Odds ‘n Sods:

Computers as judge, jury, and executioner – The risks — and benefits — of letting algorithms judge us. We aren’t to be judged, so we are algorithmed. – T.Z.

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Doctors Urge California Residents “Leave Now…While You Can” As Gas Leak Fears Grow – Interestingly enough, I have some contacts in Texas that are telling me that this leak is small potatoes. There are apparently oil fields that have long had unstoppable leaks much larger than the one in California.

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Denver Science Museum Reverses Course on Concealed Carry – T.P.
“The new policy quietly went into effect last December, in time for the holiday season. The museum’s board of trustees decided to reexamine their concealed-carry ban after the November attacks in Paris, and the following San Bernardino shootings cemented their change of position.”

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Hickok45’s YouTube Account Terminated by Google – T.J.
Update: The account was terminated on 1/6/16 and was reinstated later in the day. Today, it shows terminated again. Either Google is being psychotic in their application of policies or there is a concerted effort by YouTubers to report the channel. A measured response by those who support the family friendly gun channel might be to refuse to purchase YouTube Red and ensure that AdBlock is turned on when you visit YouTube until they correct their error.

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Finnish Government Condemns ‘Extremist’ Anti-Migrant Street Patrols – In Europe, there is a fundamental problem in understanding even the natural rights of humans to defend one’s self. I am most concerned [dismayed] with the highlighted phrase of Minister Orpo, “Volunteers have no right to use force.” Contrast that ‘official’s governmental statement’ with this from a participant: “Attacking is not part of our principles, only defense. And everyone has the right to defend themselves if we are attacked. We defend ourselves and call the police…” – D.S.

Hugh’s Quote of the Day:

“Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.” Ezekiel 28:17 (KJV)

Notes for Friday – January 08, 2016

On this day, in 1835, the U.S. National Debt reached zero for the first and only time. This is also the birthday of the late Algis Budrys (born 1931, died June 9, 2008). He was the Lithuanian-American science fiction author who wrote the classic survivalist novel Some Will Not Die.

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An ongoing financial crash…war looms on the horizon…tyranny at home…feeling like you need a bit more long-term food storage? Ready Made Resources has a sale on Mountain House cans with savings from 25-40%!

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Today, we present another entry for Round 62 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $12,000 worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A Tactical Self-Contained 2-Series Solar Power Generator system from Always Empowered. This compact starter power system is packaged in a wheeled O.D. green EMP-shielded Pelican hard case (a $1,700 value),
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate that is good for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,195 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 with a hammer forged, chrome-lined 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),
  5. Gun Mag Warehouse is providing 20 Magpul PMAG 30-rd 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),
  6. Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  7. The Ark Institute is donating a non-GMO, non-hybrid vegetable seed package (enough for two families of four) plus 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),
  8. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  9. 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, 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. A transferable certificate for a two-day Ultimate Bug Out Course from Florida Firearms Training (a $400 value),
  4. A Model 175 Series Solar Generator provided by Quantum Harvest LLC (a $439 value),
  5. A Trekker IV™ Four-Person Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $250 value),
  6. A $200 gift certificate good towards any books published by PrepperPress.com,
  7. A pre-selected assortment of military surplus gear from CJL Enterprize (a $300 value),
  8. RepackBox is providing a $300 gift certificate to their site, and
  9. 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 $245 gift certificate from custom knifemaker Jon Kelly Designs, of Eureka, Montana,
  3. 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,
  4. Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
  5. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  6. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances,
  7. APEX Gun Parts is donating a $250 purchase credit,
  8. Montie Gear is donating a Precision Rest (a $249 value), and
  9. 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 62 ends on January 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.

What’s For Dinner?- Part 1, by J.R.

I tell my family that those are the three most dreaded words in the English language. At the same time, I often think about how very difficult life is going to become when most women will not be able to answer that question for their families. While those who are preparing for complete collapse of the economy and our society may feel they have the situation covered, the reality is that the vast majority of preppers, at least those I have conversed with and observed, do not. The reasons vary. For most, it is lack of knowledge of what foods should be stored in what quantities. For some it is normalcy bias—life can’t possibly be bad for that long, so I don’t need to store much or worry about a varied diet. For others it boils down to the mistaken belief that if they and theirs are hungry enough, they’ll be content to eat whatever they have. This article is not focused on correcting a person’s normalcy bias. I will, however, address the other two widely held beliefs I have observed among friends, family, and mere acquaintances and as one who taught food storage classes over the years.

When it comes to food storage, I have observed that most people fall into one of two camps. The first is composed of people who store primarily the long-term basics of grains, beans, oils, salt, and sugar—a plan that resembles to varying degrees what the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) has counseled their members to store. It is the most economical way to stockpile the minimum emergency storage. The second group is comprised of people who store primarily what I call the “expanded storage”. This storage provides much more variety and therefore requires more attention to record-keeping and rotation. Both storage plans satisfy the minimum number of calories for individuals who are not stressed and physically exerting themselves, but we are not planning for a life of ease when TEOTWAWKI hits. If we want our family to thrive in the hard times, we really need to have a comprehensive storage of the long-term basics as well as the expanded storage.

THE BASICS

Let’s begin with the bare basics using lists of the essential long-term storage foods put forth by the LDS. I use their lists because the LDS have a long history of counseling their members to be prepared for uncertain times and have done the research on what staples to store and in what quantities.

These amounts will provide 2000 calories per day– the minimum for survival– for one year. For comparison, you can go to any of a number of food storage companies and see that they offer “year’s supply” food packages that provide between 1200 and 2000 calories per day. This is the minimum number of calories. Please keep in mind that when the body is stressed, as most people will be when TEOTWAWKI hits, the body needs more calories. When we are cold, we need more. When we are working hard, we need a whole lot more. (Can you imagine telling your husband or teenage sons who have been at hard labor all day that they are limited to 2000 calories?) This is not the time to decide to lose that extra weight. That will come regardless. A decreased calorie intake will result in a decreased ability to think. It will also result in a decrease in body heat generated and an increased need for more layers of clothing and blankets.

List A: 300 pounds grains, 75 lbs dry milk, 60 lbs beans, 60 lbs sugar, 20 lbs oil, 8 lbs salt.

List B: 400 pounds grains, 20 lbs dry milk, 60 lbs beans, 60 lbs sugar, 20 lbs oil, 10 lbs salt.

These two lists provide 2000 calories per day for one year. List A is for children and pregnant and nursing women who need the extra calcium and vitamins for proper development. List B is for the rest of the people. You will note the differences are in the recommended storage amounts for grains, dry milk, and salt. List A has more calories and calcium from the dry milk, and less from grains. List A also needs less salt due to the lower grain amount.

Now that you know what you need to store in what amounts, let’s discuss each of these staple items in detail so that you can make the most informed decisions for your family’s storage program.

Grains

Grains are the basis for most food storage programs. Calorie-wise, they provide the biggest bang for the buck. Whole grains are recommended, not only due to their higher nutritional value but also to their generally longer storage life, the primary exception being rice. (White rice has a much longer shelf life than brown.) The LDS church advocates a minimum of 400 pounds per year (with the complementary 20 pounds of dry milk) for adults or 300 pounds per year for children and nursing and pregnant women (with the complementary 75 pounds of dry milk). Wheat and milk have all nine essential amino acids for making a complete protein. There is no recommendation for how much to store for each kind of grain. That is personal preference. In our family, wheat comprises about 70% of our grain storage, with pasta, rice, oats, and popcorn in about equal proportions for the balance.

Wheat

Wheat has been advocated as the best choice for food storage in the United States primarily due to the fact that it is what we eat in this country but also due to the fact that wheat and milk combined (in the same meal) provide all the essential amino acids for protein.

There are four major types of wheat– hard red, hard white, soft white, and durum.

Hard red wheat is what our pioneer ancestors raised for centuries. Kept cool and dry, it has a long shelf life. The flour is slightly darker, the grain itself a little bitter. According to Chef Brad of Fusion Grain Cooking, hard red wheat is an acid-based grain. It is this acidity that causes some people digestive problems. Hard red wheat is only very slightly more nutritious than hard white wheat. Hard red wheat was all that was available to me when I began my long-term storage program over thirty years ago, and it was acceptable because it was the only option. However, with the advent of hard white wheat, hard white is all I will buy. I can’t recommend it enough.

Hard white wheat was developed from crossing hard red wheat and soft white wheat and selecting for the desirable traits of both. It is very slightly less nutritious than hard red wheat. As an alkaline-based grain, it is easier for most people to digest. Hard white wheat flour bakes into perfectly light loaves of 100% whole wheat bread. It makes delicious cookies. And because it lacks the bitterness of hard red wheat, you can use less sweetener than 100% whole wheat recipes normally call for.

Soft white wheat has a shorter shelf life due to its higher moisture content. It is prized for pastries, pasta, cakes, and crackers.

Durum wheat is most often used for making pasta.

Wheat is the most versatile of the grains. Not only can it be ground into flour, but the berries, whole or cracked, can be cooked into a cereal, boiled and used to extend hamburger, and sprouted to provide a vitamin C source when there are no other options.

Consider also storing some wheat to sprout and feed to chickens. Sprouted wheat contains small amounts of vitamins A, B, C, and E not found in whole grain bread.

For maximum nutritional value, whole wheat flour should be used immediately after grinding. Otherwise, store freshly ground wheat in the freezer until ready to use.

White flour (which has had the bran, the oils, and most of the nutrients removed) has a shelf life of 1-2 years. I store only 25-50 lbs, just enough to keep the family pastry chef happy.

Rice

Rice and beans also make a complete protein. Brown rice is high in oils and has a shelf life of about six months. For this reason, it is not recommended for inclusion in your home storage program. White rice, on the other hand, has a 25-30 year shelf life. It is also a good choice for extending your supply of dog food. You can also make your own instant rice by cooking the rice fully and then dehydrating it. To prepare, do just as you would for commercially prepared instant rice.

Oats

The two main choices with regard to oats are rolled or quick. Rolled oats have a longer shelf life than quick oats, but for most people the choice comes down to personal preference. In this house I prefer quick; my husband prefers rolled, so we store both.

Popcorn

We hope popcorn will only be used for snacking, but it may also be our emergency food on those days when dinner gets a bit overdone or a recipe goes horribly wrong. Some preppers advocate grinding popcorn into flour for cornbread. It makes a gritty cornbread. If you like grit, great. If not, store dent corn for this purpose instead.

Dent Corn

Dent corn is what you want for grinding into cornmeal to make corn bread. Dent corn is also what you would use for making the flour for corn tortillas and masa; however, you need to add lime in a process known as nixtamalization.

Pasta

Pasta adds variety to your diet. It has a shelf life of about eight years.

Even the most careful of food storage practitioners will occasionally find that some of their grain has been compromised. Fortunately, unless it has become moldy, it does not have to be wasted. It can be fed directly to livestock, sprouted and fed to livestock, or grown in the garden and then tilled into the soil for a green manure.

Of all the food groups, it is most important to become accustomed to eating wheat now but gradually. Some people need time to make the transition, or they will experience intestinal discomfort.

As of this writing, wheat can be obtained most inexpensively through the LDS Home Storage Center (link at the end of this article), for about $7.00 for 25 lbs. They carry hard red and hard white. If your local Wal-Mart doesn’t stock bulk bags of wheat, they can be ordered in for about $14 for 25 lbs.

Loss leaders at grocery stores are a better option for rice and pasta. Dent corn can be purchased from Honeyville Grain. Oats are most likely least expensive at the LDS Home Storage Center.

To prepare all grains for storage, place them in the freezer for at least 72 hours to kill any bugs. Remove from the freezer and let come to room temperature before putting into buckets or mylar bags. If you are using oxygen absorbers, you can skip the freezing step.

All grains should be stored in a cool, dry place, preferably below 60 degrees Fahrenheit.

Beans

The minimum recommended storage amount is 60 pounds of dry beans (not green beans, not commercially canned) per person per year. Beans are high in protein and low in fat, and are a good source of many trace minerals. It does not matter what kinds of beans you store—white, pink, pinto, red, kidney, black, lima, garbanzo, lentils, et cetera. In this house we store only what we really like. The chief cook and bottle washer here is of Mexican descent, so we have a lot of pinto beans. We also store some black beans, some white, and a few pink and garbanzo.

While most of us think of beans as a side dish or component of soup, they can actually be used in a wide variety of recipes. Beans can be sprouted. Mung beans are especially suited for this. Beans can also be ground into flour using a grain mill. This flour can be used instead of wheat flour or cornstarch in thickening soups.

Bean puree is also advocated for use in baking as a way of substituting for oil in baking and boosting the nutritional value of sweets. I’ve read rave reviews from people praising the use of bean puree in chocolate chip cookies and cakes. In the interest of research and providing my classes with samples, I have made some of these recipes. Using the full amount of bean puree recommended results in a very heavy product. Small children might be fooled; I don’t know, as I didn’t have any around at the time to offer samples to. My older children and teens were not fooled. When I used half of the recommended amounts of bean flour, most people said the result was tolerable but not desirable. Basically, they’d rather just do without. If you want to give this a try, here are the suggestions on how to go about this. For bean puree to substitute for oil in baking, mash beans with enough water to make a puree. To substitute for butter in baking, mash cooked, drained beans into a paste. Substitute in a 1:1 ratio, meaning that if your recipe calls for one cup of oil or butter, use one cup of pureed or mashed beans instead. White beans are recommended as being the best to substitute in baking.

Because dry beans require a long time to cook (and will thus require a lot of fuel in a grid-down situation), I always keep a good supply of beans that I have pressure canned at home. Dry beans are among the easiest foods to can. Consult your Ball Blue Book (the exact title has changed over the years, and the current edition is no longer blue, but usually the title includes Ball Blue Book, and that is how it will be referred to in this article) for exact directions. Basically you soak the beans overnight, rinse in the morning, add the appropriate amount to your jar, add salt and boiling water, and process according to instructions with your pressure canner. There are also several websites that advocate the canning of beans that have not been presoaked, i.e., dry beans are put into the jar, salt and boiling water are added, and then the beans are canned under pressure. This method is not USDA-approved, which may not matter to you; I have never seen any reasons offered as to why this is the case. However, I and others who have tried this method have noted a much higher seal failure rate that we can only attribute to the beans being unsoaked.

For many people beans are not a favorite food storage item. This is not due to the eating of the beans, but rather what happens afterwards. Numerous remedies are suggested for this problem, but the fact of the matter is that people who are not accustomed to eating beans on a regular basis lack the proper intestinal flora to digest beans properly. Once you start eating beans regularly, any problems with gas should disappear entirely.

Beans are very sensitive to heat and should be stored in conditions as cool as possible. Beans exposed to higher temperatures become tough, take longer to soak, and longer to cook. Unfortunately, we sometimes have beans that won’t soften with cooking. There are several ways to address this problem. First, add acidic foods such as molasses, tomatoes, and vinegar near the end of the cooking time as these items tend to toughen bean skins. For the same reason, salt should not be added until just before serving. Second, hard water may cause hard beans. If the cooked beans are still not soft, try adding ¼ teaspoon baking soda to soften the beans. If this still doesn’t work, there is yet another remedy to try, but it won’t work for tonight’s dinner. Try freezing the beans. As the water in the beans freezes, it will break down the cell walls to soften the beans. If that still doesn’t work, pressure cooking or canning the beans almost always will. And if that doesn’t work, the beans can still be ground in a mill and the resulting flour used in soups. However, bear in mind that the increasing toughness in the beans suggests a corresponding decrease in nutritional value.

The LDS Home Storage Center sells a few varieties of beans (white, pinto, and black) in bulk bags as well as #10 cans. The HSC also sells dehydrated refried beans. While I know of a few people who have been happy with the product, I have not, and therefore I cannot recommend it. (Perhaps it is my heritage coming through, and I’m too picky about the consistency, or perhaps my beans were old and tough.) The prices for the bulk bags are comparable to grocery stores’ sale prices.

Letter Re: Welding With Car Batteries

Mr. Williamson,

I can verify that this will work. Using two car batteries I field repaired a bracket for a hydraulic water drilling rig in Honduras. I have a few comments on the linked video to make it easier for SurvivalBlog readers. First, use an old wire coat hanger for your welding rod. Second, Mark in the video appeared to swap the polarity of the electrode before and after. Positive DC to the stick (electrode) puts more heat into the workpiece, negative DC to the electrode puts more heat into the stick (for thinner workpieces). Lastly be sure to use a second jumper cable between the batteries so you can get the highest power at the workpiece. This is also something you will want to practice on a Saturday afternoon in your garage before you need it, and don’t forget to toss an inexpensive pair of welding goggles in your toolbox!

DD in CO

Economics and Investing:

GOLD & SILVER: Up In A Sea of Red… Get Used To Days Like This

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The Bankers’ India Gold Grab

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Items from Professor Preponomics:

US News

The “Services” Based Economy Delusion (Contra Corner) Excerpt: “In short, the service economy may well be doing fine, though I doubt it, but in the end it won’t be nearly enough to save anyone.”

Macy’s to Cut Up To 4,800 Jobs After Weak Holiday Sales (ABC News) The real data is incoming no matter the tendency to blame the weather. Excerpt: “Macy’s said that unseasonably warm weather that extended through December was the biggest culprit and hurt shopper demand for cold-weather items, from boots to coats. That forced Macy’s to step up discounts to clear out mounds of merchandise.”

Crude Below $33 as Oil Prices Fall to Lowest in a Decade (Business Insider) Excerpt: “Oil prices plunged to levels not seen in more than a decade on Thursday, hammered by the continuing turmoil in China, the world’s second biggest oil consumer.”

Puerto Rico is Preparing for Legal Action from Creditors (CNBC) I do believe the expression goes something like this: Let the lawsuits begin! Excerpt: “Puerto Rico is bracing for impending lawsuits brought by its creditors following the commonwealth’s second default in the past five months.”

Opinion: The Banking System Faces an Existential Threat — and It’s Not Bitcoin (Market Watch) Interesting history, an informative read, and the radical idea that banks should have to back all loans with 100% in reserves… Excerpt: “When global crisis finally struck again in 2008 it was different from 1929 in that there was no world war to blame for the global economic imbalances; this crisis followed an extended period of the banks having had things pretty much their own way. Instead, it was a giant version of the regular crises inherent in the system. This led to the thinking that it is the banks, and indeed the system they created around themselves, that need changing.”

International News

Market Confusion in China Has Investors Fearing the Worst (Reuters) Excerpt: “Whether China’s latest market upheaval is by design or default, it’s little surprise that investors are increasingly assuming the worst.”

Venezuela’s Bizarre System of Exchange Rates (Mises Institute) Excerpt: “Venezuela is currently going through its worst crisis in history, replete with an endless list of interesting problems. Foremost among these are severe shortages in even the most basic of necessities. Economists have used these shortages as textbook examples to illustrate the pernicious effects of price controls.”

Personal Economics and Household Finance

Most Americans are One Paycheck from the Street (Market Watch) Excerpt: “Approximately 63% of Americans have no emergency savings…”

Odds ‘n Sods:

Internal War Is Now On The Horizon For America – B.B.

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Max (of Max Velocity Tactical) wrote in with a link of his view in the Malheur situation.
Incidentally, Max also has a new book out – Patriot Rising: The Unbroken available both as a paperback and a Kindle version.

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SurvivalBlog reader J.B. sent in this interesting take on “North Korea’s H-Bomb: The Lesson You Haven’t Thought Of” – Certainly something to chew on as this election cycle heats up.

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Cyber-Attack On Ukraine Proves US Power Grid Is Vulnerable Photo of Andrew Follett – Sent in by G.P.

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Mike Williamson, SurvivalBlog’s Editor At Large, sent in this link to a humorous discussion on ar15.com about winning the lottery. All kidding aside, there are some serious OPSEC lessons that can be learned from past lottery winners.

Notes for Thursday – January 07, 2016

This is the birthday of several notables: Senator Rand Paul (born 1963); Cresson Kearny (born 1914, died December 18, 2003); and Bent Faurschou-Hviid, known as The Flame (born 1921, died October 18, 1944). The Flame was a red-haired Danish resistance fighter in the Holger Danske Group during World War II. His exploits were dramatized in the movie Flame and Citron.

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Today, we present another entry for Round 62 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $12,000 worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A Tactical Self-Contained 2-Series Solar Power Generator system from Always Empowered. This compact starter power system is packaged in a wheeled O.D. green EMP-shielded Pelican hard case (a $1,700 value),
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate that is good for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,195 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 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),
  5. Gun Mag Warehouse is providing 20 Magpul PMAG 30-rd 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),
  6. Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  7. The Ark Institute is donating a non-GMO, non-hybrid vegetable seed package (enough for two families of four) plus 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),
  8. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  9. 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, 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. A transferable certificate for a two-day Ultimate Bug Out Course from Florida Firearms Training (a $400 value),
  4. A Model 175 Series Solar Generator provided by Quantum Harvest LLC (a $439 value),
  5. A Trekker IV™ Four-Person Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $250 value),
  6. A $200 gift certificate good towards any books published by PrepperPress.com,
  7. A pre-selected assortment of military surplus gear from CJL Enterprize (a $300 value),
  8. RepackBox is providing a $300 gift certificate to their site, and
  9. 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 $245 gift certificate from custom knifemaker Jon Kelly Designs, of Eureka, Montana,
  3. 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,
  4. Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
  5. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  6. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances,
  7. APEX Gun Parts is donating a $250 purchase credit,
  8. Montie Gear is donating a Precision Rest (a $249 value), and
  9. 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 62 ends on January 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.

Blueprint for Rebuilding- Part 2, by GRC

Security

With the basic necessities provided for by a thriving local economy, specialists can be employed to organize our third bullet point, security. In our pre-Reset cooperative outline we can lay the groundwork for our security strategy. Few families can hire a professional trainer full time. Gym membership for physical fitness or even a group membership at a local gun range are important first steps. The self-defense cooperative’s purpose would be to take this further and secure the services of a qualified professional skilled in physical fitness for all ages and abilities, self-defense techniques, and team building[23]. With the understanding that your young cooperative will probably not be able to hire someone full time, assign a committee to find a contracted security specialist with the critical skills; it should be someone who will attend cooperative meetings and begin training as part of an ongoing program. Make clear your ideas for forming a close knit team and community, even if you choose not to share your fears about the future.

When the Reset does come, your defense expert will have need of a group with your skillset in resource management. At that time you may come to an agreement for full-time service in exchange for resources. The bulk of defense for the fortified community will always lie with the citizen militia. Each man, woman, and teenager must be trained in small group tactics and proper weapons handling. This includes firearms, blades, and hand-to-hand defense. Many experts believe the latter to be most important to the situations we will face in a new dark age. A community must have experts to design the training regimen, enforce physical sparring, and make defensive strategy suggestions to community leaders. Post-Reset, these trainers will need to be mostly full time.

Finally, in matters of security, joining a neighborhood or rural watch program is a place to build relationships[24]. If there is not one in your area, start one. As a cooperative, offer membership to everyone. Do not assume a neighbor is not interested based on any preconceived notions you may hold. Do not worry about influencing those who do not share your views. A watch cooperative would be a welcome source of comfort to all members of the community, not just the prepared. Even before a catastrophic event, there will almost certainly be an uptick in violent crime[25]. A break in by an armed criminal can be just as much an end of the world situation for an individual as an asteroid impact.

These three points– fuel, food, and security– provide a starting place to craft a cooperative around. None of these three are threatening to anyone in your local town or city. In fact, all are quite civically minded and probably will put you into contact with people otherwise afraid to be associated with prepared groups. You need not discuss your vision of the future to find those helpful in achieving your cooperative’s goal of self-reliance. You can merely find common ground on simple matters of living well. Post-Reset, your planning will become clear to those wise enough to understand the danger. Remember, we’re planning for long-term rebuilding, not just short-term survival.

A Path Awaits

Where will we rebuild these communities after the Reset? Perhaps it will be in the places where they once stood, but there are some disadvantages to these locations. Remember our premise is what ought to be. Philosophy will have to take a pause immediately following a collapse, and the prepared need to survive the aftermath in order to build a better tomorrow. The wide open streets and individual buildings of our small town ancestors may not allow us to weather the storms of chaos after a downfall. But where we choose to set roots early in the conflict will give us a leg up in our long-term goals.

For those in rural areas, look to the concrete fortresses premade for you. Don’t have any of those close by? Look again. The grain elevators our model twentieth century cooperatives built still dot the countryside of the Americas. They’re in Australia, also. Some are wooden and wouldn’t fit your needs, but others feature concrete walls several feet thick[10]. Many are five or ten stories high; some are taller than that. Of course, each is dirty and dusty inside, with years of use or neglect and would require a thorough cleaning. It’s a small price to pay for the ability to withdraw to the safety of a reinforced cocoon at night. Once the Reset is clearly upon you, gather your prepared community and build the best earthen berms you can to surround the facility. Utilize the ground close to garden and tend animals, with lookouts on top of the prairie skyscrapers to warn workers of approaching danger. Determine the maximum number you can shelter there, then add to that number for the refugees who may flock to your community. Chances are that most of these places will be abandoned by the time worldwide disaster strikes. Be ready to assume, or barter for, ownership in that instance. In many areas of the country, there is a grain elevator every eight miles along rail road tracks[11] and more along navigable rivers and roads. Be sure to keep a map of any suitable sites, both for secondary shelters and to know where others might be sheltered.

For those in more urban settings, or rural areas without large grain production, search out a century old school building or church. Individual homes will not be safe, so create a hardened target to shelter your cooperative behind real brick and concrete. Study the concept of heimat– a German term not well translated into English [13]. The best definition is the place where you belong. It’s not exactly family and not exactly your town but more of a community. Another term to study– kirchenburgen– is borrowed from the European experience during conflicts, such as the Thirty Years War and Muslim invasions[12]. When pillaging armies rampaged across the countryside, churches were fortified to provide safe haven for otherwise vulnerable peasants; these were a kirchenburgen. In times of crisis you will need a safe place to retreat to in the face of armed parties. A large, determined force could breach the kirchenburgen, but it provides an expensive prize best bypassed. The idea of letting those with bad intentions pass you by in order to attack someone else feels cold hearted, but this will be a time of hard choices. Having a kirchenburgen at the center of your heimat provides your group a chance to carry on with daily chores, taking comfort that they and their loved ones have a safe home to return to. As a reminder, be sure to plan a secure place to house your biofuel refinery.

Religion

Religion may play a part in causing a future catastrophe. It is plausible a man-made disaster could be created by a group claiming to act in their own religion’s interest. Conversely, more Westerners disregard religion from their lives each year[26]. Your friends and neighbors may very well feel the same. Perhaps, you do too. The beauty of a free system is that each person worships as they choose, or chooses not to. However, even those without faith agreed to certain religious-based principles at the founding of America and most Western civilizations. In our example of early twentieth century America, we see a wide array of denominations living peacefully beside humanists. They believed religious freedom was worth fighting for, so too may it be for us. Even without agreement on the afterlife, most agreed to basic principles with regards to right and wrong in this life (i.e. don’t murder, steal, et cetera).

In this matter, you may choose to be proactive. Many clergy are aware of the dangers facing our society but would hesitate in partnering with prepared groups. Instead, simply get to know those in your community. Do not be afraid to make note of beliefs that are common to most religions. When the Reset occurs, be prepared to remind faith leaders of common pillars to rally their people to the common good. This is not a call to modify your own belief system or ask your church to modify traditions and doctrine. It’s quite the opposite. Stay true to your beliefs, but become a blessing to everyone in your community. By the time the Reset occurs, there will probably be fewer clergy present[29]. Steadfast people become a rally point for the despondent. Remember that many will turn to faith in times of crisis. Churches, or organizations such as your well-organized cooperative, that succeed in times of crisis are often those prepared to help. Like it or not, religion has been a major source of both conflict and comfort in rebuilding times. It will be again.

Summary

To most who study history, societal collapse is a foregone conclusion. This is not necessarily a condemnation of our current culture but merely a statement of fact that no empire lasts forever. Every country faces a Great Reset at some point, whether sudden or gradual. Trouble can take many forms, with our current civilization’s most glaring weaknesses being electronic, economic, and environmental. To build a strong future requires a long-term plan for thriving not just surviving.

There are many in your community who share common interests but may not share your vision of a difficult road ahead. Forming a cooperative around gardening, biofuel, or security is a successful strategy for rebuilding local economies while subtly preparing your community for a post-Reset world. This will allow your cooperative to be in the system but not of the system. Your cooperative can also act as an archive of information for others trying to rebuild but lacking knowledge and resources to do so. Helping others is best accomplished by creating a safe and secure community from which to reach out. This can be accomplished by identifying structurally sound facilities to shelter in immediately after a catastrophe. Some examples that will provide a head start in rebuilding include grain elevators, schools, and church buildings. Remember to include tradesmen, such as mechanics, in your cooperative to help create biofuel-powered vehicles and generators. Not only would biodiesel tractors and bulldozers be useful for farming, but tracked and wheeled vehicles can also be modified to help in self-defense.

Stretch your imagination and free your mind from distraction. Remember that very few ever imagined planes would be used as weapons of war on 9/11. What unique local resources do you have to supply and defend your community in a post-Reset world? Most important to remember as you create a blueprint to rebuild, ask yourself “What ought to be?”

References


[10]Farmer’s Tower http://www.mnhs.org/library/tips/history_topics/70peavey.php


[11]Revisiting Montana’s Historic Landscape http://montanahistoriclandscape.com/tag/railroad-corridor/


[12]Fortified Churches of Europe http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/596


[23] Testimony After Catastrophe: Narrating the Traumas of Political Violence By Stevan Weine


[24] Rural Neighborhood Watch Program https://www.sonomafb.org/Farm+News/Farm+News+Archive/2014/Feb+14/Rural+Neighborhood+Watch+Program.htm


[25] Murder Rates Rising Sharply in Many U.S. Cities http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/01/us/murder-rates-rising-sharply-in-many-us-cities.html?_r=0


[26] 10 facts about religion in America http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/08/27/10-facts-about-religion-in-america/


[29] Diminishing Job Prospects for Protestant Pastors www.pbs.org Religion & Ethics Newsletter

Letter Re: The Grid Will Never Be Down in the Way You May Think! – Part 2, by X-liberal

HJL:

This is a well thought out article and a new way of looking at “the grid”. I have to disagree with one point though. In the paragraph entitled “The Pattern” the last sentence says: “Now it is run by Liberal Democrats, and sadly, discrimination is the key to its access.” I humbly submit that it is not just the Liberal Democrats but also the elitist establishment Republicans as well. Truly, you cannot tell one from the other. – LL in Idaho

Economics and Investing:

Saudi Arabia is running out of money The cash crunch is so bad in Saudi Arabia that the government just hiked the price of gasoline by 50%. Yep, you read that right. Instead of paying the equivalent of $0.64USD for a gallon, they will now have to pay a whopping $0.96USD per gallon. – P.S.

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Petro Currencies Under Fire As Oil Keeps Sliding

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Items from Professor Preponomics:

US News

U.S. Shale Companies: Bankers are Quietly Tightening the Liquidity Noose (Zero Hedge) Watch out for the effects of possible liquidity triggers like this one. Excerpt: “It is these companies which find themselves inside this toxic feedback loop of declining liquidity, which forces them to utilize assets even faster, thus even further shrinking the borrowing base against which their banks have lent them money, that will be at the forefront of the epic bankruptcy wave that is waiting to be unleashed across the US, leading to tens of billions of defaults junk bonds over the next 12-18 months.”

Deutsche Bank Cuts US GDP Estimates (Reuters) Excerpt: “…they pared their view on domestic gross product in the last three months of last year by 1 percentage point to 0.5 percent, which they added “still might be too high in light of what could be much larger inventory liquidation than what we have assumed.”

“We Frontloaded a Tremendous Market Rally” Former Fed President Admits, Warns “No Ammo Left” (Zero Hedge) Excerpt: “What The Fed did, and I was part of it, was front-loaded an enormous rally market rally in order to create a wealth effect… and an uncomfortable digestive period is likely now.”

Are We Headed for Another Bust (Mises Institute) Excerpt: “The prolonged low interest rate policy of the Fed, on top of the Fed’s previous loose monetary policies (during Greenspan’s era), has severely weakened the pool of real wealth, which is currently in a dire state. This raises the likelihood that the elimination of bubbles as a result of a tighter stance while good in the long-term for wealth generators is likely to trigger a severe economic slump in the near to medium term.”

How Not to Use the International Trade Commission’s Economic Analysis of Trade Agreements (CATO Institute) This is an interesting article which advocates for the benefits of more open markets although the very language of the writer suggests a recognition that “more open markets” do not really mean “truly open markets”. The follow up question, of course, is whether and to what degree various economies benefit (or are harmed) by geopolitical market engineering. Excerpt: “…credible analysis clearly indicates that making markets more open and competitive will lead to improved resource allocation, expanded international trade, greater economic growth, and higher consumer welfare. Those objectives are genuinely worth pursuing.”

International News

China’s Doomsday Scenario (Business Insider) Spoiler Alert: Ever more Draconian capital controls are very likely coming. Excerpt: “Capital outflow is clearly accelerating, as evidenced by the sharp increase in the size of the net errors and omissions item in China’s balance of payment account.”

Investors Aren’t Very Happy with Portugal’s Bank Bond Decision (Bloomberg) Excerpt: “But the transfer has also left many debt investors scratching their heads and others raging from the rooftops since the move appears to fly in the face of the pari passu (literally “equal footing”) notion that demands creditors be treated equally and without preference.”

Personal Economics and Household Finance

How to Start a Home Vegetable Garden – Benefits & Saving Money (Money Crashers) Personal experience suggests that it does take some practice to accomplish maximum savings from a home garden, but the rewards for the effort are tremendous! Excerpt: “Burpee Seed Co. estimates that for every $50 a family spends on seeds and fertilizer, they’ll reap $1,250 in produce. Amazing!”

Odds ‘n Sods:

Attorney KrisAnne Hall makes a solid case, supporting to goals of the Constitutionalist group that is occupying a Federal building in eastern Oregon.

HJL Adds: It is important to remember that while we agree that the underlying principles that brought this mess in Burns, Oregon to a head are very important and that abuses have, are, and continue to be propagated by the Federal government, the methods and tactics employed by the Bundys and militia leave much to be desired. Bob Wright has written a letter titled “Why Bunkerville was so right and Burns is so wrong” that outlines our concerns very well. The Patriots have basically had their hand forced by a few who are overly anxious to bring this to a conflict. Many patriots were brought to Burns for a peaceful rally only to have this surprise sprung on them. Rather than picking the battle of their choice, Patriots are having the battle chosen for them, and the choice was marginal at best. The Moral right initiative has been lost in this battle, and public opinion is crucial to winning. That being said, we also agree that the Feds have a duty to bring this to a close peacefully.

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From Mike Williamson’s Blog “The Sacred Cow Slaughterhouse”: BATFE and “Engaged in the Business” of Selling Firearms

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With apologies to Tolkien: “One Bank To Rule Them All • One Surveillance State To Find Them • One World Order To Disarm Them All…And In The Darkness Bind Them…” – How Iceland Escaped From The One Bank – GJM

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Sent in by D.S.: Cell-Phone Distracted Parenting Can Have Long-Term Consequences – New research shows how cell phone distraction can deprive babies’ developing brains of crucial developmental signals.

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Louisiana Pastor Fingerprinted for Being Too Loud

Notes for Wednesday – January 06, 2016

Today, we present another entry for Round 62 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $12,000 worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A Tactical Self-Contained 2-Series Solar Power Generator system from Always Empowered. This compact starter power system is packaged in a wheeled O.D. green EMP-shielded Pelican hard case (a $1,700 value),
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate that is good for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,195 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 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),
  5. Gun Mag Warehouse is providing 20 Magpul PMAG 30-rd 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),
  6. Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  7. The Ark Institute is donating a non-GMO, non-hybrid vegetable seed package (enough for two families of four) plus 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),
  8. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  9. 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, 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. A transferable certificate for a two-day Ultimate Bug Out Course from Florida Firearms Training (a $400 value),
  4. A Model 175 Series Solar Generator provided by Quantum Harvest LLC (a $439 value),
  5. A Trekker IV™ Four-Person Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $250 value),
  6. A $200 gift certificate good towards any books published by PrepperPress.com,
  7. A pre-selected assortment of military surplus gear from CJL Enterprize (a $300 value),
  8. RepackBox is providing a $300 gift certificate to their site, and
  9. 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 $245 gift certificate from custom knifemaker Jon Kelly Designs, of Eureka, Montana,
  3. 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,
  4. Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
  5. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  6. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances,
  7. APEX Gun Parts is donating a $250 purchase credit,
  8. Montie Gear is donating a Precision Rest (a $249 value), and
  9. 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 62 ends on January 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.