Will Inflation Make A Comeback In 2014 – D.B.
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Will China Choose Russia or America in the Coming War? – J.R.
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Items from The Economatrix:
Picturing Our Dystopian World – Where Less Is More
The Fallacy Of Home Ownership – Why People Believe The Myth
February Personal Outlays Sustained By Service Spending Surge; Durable Goods Spending Slides
The New York State Rifle & Pistol Association is pleased to announce that the Revised New York State Police NY SAFE Act Guide instructs its members not to enforce the 7-round magazine limit originally imposed by the hastily enacted measure.
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How they’re hypersexualizing your kids. And people wonder why I homeschool my own kids. – H.L.
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I actually had to verify this because it is so absurd. White House looks to regulate cow flatulence as part of climate agenda.
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We’ve seen similar concepts before, but this is one of my favorite sites. 3 Ways to Escape Zip Ties: An Illustrated Guide. Mike Williamson (SurvivalBlog Editor At Large)
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“No statement should be believed because it is made by an authority. “ – Robert Heinlein
Notes from HJL:
Concerning the emerging story coming out of Jemez Springs, New Mexico, we have been waiting for the other shoe to drop. I have no love for the TSA and wouldn’t be surprised by the actions I have seen taken, but there is apparently more to the story. C.L. sent in this link showing that the TSA triggered on the idea that the sheriff was traveling under a different name.
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Also, P.W. instructs us that the reason the FDA is clamping down on drug companies over animal antibiotics is to target the industry that routinely feeds these antibiotics to the animals as a preventative measure. Feeding these massive amounts of antibiotics leads to the development of resistant strains of bacteria. While I understand and agree with that premise, it will still impact those who use the antibiotics to stock their prep pantries.
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Lastly, the gauntlet has been thrown down over last week’s biscuit recipe. This week, there are two recipes from readers who responded that their biscuits are better. Actually there are three, but Mrs Latimer wouldn’t let me publish her recipe. Eat and enjoy!
Welcome to SurvivalBlog’s Precious Metals Month in Review, by Steven Chochran of Gainesville Coins. Every month, we’ll take a look at the “month that was” in precious metals (PMs), covering everything from price action to the information that’s driving the numbers.
Of course, the thing that dominated the news in March was Russia’s invasion of the province of Crimea in Ukraine and annexation of the area into Mother Russia. Something, that got less attention but had just as much effect on gold, was the failures in China of “shadow loan” funds.
Russian troops poured into the southern Ukrainian province of Crimea in the pre-dawn hours of March 1st, in response to security worries following the ousting of pro-Russian Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, which set off the largest international incident in Europe since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Gold gained strongly on safe haven demand, peaking at a six-month high of $1,392 an ounce in intra-day trading on March 17th. An estimated 20,000 Russian troops entered Crimea, taking over Ukrainian military and government buildings. After the Russian-installed Crimean legislature held a referendum to rejoin Russia, it became clear that only symbolic sanctions would be enacted by the West. Gold began to decline from its highs, but capital flight out of Russia had already topped $60 billion and landed a severe blow to an already struggling Russian economy. The Russian central bank has canceled its last four bond auctions due to lack of demand.
Another bullish factor for gold was the Chinese financial sector. After previously bailing out insolvent companies and “investment trusts”, the Chinese government finally made good on its threats and started letting them default. This sent shockwaves through the public, who had believed that Beijing would make them whole no matter what risky ventures they put their money into. This positive for gold was somewhat offset by evidence that the Chinese economy was slowing down. This put pressure on base metals, such as copper and iron ore, which bled through to silver and the platinum group metals.
Riots in Turkey returned to a fever pitch, as President Erdogan ordered censoring of the Internet and blocking of Twitter and Youtube in an attempt to stop more revelations of corrupt acts by him and his family. Recordings of Erdogan and his son talking about where to hide bribes that they had received spread nationwide through Twitter and Facebook.
Anti-government demonstrations in Thailand erupted again, after the Supreme Court nullified last month’s elections due to fraud by the party of the Prime Minister, who is now facing official corruption charges and impeachment.
Thirty-four people have died so far in continuing riots in Venezuela, where the nation seems split between Marxist government supporters and anti-corruption protestors, who are demonstrating against high crime, high inflation, and food shortages. President Maduro had three Air Force generals arrested for treason.
The biggest bear factor for gold this month was new Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen , botching her first press conference on March 19th and telling reporters that the Fed would start raising interest rates next summer. This tanked the stock market and precious metals. Instead of trying to “walk back” her goof, other Fed officials went ahead and agreed with her, keeping the idea of higher interest rates in the news. Of course, the Fed thinks that interest rates are under 2%, even as food prices are skyrocketing. Pork is already 56% more expensive this year, and beef prices have increased 20% since January.
Gold and silver both broke above their 200-day moving average in March, due to situations in Ukraine and China and uncertainty over the U.S. economy. Gold hit a high of $1,392 an ounce for the month on March 17, where silver hit its monthly high on March 14, at $21.71.
Net gold imports by China through Hong Kong for February were reported at 109.2 metric tons. This is 30% more than January and 79% more than last February. Keep in mind that Hong Kong isn’t the way avenue available to China for gold. Expert on Chinese gold demand Koos Jansen calculates that total gold imports into China are already over 448 metric tons in the first three months of the year. Chinese businesses are starting to import large amounts of gold to use as collateral for bank loans, which accounts for some of that demand.
Another silver vault is opening in Singapore, this one with the capacity of 600 metric tons. It isn’t just gold that’s being bought hand over fist in Asia. Two new physically-backed platinum ETFs have been launched in South Africa, which is the world’s top producer of the metal, and South Korea has opened its first gold-backed ETF, as a measure to combat smuggling.
India has allowed five private banks to import gold, in an effort to ease gold shortages in the country. Until now, only six government-controlled banks and three importers had been allowed to import gold. All banks still have to pay 10% import tax and obey quotas. The draconian import restrictions and high taxes led to a nationwide strike by the gold industry on March 10, which may have played a part in the move.
Iraq bought 36 tonnes of gold in March, valued at over $1.5 billion dollars. The Iraqi central bank said that this huge purchase, the largest by any central bank in the world in the last three years, was to stabilize their currency– the dinar. This more than doubled Iraqi gold reserves. Now that Iraqi oil production has finally recovered, the government wants to divest some of the dollars from oil sales into something more solid.
Three separate class-action lawsuits were filed this month against the five megabanks that make up the London Gold Fix association, claiming that they have manipulated gold prices since at least 2004. These suits come on the heels of increasing pressure by financial regulators investigating currency and precious metals manipulation at big banks worldwide. Several bankers involved in currency and gold trading have committed suicide or been fired in the last two months, in what the mainstream press consider coincidence or stress from overworking.
John Embry says that the increasing focus on the paper manipulation of gold will force an end to the practice in a matter of months, not years, and will let gold seek its true, physical price. (Scroll down at link for interview.)
Jim Rickards expounds in this interview on how the government’s declaration of the large megabanks as “too big to fail” and promising more bailouts has led to irresponsible, reckless behavior that will lead to the collapse of current monetary system. He foresees a new “global reserve currency” replacing the dollar, and financial power being based on gold.
Speaking of bad banks, the European Union has finalized new banking rules that mean depositors can lose their money on a “bail-in” of their bank if it fails. The U.S. Treasury Department is working on similar rules.
A citizens’ initiative called “Save Our Swiss Gold” has been blocked by the Swiss Parliament. The proponents of the measure, mandating the Swiss central bank hold 20% of its reserves in gold, had gathered enough signatures to qualify for a nationwide referendum on the subject, but a national vote on the subject was shot down by the lower house of parliament at the urging of the Swiss government and Finance Minister.
Jim Sinclair thinks Yellen will not only reverse the taper, but increase money printing to levels never seen before, weakening the dollar and boosting gold.
DOLLAR WEAKNESS.
We noticed that there was ZERO safe haven demand for the dollar during the Ukraine crisis. The yen, Swiss franc, and gold saw the safe haven action. Even the euro did better. This may be the first big sign of the dollar losing its status as the world’s global reserve currency.
China has been signing major bilateral agreements to conduct international trade in yuan, cutting out the dollar as the method of settling deals. China and the UK have announced that the first yuan clearing and settlement house in Europe will be set up in London. This will allow international trade between the EU and China to be conducted directly, reducing demand for the dollar and making it weaker. Of course, a weaker dollar means higher gold (and oil) prices, since they are denominated in dollars.
CHINA DEMAND.
We may be seeing even stronger physical gold demand out of China, as the public has been spooked over losses in investment trusts and co-ops. Some have simply closed their doors, with the manager disappearing with everyone’s money. This nervousness is starting to affect small banks in troubled areas of the nation, as two banks suffered a bank run on March 24. China does not have depositors’ insurance like the FDIC in the U.S., so if the bank makes too many bad loans, all your money is gone.
Royal Bank of Canada Capital Management has released a study that points to a strong gold rally ahead that could rival the one of 2005-2008. Noting that purchases by gold ETFs was a large factor in the rally of 2005-2008, and outflows from those same ETFs were a major reason for the bear market in 2013, the report notes that these ETFs no longer have the volume to negatively affect gold over the long term, and physical demand from China is many times larger than the ETF demand was, even at its peak.
LESS GOLD PRODUCTION.
Major mining companies are warning that global gold mining output could fall below expectations in 2014, due to development cutbacks and policy shifts spurred by the 28% drop in gold prices in 2013. The gold mining industry as a whole has taken at least $30 billion in write-downs, as in-ground stocks have had to be revalued downwards and new projects canceled. The CEOs of both McEwen Mining and Barrick see global production shrinking this year, while Goldcorp CEO Chuck Jeannes said he wouldn’t be surprised.
The practice of “high grading”– only mining the purest veins– helps gold production per ton of ore, but it leaves the lower grade veins behind instead of mixing it all together. This can drastically cut the life of the mine and result in that ore being left behind forever, as the tunnels made chasing only high grade ore makes it unsafe to extract.
PLATINUM SUPPLY. The platinum mineworkers strike in South Africa entered its third month in March. This is far longer than anyone had expected, and above-ground supplies are drying up. Conditions in some of the older, deeper mines have deteriorated so much that the companies say that they are no longer safe and will likely be permanently shut down. The strike has halted 40% of global platinum production.
The DIVVY 250 emergency water filtration station, designed in conjunction with Clearly Filtered and www.aquamira.com and manufactured in Logan, Utah, is one of the best water purification/filtration systems to come along for large group use in a long, long time. As SurvivalBlog readers know, from my previous articles on safe drinking water, my family and I are obsessed with having different methods available to provide us with affordable and safe drinking water, on a daily basis or in an emergency.
You can have all the guns, ammo, and food stored away for a SHTF scenario that you can afford. However, without a source of safe drinking water, you will die in a very short time. I know quite a few folks who are Preppers; for many, their main objective is to have a lot of guns and ammo, some food, and perhaps a little bit of bottled drinking water. They never once stopping to think that the bottled water will run out in short order, nor do they even consider that bottled water has an expiration date. Some bottled water expires in as little as six months. Plus, bottled water is expensive, to be sure!
I’ve seen gun owners, without giving it a thought, drop hundreds of dollars (sometimes thousands of dollars) on ammo, without blinking an eye. However, these same gun owners question investing in a simple water purification bottle that might cost as little as $25.00 – $30.00. When they are presented with a more expensive water filtering system that might set them back a couple of hundred bucks, they’ll head for the hills before they’ll open their wallets to buy one. Quite frankly, I just don’t understand this mentality. You WILL die inside of a few days without a source of clean and safe drinking water. I can’t state it differently. Still, there are people (some that I know personally), who just won’t let that sink in for some reason.
A close look at the DIVVY 250 is in order. This is a joint project between Clearly Filtered and Aquamira– two of the best names in water filtering/purification products. I’ve tested many of their products and found them to be just as advertised. The DIVVY 250 will produce 2,500 gallons of safe drinking water per day, but you need to obtain your water from a fresh water source, not from a septic tank, so let’s be clear on this. A pond, fresh water lake, stream, or other similar water supply is where you need to get your water from prior to treating it. What is sweet about the DIVVY 250 is that it requires NO electricity to operate, making it ideal for where (a Third World Country) or when (TEOTWAWKI) you have no electricity. Using it, you can filter up to 250 gallons of safe drinking water every hour. However, with added water holding containers, you can pump as much as 6,000 gallons of water per day.
The DIVVY 250 removes water-borne bacteria, particulates, Protozoa, Crypto, Giardia, E. Coli, Cholera, and Salmonella, plus bad tastes and odors, too. It meets EPA requirements for biological water purification, as well. The entire unit weighs about 177 pounds and can even be air-dropped into rural areas, for immediate use. Its setup takes about 20 minutes, and inside of 90 minutes you can be pumping safe drinking water. The process involves setting up the soft water storage container, connecting the pump and water lines, assembling the filter support and distribution pod, adding the pre-dosed calcium chloride, and waiting a short time. Then, you can start pumping safe drinking water from the four hose attachments, so that multiple people can fill their water containers simultaneously. The entire unit can be assembled by one person, too. I’ve seen the DIVVY 250 in operation, and it really is that simple to get it up and running.
Aquamira has a proven chlorine disinfection technology that is even used by the U.S. military, and their system works, and it works well. So, if the U.S. military has so much faith in the Aquarmira chlorine disinfection system, then I know it works.
The DIVVY 250 is designed for use by large groups of people, like a church group, a like-minded prepper group, small towns, and many other groups. Of course, the DIVVY 250 isn’t designed for use by a large city. Remember, you can pump and purify up to 2,500 gallons of water per day, and with added storage containers you can pump up to 6,000 gallons of purified water each day. Clearly, this won’t fill the needs of large cities with tens of thousands of people or millions of people. However, for small towns or large groups of people, this system will easily provide more than enough safe drinking water in an emergency.
I can see the DIVVY 250 being used in rural areas or in Third World countries, where there is no safe source of drinking water to start with. This system is being used at a rural Honduras clinic and the number of cases of residents suffering from water-borne diseases has all but disappeared, so long as the residents obtain their drinking water from the DIVVY 250. In earthquake ravaged areas, where the municipal water supply has been broken, the DIVVY 250 can be air dropped, and residents can pump safe drinking water from nearby streams, lakes, or even swimming pools. Multiple units can be used to service even larger groups, too.
The good news is that Clearly Filtered and Aquamira have the DIVVY in-stock and ready to ship just about any place in the world inside of a few days. Now, this type of system doesn’t come cheap, as you can imagine. Full-retail for the DIVVY 250 is $9,995.00. Yes, you read that right; it’s almost ten grand. However, when you stop to think about the life-saving qualities of such a unit, it really isn’t all that expensive. If you have a church group, the congregation could all pitch in and get one. Not only could they save the lives of church members, they could help the community in general, keeping in mind the gallons of water each unit can put out each day. A rural fire department could have a DIVVY 250 on-hand, so that when a natural disaster strikes they can set the unit up and provide survivors with safe drinking water. As mentioned before, a survival group or prepper group could combine their money to purchase a unit. The possibilities are there, if you’ll stop and think about the usefulness of such a water filtering system.
If I were in better financial circumstances, I would without a doubt purchase a DIVVY 250 for my family to have and then never have to worry about having a safe source of drinking water again. Sadly, we can’t afford such a unit. However, we do have other water filtration products from Clearly Filtered and Aquamira that we use daily for our safe drinking water.
I’m sure many SurvivalBlog readers have different types of water filtering/purification systems on hand. Most units are designed for use by one person or a couple of people and can only provide a limited, often very limited, amount of safe drinking water each day. What if there is a major disaster and you have extended family that comes to you for help? Sure, you might have extra food for them, but do you have a source of safe drinking water that you can provide them? There are a lot of things to consider BEFORE a major disaster strikes, and most people just don’t give any thought to having a source of safe drinking water. Look, a trunk load of bottled water will only last you a few days for your family. Then what? If you have a fresh water source, such as a stream, creek, or lake nearby, you can have all the safe drinking water you’ll need, if you have the DIVVY 250. It would be a great blessing to you, your extended family, neighbors, and your small community to have a way of providing them with fresh and safe drinking water during a disaster.
For more information, be sure to check out the Aquamira and Clearly Filtered websites. If you have the means of purchasing one, do so, before a disaster! – SurvivalBlog Field Gear Editor Pat Cascio
The Blackhawk Products MOD SFK folding knife has a very “tactical” look to it. It appears, at first glance, to be a double-edge folding knife, but the top edge isn’t sharpened. Made in Italy from N690Co stainless steel, it’s quite the folder for backup to your main self-defense weapon. I understand that this is a very popular folder with law enforcement and military personnel. I’ve reviewed several knives over the years that were manufactured out of N690Co stainless steel, and I don’t know exactly the chemical formula for this steel, but it holds an edge a long, long time and is easy to re-sharpen, too.
The Blackhawk website gives credit where credit is due, and it states that the design of this knife was inspired by the late Col. Rex Applege, who I worked under for several years. The good Colonel taught me to ALWAYS give credit where credit is due, especially in your writings. So, it was nice to see Blackhawk say the design is somewhat inspired by Applegate.
With a blade length of 3.94 inches long, it fits right in my own personal preference for a self-defense folding knife. I like a folder with a blade 3.50 inches to 4.0 inches in length. These just seems to balance better in my hand when a blade is this length. The overall length of the MOD SFK with the blade open is 9.06 inches. The blade’s edge is plain (not serrated), and serrations are not offered as an option either. The blade is black color coated in BlackIDroglider. I have no idea what this material is, but it has a slick, almost Teflon, feel to it.
Textured G10 black handle scales that are very thin complement the MOD SFK, along with a pocket clip, stainless steel liners, and an ambidextrous pocket clip for easy opening. The blade locks-up via liner-lock. The blade can be opened using the thumb stud or using the cross guard! Yes, this folder has a minimal cross guard at the base of the blade to help protect your hand and fingers from sliding forward on the blade. With practice, the blade can be started open, by pressing on the cross guard with your index finger and at the same time giving it a little “flick” with your wrist; the blade locks open solidly!
The MOD SFK also has a nice lanyard hole in the butt of the handle scales. Many people don’t realize a lanyard hole is there for a reason. When working over water with your knife, you don’t want to drop it and have it sink to the bottom of the ocean, lake, or river. By placing a piece of 550 Paracord in the lanyard hole, tying it off, and then wrapping it around your wrist, should you lose control of the knife, it will still be attached to your wrist.
Some knife makers call this “jimping”; I simply call it “friction grooves” on the handle of a knife. These are areas on the handle that are cut or milled in just the right areas for thumb placement or finger placement, and these friction grooves give your hand and fingers a little something more to bite into, giving you a very firm hold on the knife. The MOD SFK has friction grooves in all the right places, in my humble opinion.
The N690Co blade has a Rockwell hardness of 58-60, and it gives the blade’s edge just the right hardness to hold that razor-sharp edge for a long time, yet the knife is fairly easy to re-sharpen once it gets dull. It took me forever to get the blade halfway dull. It arrived over the Christmas holidays. The knife got a good work out in the kitchen, and it didn’t dull in the least. I resorted to taking the knife outside on several trips at my small homestead to do some chopping. This knife isn’t meant to be a “chopper”; it’s a folder and not big enough for chopping chores. However, as is my wont, I test knife blades for sharpness against tough blackberry vines. It easily cut them in half with one single swipe of the blade.
One sure way to dull a knife is to cut cardboard. The fibers in cardboard tend to really dull a knife’s edge. I also stabbed the blade into stacked cardboard and could easily stab it up to the cross guard hilt. Now, as much as I hate this part of my testing, I threw the knife at some trees to see if it would stick; it never could do it. This knife took a beating. There were some scratches on the blade’s coating and the handle scales, but the knife stayed together. Sometimes, a liner-lock will “give” with constant throwing against any object, but the MOD SFK never gave a hint of loosening the liner lock.
There are some states and locales that do not allow a double-edge knife of any kind. So, take note of what I’m about to tell you. With a little skill and time, you can place a cutting edge on the top of the MOD SFK blade. Or, if you know a custom knife maker in your area, they could do the job in a minute or two on their belt grinder, and you would have a true double-edge folding knife. The blade completely goes into the handle, so no fears of it cutting you when the knife is closed and in your pocket. However, if a double-edge knife is illegal in your area, don’t do it! I believe the idea behind a true double-edge knife is for ease of stabbing into a body. The MOD SFK has a thin enough profile on the top of the blade, that you really don’t need to sharpen it. It penetrated to the cross guards when stabbed into stacked cardboard.
Coming from Blackhawk Products, the MOD SFK seems to cry out “tactical” in my mind. Like just about everything Blackhawk manufactures, I like it. Plus, the pocket clip allows the knife to ride low when clipped inside your pocket, unlike some folders that stick up way too high. A person wouldn’t pay much attention to the fact that you’re carrying a folding knife, without a close look and knowing what that clip is attached to.
The MOD SFK retails for $199.99, and they seem to be in short supply most of the time. If you have some extra money to spend, you can get their limited edition MOD SFK for $519.99. It has a Damascus stainless steel blade and fancy wooden handle scales. However, for your self-defense needs, the plain model will suffice just fine. So, if you’re in the market for a new folding knife that really appears “tactical”, take a close look at the Blackhawk Products MOD SFK folder. It might be just want you’re in the market for. – SurvivalBlog Field Gear Editor Pat Cascio
Hugh,
I saw the biscuit recipe posted on the blog, and I suppose for a survival situation it’d make do, but here’s a recipe that I developed, which has critical customers telling me these are the best biscuits they ever ate. I usually serve this with my scratch recipe sausage gravy. Anyway, here’s my biscuit recipe. (In Texas, biscuits either have to have buttermilk or sourdough in them to be considered authentic, but then Texans don’t put beans in their chili either. LOL)
Everyone’s got a traditional biscuit recipe these days. The ingredients aren’t nearly as important as the handling of them. A laundry list of ingredients won’t keep them from being tough if the dough’s overworked. Stick with the basics, and learn how to get your hands dirty in the kitchen if you want decent biscuits.
Set buttermilk out to warm up a bit. Mix together dry ingredients. Cut in shortening. Stir in buttermilk. Do not over mix or knead too much or biscuits will toughen. Roll out to ½ inch thickness and cut biscuits. Set in 12″ dutch oven or other pan and bake at 450 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes. Want an even fluffier, lighter biscuit? Substitute ¼ cup rice flour for an equivalent amount of the all purpose flour. – BSP
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HJL,
People work really hard at making biscuits. There are basically two kinds. One is the “Drop” biscuit where spoonfuls of biscuit dough are dropped onto a sheet pan creating good biscuits that are irregular in shape. They are good, but cut biscuits are better.
People tend to overwork biscuit dough, making the biscuits tough. Here is an alternate method. MB’s recipe, is a perfectly good recipe. The difference is in the handling.
Here is how I do it. I get flaky cut biscuits that are more than two inches tall.
First prepare a cutter. An empty can from tomato sauce or mushrooms works well. Cut the lid out and cut a couple of holes in the other end to let the air out while cutting. Take off the label if there is one and wash the can. You’ll want to save it.
After you get all the ingredients in the bowl mix with a spoon until the texture is consistent. Turn the dough out onto a floured board. Sprinkle a bit of flour on the dough and pat it with your hand until it is about 3/4″ thick. Fold it over half. Bakers will recognize this as the way puff pastry is made.
Pat out the dough again until it is about 3/4″ thick. Fold over and pat again for 7-10 times. Finally pat it to about an inch thick.
Cut the biscuits using the converted can. Stack them close together in a pan with sides like a cake pan. It might be wise to lightly grease the pan. If you don’t stack them close together the biscuits will get so tall they will fall over. The sides of the pan help her as well.
Bake at 400 to 425 degrees until the bottoms are browned nicely.
This method will make several great flaky biscuits that will hold a lot of butter or gravy. Don’t skimp on the baking powder. You don’t have to have a rolling pin. The process, once you master it, goes quickly. – SVP
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HJL Adds: Mrs. Latimer’s biscuits are second to none, and I wanted to post her recipe here. Sadly, she has informed me that she is working on a cookbook and her recipe’s are “hands off” until she publishes. I guess y’all will just have to wait. I’ll think of you though, whenever I’m eating them. She has allowed me to tell you that she doesn’t use double-acting baking powder. Whenever the recipe calls for baking powder, she substitutes a proportion of 1/3 baking soda plus 1/6 cream of tartar of whatever baking powder the recipe calls for. The second rising action of double-acting baking powder is related to the aluminum content, which she tries to eliminate from our diet. The only caveat is that you have less time from mixing to baking. That works out okay, because when you are feeding two hungry teenagers, you don’t waste time in the cooking.
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Do you have a favorite recipe that would be of interest to SurvivalBlogreaders? Please send it viae-mail. Thanks!
JWR & HJL;
The article by M.R., “I Will Tell You A Simple Tale” from 3-29-2014, is probably the best, deepest in meaning of all the posts that I have read to date, and that is a LOT! It is clearly and directly written, and touches on (no, explains) what honor and loyalty are and mean. As M.R. states, all the beans, bullets, and bandaids are for naught, if you don’t have honor and loyalty. I fear that those attributes are too seldom recognized and are more precious than the “things” that we strive for. I could go on and on about this article, but the best I can write is, “Read it, and send it to youngsters, especially as a model to live up to.” – E.C.
Hugh, JR, and the rest of my fellow patriots:
I would like to ask your readers who, like myself, have used Craigslist (and maybe similar sites) for years to do everything from buy and sell farm animals to random goods to meeting other people via the personal ads. Have you come to the point where you’re so frustrated with even using CL because of the onslaught of phony, obviously robotic in nature, responses you’ve received either from your own ads or others?
Call me crazy, but perhaps it’s a direct result of our very own government’s attempts to not only track us (CL does often verify accounts via phone/text) BUT to also dissuade us and frustrate us as we attempt to barter, buy, and communicate with others? Talk about a PSYOP exercise. Create programs to post and respond to user ads in such a manner as to ultimately either gather intel or frustrate them from further usage?
On a side note, this veteran of OIF who learned about this website during my deployment in ’08 would like to thank all of you for helping me to prepare (via your contributions to this site) for that which seems to be heading our way with greater and greater swiftness. God Bless You All! Our country will survive, but it’s not going to be fun nor easy. At least I know I’m not alone. – R.B.
HJL Replies: You have to look at the agenda behind the face. It is a safe bet that nothing in this world is truly free. Everything has its cost, and like in the case of Craigsist, that price is often information. If you are not being charged for the services rendered, who is paying the bills? Facebook makes its fortune from selling advertising that you have to view or from getting a cut from companies that trick you into giving your private information away for free. Craigslist lets you advertise for free and doesn’t get a cut of what you sell, but who pays for the servers and bandwidth usage? It’s a safe bet that they don’t do that out of the goodness of their heart. They are getting something for the dollars they spend, and it is often either information that they sell to others or a cut of the profits from those who do get your private information.
Is this the path that America is on? Despite poor economic news and ongoing protests, Caracas’ stock exchange grew 452 percent in 2013. (From an “alternative news source” with an anti-U.S. agenda) – J.S.
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What happened to the traditional home buyer? California has the highest percentage of young adults living at home with parents. Existing home sales collapse.
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Items from The Economatrix:
Diet drinks linked with heart disease, death. This is another case where correlation does not necessarily mean causation. The link has found a higher percentage of disease and death in those who drink diet drinks, but the beverage probably has little to do with it. Those who drink diet beverages generally have an unhealthier lifestyle. I have long wondered if a diet soda and slice of pie was a little bit like matter/antimatter.
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We’ve been here before: The Ebola Outbreak Is Spreading: Pray to God It Doesn’t Hitch A Ride To The West. After three decades in the health care environment, I am not easily scared by bacteria and viruses. Out of all the diseases that are capable of doing us harm, Ebola scares me the most. In fact it terrifies me. – H.L.
HJL Adds: While Ebola is a scary infectious disease, it often is containable because the time from infection to onset of symptoms is relatively short. What is really scary is if something like this mutates into a disease where it is still highly infectious but has a longer incubation time.
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Knife Control Based on Same ‘Irrational Premise’ as Gun Control – G.P.
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Paul Craig Roberts: Pushing Toward The Final War. Interesting article that postulates we are in a similar pattern as the historical beginnings of the first world war. I also found this video: Storm Clouds Gathering. – D.C.
HJL Replies: It also appears to me that the world is primed just as it was in 1929. All that is needed is the initial spark to set the powder keg off. It seems that no one wants to get the blame for setting the “event” off, but everyone keeps kicking it trying to get a reaction.
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Ukrainian Lesson: Fools and Their Guns Are Soon Parted – B.B.
“The end of the law is, not to abolish or restrain, but to preserve and enlarge freedom.” – John Locke
Today we present another entry for Round 51 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $11,000+ worth of prizes for this round include:
First Prize:
Second Prize:
Third Prize:
Round 51 ends on March 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.
I was raised by two people that survived a depression, a world war, and a conflict called “Korea” to know the value of a dollar, to be resourceful, to be “smarter than the average bear”, and above all, to live with honor and integrity. I am a man that in these “seven years of plenty”, has been storing grain for the years of want that are yet to be. I am exceedingly happy that these seven years have been stretched into several decades in this particular nation, but I see the writing on the wall and know that it cannot sustain itself forever on credit and poorly chosen leadership. Do not be afraid though, for I have read the Book all the way to the end. Mine will be a missive not of despair, regret, and unmet longing but one of hope, joy, and excitement of the proud days yet to be.
As for my particular credentials, I have never viewed “prepping” (as it is now called) as anything other than the way life should be lived. It rarely crosses my mind to prepare the car for a trip across the state or to keep it full of gas and well maintained. These are things that are merely my way of life. My grandparents instilled in me a great habit of preparing for things, and they balanced that with the importance of being thankful and joyful for today. While my own granaries are not as full as I would like, due mostly to my human desire for the amorphous “more” that we all strive to attain, I am content this day that my bread is provided. An equally important lesson my grandparents sought to teach– the one that was initially lost on me in my youth– was that a man’s word was his bond. This is to be the topic of my contribution here.
Witnessing my grandparents practical lessons of preparing for tomorrow’s uncertainties was easy, even for a man-cub. Tornadoes and winter storms served as gigantic billboards to display the “why we do things this way” message. Another, much more important life skill, was more abstract and harder for my ancestors to teach to my younger self.
Pa, I understand it now. Fully and completely has the message been learned. You may rest easy.
The lessons that my grandfather attempted to teach me, and the lessons that I did not fully understand at the time, have come full circle. I have begun to feel more prepared for an uncertain future than I ever have before. Questions from those soggy fields took nearly two decades for me to understand their answers. Why would a man work for half a day, covered in mud and grease and grit, to help a neighbor out, and then refuse any and all payment? Why would he fight back winter storms, ice, and snow to clear a driveway for someone who lived across the road, while not even stopping to tell them about the job he did? Why would a man weld and repair machinery without fail and also without compensation?
It was because that man knew the value of integrity and of keeping your word to those in your community. He had, without speaking it aloud or broadcasting it wider than his own thoughts, made a promise to do unto others as they would do unto him, without expecting anything in return. Doing a thing because it is the “right thing” to do is something that is getting to be an uncommon occurrence these days, but it was the way life was lived in my grandparent’s generation. It was a common commitment to one another to strive together, to work together to get the job done, whatever the job at hand was. We have forgotten the power of our word, the power of our promises, and the power of our oaths.
However, you and I both know that some among us still know full well the power of an oath, and you will discover one shining example, which will be discussed here in due time.
A promise– an oath– was a very serious matter to my grandfather, and it was not until I had taken several oaths and matured quite a bit myself that I fully understood why it was so important to him.
Since I have no serious medical training nor survival knowledge, other than what you learn as a boy scout, I will attempt to entertain your mind and touch your soul this day with this thing that I do know a little about. Having seen many oaths taken by men and women that I admire, it is easy for me to see the utility and the value of a human promise.
I have no great knowledge of food preparation, nor water treatment, though I can witch a well like nobody’s business. Instead, I will let you in on the secret of society, safety, and happiness as I have found it. My examples will be simple, and have been poured forth from my electric pen as I recall events that happened more than a decade ago, to the best of my ability. I hope that my meager credentials have provided me standing to allow me to deliver these words. I hope that I can illustrate to you how an Oath is a serious and powerful force.
It is my hope that you will be entertained enough to read on, and enlightened and uplifted enough to be encouraged thoroughly. I will set the scene three times, and, unlike Charles Dickens, I will offer encouragement in all three specters from the past.
In the first scene, a group of young men stand in a school gymnasium clothed in tan polyester. They are gathered to convey upon one of their own a high honor. We gathered that night to bestow upon Chad Brokaw the award of Eagle Scout.
(If you have ever seen the Sprint Cellular ads where there is a group of young men from all different cellular phone companies in various humorous situations, then you have seen Chad Brokaw and know a little of him. His character is called, of all things, “Chad”. I was surprised to see him on the screen, several years ago, but not because I didn’t think his acting was first rate, only because I had lost contact with him many years ago.)
On the night we all gathered in the gym, Chad was not acting. He was himself humble, kind, and soft spoken. He led the Scout Oath that night, which brings us back to the purpose of this piece. Oaths, and those that take them, form the basic building blocks of honor, integrity, and service that are required for our society. These promises are the foundations upon which society will stand when the end of things as we know them occurs.
That night, in that gym, surrounded by a group of young men that I was very privileged to be a part of, I swore an oath, and, for the first time, took the words deeply to heart and fully comprehended the meaning of every single word.
“On my honor, I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; to help other people at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.”
I did not know it at the time, but there were Marines, Airborne soldiers, airmen, city planners, teachers, and other civil servants in our midst that night. Yes, these young men came to know the depth of that oath as well as I did. This promise was the basis for my developing morality. To serve others, to keep myself physically and mentally ready for whatever troubles might arise, be it helping someone with their groceries or helping disaster victims, who are not as prepared or trained as myself.
If any of this sounds familiar, it should. That night was the beginning of something that has happened to all of those who call themselves by the moniker of “prepper”. “Be Prepared”, as the dear reader knows, is an order handed down from the highest of places to us, the mere servants of a Great Master.
That was my first oath– to take care of my body, mind, and soul, so that I could take care of others. Surely you can see the applicability of that to a survival situation! It was the beginning of wisdom for me because I was starting to see what really mattered, what was the very marrow of life. That has made all the difference and has driven many decisions and choices in my life.
Even in their youth, a young man in a khaki shirt can understand that oaths are a serious matter. They are the very cement that holds the fragile foundation of society together. Without our promises to each other, society will crumble even though tens of thousands of laws may be written in faraway books. It is those that have taken an oath to stand together who will prevail at the end of the world as we know it. I cannot think of anything that would help me more than a few like-minded patriots struggling against the forces of evil. History has shown this to be the case, and all the bullets and beans in the world will come to nothing if I cannot be a man of my word among other men of their word.
Having grown up and chosen a path that took me far from that gymnasium but never far from the foundations of integrity that were laid there, the story progresses a few years into the future. So I will set the scene, once again, that you might enjoy, as I did, the power of the moment.
It is now a summer day, at the foot of the mountains. From the twenty thousand that applied, roughly only fourteen hundred young men and women stand on this hallowed parade ground in Colorado. We are here because we have proven ourselves worthy to be here, on paper at least. We are physically strong, exceptionally bright, and highly motivated to perform our duty for this great nation. We have proven ourselves to the admissions boards and congressional representatives, but we still have everything to prove to ourselves.
I remember this oath very well, but I will record it here. Many have taken it and will recall the words. Many have not taken it, or took it very long ago, so the words are recorded here.
“I, (NAME), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.”
The power and weight of these words is something that I have thought about deeply in the years that have passed since I first spoke them. Standing near me that day was a young man. He was similar to us in many ways but also very different; he was exceptional really. He was always willing to go the extra mile in classes and during physical training. He was driven by a sense of honor and purpose unlike any that I met while I was there, in Colorado, at the university. Derek Argel was as good a man as I have ever known.
I still intend to fulfill this oath, as do many others who have sworn it, but I have never been fully tested. Derek Argel believed in his oath. He believed that the Constitution, the United States, his wife, his young son, and freedom were worth everything that he could give. He was tested to the fullest. On the 30th of May 2005, my friend gave everything that he had. He left everything behind to fulfill his oath to defend the Constitution. He was a man of his word and had sworn an oath to defend without regard for the cost. On that dusty ground, in a land many can’t even identify on a map, all of Eternity learned how much Derek Argel believed in his oath.
It is fully my intention to live life so that when I see him again, I can look him in the eye. It would do no good to store up years worth of food if we all cannot look our friends in the eye when we see them again. Our assured survival is based not just on the things that are hidden away for us to eat but also on our ability to be there for one another to defend and protect the things that we value most highly. That which is worth defending needs those that are willing to defend it, those that are willing to stand shoulder to shoulder and say “No!” and spit defiantly in the very face of evil, whatever it looks like. It is not a difficult thing to say, but it is a very difficult thing to do.
Our next scene is a much more cheerful and happy one. This time, I stood alone, in front of a few family and friends. I stood waiting for a beautiful woman in white to come forward and join me in my crazy life. I had grown so used to standing alone that many wondered what I was doing up there. Many questioned my thinking. In the end, I decided that it was right to stand there and to wait for this girl to join me, and so I did.
It was a good day. No, it was a very good day.
It had been a long time coming, for both of us, to get to that place. While we were chronologically younger than most that get married, we had seen far more than most, far more than was our due at that tender age. We’d seen too much death, too much suffering, too much loneliness, and too much being alone. We each had a vision of the future– bright and full of life, and we wanted to get started as soon as possible.
So, we did.
Against the wishes of most who knew us, we stood there. We did not care. She had just graduated university, and I would be starting a civilian flight school in two weeks. (The school in Colorado decided my knees were too awful and sent me home.)
So there we were.
Both of us.
Together, standing beside one another– as it should be, as it will always be.
I took that oath with full mind of the ramifications and of what I was saying. I pledged to remain by her for the rest of the days of my life, to honor and defend, and to care for her until I no longer had breath in my lungs. In my own separate vow, I pledged to be mindful of “matters of consequence” and to always seek peace in an argument. I swore to stay and to fight for our marriage in the face of everything else, anything else, that would happen. I took an oath to remain with her, even when we stood alone against all others.
While the exact wording of my vow has been lost, the meaning, however, is faithfully recorded here. (My advice to others is that if you let someone borrow a Bible, make sure they don’t use the original copy of your wedding vows as a bookmark and lose it.) So I have recreated the main points of what I said to that beautiful young woman.
She pledged the same things that I did, and we both said “I do”. Simple? Not at all. It has been a fight. We have spent more than a decade struggling against a society that does not value oaths, especially the oath between a husband and wife. Fighting the selfishness within ourselves has been a struggle at times. We have argued over trivialities that are not “matters of consequence” but merely times that I want to be right because I am right! While we tend to not fight each other overly aggressively, keeping that simple oath to one another is difficult. You see, we are beset by a society that marginalizes and devalues family. Our culture values the opposite of what we do, in most cases. We are attacked daily by images of younger or better or more luxurious or finer or thinner or bigger or stronger or…well, you get the idea.
The practical application here is that remaining together and honoring our oaths is ideally suited to survival in any situation. A man, generally speaking, was not meant to be alone, nor is a woman. Long-term survival depends on our ability to reform society in a workable and maintainable structure. Society is built on the family, and a family is built on two people holding onto one another and to the oath that they made to each other.
If we cannot keep an oath to someone we once found the center of the universe, how can we be expected to keep our oaths to our neighbors, our nation, or God? It seems to be a simple question, but it is not. It seems to be rhetorical, but it is deeply philosophical. If we cannot keep our word, what good will be all of the beans, bullets, and band aids that we have stored up for the coming hard times? If our souls have rotted, what good will feeding our bellies and taking care of our scratches be? If we are not men who can be relied upon and women who can be trusted, what will it matter that we can set a bone, stitch a deep cut, or procure clean water?
In the words of General Patton, in 1943:
“It is absurd to believe that soldiers who cannot be made to wear the proper uniform can be induced to move forward in battle. Officers who fail to perform their duty by correcting small violations and in enforcing proper conduct are incapable of leading.”
This is wholly applicable and makes my point perfectly. If we can’t be trusted with one simple talent, how then are we to be trusted with anything at all?
When my friend, Derek Argel, died, I openly wept. I am not ashamed of that fact, not in the least. He was a good man and had been a good friend to me and many others in the short time that I spent there in the mountains. He was a man you could rely on. He knew the weight an oath carried.
When my grandfather died, I was but a boy. Our time together was too short as well. My grandfather was a man you could trust to do what he said he would do. My only hope and desire is that I live honorably and can die in peace, knowing that I have honored my commitments and upheld the oaths which I have sworn.
The truly hard part of this message is the “How To” portion. The problem is that it looks so different from person to person that it is difficult to precisely offer a step-by-step model to be carried out by the reader. How can I describe the proper motivation to become one who honors their oaths? There are many reasons. Perhaps you are driven to not make the mistakes of your parents, or perhaps you are driven to be like your parents. If the latter is the case, consider yourself very, very lucky. Hopefully, you have found a Power that you rely on for your decision-making. The God of Abraham, Isaac, Joseph, and David is a powerful force and the strongest Ally you could ask for. Still, I know that many are not drawn in that direction.
The only advice that I can offer follows, and since it is free advice, you can rest assured that it is worth every penny that you pay for it! All attempts at wit aside, the only way to be one who is known to honor your oaths is to honor them, day in and day out, through excitement and newness, and also through boredom and pain. The daily slog through life and the highest joys of the universe both require our utmost attention.
These are just a few simple ideas. Having read this far, I hope that these simple suggestions are a launching point and a great encouragement to you.
With that, I conclude our time together, dear reader. I hope that I have clearly made my point. I hope that I have been able to stir something deep inside of you or encouraged feelings already present. Really, that is the desire of anyone who writes for others to read. Thank you, again, for taking time to spend with me. I bid you go, now.
Go and be the kind of man or woman who will be deeply mourned at their passing.
Stand and fight for that which you have sworn to stand and fight for.
Do not merely survive, but thrive!
Go!
LIVE!