving Financial SHTF and Becoming Debt Free, by K.D”. I am a CPA who thought about investing the day I got my first job. I am not a licensed investment representative, so as a result I will not tell you what to specifically invest in. However, I want to teach you how to look at the market. The first tax season I worked, I noticed that people poured money into what was “hot” at the time, and they took a loss when the market went south. …


Letter Re: Human Relationships by JC

Well Hugh, What JC describes is pure citizenship. If we had a lot more of that, we would only have to prep for natural disasters. I do what JC does, but I do it from my Rotary Club. I am complimentary and polite at the tax office, election office, school office, city hall, and building department. My truck got stolen and returned a year later. The nice lady at the tag office just took my word for it and over-rode the extra fees for not having a tag. I was pulled over for no seat belt last month. Driving a …


Letter: Boy Shot in Cleveland

Hugh, I don’t have much experience with how the police works, considering I am only a few years older than the kid in the article. However, as a person who plays airsoft, paintball, and likes guns, I am interested in the article and your opinion. I recognize the fact that the kid had taken off the orange tip on the gun, and a good rule of thumb is to leave it on (unless you like to mod weapons like me; then you can’t help it.) Did the police have any right to shoot the kid? Come on! He is 12 …


Guest Post: Finding Employment In The Redoubt, by S.M.

This article is intended to help provide information on finding employment in the American Redoubt states. I have attempted to gather as much information as possible and group it together by categories. I have provided many links to human resources websites and state job service sites. Once at that link, the rest is up to you. WYOMING Wyoming at Work This is the State of Wyoming’s job service. You can look up jobs by the area, zip code, type of employment, or even the whole state. Some of the jobs listed will have the information on how to apply. Other …


Surviving Financial SHTF and Becoming Debt Free, by K.D. – Part 2

Meanwhile, I made another spreadsheet. This spreadsheet listed everything we owned, and I do mean everything. Well, it included everything except our house. We were underwater and basically renting anyway. Since we were at war with the banks, everything was in the fight, including all of our preps, everything. After all, this was our SHTF situation to deal with. We prioritized our “stuff ” from 1-5. An item identified with a one was among the most useful to our survival, and those things that were least useful were given a five. We then began selling the items listed as fives …


Seven Survival Tips for the Modern Feminist, by J.

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Hello, my name is J, and I’m a recovering feminist. Sure, that may sound like a joke, but I am being completely honest and forthright when making that statement. In this article, I will explain my background and rational for this topic of choice as well as clearly spell out seven survival tips for the die-hard feminist. These tips can be put into action right now. It is my hope that at least one die-hard feminist will read this article and consider prudently preparing for the unexpected now. You may ask yourself, what the heck does feminism have to do …


Making Your Own (An Ebola Unafraid Followup), by ShepherdFarmerGeek – Part 2

This is the continuation of a list of supplements that you can make yourself to help in dealing with Ebola or any dangerous virus. Disclaimer: There are many foods and supplements with antiviral properties; some of them are common (garlic), while some of them are exotic (star anise). What I’ve tried to do with the recommendations below is focus on the most common and highly recommended. Nobody knows what will work against Ebola, so try your own favorites, to see what you can tolerate when ill. None of this is “medical advice” for purposes of federal obfuscation and interference. Consult …


Letter Re: Hugh’s Quote of the Day

Hugh,First, I believe the statement is false. Conservatives have been in the forefront of the efforts to stop ObamaCare, gun control, confiscatory taxes, Common Core, federal government growth, et cetera. Conservatives have been the leaders in the efforts to promote home schooling, protect the right to work, and organize Tea Party events. On what planet do these efforts to protect liberty by conservatives constitute allowing the “government to do anything it wants, even if its conduct is violent.”? Second, I believe most of SurvivalBlog.com readers are conservatives, not libertarian-anarchists like Hornberger. Don’t believe me? Just start running articles as to …


Letter Re: Requesting Advice for a Recent College Graduate

Hi HJL, I need some advice on what I should do next, and I am sure that many of the young college graduates who are reading your site are in a similar predicament. Here is the back story. I graduated from a university with about 80K in student loans– 52K in state and 28K in federal. I was very blessed to get a great job out of college working for my alma mater as a researcher making about 47K (pretax). I live at home and commute to work (1.5 hours each way), and now I am going back to graduate …