Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — September 6, 2022

September 6th, 1757 was the birthday of Marquis de Lafayette (often known simply as Lafayette), a French aristocrat and military officer who fought in the American Revolutionary War. He came to America at age 19 and served meritoriously in the American Revolution at his own expense. He was also instrumental in convincing the French king and his ministers to support George Washington and his embattled Continental Army with loans, troops, and the powerful presence of the French fleet. The alliance with France was crucial for the American victory in our War of Independence. Lafayette was a close friend of George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and Thomas Jefferson. George Washington met him through his connections in the Free Masons and was impressed with him. After he offered to serve without pay, Congress commissioned him as a Major General and he was an integral part of the battle at Brandywine.  He died May 20, 1834.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 102 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. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  4. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  5. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.
  6. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.

Second Prize:

  1. 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,
  2. A SIRT STIC AR-15/M4 Laser Training Package, courtesy of Next Level Training, that has a combined retail value of $679
  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. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. 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. A LogOX 3-in-1 Forestry MultiTool (a $189 value) and a WoodOx Sling (a $79.95 value), courtesy of LogOx, both made in USA.
  4. A transferable $100 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.

—

More than $750,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 102 ends on September 30th, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Trump’s “Secret” Documents? A Very Brief Briefing For You

Take a few minutes to read this news story: The Media is Baffled After FBI Raid on Mar-a-Lago Recovers Dozens of ‘Classified’ Folders That are Empty.

Let me brief you, briefly. I’d like to explain what is going on. This entire brouhaha is absurd, on its face. The U.S. President is the only individual in the U.S. government that can declassify any document at will, and with no “Mother may I?” declassification panel — or a pre-determined declassification date. That includes collateral Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI), Nuclear Q documents, and in fact any document at all!  President Trump has publicly stated that he had a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) that dictated that any document that he took with him whenever he left the White House was deemed declassified. His former staffers have confirmed that was indeed the SOP. And the FBI knew that! So the high-drama Mar-a-Lago fiasco raid was stage-managed Kabuki theater.

Also, keep in mind that classification cover sheets by themselves are NOT classified. These are all clearly marked: “This cover sheet is unclassified.”  The cover sheets range from the ubiquitous “white with green trim” For Official Use Only (FOUO) cover sheet, to the dark blue Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) cover sheet, the lighter blue Confidential sheet, and all the way up to Top Secret. The one-letter and two-letter SCI compartment identifiers — that I’m even to this day not allowed to mention — were annotated on Top Secret documents with rubber stamps or simply in bold pen notations.

For just over a year, one of my additional duties was as a Special Security Officer (SSO). Among other things, I handed the in-briefings (‘Read-ons”) and debriefings (“Read-offs”) for the TS/SBI cleared members of our unit.  Thankfully, I never had to launch an investigation into any mishandled documents. The entire Federal government and the DoD treats document classification very seriously. When I read the news reports about the Mar-A-Lago raid, they had me shaking my head in disbelief. All this news made me immediately question the motivation of the FBI’s leadership and the Department of Justice hierarchy. Again, they knew that a President could declassify documents at will. So, we must ask: Why did they authorize this raid, and what motivated their timing of it?  Did they somehow suspect that Citizen Donald Trump came into possession of classified documents after he left office? I really doubt that.

I should also mention that these days most classified documents are electronic–not paper holdings. There are now, in fact, entire offices in the intelligence community with NO file cabinets holding any paper documents. They might occasionally print out a few classified pages for the purposes of a briefing, a class, or a technical discussion, but those hard copies are run through a GSA-approved crosscut shredder before Close-of-Business, that same day.

And, by the way, there is no such thing as “above top secret.” That is a mass media myth. Top Secret is the highest classification, but SCI access is only granted to folks who hold a Top Secret/Special Background Investigation  (TS/SBI) clearance and a demonstrable need-to-know, to get them read-on for access to specific collateral TS/SCI compartments. There is only one individual deemed to have a need to know everything, with access to all SCI compartments, on demand, or by personal visit: The President. And he is the only “non-courier” who can legally hand carry a SCI document or electronic media out of a SCIF without the usual document inventory procedures.

Here is an illustrative aside: Back when I held a Top Secret clearance and I was read-on for SCI, I used to keep small stacks of cover sheets for various levels of classification in a fat file folder in my unlocked desk drawer. These were for my use whenever I generated new documents that needed to be classified. And often, at the Secret level and below, these were used cover sheets, as they were intended to be reused. This explains those “spare” cover sheets that were listed in the FBI’s Mar-A-Lago evidence inventory. Hearing the media screeching in alarm about excess cover sheets is downright laughable.

For some further reading on the world of classified projects and programs, I recommend two books. Both are now a bit dated, but the classification laws and policies described haven’t changed:

Deep Black: Space Espionage and National Security, by William E. Burrows

and,

The Puzzle Palace: A Report on NSA, America’s Most Secret Agency, by James Bamford

Both books are available through Books-A-Million (BAM).

In closing, I’ll quote something that was often humorously said at the end of ASA briefings:  “We can’t be held responsible if you draw any classified conclusions from this unclassified briefing.” – JWR

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, a look at the Lou Taubert outfitter stores. (See the Region-Wide section.)

Region-Wide

A television news segment, about a great family-run old-school outfitter store in Casper, Wyoming: A Western store like no other – Lou Taubert. They also have a store in Billings, Montana.

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Seasonal Climate Forecast: September – November 2022.

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Northern Rockies Geographical Area: Rest of Summer Fire Season Outlook.

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Reader Karen B. wrote to remind me to mention a political migration movement that is similar to the American Redoubt movement. This is the Liberty Win New Hampshire movement, a.k.a. Free State New Hampshire.

Idaho

Noraly “Itchy Boots” Schoenmaker, the intrepid Dutch motorcyclist-geologist vlogger, recently passed through Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. She now has 1.37 million subscribers. Don’t miss a recent episode, where she traveled through Bovill, Idaho, one of the settings of my Patriots novel series.

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Here is yet another mostly one-sided hit piece on The American Redoubt movement, this time from the strongly-leftist, anti-Christian, and anti-gun CNN: Armed activists show up to library and demand they ban books. And here is a text version of the piece, with a bit more detail: Conservatives join liberals in ‘quiet and polite’ Idaho protest to protect their library from book-banners. Update: That CNN piece now has more than 17,300 comments, mostly from liberal rah-rah CNN die-hards.

In the text version, notice how they included a reference to the completely unrelated Aryan Nations group, 30 years ago. And notice how they mischaracterize the American Redoubt relocation movement as exclusively Christian. It isn’t. It forthrightly includes Christians and Jews. But the latter always gets omitted from news reports, because it doesn’t match their narrative.

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Micron plans ‘world-class’ building in Boise, one of city’s largest.

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Sheriff Norris public statement at Town Hall Hayden, Idaho August 25, 2022.  (This is presumably the first part posted of a multi-part video.)

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These amazing STOL planes are built in Sandpoint, Idaho: Insider Exclusive Look at the New Kodiak 900.

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

Preparedness Notes for Monday — September 5, 2022

On September 5, 1774, fed up with the meddling of the crown and being mostly independent-minded, our nation’s founding fathers met together in the First Continental Congress, in Philadelphia, laying the foundation of what would become the world’s greatest nation.

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There are several new listings over at our SurvivalRealty.com spinoff site. These include:

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Today’s feature article is a review penned by our Field Gear Editor Emeritus, Pat Cascio.

CZ-75D Compact, by Pat Cascio

Back in 1976, a new handgun was introduced to the marketplace – all over the world, with the exception of the United States. It wasn’t allowed to be imported directly for some reason – I’m sure it was all about politics. The CZ-75 was really something to brag about, and I really wanted one, for many years. Some folks found that they could secondarily import the CZ-75 from Canada. Unfortunately, they were paying upwards of $1,000 for those guns, and back then that was a huge sum of money.

The original 9mm CZ-75 was a full-sized combat/duty gun. The original CZ-75 was a double-action/single-action (DA/SA) design with a safety lever, so that it could be carried either hammer-down, or cocked ‘n locked.

The reviews written about the then-new “Wonder Nine” CZ-75 were off the charts. It was a gun that felt really good in the hand, and the trigger pull was amazing. One fairly new thing was that the slide rode inside the frame rails, rather than on the outside of the frame rails, like most semi-automatic handguns do. This actually made for a much more accurate gun – was true then, and is still true today.

Some makers in oher countries decided to copy the CZ-75 design. However, most didn’t do a very good job. I owned several of these lackluster clone imports and I didn’t find one that was totally reliable. And, I won’t keep a gun that isn’t 100% reliable. Part of the problem was, the tolerances weren’t held tight enough. Try as I might, I couldn’t gunsmith any of those CZ-75 clones to work — and I’m a fair hand at working on firearms. Today, other CZ-75 clones are being made that are much better guns, and have proven to be reliable.Continue reading“CZ-75D Compact, by Pat Cascio”

Recipe of the Week: Food Storage Potato Flake Dinner Rolls

The following recipe for Food Storage Potato Flake Rolls is from reader K.M.W..  She says: “These are a great use for the canned potato flakes and the powdered milk that you probably already have in your long-term storage food supply closet.”

Ingredients
  • 1/4 cup warm water
  • 1 cup milk (warm) — fresh milk is best, but powdered milk works
  • 1/2 Tbsp. active dry yeast
  • 2 tsp. granulated sugar
  • 3 Tbsp. butter (softened)
  • 3 Tbsp. shortening (Okay to use butter-flavored shortening)
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp. table salt
  • 1 large egg
  • 3/4 cup instant potato flakes
  • 1/2 cup (or more) bread flour (or substitute all-purpose flour)
  • 4 Tbsp. butter (or more, for brushing on the dough)
Directions
  1. First, make the dough. In a small bowl or glass measuring cup, add 1/4 cup water and 1 cup milk. Microwave in 20-second increments until the mixture is warm but not hot. Stick your finger in: it should feel like a nice warm bath. If it is too hot, then you will kill your yeast. The temperature should be about 105-110 degrees F.
  2. Add 1 and 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast and 2 teaspoons sugar. Stir the mixture together and let it sit for 5 minutes while you prep the other ingredients.
  3. In a large bowl or stand mixer, add 3 tablespoons soft butter and 3 tablespoons shortening.*
    Add 1/3 cup granulated sugar, 2 teaspoons kosher salt, and 1 large egg.
  4. By this time your yeast mixture should be bubbling. Add the foamy yeast mixture to the bowl with the butter and shortening. Stir it together.
  5. Add 3/4 cup instant potato flakes and 1-1/2 cups bread flour. Continue stirring with the paddle attachment until the mixture has come together. The dough starts out a little bit chunkier than usual bread dough because of the potato flakes, but it will smooth out as you keep mixing.
  6. Switch to the dough hook. (if you don’t have a stand mixer, you can turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and start kneading.)
  7. Add 1/2 cup bread flour and mix with the dough hook until it is incorporated.
  8. Touch the dough with your fingers. If it is still very sticky, then add another 1/4 cup bread flour (for up to a total of 2 and 3/4 cup bread flour). When you mix it, it should clean the bowl or at least mostly clean it. Getting bread dough just right has a lot of variables, including climate and the weather, so you are going to have to use your best judgment. Use the least amount of flour possible, and remember that it will become even more homogenous after kneading.
  9. Knead the dough with a dough hook for about 7 minutes, or knead by hand for 10 minutes.
  10. Allow time for the first rise. Grease a large bowl with oil or nonstick spray. Gather the dough into a ball and smooth it out. Place in the bowl and turn it over so all sides are greased. Cover the dough with plastic wrap or a tea towel.
  11. Let the dough rise in a warm place for 60-90 minutes, until doubled in size. When the dough has doubled, and when a finger poked into it does not spring back immediately, then it is ready to be shaped into roll shapes.
  12. Shape the rolls. Prepare a work surface with nonstick spray. This is a thick dough and we don’t want to add any more flour to it, so grease your workspace instead of flouring it. (Or use a large silicone mat that is meant for rolling dough.)
  13. Punch down the dough and divide it in half. Roll out half the dough into a rectangle that measure 8 inches by 12 inches.
  14. Melt 4 tablespoons butter in a small bowl and use a pastry brush to brush a goodly amount of butter all over the top and edges of the dough. You won’t use all the butter, you need the rest for brushing the other half of the dough, and for brushing the finished rolls.
    Use a pizza cutter to slice the dough in half lengthwise, so you have two long rectangles.  The idea here is to make folded “Boston-style” or “Parker House” style rolls.
  15. Fold each rectangle in half the long way. Instead of folding it exactly in half, fold it so that there is about 1/2 inch of the underside of the dough exposed. So it should be folded over, but not quite all the way to the edge. Use your fingers to stretch the edges of the dough as necessary so that they line up.
  16. Use a pizza cutter to cut each long rectangle into 4 pieces. (So cut it in half, then each half in half again.) These are your shaped rolls. They should be about 2 and 1/4 inches by 3 inches.
  17. Prepare a 9×13 inch Pyrex pan with non-stick spray. Place the finished rolls in the pan upside down, meaning that the short end of the fold goes on bottom. The long edge of the rolls should line up with the long edge of the pan. You will place them 4 across and 4 down.
  18. Roll out the other half of the dough and repeat the process. Don’t forget to brush the dough with butter before cutting and folding.
  19. Allow time for the second rise. Cover the shaped rolls with plastic wrap or a tea towel and let rise in a warm place for about 45 minutes, until they have almost doubled and are looking quite puffy.
  20. Start preheating your oven about halfway through the second rise. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
  21. Bake the risen rolls for about 15-20 minutes. They should be completely golden on top, and the bottoms should also be golden (you can only tell this if you have a glass pan.) If the rolls have only slightly tanned, they are probably not done. The tallest rolls should be a deep golden or light brown color. A thermometer should read about 190 degrees.
  22. Take the rolls out of the oven and brush the tops with the remaining butter.
SERVING

Serve while still warm. If you are not serving them immediately, then do not brush them with butter. Remove the rolls from the pan after about 5-10 minutes so that the bottoms don’t become soggy. Let cool on a wire rack before transferring (immediately, once cool) to a tightly sealed ziplock or Tupperware. You can reheat them after brushing them with butter.

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Do you have a favorite recipe that would be of interest to SurvivalBlog readers? In this weekly recipe column, we place emphasis on recipes that use long term storage foods, recipes for wild game, dutch oven and slow cooker recipes, and any that use home garden produce. If you have any favorite recipes, then please send them via e-mail. Thanks!

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, we look at Electric Utility All-Terrain Vehicles (UATVs) for retreats. (See the Tangibles Investing section.)

Precious Metals:

Gold is Poised to Move as the Euro is Now Cheaper than the USD.

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The Best Historical Comparison for Gold & Silver.

Economy & Finance:

This move is indicative: Walmart cancels billions of dollars in orders to right-size inventory levels.

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At Yahoo Finance: UK Economy Shrank Most Since 1709 in Pandemic as Numbers Revised Again.

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The plunge in the stock markets that started on August 26th may be just the beginning, as the central banks talk tough on raising interest rates. I hope and pray that my readers have minimized their exposure to stocks!

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

Preparedness Notes for Sunday — September 4, 2022

September 4, 1862 is the fateful day that General Lee invaded the North with 50,000 troops.

 

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 102 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. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  4. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  5. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.
  6. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.

Second Prize:

  1. 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,
  2. A SIRT STIC AR-15/M4 Laser Training Package, courtesy of Next Level Training, that has a combined retail value of $679
  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. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. 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:

—

More than $750,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 102 ends on September 30th, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

 

Surviving 21st Century WarGames, by T.S.

I’m willing to bet that the average reader here has seen the 1983 fictional movie that was titled WarGames. In the film, Matthew Broderick’s character inadvertently brings the world to the brink of nuclear war. This all starts with Broderick’s character “war dialing” random phone numbers, looking for dial-up internet modems to connect to. He unwittingly connects to a modem servicing a supercomputer that runs nuclear wargames, while thinking that he’s connected to a computer game company. The situation escalates quickly, but is fortunately resolved without causing World War Three. The movie depicts a mostly harmless teenager just messing around on the internet…but what if a genuinely bad actor tried that same technique?

The world’s changed since 1983, and the rise of wireless internet has led to a newer tactic called “wardriving.” Wardriving is when a person travels (typically in a car, but potentially on a bike or on foot) across an area, searching for wireless access points. There are several reasons why someone would do this. A person could simply be looking for an open/non-password secured network to get free internet access. Or a person may want to do something shady while using your router’s IP address. Remember that no matter how many people or devices are on your network, all the traffic flows through one public-facing IP address provided by your internet company and tied to your address. If your neighbor does something illegal while connected to your wi-fi, then the odds are that there will be a knock on your door rather than on his.Continue reading“Surviving 21st Century WarGames, by T.S.”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“This parable spake Jesus unto them: but they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them.

Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.

All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them.

I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

 am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.

But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep.

The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep.

I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.

As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.

And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.

Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.

No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.” – John 10: 6-18 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Saturday — September 3, 2022

English general and statesman Oliver Cromwell died on September 3, 1658.

On September 3, 1752, Great Britain and its colonies, including the future United States of America officially adopted the Gregorian calendar, and it immediately became September the 14th.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 102 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. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  4. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  5. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.
  6. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.

Second Prize:

  1. 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,
  2. A SIRT STIC AR-15/M4 Laser Training Package, courtesy of Next Level Training, that has a combined retail value of $679
  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. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. 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. A LogOX 3-in-1 Forestry MultiTool (a $189 value) and a WoodOx Sling (a $79.95 value), courtesy of LogOx, both made in USA.
  4. A transferable $100 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.

—

More than $750,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 102 ends on September 30th, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Consequences of 87,000 New IRS Employees, by Toby

I have read and watched a lot of commentary on the Inflation Reduction Act (ironically abbreviated IRA) recently signed into law. I was most interested in the $80 billion added to the IRS budget and the addition of 87,000 IRS employees — mostly agents — effectively doubling the number of IRS agents.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen made the following statement:

“Specifically, I direct that any additional resources – including any new personnel or auditors that are hired – shall not be used to increase the share of small business or households below the $400,000 threshold that are audited relative to historical levels.

These resources are absolutely not about increasing audit scrutiny on small businesses or middle-income Americans. As we’ve been planning, our investment of these enforcement resources is designed around the Department of the Treasury’s directive that audit rates will not rise relative to recent years for households making under $400,000.”

Most of the commentary and media discussion centers on the revenue generated by additional tax audits on taxpayers making over $400,000 and after doing some math and speculation they come to the conclusion that the dollars are just not there. Most conservative journalists and financial media are reporting that it is most likely that households making less than $400,000 a year will face increased audits under the Inflation Reduction Act.

I would speculate that most “talking heads” and media, even conservative and alternative “right wing” media are missing the point. I believe Janet Yellen is correct and telling us the truth: “any additional resources – including any new personnel or auditors that are hired – shall not be used to increase the share of small businesses or households below the $400,000 threshold that are audited relative to historical levels.” It’s not about additional audits. It’s not about additional tax revenue. I know the usual answer for any conspiracy or government cover-up is always “follow the money.” But in this case, I believe it is not even about the “money.”Continue reading“Consequences of 87,000 New IRS Employees, by Toby”