Letter Re: Legalities of Prescribing Long-Term Antibiotics

A reader wrote to ask: “I have talked to a local doctor who is sympathetic about giving prescriptions for antibiotics but he is concerned about the legalities of supplying anyone with excessive amounts of any drug.  Does anyone out there know the proper process to undertake this acquisition?  I’m not worried about buying stuff outright and am willing to use multiple pharmacies but he is worried about getting in trouble and wants to know the legalities.  Any wisdom you or your readers can share? “

Doctor Koelker Replies: Doctors prescribe long-term antibiotics for many different problems, including conditions as simple as acne, to those as complex as HIV disease.  In 20+ years of medicine, I’ve never had a pharmacy question the need for a prescribed long-term antibiotic, other than issues of allergy or cost.  In this era of mail-away prescriptions and pharmacy pricing wars, it is not uncommon for a physician to prescribe 90 days of medication, even an antibiotic.      

It also isn’t that uncommon for a doctor to write an antibiotic with the understanding that a patient will use it under certain conditions.  For example, severely asthmatic patients may be advised to begin an antibiotic every time they get a cold.  A woman with frequent urinary tract infections may keep a sulfa drug on hand for use as soon as symptoms occur.  A missionary traveling to Africa may be prescribed long-term ciprofloxacin for a periodically recurring prostate condition.

I spoke with a lawyer about this, and she doubted that specific laws exist that address this question.  If they do exist, they would likely be state by state.  More likely the issue would be one of opinion, or ethics. Would the state medical board (in charge of licensing) censure a doctor for writing long-term antibiotics?  This lawyer agreed with me that keeping a contract in your medical chart outlining the proposed use and limits of liability would be a good idea.  As a physician, I would not prescribe long-term antibiotics for anyone I could not trust.  The patient would have to agree to my conditions as well as regular follow-up for other medical problems.  Of course, it’s not likely that a prepper patient currently has an infection requiring a long-term antibiotic, though he or she may well have some other problem, such as hypertension or diabetes. 

One thing patients, physicians, and pharmacists must not do is practice deception or give the appearance of deception.  The medical record is a legal document and doctors must record transactions such as prescribing antibiotics, including the reason for doing so.  At least in my home state, doctors cannot prescribe for patients they have not seen personally, and must have a chart on file for every patient seen. Going to different pharmacies or physicians may spare the professionals the issue of questionable prescribing, but this puts the patient at risk of being labeled a doctor-shopper or drug-shopper.  You need to be above-board about everything.  If you want antibiotics for an end-of-the-world scenario, don’t say you need it for acne.  Broken trust is very difficult to repair.  And please don’t ask your doctor to lie for you by saying an antibiotic is for a medical problem that you don’t actually have. 

The lawyer also pointed out the ethics of individual versus government responsibility for crisis preparation, as well as the malpractice question, which would not be a problem if no harm had come.

Of course, a doctor could prescribe an antibiotic for TEOTWAWKI, but what happens if a patient decides to share his supply now with a neighbor suffering from a bad cough, and that neighbor subsequently suffers an allergic reaction and dies?  Who is responsible here?  Although it is currently illegal for a person to “share” antibiotics or other prescription medication, therefore putting the onus on the patient, it is not unreasonable to think the prescribing doctor might get snared as a deep pocket in a lawsuit – all the more reason to keep a contract in the patient chart specifying that the medication will not be used unless civilization collapses.

So again, the issue boils down to one of trust.  Would I trust a prepper patient to uphold the agreement not to use an antibiotic supply unless the current medical establishment collapses?  Like it or not, this is an issue to be settled between your physician and yourself, at least in this country.  Another option would be to travel outside the U.S. to obtain antibiotic supplies, but I have no experience in this arena. (Doctor Koelker is SurvivalBlog’s Medical Editor. She is also the editor of ArmageddonMedicine.net.)

Economics and Investing:

The short squeeze in silver that I recently mention seems to be on, in earnest. Check Monday’s spot silver chart. That is a 31-year high.

KAF sent us a link to a great piece by Patrice Lewis over at WorldNetDaily: Connecting the dots to anarchy. (SurvivalBlog readers will recognize Patrice Lewis as the editor of the excellent Rural Revolution blog.)

Companies Raise Prices as Commodity Costs Jump. (Thanks to Daniel S. for the link.)

Anthony S. sent this sign of the times: Pan American Silver Shifts Assets to Canadian Dollars

John R. suggested this: Six Charts Which Prove That Central Banks All Over The Globe Are Recklessly Printing Money

Reader C.D.V. sent this: Federal, state and local debt hits post-WWII levels

Odds ‘n Sods:

Josh M. pointed us to a piece of hydrogen fuel cell technology that has finally made it to the consumer level: Powertrekk.

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Egyptian ‘Net Killed By Intimidation, Not a Switch. (A hat tip to Wade B. for the link.)

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C.D.V. sent us this dire prediction: Scientists Warn of $2 Trillion Solar ‘Katrina’.

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Reader J. H. forwarded: Reports coming out of Christchurch, New Zealand, following a magnitude 6.3 temblor are thusfar a bit confused. Please keep the folks there in your prayers.

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Troubling news: Florida Police Obtain Warrant to Search ‘All Persons’ in Apartment Complex

Notes from JWR:

SurvivalBlog’s traffic continues to grow. We now average more than 260,000 unique visits per week, and we are using almost two terabytes of bandwidth per month. (That is a lot for a blog that is nearly all text!) If we are going to set up an offshore mirror web site (as planned), then it is going to require a fairly capable server.

—

Today we present another entry for Round 33 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize: A.) A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795, and B.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees, in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $392 value.) C.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $275 value), D.) A 250 round case of 12 Gauge Hornady TAP FPD 2-3/4″ OO buckshot ammo, courtesy of Sunflower Ammo (a $240 value), and E.) An M17 medical kit from JRH Enterprises (a $179.95 value).

Second Prize: A.) A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol. It is a $439 value courtesy of Next Level Training. B.) A “grab bag” of preparedness gear and books from Jim’s Amazing Secret Bunker of Redundant Redundancy (JASBORR) with a retail value of at least $300, C.) A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials, and D.) two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).

Third Prize: A.) A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21. (This filter system is a $275 value.) , and B.) Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy. This is a $185 retail value.

Round 33 ends on March 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Looking For the Wave: Our Experience with Hawaii’s 2010 Tsunami Alert, by An Oregonian

Here on the Oregon coast we have included precautions for a Tsunami in our emergency preparations.  This last spring while on vacation on the north shore of Oahu we experienced some valuable lessons when the Tsunami alert was raised after the earthquake in Chile.  This experience has helped us and hopefully will provide food for thought for others.

We have family living on the north shore of Oahu, in Laie that we were staying with during our trip.  About 4am in the morning as I was sleeping on the porch, a woman knocked on the door to inform the family of the earthquake in Chile, and that a Tsunami warning had been issued for the islands.  Very few details were known, and no information on when the wave might arrive.  No alarms in the town were sounded, and most of the community didn’t hear any word.  Most communication was received word-of-mouth, since very few were listening to the media that morning.  Our family was notified by a friend from church whose husband worked for BYU-Hawaii. 

At first, the family was a little confused as to what to do.  Food and water were on hand, but no one knew if we would be allowed to drive to higher ground, or if we would be required to walk.  Our decision on what to take with us would have changed dramatically if we had to walk and carry our gear.  Higher ground was about 400 yards away, but with the jungle and farmland around, most of Laie would be concentrated a few areas.  The family’s original plan was to drive ~10 miles to a camp they frequented, so we quickly woke up their 5 children, loaded food and water into the family’s truck, made contact with friends and the 6 college students living in the first floor of the house, and were ready to leave in 20 minutes.  Having 4 adults to help with the readiness made a big difference.  Not being familiar with where the family stored their supplies made it a bit more difficult, but since my wife and I were visiting, we were already packed with our necessities.  We simply had to refill our water bottles, double-check our gear, and help with the little ones.

Now we were ready to leave by 4:30 a.m., however we also took the time to contact reliable sources of information to confirm details.  We didn’t want to run off in the dark without more of the story.  Internet and all communications were available, so we quickly got enough information to feel safe about staying home until about 7:30 a.m., when it would be light out.  This gave us a lot of time to review our status, notify friends and neighbors, and also to let family back home on the mainland that we were okay and that we had a plan.  We gave them all details to our plans.

By 7:30, there was more activity in the neighborhood, and most everyone in the community was notified.  Official media reports were publishing details, and at 8 a.m. the first community alarm went off.  We really appreciated the fact that personal networks notified us 4 hours before the first ‘public’ warning came in a form that everyone would know of.

Finally, we were off to higher ground.  The morning was beautiful and clear – already warm for us mainlanders.  As we were leaving town, we noticed a few police cars making patrols, and talked with neighbors who had already seen and reported some looting and mischief.  The roads were not busy, and many of the locals had reported to others that they were staying home to stick it out.  They didn’t want to leave their home.  A long line of about 12-15 cars had formed at the only local gas station.  There was no real indicator that anything abnormal was going on in paradise.  We were very glad we had more than half a tank of gas and that we wouldn’t be traveling far.

The main highways around Oahu all run on the periphery of the island.  Beautiful to drive along the water’s edge, but as we made our way to higher ground, we realized if a wave does much damage to that same waterfront highway, getting home again might be impossible for days.  Before we went far from home, we pulled over, thought it through, and decided on a new location – less than a mile from home.  This was one of the most important learning’s from our experience.  Bugging out must take into account getting back.

Our new location took us to a large ranch owned by a local church that the family was familiar with.  The grounds keeper had already opened up the property for the community to gather in and we easily found a good spot in an open field with 80 other vehicles and families.  It was a big, open field safely in the hills with a lookout to the ocean about 500 yards up the hill.

After parking we setup camp.  Our three most valuable items (besides food and water) were our canopy, lawn chairs, and board games.  The tropical weather quickly turned hot, and without the shade of the canopy, we would have been miserable.  Others without cover ducked under shade trees, or joined the bigger groups who were assembling large party canopies.  Even with shade, we went through water quickly.  The open field was great for playing catch and wandering around.  All the teenagers were busy texting and calling friends – without the phones the boredom would have been difficult.

First real emergency – the teenagers needed a bathroom.  For the boys, this wasn’t an issue with all of the trees and brush around the field.  For the women, it was a bigger concern.  The four of them went into the woods together and eventually found a spot secluded “enough” to be comfortable.  They reported many small groups and individuals roaming the trees looking for that elusive seclusion.  A small popup latrine or some other facility to provide privacy would have been very valuable to the group.  The hand wipes became very valuable at this point too – and are worth mentioning. After about an hour, most of the men were either asleep or were antsy to go back into town to get more stuff.  It was about 11am at this point, and all media reports were that we should expect the wave(s) to hit at 1pm.  We felt we had enough time and the risk was low that we decided to give it a go.  We took the pickup the three miles back into Laie, and loaded up lawn chairs, a full-size propane barbeque grill, and lots of food for dinner out of the freezer.  Extra water and toilet paper were also gathered.  It was interesting that more police patrol cars were in the neighborhoods, and many residents slowly going about their day.  We made several stops to pickup stuff for friends and neighbors, and to make sure surf boards, bikes, and other stuff was up on the second floor porches of all the homes we visited.  We were back on higher ground with the grill hot by 11:30 a.m.

The grill was a big hit, but quickly brought dozens of hungry kids and teenagers around, so we turned it off before cooking any food to avoid any disturbances.  We didn’t have nearly enough food to go around, and in the local culture it would have been rude not to invite even casual acquaintances to eat with us.  So we stuck to snacks we had on hand, and loaned out the grill to another large family group to use.

Here’s an interesting side-story regarding first aid.  About a dozen of the local boys, about 9 years old, spent their free-time catching scorpions.  They showed us a small water bottle with three of them inside.  A great diversion for the boys, but my thought was: “what if one of the boys was stung?”  The parents would have their hands full with a miserable child and little way to assist.  Having a remedy for bee or scorpion stings would be a valuable ingredient in an emergency first aid pack. Finally, as 1 pm came closer everyone made their way to a lookout point to watch for the wave.  It was hot now, and water was soon used up.  At least 150 of us sat around a single radio waiting for updates and passing the latest rumors.  The media had less information than many of the locals with families on the Big Island, where the wave was to hit first.  The public media was not much help.  Nothing was seen of note down in the ocean, other than a couple folks out surfing near Turtle Cove. 

Finally, when 1:30 p.m. came without any noticeable change in the seas, the media reported that 2 p.m. was the likely time.  Hilo on the Big Island hadn’t seen any significant wave show up, and many folks around us were ready to head home.

The men of our group loaded up the heavy gear and headed down to home by 1:45 p.m.  After unloading, about 2 p.m. the police gave us an “all clear” and we let the women know to bring the children down [from the heights]. We were all very glad that nothing significant had happened.  We had a great day in the hills with very little inconvenience.  The barbeque was the most disappointing part of the day.  The women had planned to spend the day at the Aloha Stadium Market and were disappointed they missed out on that, but we husbands figured the tsunami saved us several hundreds of dollars in canceling that plan.  We all learned some valuable lessons – including the younger children, and it was a great opportunity to better prepare for the next event.  In terms of gear, the only additional items we would recommend for a short “bug out” like this would be handheld [MURS or GMRS] radios, some form of privacy (tent, tarp, etc), and more to read. 

Letter Re: Medical Response in Hostile Environments Class

Hello All,  
We have another Medical Response in Hostile Environments Class scheduled. This class will be on June 10, 11, and 12, 2011.  It will be conducted at the historic Lafayette Hotel, 101 Front Street, in Marietta Ohio.  Marietta is on the Ohio River at Exit 1 off of I-77.  (This is a new location, so our web site may not yet reflect all the updates).  The Hotel is offering a special group rate but you must mention Medical Corps to get it.  If your flight brings you into Cleveland you can get a commuter flight to Parkersburg. (Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport ) which is only 15 minutes from the Hotel.  You may not need to rent a car since the Hotel offers free airport shuttle service. Restaurants, shops and entertainment are all within walking distance.   

Note: The last four classes have filled in two weeks or less so please send in your registration and deposit now if you are interested.  If you change your mind or have an emergency we will refund your deposit.  If you have any questions before you sign up, you can call (740) 434-5605 or e-mail chuck@medicalcorps.org or diane@sickbay.org.  You are getting this early notification in SurvivalBlog before the class is posted on the web site so the new June date will not be posted.  Please take the time to neatly fill out the registration form in legible print. Here is a list of links which may be helpful:  

Letter Re: Linux and Computer Security

Dear Mr. Rawles,
As always, I thank you for your work and send greetings and blessings to you.

I just switched from using Windows Vista to Ubuntu Linux 10.10 on my Laptop. First, I must say I am delighted at the ease of installation and how everything works immediately. Second, I am delighted that my Windows Vista partition of the hard disk continues to work just as it always had. No loss of data nor of function.

When I began using Linux, I looked into security and learned that there is no firewall immediately installed. It is easy and free to download and install one. I queried security from the “System – Help and Support” option at the top of the screen. It informed me about the gufw package. I clicked the highlighted link and it downloaded and installed it. Next I went to Systems – Administration – Firewall configuration and turned the firewall on.

Next, I tested the integrity of the firewall using the ShieldsUP! program. This was an eye-opener. It is probably even more essential to use with a Windows-based computer. It has options to test your ports, test file sharing, test all common ports, test messenger spam, and to see what your browser headings reveal about you. I am not a computer security expert and I am sure there are those that can provide a more detailed description of steps to take to secure your identity and your computer’s integrity, but this seems like a really good start. – Mr. Bennington in Pittsburgh

Letter Re: Understanding Digital Ham Radio Modes

Dear Editor:
Some SurvivalBlog readers are really into ham radio; some are not. I think you’ll all find this YouTube video link very interesting as it concerns various modes of digital radio transmissions that ham radio operators use daily and enjoy. It shows you, and lets you hear, what a digital mode is like if you come across it on your shortwave receivers, or your ham transceivers.

There are advantages in recognizing that what you’re hearing is a digital message, and knowing the type of transmission. If you have a shortwave receiver that can discriminate the frequencies you can even decode these messages with out the need of a license. You just cannot partake in the conversation in a reply. A high quality receiver with an audio output jack and a link between your computer sound card and free demodulation software such as Digipan and many others will let you listen in on virtually all of these types of digital transmissions.    

I hope you will find it interesting and education and even more so motivating to either get into ham radio, or to upgrade your license to become more active in to higher frequencies offered with the General and Extra class tickets. 73, – Mike H.

Three Letters Re: List of Countries by Real Population Density

Jim-

Dr. Hugh asked the question about population density in the US States.  Below is the answer. Since I couldn’t finagle Wolfram Alpha to do this in people per square kilometer, I did it in square miles.

For reference:

If you convert Dr. Hugh’s figure of 245 people per square kilometer to people per square mile and that equates to 634.5 people per square mile

Keeping that number in mind, I used this Wolfram Alpha equation, and learned:

Rank State Pop. Density
1 New Jersey 1,185 people/mi^2
2 Rhode Island 1,007 people/mi^2
3 Massachusetts 835.2 people/mi^2
4 Connecticut 737.7 people/mi^2
5 Maryland 590.7 people/mi^2
6 Delaware 459.6 people/mi^2
7 New York 410.4 people/mi^2
8 Florida 348.6 people/mi^2
9 Pennsylvania 283.4 people/mi^2
10 Ohio 281.7 people/mi^2
11 California 238.9 people/mi^2
12

Illinois

 230.8 people/mi^2
13

Hawaii

 211.8 people/mi^2
14

Virginia

 202.1 people/mi^2
15

North Carolina

 195.8 people/mi^2
16

Indiana

 180.8 people/mi^2
17 Michigan 174 people/mi^2
18

Georgia

 167.3 people/mi^2
19

Tennessee

 154 people/mi^2
20

South Carolina

 153.6 people/mi^2
21

New Hampshire

 146.8 people/mi^2
22

Kentucky:

 109.2 people/mi^2
23

Wisconsin

 104.7 people/mi^2
24

Louisiana

 104.1 people/mi^2
25

Washington

 101.1 people/mi^2
26 Texas 96.05 people/mi^2
27 Alabama

 94.19 people/mi^2
28 Missouri 86.94 people/mi^2
29 West Virginia

 76.96 people/mi^2
30 Vermont

 67.65 people/mi^2
31 Minnesota

 66.62 people/mi^2
32 Mississippi

 63.26 people/mi^2
33 Arizona 56.25 people/mi^2
34

Arkansas

 56 people/mi^2
35

Oklahoma

 54.63 people/mi^2
36

Iowa

 54.53 people/mi^2
37

Colorado

 48.49 people/mi^2
38

Maine

 43.04 people/mi^2
39

Oregon

 39.91 people/mi^2
40

Kansas

 34.87 people/mi^2
41

Utah

 33.65 people/mi^2
42 Nevada 24.59 people/mi^2
43

Nebraska

 23.76 people/mi^2
44

Idaho

 18.94 people/mi^2
45

New Mexico

 16.97 people/mi^2
46

South Dakota

 10.73 people/mi^2
47

North Dakota

 9.75 people/mi^2
48

Montana

 6.79 people/mi^2
49

Wyoming

 5.80 people/mi^2
50 Alaska 1.24 people/mi^2

[JWR Adds: Readers might want to compare that table with the 19 states in my rankings of states, by retreat potential. BTW, the preceding table is so useful that I’ve added it to my Retreat Areas static page.]

 

James Wesley:
Checking the writer’s conclusions, I found: 

In 1955, Japan had a population of 90,077,000.  Assuming that their amount of arable land was the same in 1955 as it is today, 43,620 square kilometers, then the population density is 2,065 persons per square kilometer or about 8.4 persons per acre.  This assumes that Japan was not importing any food at this time. 

In 1955, the population of China was 610,465,000.  Assuming that their amount of arable land was the same in 1955 as it is today, 1,385,905 square kilometers, The population density is 440 persons per square kilometer or about 1.8 persons per acre.  This assumes that China was not importing any food at this time. 

China and Japan do not have European or US climates and they do not have Western diets but the broad assumption that the land can support about 1 person per acre may not be true world-wide.  – Richard J.

 

Jim & Family:

I studied soils in school, as part of my Geology degree. I also studied Hydrology. Both aspects have a huge impact on soil fertility and thus carrying capacity. While I respect the basic effort involved in the carrying capacity list, its missing those crucial details. The reason that France and California and the Midwest have such amazing fertility and crop yields is they have the ideal balance of water and soil types. You can’t say the same for many places which merely offer numbers which look good on the surface.

The ugly truth is the best places to grow food have the highest population density, as a rule. They will be fought over, should push come to shove. California is routinely fought over for water rights in the courts, and in bribes to authorize those rights or transfer them to the “right” person (holding the bribe). The book “Cadillac Desert” describes this well and is worth reading if you want to understand the Western States, Water Rights, land grabs, and dam building.

Generally speaking, Western Europe, south of the serious frost/snow areas of Scandinavia (which lacks good soil thanks to the glaciers carving it away), is the place in the EU for best rainfall, for soil fertility, and for best crop yields. Largely: France and Spain. The UK goes up and down that scale due to excessive summer rains killing crops with molds and pests. They can have great years. But they can also have terrible years. France is more consistent. Morocco tends to lack the better rains and dam sites so its often too little water. Spain varies due to rainfall like England, only to getting to little rather than too much.

Of all the places on Earth with the best combinations of rain and sun, the USA [is the largest single region that] has the best, period. The USA is the swing producer of food for the planet. It is what will back our currency once the oil is mostly traded in Yuan/Renminbi.

Its up to us to insure that moral and ethical men and women govern our nation. I am sure it seems like a very distant goal, considering modern times, but we must persevere.   Sincerely, – InyoKern

Economics and Investing:

Along The Watchtower reports on the COMEX‘s severe shortage of physical silver for delivery, amid strong open interest (OI) for March contracts: Wow! If a higher than normal percentage of buyers demand delivery, then the market will implode. There is already short squeeze in progress. The COMEX governors are likely to resort to drastically raising margin requirements to near 100% in an attempt to cool the market. (As precedent, they did this back during the Hunt Brothers silver short squeeze, three decades ago. Silver was then approaching $50 per ounce, and the COMEX hit the brakes hard.) A repeat of that sort of draconian manipulation could briefly slam the price of silver down to around $22 per ounce. (If that occurs, look at it as a great buying opportunity.) They might also at some time restrict delivery, forcing buyers to accept cash instead of the physical silver commitment that they bought. The latter move will surely create pandemonium in the spot market, with silver likely to then spike above $55 per ounce.

A recent piece in The Daily Bell: Jay Taylor on Inflation Versus Deflation, the Possibility of a Gold Standard and Why the West is Failing.

Loyal news link contributor Sue C. flagged this: States That Ignored Warnings on Unemployment Insurance Face Reckoning.

Items from The Economatrix:

Forget Gold: Why Investors are Targeting Guns. [JWR Adds: Here in the U.S. my two most-strongly recommended modern guns for investment are the Steyr AUG-A3 (production just ceased after only a short run of a few thousand guns by Steyr USA), and the Saiga 12 gauge semi-auto shotgun (a strong candidate for a pending importation ban). The law of supply and demand is inescapable, so buy them soon!]

Lost Dollars (The Mogambo Guru)  

Many Riots in Arab Countries; Silver Explodes  

Inflation Makes a Comeback as Prices Rise for Food, Fuel 

Short Squeeze In Silver!  Could Be the Big One:  John Rubino  

Philly Fed Index Hits Seven-Year High as Inflation Builds   

Bill Changes Florida’s Unemployment Benefit System  

Inflation Watch:

Reader C.D.V. mentioned this: Inflation: It’s Here. “This is an important topic because with an expanding money supply, one would expect to see price inflation, yet the official statistics reveal no substantial price increases. And that begs the question: Why not?”

Deutsche Bank on the Imminent Inflationary Outbreak in America. (Thanks to G.G. for the link.)

Why Are Food Prices Going Crazy?

Cotton hits $2 a pound Cotton values surge owing to increased demand

Following Beijing’s lead, news from Taipei: Prosecutors Office vows to crack down on food hoarding. (Hmmm… Could it be that double-digit inflation is on the horizon?)

Odds ‘n Sods:

A major failure in family OPSEC, up in Canada: Chilliwack man shaken after home invaders take $750,000 in silver. It doesn’t rhyme, but remember: Loose Lips Invite Home Invaders!

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Ol’ Remus mentioned a useful web site that will calculate the magnetic declination for most locales. Since the magnetic north pole has been shifting rapidly in the past 20 years do not trust the declination diagram that is printed at the bottom of your handy-dandy USGS or Ordnance Survey map, even if the map is just a few years old. It is most likely out of date!

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Another one of Bloomberg’s corrupt and criminal mayors resigns. Mayor Adam Bradley is just the latest in a long string of disgraced mayors! There are an astonishing number of mayors in the Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG) cabal that have been forced to resign from office, after being convicted of criminal charges. For the sake of accuracy, I believe that the organization ought to be re-named: Corrupt and Criminal Democrat Mayors Against All Guns Not Owned By The Government Or By Very Special People (CACDMAAGNOBTGOBVSP).

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Decentralizing the Internet So Big Brother Can’t Find You

Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 33 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize: A.) A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795, and B.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees, in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $392 value.) C.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $275 value), D.) A 250 round case of 12 Gauge Hornady TAP FPD 2-3/4″ OO buckshot ammo, courtesy of Sunflower Ammo (a $240 value), and E.) An M17 medical kit from JRH Enterprises (a $179.95 value).

Second Prize: A.) A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol. It is a $439 value courtesy of Next Level Training. B.) A “grab bag” of preparedness gear and books from Jim’s Amazing Secret Bunker of Redundant Redundancy (JASBORR) with a retail value of at least $300, C.) A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials, and D.) two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).

Third Prize: A.) A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21. (This filter system is a $275 value.) , and B.) Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy. This is a $185 retail value.

Round 33 ends on March 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.