Letter Re: Regarding the Tails for Mac Users article

HJL,

Almost every “Mac” made since around 2006 has been Intel-based. From a name perspective, the products were renamed with the shift.

Earlier product names included PowerMac, iBook, and PowerBook.

Intel-based product names include: Mac Pro, MacBook, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, etc

The only two devices that didn’t get a name shift were the Mac Mini and the iMac. You can see full details at these wikipedia links, and to figure out which mac you have, you can go under the Apple Menu to “About this Mac” and it will tell you both the model as well as the processor type. – JMA

Odds ‘n Sods:

Court Rules Police Can Use Volunteered DNA In Other Cases – G.P.

o o o

Mapping 1083 People Killed By Cops In The Last Year – GJM

As usual, the Redoubt rates very well here, though the low population density probably has a significant impact.

o o o

Judges Can’t Use Freedom of Religion to Avoid Performing Same-Sex Marriages – D.S.

o o o

Not preparedness oriented, but I stumbled upon this: Riftworld. Quite entertaining! (But beware of some foul language.) – JWR

o o o

Europe Watches Nervously As NATO And Russia Ready For War With Each Other – G.P.

Hugh’s Quote of the Day:

“If, in the process of hunting terrorists, we throw away our liberties, then the terrorists have won and we’ve just exchanged one enemy for another.” – CTS, a SurvivalBlog contributor

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Notes for Wednesday – August 12, 2015

Today, we present another entry for Round 60 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $10,000 worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate, good for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,195 value),
  2. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be 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,
  3. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper with a hammer forged, chromlined barrel and a hard case to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR type rifle to have quick change barrel, which can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools, and a compact carry capability in a hard case or 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
  4. Gun Mag Warehouse is providing 20 Magpul pmags 30rd Magazines (a value of $300) and a Gun Mag Warehouse T-Shirt. (An equivalent prize will be awarded for residents in states with magazine restrictions.),
  5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  6. A Model 120 Series Solar Generator provided by Quantum Harvest LLC (a $340 value),
  7. A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo,
  8. KellyKettleUSA.com is donating both an AquaBrick water filtration kit and a Stainless Medium Scout Kelly Kettle Complete Kit with a combined retail value of $304,
  9. TexasgiBrass.com is providing a $300 gift certificate, and
  10. Two cases of meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).

Second Prize:

  1. 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,
  2. A FloJak EarthStraw “Code Red” 100-foot well pump system (a $500 value), courtesy of FloJak.com,
  3. The Ark Institute is donating a non-GMO, non-hybrid vegetable seed package–enough for two families of four, seed storage materials, a CD-ROM of Geri Guidetti’s book Build Your Ark! How to Prepare for Self Reliance in Uncertain Times, and two bottles of Potassium Iodate– a $325 retail value,
  4. A $300 gift certificate from Freeze Dry Guy,
  5. A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials,
  6. Twenty-five books, of the winners choice, of any books published by PrepperPress.com (a $270 value),
  7. A pre-selected assortment of military surplus gear from CJL Enterprize (a $300 value),
  8. TexasgiBrass.com is providing a $150 gift certificate,
  9. RepackBox is providing a $300 gift certificate to their site, and
  10. Safecastle is providing a package of 10 Lifestraws (a $200 value).

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,
  6. APEX Gun Parts is donating a $250 purchase credit,
  7. Montie Gear is donating a Precision Rest (a $249 value), and
  8. 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 60 ends on September 30th, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum requirement and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Traversing the Hinterlands – Part 1, by Iowa Farm Boy

I have lived in the Midwest all of my life, 90% of which was spent in the Central Iowa region. I’ve traveled the roads and byways from Toledo, Ohio to Denver, Colorado and from Minneapolis, Minnesota to St. Louis, Missouri, and more. Most of this was via the Interstate highway system, so I can’t comment too much about what is too far off of the main road, except in my immediate region. It must be noted that there is a specific reason why the original Lincoln highway (Hwy 30) and Interstate 80 go right through the center of this part of the country. Look at any map of the United States with the highways marked. The early settlers knew that the quickest path to anywhere was a straight line. You can still see this today,1 from the highways to the jet trails in the sky to the railroads. You have to go through here, if you are coming from the eastern part of the country and going west. Notice also that Interstate 80 and Interstate 35, which roughly divide the country into quarters, meet right in the middle of Iowa.

I am a novice when it comes to survival tactics, but hopefully I can help someone who is coming through this part of the country, so they aren’t totally blind on what to expect. I’ll confine this to the area between Chicago and the mountains.

Roads

Obviously, a good strategy would be to stay off the main roads. This is relatively easy until you get further away from civilization and roads of all kinds get scarce. If you have Google Earth, this is a big help. Otherwise, you may be able to utilize some weather programs with satellite features, real estate search engines, or mapping sites like Yahoo maps or Google maps. Here is another good site for planning a trip through the Midwest. (This site is intended for historical aerial views, but it can be used like Google earth. Click on “Basemaps”, then click on “World Imagery” with or without labels. It even has measuring apps to gauge distances.) In the satellite views, you can actually see the roads and small towns forming a grid across the countryside. Depending on the area, you may not be able to get more than a mile before coming across another paved road. My current location has a paved road one mile away on three sides of me, and I am several miles out into the country. While a paved road makes for easy walking or riding if you have some sort of transportation, everyone else will have the same idea. I would stick to the unpaved roads, or as we call them, gravel roads. These should be fine for travel for awhile, but they will deteriorate as times goes by without maintenance. Remember the old photos or movies of Model T’s going through the ruts with mud up to the axils. This is what will happen to unpaved roads without regular maintenance. This will help those of us out in the country to keep people away from us. It will be a hindrance, unless someone has horses. Some roads could be a problem, because they may not always follow a grid pattern. Even some county roads or “blacktops” will wind along rivers, and some are probably remnants of old stage coach routes. There are even some county line roads or “low maintenance” or “minimum maintenance” roads that are nothing more than dirt. Even in today’s world, without proper maintenance by the county “maintainer” or road grader, just a few days of wet weather will turn the gravel roads slimy until the sun is out for awhile to dry them.

Terrain

The terrain in this region varies considerably. Just because it is called the “plains” doesn’t mean it is flat. Mostly, it is gently rolling hills, but it can have much steeper hills and even ravines and bluffs near major rivers. The larger rivers in Iowa tend to be running diagonally in a northwest to southeast pattern. As you can see, the major rivers also go right through the big cities. Hilly areas can create “bowls” in the landscape. You could easily top the crest of a hill and come across a small town or farmstead or encampment of people down inside the bowl. It is also strategic, because someone else may go right past you and not know you are just over the hill. In some cases you can see for miles. At the same time, you can be seen for miles. The glaciers went through the Midwest several times thousands of years ago and left their marks. There are places where there are huge valleys, and you can see for several miles. There are also ridges of hills that go on for miles. One near Marshalltown is actually called “Mormon Ridge”, and it is said the Mormons followed the ridge on their trek west. There is another in the Belle Plain area that runs north and south for several miles. The eastern edge of Iowa along the Mississippi River has steep hills and bluffs at various points along its length. Along the western edge are the Loess Hills. These provide beautiful views as well as places to hide and camp out. If you get to a place with a good view across the farmland, I can almost guarantee anywhere there is a small clump of trees, there is a farmstead either occupied or abandoned. The early settlers knew to plant trees around their farmsteads as a wind break. A great tool is a county plat map and directory. These are more detailed than a regular map because they show where all the city boundaries are located, as well as the farmsteads and who owns them. They also break down the counties into townships. If you know anybody in the area who owns land, ask if they can send you their copy. I believe all landowners receive a free copy. They are fairly expensive otherwise, and you would need one for each county in which your travels take you.

People might consider traveling in the more hilly, tree-filled areas rather than the farmland. To this I would suggest the area where the states of Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin meet, as well as the Southern portion of Iowa. If you divided Iowa into thirds lengthwise, the least populated areas as well as the most hilly would be the upper and lower thirds. Most of the major cities are located in the middle third, because the major roads run right through the middle of the state and right through the center of the Midwest. In the Belle Plaine and Chelsea area there is a huge marsh area along the Iowa river that is very popular with hunters. This will be difficult to traverse and impossible during flooding.

Again, if you look at the satellite imagery, it is easy to see the grid pattern, except where it is too hilly or rivers or wooded areas or lakes change the pattern. By design in the early days, there was a town or village at least every five to ten miles. This is because the old steam engines needed water or wood placed there ahead of time. Over the years, these towns or villages have shrunk and some no longer exist at all. There may be a few buildings, houses, or a school building, or there may just be a grain elevator. A lot of the old train tracks are gone or plowed under, with only the trestles remaining, or in some cases they are being used for walk/bike paths. There is a main Union Pacific double track that is still in use and that parallels Highway 30 fairly consistently, but it goes right through the major cities on its route.

Again, please use satellite imagery to plan your trips. It doesn’t take long to see that wooded areas are few and far between. You may find a nice forested area that is several miles in area, but then you have to make it to the next one over miles of open ground. The Midwest is mostly farmland, which doesn’t make it easy to cross. Any farmer will tell you how difficult it is to walk across a plowed field. Even a field of freshly picked corn can easily twist an ankle. Corn or bean stubble can trip you. Ever try to get through a barbed wire fence with a pack on? What about walking next to a steep ditch? These are also great reasons not to travel alone. Someone can hold your gear and/or keep watch while the other climbs through or over the fence. There are fewer fences than when I was a kid as more and more farmers have given up raising livestock.

Vegetation

It depends in part on when the SHTF. If it happens at the peak of the growing season, there will be fields of corn that can hide you or at the same time, block your view. A nine or ten foot tall field of corn can completely block your view of the horizon, even at quite a distance. At the time of this writing, my acreage is surrounded on three sides by tall fields of corn. During this time of the year, some people construct corn field mazes. Believe it or not, people get lost in them. On a cloudy day, it is even more difficult to get a sense of direction. Conversely, you can hide in corn fields and have some protection from the wind. Obviously, if the SHTF after the harvest season, you will be in the open. You may be able to find leftover grain for food. Someone else will have to talk more about how to make this grain edible. Seed corn and sweet corn are totally different. My mother and other people say that if you get the seed corn at the right time before harvest, it is comparable to sweet corn. They say to poke your fingernail into a kernel and if a milky liquid comes out it is good to eat. Obviously, the Native Americans used corn to grind up into flour.

Lakes

There are a variety of lakes and reservoirs in the Midwest. Some are quite large. Lakes Red Rock and Rathbun are the largest, and in some places are up to a mile or more across. As a child, my family camped at many of the smaller lakes and state parks. It is possible to use these as places to stop over on your trek through the area. Here are three great websites for references:

The caution point is that there are regular warnings of bacteria. One recent example of fecal bacteria alert was issued for 14 state park beaches warning to avoid swallowing water, which was linked to diarrhea, skin infection, and other symptoms. There are news reports of even possibilities that streams and creeks have been contaminated with farm run off and sewage spills resulting in fish kills. Here is some additional information about Iowa water. While your LifeStraw or other filters will help you for drinking water, there is no way to know if the water is safe to swim or bathe in or even wade through to get across it. If you are in the area of water for an extended period, you might be able to wait until you see fish swimming in it without problems or other wild animals drinking from it.

Letter Re: Growing and Storing Our Own Food

Dear Hugh,

Tennessean wrote a very useful article regarding providing your own food, but I wanted to point out one remark about choosing Yukon Gold potatoes.

One lesson from the Irish Potato Famine was that most farmers had gone to planting only one variety of potatoes, the Irish Lumper. Other countries had a variety of potatoes, some more resistant to the fungal blight that hit Europe and so the blight did not hit them as hard. The lack of potato variety was only one contributor to the famine but nevertheless an important factor.

I humbly submit that it might be best to have more than one variety of potato in the garden, even if only one or two plants of something different. That way you at least have seed potatoes for the following planting should conditions for growing change. I also grow the Yukon Golds, but I put in the purple potatoes, which are very high in nutrients. Both grow very well for me. – Mrs. RLB

Economics and Investing:

China Rattles Markets With Yuan Devaluation – G.P.

o o o

Trends in low wage America: 1.4 million waiter/bartender jobs gained while 1.4 million manufacturing jobs lost since 2007. Top 4 employment sectors pay $10 an hour or less.

John Kerry Warns “Dollar Will Cease To Be Reserve Currency Of The World” If Iran Deal Rejected – P.W.

“Scaremongery… or maybe the whole point, as Obama’s former chief economist noted, is to lose reserve status. Take that China!!”

o o o

Items from Mr. Econocobas:

The Long-Range Social Security/Medicare Deficit: $72 Trillion And Counting

The Fed Is Out Of Options, “QE Is All It Can Do Here” Art Cashin Predicts

Odds ‘n Sods:

Heavily armed ‘Oath Keepers’ inject disquieting element in Ferguson – C.L.

“Disquieting for who?” might be the appropriate question.

o o o

Irresponsible Gun Owner of the Day: White House Aide Barvetta Singletary’s Ex – R.

o o o

The Stanford Prison ExperimentForty-four years later, a searing film starring Billy Crudup brings the chilling research to life – An interesting study on prison psychology – Mike Williamson, SurvivalBlog’s Editor At Large.

o o o

ATF Denies Being an ‘Agency’ to Avoid FOIA Compliance Requirements – B.B.

o o o

Glenn’s list of 15 cities to avoid like the plague when things go bad – JBG

A four-minute audio clip with the list published. Well worth the listen, especially when you get to the part about how the cities were picked for the list.

Hugh’s Quote of the Day:

“We, here in America, hold in our hands the hopes of the world, the fate of the coming years; and shame and disgrace will be ours if in our eyes the light of high resolve is dimmed, if we trail in the dust the golden hopes of men.” – Theodore Roosevelt, Address at Carnegie Hall, March 30, 1912

Notes for Tuesday – August 11, 2015

August 11th is the birthday of SurvivalBlog editor The Werewolf in Brazil. Feliz aniversário!

o o o

Today, we present another entry for Round 60 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $10,000 worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate, good for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,195 value),
  2. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be 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,
  3. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper with a hammer forged, chromlined barrel and a hard case to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR type rifle to have quick change barrel, which can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools, and a compact carry capability in a hard case or 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
  4. Gun Mag Warehouse is providing 20 Magpul pmags 30rd Magazines (a value of $300) and a Gun Mag Warehouse T-Shirt. (An equivalent prize will be awarded for residents in states with magazine restrictions.),
  5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  6. A Model 120 Series Solar Generator provided by Quantum Harvest LLC (a $340 value),
  7. A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo,
  8. KellyKettleUSA.com is donating both an AquaBrick water filtration kit and a Stainless Medium Scout Kelly Kettle Complete Kit with a combined retail value of $304,
  9. TexasgiBrass.com is providing a $300 gift certificate, and
  10. Two cases of meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).

Second Prize:

  1. 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,
  2. A FloJak EarthStraw “Code Red” 100-foot well pump system (a $500 value), courtesy of FloJak.com,
  3. The Ark Institute is donating a non-GMO, non-hybrid vegetable seed package–enough for two families of four, seed storage materials, a CD-ROM of Geri Guidetti’s book “Build Your Ark! How to Prepare for Self Reliance in Uncertain Times”, and two bottles of Potassium Iodate– a $325 retail value,
  4. A $300 gift certificate from Freeze Dry Guy,
  5. A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials,
  6. Twenty Five books, of the winners choice, of any books published by PrepperPress.com (a $270 value),
  7. A pre-selected assortment of military surplus gear from CJL Enterprize (a $300 value),
  8. TexasgiBrass.com is providing a $150 gift certificate,
  9. RepackBox is providing a $300 gift certificate to their site, and
  10. Safecastle is providing a package of 10 Lifestraws (a $200 value).

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,
  6. APEX Gun Parts is donating a $250 purchase credit,
  7. Montie Gear is donating a Precision Rest (a $249 value), and
  8. 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 60 ends on September 30th, 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.

Tails for MacBook Users: Anonymity for the Survivalist, by Losttribe

Since the exposures of details regarding the NSA’s communication capture and domestic spying programs, many Patriots wish to keep their identities as anonymous as possible. Examples would be avoiding the tracking of us (who read online blogs, search for articles and information applicable in TEOTWAWKI, and make certain purchases that we feel are not the business of the powers that be) by those who wish to capture and store all of this detail for use against particular individuals and groups, whether it be in our current “big brother” era or future TEOTWAWKI.

For many users, reducing your cyber footprint is not so easy. With the vast push over the last decade to expand our identity by sharing email addresses across forums, blogs, and social networking sites, removing this has become an ever more challenging issue. For those who are ready to begin the process of breaking down their cyber footprint or for those who have decided to start fresh somewhere else, such as in the Redoubt, this is an excellent time to also start fresh with your online identity.

The Tails operating system (The Amnesic Incognito Live System) operates completely from a USB drive. Tails is based on Debian Linux– a flavor of the Linux operating system (OS) designed to be run separately from the installed OS baked onto the hard drive in your laptop or PC. For normal PC users, Tails will run under most circumstances using some simple instructions, without an enormous amount of effort just to get it running. For anyone who uses any kind of MacBook, this is not the case.

Newer MacBooks, such as the MacBook air are built on x86 technology (older Mac’s are built on the PowerPC architecture known as RISC) but use UEFI instead of BIOS based firmware (now the same in Windows 8 and above). This creates an issue with simply burning the Tails ISO as an image on the USB drive to get it started. This issue is further exasperated due to most newer MacBook laptops not having an optical drive either (CDROM). For those of you who would like to start using the tools available to add as much privacy as possible to your cyber tasks, I will walk you through getting Tails up and running on a Mac.

If you don’t already have the Tor Browser Bundle, get it installed. Once you’ve got that installed, go to https://tails.boum.org/ to grab the most recent copy of Tails. While there, read up on the technology so you have a better understanding of how it works and have confidence that it’s a fit for you. Remember, the desire to use such technology can sometimes outweigh the benefits, so take long hard consideration into if creating anonymity is for you. The flip side to hiding all that you do online could be an increased desire for those that wish to pry to figure out what exactly it is you’re doing and why you need this ability to “hide”.

Once you have the Tails ISO downloaded to your Mac, let’s go ahead and grab a few more tools you’ll need. First, we’ll head on over to Sevenbits site and grab the most recent copy of Enterprise (0.3.0 at the time of this writing). Enterprise is an EFI program that aids in loading a Linux like Grub boot loader (GRand Unified Bootloader) for the Linux kernel. It was developed by Sevenbits to be used in conjunction with Mac Linux Boot Loader (MLUL); however, integration between the two, with Tails, is not yet 100%, so we will be doing this manually. You can grab Enterprise here: https://sevenbits.github.io/Enterprise/

Now go grab your USB drive; get one with a minimum of 4GB in size, and put it to the side for now. Open up a terminal on your Mac (Applications -> Utilities -> Terminal). Once open, we need to see what your disk layout looks like both before and after inserting the USB drive so we do not confuse the new drive with any of the drives in use. Run the command “diskutil list”.

Here is an example output:

/dev/disk0
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: GUID_partition_scheme *251.0 GB disk0
1: EFI EFI 209.7 MB disk0s1
2: FDE_FullyEncrypted 225.0 GB disk0s2
3: Apple_HFS Macintosh HD 225.0 GB disk0s2s1
4: Apple_Boot Recovery HD 650.0 MB disk0s3
5: Apple_HFS Restore 25.0 GB disk0s4
6: ppc-disk0.db 262.1 KB disk0s6
7: ppc-disk0.log 4.6 KB disk0s7

We can see from this output I am using disk0 and have no other disks currently running on my system. Go ahead and plug that USB drive into your MAC and you should see the drive appear on your desktop. Let’s rerun “diskutil list”, and now we should see another disk other than disk0. In this example, I will be using disk1.

Next open Disk Utility (Applications -> Utilities -> Disk Utility), and on the right hand side you should see your USB disk, disk0, with the name of the vendor you bought it from, such as Sandisk. If you have created partitions on it or named it something else, you will need to “Unmount” any volumes mounted on it by selecting them and then select “Unmount”. Again, click on the USB drive and in the center of the screen select “Partition Layout”, and make sure it is laid out as a “1 partition layout”. Beneath “Partition Layout”, select “Options”, and select the Partition Scheme “Master Boot Record”, and select OK. To the right of Partition Layout, select format, change the format to “MS-DOS (FAT)”, and click “Apply”. This will prep the USB drive for our new Enterprise setup.

Now that you’re feeling confident about all of this, let’s open up the drive that should have pre-mounted itself with a USB drive icon on your desktop. If not, go back to Disk Utility and mount it. Once you’re inside, create a folder called “efi”, and then go into this new folder and create another folder called “boot” and head on into this new boot folder. Set that window to the side for now.

Open up Finder, and assuming you downloaded both Tails and Enterprise to your Downloads folder, you’ll want to extract the contents of the zipped Enterprise package. This will leave you with a new folder called Enterprise and inside a few files and binaries. You will need to copy the “boot.efi” and “bootX64.efi” binaries into the folder were created earlier onto your USB under the “efi/boot folder”. Once that’s done, copy in the Tails ISO into the same folder and rename it “boot.iso”.

Whew, now that we have all of that done, we are getting close but not done yet. We have just a few more things to do! We will need to create a config file for Enterprise to use to find the Tails kernel and boot images for Linux named “vmlinuz” and “initrd”. To do this, we will open up the text editor (Applications -> Utilities -> Textedit) and create a file called “enterprise.cfg”. Copy and paste this detail into your Textedit file. You can also customize it, if you are familiar with Linux boot options for the kernel, especially if you have specific video needs for any custom video graphics or displays (MAC towers).

# This is a sample enterprise.cfg file, demonstrating how to boot kernels.
# Lines beginning with a pound sign are comments and are ignored.
# Some of this is not necessary, but for completeness I have left all of the examples and modified it for the setup we just did. Feel free to modify or remove what you like; you can find an outline of what the different lines mean.
entry Tails
family Debian
iso boot.iso
kernel /live/vmlinuz config live-media=removable findiso=/efi/boot/boot.iso nopersistent noprompt timezone=Etc/UTC block.events_dfl_poll_msecs=1000 nox11autologin module=Tails noapic noapm nodma nomce nolapic nomodeset nosmp

Save that file under the “USB drive/efi/boot” called “enterprise.cfg”. Once you save it, don’t close it just yet; save it again as: “.MLUL-Live-USB”. Save and close all of what you have opened, unmount the volumes on your USB drive, and eject it. Give yourself a pat on the back, and treat your self to a cup of coffee because the fun is about to begin!

With the USB drive in your MAC, reboot the machine. Once it is down and before it starts to boot up, hold down the option key ? also called “alt” to some, as this will keep your Mac from booting up normally, allowing additional boot options. You should see your USB drive on your screen as one of the options called “EFI Boot”. Select “EFI boot”, and let Enterprise boot load up. Again, you will be given the option of what to load, select “1” for Tails, and at the next screen select “1” again. By this time, you should see it attempt to load the Linux kernel “vmlinuz” followed by the “initrd” image. Note that it’s common to see a video error that should pass. Depending on the speed of your Mac, after about a minute, you will finally see Tails begin to load and will eventually be presented with the Tails Greeter.

The configuration of Tails, Tor, VPN’s, encrypted email, and instant messaging will be covered in a separate article. For now, feel free to log in and take your new USB-based operating system for a test drive. Once you pull out the USB drive, the Tails operating system will wipe the memory from your system and shut down, leaving everything you’ve done wiped away. Your Mac’s RAM (not the hard drive or USB) will have “amnesia”!!

I will leave you with this: As you embark on reducing your cyber footprint, think long and hard about whether or not you need to be involved in social networks, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn, just to name a few. Just remember their business model is built on surveillance tradecraft designed to collect as much data about you as possible. Building a complete profile of you, your habits, enabling government agencies to produce facial aged/modified photos of you in the event you choose to go off the grid. All the information you share via online profiles is collected by corporate surveillance giants, and in turn, captured by government agencies. Such agencies are looking to classify groups of people based on their narcissistic stereotypes, while destroying your freedom. You may find you have a need to keep some things around, such as LinkedIn for your career. Consider the idea of separating your new (anonymous) identity from all sites and tools that you have used in the past or currently use from your non-anonymous identity. I will go into more detail in future articles.

For now, I bid you safe surfing, and to stay frosty! The time is near at hand for these little things to have major impact in a changing world of control and compliance.

Letter Re: Pat Cascio’s Product Review: Kahr Arms CM40

HJL,

I just want to thank Pat for his reviews especially on the small conceal carry type of pistols. Unfortunately, the review on the Kahr Arms CM40 came a little late for me personally. About a month ago I went to a gun show specifically looking for a small frame 9mm for conceal carry purposes. I had researched several specific brands in a low price range, such as the Taurus PT111, and the Taurus PT-709, the Kel-Tec PF9, and the Ruger LC9. I even read Pat’s LC9 review that he posted here some time ago. My thought was to get something in the $200 range that is small enough to conceal but powerful enough to protect me if needed. I did not want a .380, and I felt a .40 was too much in an overly stressful situation. I decided on the Ruger LC9 for more than one reason. First off with the comparisons between these guns it seemed the LC9 was the better choice. Secondly, I am partial to Rugers, and this would make the 6th Ruger pistol added to my collection. While I do own other brands, I am partial to Rugers, as I know them and trust them. Another reason for liking the LC9 over the others is that all the square edges on the LC9 have a rounded effect for ease with getting it in or out of concealment. Also I liked how thin the LC9 was compared to some of the other pistols I looked at. I happened to find one at a gun show listed for $250. That was the best price on any I had seen that day. However, what was sitting on the table next to it was a Kahr CM9 also for $250. It was a great deal on either gun, but I was looking for the LC9, and that is what I went with. I didn’t know much about the Kahr at the time, and now I wish I had. Also, I was looking for something in particular for my concealed carry that I did not get in the LC9. I wanted a striker fired weapon with no safety to fumble with. The LC9 I picked up is an older model that is a Double Action Only (DAO) hammer fired gun. Because it is not the LC9s (S for Striker), the trigger pull is heavier and longer than the newer LC9s. Also I imagine the Kahr CM9, which is a striker gun, has a lighter, smoother, and shorter trigger pull. Unfortunately, I did not know this at that time. While the Kahr is a little thicker and blockier than the LC9, I’d live with these features for a lighter smoother trigger pull. I showed the LC9 to my sister, and she fell in love with it and has asked me to get her one just like it for concealed carry. I may just giver her the gun and go on the hunt for a Karh CM9. As always thanks for the reviews.

-JB

News From The American Redoubt:

During a recent fly-in event, former U.S. Navy carrier pilot and now sport trike flyer “TTABS” made another great flying video, showing some gorgeous scenery in The American Redoubt. This one shows him and a friend flying out of Bonners Ferry, Idaho to skim over the peaks of the Cabinet Mountains, in Northwestern Montana. He has promised to soon post a few more videos filmed in the same region.

o o o

And during the same Trike Fly-In event, TTABS and a friend did an honorary fly-by at The Bird Aviation Museum in Sagle, Idaho. By pre-arrangement, the legendary Dr. Forrest Bird stepped outside his house to see the pair of trikes fly over. Sadly, Forrest Bird passed away the very next day, at age 94. It was a fitting final salute for a pioneer in both aviation and aviation medicine. Our sincere condolences to his family. – JWR

o o o

VA Backs Down on Threat to Take Idaho Veteran’s Guns – RBS

o o o

Armed ‘constitutional advocates’ defend Montana mine – S.S.

o o o

Video: Lone hiker’s scary standoff with mountain lion – RBS