Raising Meat Birds in a Garage, by SaraSue

I recently read that there are chicken shortages in the supply chain (specifically “chicken tenders”) and I’m not going to discuss why. I’m writing this because many people who read the blog do not have a homestead or even a large back yard and worry about supply chain shortages. I hope to give you some ideas on how you can raise your own meat birds in limited space or under restricted conditions. As I wrote this it occurred to me that I was recreating “factory farmed” chicken production. That made me sad, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

The Homeowners Association (HOA)

If you are in an HOA, read your documents carefully. If a limit on animals is not mentioned in the HOA documents, go to the city or county website and check the zoning laws for your area. Read them carefully and know your rights and restrictions. Some HOAs are very “loosey-goosey” and people do whatever they want within limits. Other HOAs are so strict that the board members walk around or drive around, patrolling the neighborhood with a notepad seeking whom they may write up for an infraction of the rules. Some have restrictions on the color, size, and placement of just about everything exterior (and interior) to the home. Your direct neighbors are your biggest threat since they have eyes and ears on your property – make an assessment of that threat. An angry neighbor can make your life miserable. You may or may not know that modern HOAs have the legal authority to foreclose on your property if you remain out of compliance. Tread forth carefully if you are in an HOA, as you will have no legal standing in court if you signed on to live in that HOA.

You may be able to raise chickens, even if you live in an HOA, but there may be a limit on the number of birds and definitely on roosters. For instance, I know a family whose HOA documents specified a limit of 3 chickens and no roosters. They had a small backyard. They ordered a coop kit and got a docile breed of chickens – Black Jersey Giants. They were faithful layers and fairly quiet. There are many docile breeds that don’t make a lot of noise, but do your own research.

As always, do your best to get out of HOA living. It is anathema to self-sufficient living. However, this is still America and if you feel that the risk is worth it, you can be creative and even raise many animals in the garage or in a portion of your home without raising suspicions or being a nuisance to others. Such animals may include rabbits, meat birds, and quail. All of which, provide protein on a plate for your family.Continue reading“Raising Meat Birds in a Garage, by SaraSue”

Economics & Investing For Preppers

Here are the latest news items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. We also cover hedges, derivatives, and obscura. Most of these items are from the “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor, JWR. Today, JWR opines about the technical defaults of China’s Evergrande and Kaisa. (See the Economy & Finance section.)

Precious Metals:

Silver is the only precious metal likely to achieve persistent deficit over 2021-22 – Metals Focus.

o  o  o

Christopher Aaron: Silver Price Forecast: A Major Low Is Close.

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Reported on Tuesday: Gold, silver gain as crude oil continues big rebound.

Economy & Finance:

For many years, western journalists have warned about China’s empty “ghost” cities. From the 1990s to present, millions of tons of concrete have been poured, building massive ghost cities in what is perhaps the largest malinvestment in world history. A large portion of that office and residential space still stands empty.

Back on November 11th, the editors of the Investment Watch blog asked: So did Evergrande default or not? U.S. media claims it didn’t yet, yet the narrative for the rest of the world is the complete opposite. In the same time frame, China’s Kaisa Group also missed some payments.

JWR’s Comments: Anyone attempting to sort all of this out has been met with lots of contradictory statements. Perhaps the financial press and even the credit reporting agencies are in a state of denial, because they recognize that the world’s financial system is teetering on the edge of a precipice. At least Fitch had the intestinal fortitude to downgrade Kaisa from “CCC” to “C”.

If this had been some small hedge fund headquartered in Duluth, then the financial press would not have hesitated to use the word default. But when they are talking about the technical default of two of China’s largest property developers with hundreds of billions at stake, the business journalists get very close-mouthed. What is really going on?  Methinks that there is the recognition that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is in fact the lender of last resort for Evergrande, Kaisa, and their smaller competitors. If need be, they will crank up the Yuan printing press, rather than see a declaration of default. On December 6th, it was reported that Evergrande and Kaisa would be “restructuring”. So… When is a default not called a default?  When it spells contagious doom for the global financial house of cards.

Update: I spotted this news, just last night: Evergrande has defaulted on its debt, Fitch Ratings says.

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Biden Threatens to Cut Russia Off From SWIFT Payment ‘Aggression’ Against Ukraine.

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Goodbye Liquidity: Clients Agree To Unprecedented, Multi-Year Lock Ups To Keep Money At Citadel, Millennium.

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“The duty of government is to leave commerce to its own capital and credit as well as all other branches of business, protecting all in their legal pursuits, granting exclusive privileges to none.” – Andrew Jackson

Preparedness Notes for Thursday — December 9, 2021

December 9th, 1914 was the birthday of Maximo Guillermo “Max” Manus. He was one of the few Norwegians who had the testicular fortitude to put his life on the line, fighting the Nazi occupiers. (There surely would have been more active resistance fighters, but fearing widespread reprisal executions by the Germans, King H7 asked the civilian populace to stand down.) Max Manus passed away in 1996. I would have liked to have met him. His exploits are fairly accurately shown in the movie Max Manus: Man of War.

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There are just two days left in the month-long Patton’s Birthday Sale at Elk Creek Company. Order soon!

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 98 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course (a $1,095 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. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  5. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  6. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.
  7. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.

Second Prize:

  1. A Front Sight Lifetime Diamond Membership, providing lifetime free training at any Front Sight Nevada course, with no limit on repeating classes. This prize is courtesy of a SurvivalBlog reader who prefers to be anonymous.
  2. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, that have a combined retail value of $589,
  3. 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).
  4. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of firearms purchasing privacy!

Third Prize:

  1. Three sets each of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
  2. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  3. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  4. A transferable $100 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.

—

More than $725,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 98 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.

Stuff Ain’t Enough, by Tunnel Rabbit

Suck It Up, Buttercup

Because of several severe and concurrent illnesses, and advancing age, my income is no exaggeration, nearly noth’n. It is waaay below the poverty line, perhaps $3,000 per year with half of that going towards prepping. And so, I must live like a neo-pioneer. I do not receive a check from any source. In my book, no goobermint, is good goobermint, and dependence on any government is a trap, a trap that I would easily qualify for. I live as folks imagine they might have to live during a collapse, and in perhaps tougher circumstances than they can imagine, because of factors, such as, the combination of age, disabilities, and the resulting poverty. If the Lord had not been faithful, my story would be different. It is a matter of perspective: ”I cried, because I had no shoes, but then I met an man without feet”. Embrace the ‘suck’, and get it done. Soon we’ll be learning the hard way, if we do not learn it now. Soon, no check will be in the mail, and no one will care, not even family, but only the Lord. If I can get through it, then so can you.

Answered Prayers

Fortunately, as I’ve grown older, the Lord is restoring my health. No doctor could heal me. In fact, I’ve been blessed by this experience, as I am living both in the future, and the present. Therefore I have learned what is truly necessary to survive, both in terms of what is actually essential stuff, what is essential knowledge, and the essential skills one should acquire. I am living it, and have grown stronger as a result of it. And because I’ve been unable to work over these many years on a regular basis, I’ve had the time to learn and do. In stark contrast, my neighbors who have literally millions to spend on preps, have their priorities messed up. I am here to help. They not only confuse wealth preservation with life preservation, but will not take the time to learn and do. As a result, I am better prepared than most wealthy individuals, even though I am on a shoestring budget, that does not include the money enough for shoestrings.

Nope, ‘stuff ain’t enough’. Of course, I’ve done all I can to help others and the community wake up and prepare, and all at no charge, but you just can’t fix stupid. Here in the woods of Montana, there is also a very independent nature, and little sense of community. This stubborn streak is just as it had been, back in the logging days. Knowing this, I’ve focused on my Area of Operations (AO). The folks way out here are a bit different, and they are beginning to understand what must be done. They are finally developing a sense of community, and the correct mindset. Mindset is everything. It is more important than stuff. Yet they will also be lacking in terms of organization, and key resources that planners can provide, at the very least, in part. Of course, there is much more to talk about, but time and the money required to get it done is waning. Hopefully, these three key elements discussed, which go beyond the scope of most prepping efforts, to provide focus on the larger picture and problem. What if I lost most of my stuff, but got this part right? Might I survive despite the lack of stuff? Or maybe the question should be, what is the right stuff?! Hence the title and theme of the article.Continue reading“Stuff Ain’t Enough, by Tunnel Rabbit”

The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods

SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods— a collection of news bits and pieces that are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper from “JWR”. Our goal is to educate our readers, to help them to recognize emerging threats, and to be better prepared for both disasters and negative societal trends. You can’t mitigate a risk if you haven’t first identified a risk. Today, we look at the likely hoaxers of the  “Patriot Front”

Is The “Patriot Front” Group a FBI Hoax?

In a recent video, conservative commentator “Mr. Reagan” asks: Is Patriot Front an FBI Hoax? Two of his observations:  “Conservatives don’t care if their t-shirts match”, and “It is the least convincing hoax that I’ve seen in a while.” JWR’s Comments:  It seems like some leftist video game designers were given a big budget for LARPing, and this is what they came up with. I find that it all smacks of something remotely financed, cast, staged, hired, propped, pre-printed, hyped, and phony!  Beware, folks. Beware of rhetoric like: “Revolutionary consciousness.” Beware of the long-haired leader of a conspicuously short-haired group. Beware of slick web sites that look like they came out of Madison Avenue. This hoax has a malodorous stench to it that indicates that it is a well-orchestrated false flag operation. Expect nothing good to come of it, and plenty of Federal prosecutions in the next few years.

Cost of Living in the Great Depression Baffles the Internet

H.L. sent this Newsweek link: Cost of Living in the Midst of the Great Depression Baffles the Internet: ‘Incredible’.  Here is a quote that illustrates the cost of living in that era:

“Sugar cost 59c for 10 pounds, vitamin D milk was 50c a gallon, ground coffee cost 39c per pound, bacon was 32c per pound and eggs were 18c a dozen. For those who could win a place, tuition at Harvard cost $420 a year.”

JWR’s Comment: Their incredulity of how much prices have risen shows just how blind most Americans are to the peril of an unbacked currency and the erosive long-term effects of general price inflation. I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again: Inflation is robbery in slow motion via a hidden form of taxation.

Continue reading“The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods”

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — December 8, 2021

Today marks the birthday of Eli Whitney, (1765–1825) the inventor of the labor-saving cotton gin, several firearms, and dozens of other mechanical devices. He was the first to demonstrate the advantages of fully interchangeable parts, in firearms manufacture.

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A reminder: Our biggest sale of the year at Elk Creek Company ends on Saturday (December 11, 2021.) Oh, and I just added this recently-arrived gem to our online store: Rare Spanish Contract Loewe Mauser M1893 Cavalry Carbine.
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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 98 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course (a $1,095 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. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  5. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  6. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.
  7. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.

Second Prize:

  1. A Front Sight Lifetime Diamond Membership, providing lifetime free training at any Front Sight Nevada course, with no limit on repeating classes. This prize is courtesy of a SurvivalBlog reader who prefers to be anonymous.
  2. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, that have a combined retail value of $589,
  3. 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).
  4. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of firearms purchasing privacy!

Third Prize:

  1. Three sets each of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
  2. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  3. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  4. A transferable $100 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.

—

More than $725,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 98 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.

Your Red Bags: Stop The Bleed – Part 2, by Philip J. Goscienski, M.D.

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.)

Things to consider beyond bleeding

No matter how good you are at stopping a hemorrhaging blood vessel, you or someone that you designate must call 9-1-1 right now! Don’t say “Somebody call 9-1-1!” Bob may think that John will call; John thinks that
Bob is calling – and no one calls. Instead designate: “John, call 9-1-1!” If you are faced with more than one victim, which might occur in a motor vehicle accident, decide as quickly as you can where the worst bleeding is occurring – which person and which part of the body. Unless you have extensive medical training in the management of trauma that will be an exceedingly challenging task. Accept the fact that you probably won’t do everything right. But whatever you do will make a difference.

Anticipate that the person whose bleeding you have managed to stop will be likely to go into shock – a condition in which blood pressure falls and the diminished output of the heart causes multiple organs to fail. It is often fatal. It is characterized by weakness, pale, clammy skin, a rapid pulse, rapid breathing, anxiety, and confusion. Elderly persons are most at risk and need to be observed closely. Although first aid manuals advise keeping the victim warm it’s important not to cover bleeding wounds.

A compound fracture, a broken bone whose fragments protrude through the skin, is likely to include one or more torn blood vessels. Pressure and packing may not be possible without causing further injury, and placement of a tourniquet is the first step if there is significant bleeding. In doing so take particular care not to move the extremity in order to avoid damage to nerves and further damage to torn blood vessels. When emergency responders are only minutes away, wait for them to splint the extremity for transport.

Save that finger! Rapid transport of trauma victims and the ability to reattach body parts is one of the triumphs of modern medicine. A severed finger should be wrapped in a damp paper or cloth towel, placed in a ziplock
bag or similar container and sent to the emergency room with the owner. The bag with the finger can be placed on ice, especially if it will take more than a few minutes to reach the hospital but ice should not come in direct contact with the digit. Never use dry ice. Saving a larger body part such as a foot or hand is beyond the scope of this article.Continue reading“Your Red Bags: Stop The Bleed – Part 2, by Philip J. Goscienski, M.D.”

SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets

This weekly column is a collection of short snippets: responses to posted articles, practical self-sufficiency items, how-tos, lessons learned, tips and tricks, and news items — both from readers and from SurvivalBlog’s editors. We may select some long e-mails for posting as separate letters.

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First up is this bad news: U.N. Taking Down Private Websites – Domain Level Censorship. JWR’s Comment: The only thing worse than corporate censorship (a la Facebook and YouTube) and national censorship (a la the Chinese Communist Party) is supranational (globalist) censorship. Soon, it may be time to break out your old IBM Selectric.

o  o  o

This Los Angeles Times article was widely republished: Brutal, brazen crimes shake L.A., leaving city at a crossroads.

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Tim in Connecticut wrote us:

“You may have mentioned this book previously on the blog but I want to say that the book, ‘The Chief Witness’ by Sayragul Sauytbay is an eye-opening account of the concentration camps currently being operated by communist China. What is and has been going on in these camps makes Hitler look like an amateur.

Please encourage your friends and family to refrain from purchasing Chinese products whenever possible. China is the number one danger to our county and the free world. I purchased my copy from Booksamillion.”

Continue reading“SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets”

Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — December 7, 2021

Today is the 80th anniversary of Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor. This should be a reminder to us all: Never let your guard down, nor allow your elected representatives to let our collective guard down.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 98 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course (a $1,095 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. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  5. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  6. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.
  7. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.

Second Prize:

  1. A Front Sight Lifetime Diamond Membership, providing lifetime free training at any Front Sight Nevada course, with no limit on repeating classes. This prize is courtesy of a SurvivalBlog reader who prefers to be anonymous.
  2. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, that have a combined retail value of $589,
  3. 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).
  4. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of firearms purchasing privacy!

Third Prize:

  1. Three sets each of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
  2. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  3. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  4. A transferable $100 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.

—

More than $725,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 98 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.

Your Red Bags: Stop The Bleed – Part 1, by Philip J. Goscienski, M.D.

When the shooting stops but the bleeding doesn’t, are you really prepared?

Approximately 40,000 Americans die every year from injuries that result in severe bleeding, a condition that can drain life away in as little as four minutes. The massacre at Sandy Hook, Connecticut on December 14th, 2012, was a tipping point. In that dreadful event twenty students, all only six or seven years old, and six staff members were gunned down by Adam Lanza, who had earlier murdered his mother and subsequently took his own life. Shortly thereafter members of the American College of Surgeons, the Department of Defense, the FBI, and other experts convened in Hartford, Connecticut and formed the Hartford Consensus. And so Stop the Bleed was born.

Hemorrhage is a major factor in trauma-related deaths and Emergency Medical Services are almost never available in a timely manner. Experience on the battlefields of the Middle East as well as civilian catastrophes convinced the leaders of the Stop the Bleed program that there were immediate steps that could be taken to stem bleeding and that these measures were simple enough for civilians to learn and to apply effectively. The result is that Stop the Bleed has become the most rapidly-deployed lifesaving public health measure in the history of medicine.

Mass shootings garner massive headlines and deservedly so but most of us will never encounter such an injury. Most deaths from hemorrhage result from accidents in the workplace and the nation’s roadways. In fact, the life that you are most likely to save is your own or that of someone you love. The home can be a deadly place. An errant kitchen knife, a whirring circular saw blade, or a fall into a glass patio door or a window are among the most common causes of life-threatening bleeding. Further, because such an event can occur at a distance from a medical facility or in a TEOTWAWKI situation where a firearm injury is quite possible, it’s even more imperative to master the skills described here.

Continue reading“Your Red Bags: Stop The Bleed – Part 1, by Philip J. Goscienski, M.D.”

SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt

This weekly column features news stories and event announcements from around the American Redoubt region. (Idaho, Montana, eastern Oregon, eastern Washington, and Wyoming.) Much of the region is also more commonly known as The Inland Northwest. We also mention companies of interest to preppers and survivalists that are located in the American Redoubt region. Today, we focus on an eastern Oregon black bear attack.  (See the Central & Eastern Oregon section.)

Idaho

Idaho is the least regulated state, new study says.

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Idaho state trooper nearly rammed by pickup truck while helping stranded motorist: dashcam video.

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Bundy: Campaigning counts as court-ordered community service.

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Chad Daybell trial set for Jan. 2023.

Continue reading“SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt”