An Important Truth, by Kevin S.

Humans are easily influenced. Humans are extremely suggestible. Humans are easily manipulated. Humans are very controllable. All Humans. Throughout history. Regardless of sex, age, race, nationality, and education level. You dear reader are human, as am I. Thus we are also easily controlled. Not a pleasant realization is it? I would guess for many there is a level of denial. “I know some people are easily manipulated but not me! I’m not easily influenced”. Okay… well for safety sake please assume you are easily controlled. Think about the ramifications of that potential reality. What does that mean at a practical level? How does that play out on a day in day out basis?

Let me give some proof of this Truth, that humans are easily manipulated.

“The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country.

We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized. Vast numbers of human beings must cooperate in this manner if they are to live together as a smoothly functioning society.”

– From Propaganda, by Edward Bernays

These are the first two paragraphs from this famous book, written almost 100 years ago. A book which I have read and would highly recommend. Written when radio was still in its infancy. Meaning this manipulation Bernays is writing about was done primarily through text; newspapers and magazines. Which have since been overshadowed by much more powerful and effective tools of control. Radio, Television, Computer, and VR (virtual reality).

Bernays is considered the father of propaganda. His uncle was Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis. In his book Propaganda he gives a real-life example of how to create demand for a product, in this case Pianos, without ever mentioning the product. Which really is profound and disturbing. Because if one can create demand for a product without mentioning it, then one can create demand for an idea, or ideology using the same techniques. But let’s get back to the more easy-to-grasp concept of creating demand for a product.Continue reading“An Important Truth, by Kevin S.”

Editors’ Prepping Progress

To be prepared for a crisis, every Prepper must establish goals and make long-term and short-term plans. In this column, the SurvivalBlog editors review their week’s prep activities and planned prep activities for the coming week. These range from healthcare and gear purchases to gardening, ranch improvements, bug out bag fine-tuning, and food storage. This is something akin to our Retreat Owner Profiles, but written incrementally and in detail, throughout the year.  We always welcome you to share your own successes and wisdom in your e-mailed letters. We post many of those –or excerpts thereof — in this column, in the Odds ‘n Sods Column, and in the Snippets column. Let’s keep busy and be ready!

Jim Reports:

On Tuesday, we wrapped up our annual hay hauling and stacking project — a total of 21.6 tons of grass hay. It feels good to have it all safely tucked in the barn. Now I can get back to my summer firewood cutting and other projects.

Now, over to Lily…

Avalanche Lily Reports:

Dear Readers,

We have guests this week. My parents are visiting with us after three long years of not seeing them face to face.  We’re having a wonderful time together.

My mom is very interested in our homesteading life, so I have been showing her some of the things that I do here around the ranch.  One of the things I showed her was how to thresh turnip seeds from their pods that regrew as volunteers in my Extension garden this spring.  I let them go to seed. I had harvested them a few weeks ago and dried them out in the greenhouse.  This week I cut all of the seed fronds, put them in a pillowcase and stomped them to thresh the seeds out of their pods.  Then I shook the seeds out from the pods and removed the stems and pods until I had mostly just the seeds left and put them in a jar.

The other thing we have been doing is washing our clothes in our off-grid James Washer out in the Main garden and hanging the wet clothes on laundry racks.  In some ways the James is much better at cleaning our clothes than our electric washer and dryer because I can use much more water and it is faster.  The sun also dries our clothes faster than the propane dryer.  Our washer and dryer are newer, bought in the past three years and I think they are very shoddily made.

I’ve been harvesting my strawberries and they are just about finished.  My Raspberries are slowly coming on.

From the greenhouse, I harvested oregano, parsley, anise, lemon mint and basil. I washed them and dehydrated them in our dehydrator and then put them in jars.  I foraged mint that I planted around the ranch and dehydrated that too at the end of the week.  It’s still in the dehydrator, as I’m writing this.  I need to go put it in a jar.

I weeded the Annex garden. As I weed and thin our beets, I have been collecting the greens and Lamb’s Quarters, washing them and putting them in bags to use in my smoothies.

I weedwhacked the Orchard.  I am weed whacking the orchard slowly because I like seeing what will grow naturally in there.  I like foraging in there for Plantain, Clover, Dandelions, Self-Heal, St. Johnswort, and so forth.

An Animal Story

H. our almost yearling pup loves to do chores with me.  Whenever I feed the steer and the bull, who are now residing in the bull pen, H. squeezes in under the low bar and barks at and tries to herd the bull and steers.  You all have heard about the antics of our bull, SH.  Well, he loves sparring with H.  He is so gentle with her.  She bites his poll and nose and ears and he just butts at her in the sweetest gentlest manner.  They love each other.  You know that if he wanted to he could severely hurt her, but he just plays with her. I love our animals!

Please continue to pray for Miss Eloise.

May you all have a very blessed and safe week.

– Avalanche Lily, Rawles

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As always,  please share and send e-mails of your own successes and hard-earned wisdom and we will post them in the “Snippets” column this coming week.  We want to hear from you.

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.

And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.

And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.

And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.

And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.

And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.

Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.

So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.

Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.” – Genesis 11: 1-9 (KJV)

A Piece of The Action: Pricing a Gallon of Fuel

As I was pumping $5.96 per-gallon diesel into my pickup’s tank the other day, I marveled at how quickly the dollar digits raced by, on the pump’s display. I began to ponder what costs go into each gallon of fuel. This sent me off on a web-wandering search for some relevant data on what drives fuel prices. Most of that can be summed up in one word: Government.

Liquid fuels are some of the most highly regulated and heavily taxed commodities in the world. The reasons for this are obvious: They are highly concentrated forms of potential energy. Think of them like liquid gold or liquid dynamite. They have the power to accomplish great things. Whoever controls these fuels — and the commerce in them — effectively controls modern society.  And of course, governments like to control nearly every aspect of our lives. So by controlling fuel, starting from leases and drilling through refining and distribution all the way to your local pump, they assert their control and extract their multiple “pieces of the action.” Ah, the Mafia must be envious!

Taxes

The amount of tax — state and Federal, combined — that is tacked on to each gallon of fuel is now more than the 49 cents per gallon that I was paying for fuel at the pump en toto, back when I was in high school. The magnitude of that accumulation of taxes seems both absurd and obscene to me.  These tax increases were added gradually, so they largely went unnoticed by the Generally Dumb Public (GDP). As always, the GDP remains oblivious to what drives prices, the full extent of taxation, and even the nature of money itself.Continue reading“A Piece of The Action: Pricing a Gallon of Fuel”

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 stocking up on magazines, as a legislation hedge. (See the Tangibles Investing section.)

Precious Metals:

Reported back on July 14th: Gold hammered, analysts warn of capitulation event if price drops below pre-pandemic levels.

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Copper/gold ratio shows Fed monetary policy is too tight – MKS PAMP.

Economy & Finance:

At Zero Hedge: Container Shipping Spot Rates Still Falling: What Will Be The New Normal?

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Paul Craig Roberts: The United States Does Not Have an Economy.

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‘The worst bear market in my lifetime’: Here’s why Jim Rogers thinks stocks will decline for a long time — but he also suggests 2 shockproof assets for protection.

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

Preparedness Notes for Thursday — July 21, 2022

July 21st is the birthday of Ernest Hemingway. He was born in 1899 in Oak Park, Illinois. He committed suicide on July 2, 1961 in Ketchum, Idaho, after being diagnosed with haemochromatosis, and after electroshock treatments failed to lift him from chronic alcoholic depression. He lived a sad life but was a great writer.

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Today we present an article that is too short to be considered as an entry for Round 101 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. Round 101 ends on July 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.

An Ex-Pat Homesteading Croatia, by Robert S.

I have moved to Croatia from Israel to join a self-sustaining farmer in building an organic permaculture homestead.

I would love to share with you today my homesteading experience in a few categories. I hope something of this can help somebody with something, I am young and learning all the time so forgive me if the info is not relevant.

Health

The usage of organic foods as preventive medicine is a key but nevertheless when overstated in any direction can be overused.

We produce our own meat eggs cheese and vegetables.

Consume Curcuma on daily basis mixed with oil and black pepper.

Our diet is based on combination of the keto diet and other types of ideas.
Mainly fats and proteins but let loose on cake if the desire is there.

As you all know, preparing for a disaster is a lifetime of a job.

We are very far from our farming goals but the tractor saved our backs.Continue reading“An Ex-Pat Homesteading Croatia, by Robert S.”

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 present some links to articles on censorship and restrictions on gun ownership. My late mother was fond of describing government policy and actions in modern society this way: “It is all about control.”

UK Breaks Record for Highest Temperature

The AP reports: UK breaks record for highest temperature as Europe sizzles.

A 500-Mile Amazon Rainforest Trek

Meet the survivalist who trekked 500 miles across the Amazon rainforest during monsoon season. here is a quote:

“Audel and his team began their adventure in the rainforests of southern Guyana, travelling north across 3,000 square miles of exposed savannah, the Kanuku Mountain forest and snake-infested mangroves to reach the Atlantic Ocean. Along the way, they faced a barrage of life-threatening challenges, from deadly bacteria, flesh-eating bugs, predators, infections and flash floods.”

Secondhand Censorship: Big Tech’s Thought-Policing

The Secondhand Censorship Effect: The Real Impact of Big Tech’s Thought-Policing.

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

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — July 20, 2022

Today is the birthday of novelist Cormac McCarthy (born, 1933.) He is the author of the survivalist novel The Road, which later became a popular movie with the same title.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 101 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 low-cost 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 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.

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More than $725,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 101 ends on July 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.

Eight Uncommon Canning Techniques, by St. Funogas

Many of us have been canning for so long that we still have the recipe for that T-rex stew we first canned while trying to figure out the mysteries of pressure canners. Others are just starting out on this fulfilling journey on the joys of home production and the uplifting feelings of self-reliance that come from home canning food for long-term storage that we raised and grew ourselves. I hope some of these techniques can help newbies and veterans alike in this year’s canning projects as you incorporate some of them into your own canning practices.

My family did some canning when I was growing up, mostly jam and home-grown peaches and apricots. Those were my first lessons and much of what I’ve learned about canning has come from personal experiences over the years. Some of my current techniques took far too long for me to figure out so I thought I’d pass a few of those along and perhaps save a little learning time for you.

The things discussed here are not typically mentioned in books and articles on canning. Some of them go counter to conventional “wisdom,” which is all too often based on what seems to be true instead of what’s actually true, including some pertaining to home canning. For this reason, I prefer to test things for myself whenever possible. In doing so, I’ve found that many things are correct, but many are not. Don’t be afraid to do the same and find out for yourself.Continue reading“Eight Uncommon Canning Techniques, by St. Funogas”

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. Note that we may select some long e-mails for posting as separate letters.

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First, foremost, and for your immediate action on mitigation: Have you seen this bill, now undergoing markup, in congress? H.R. 1808. This is REALLY bad legislation: This ban is like a flashback to 1994, but even worse. It is patterned after California’s notoriously-bad semi-auto and magazine bans. Unlike the Federal 1994-2004 ban, it has NO sunset clause! It includes a ban on new 11+ round magazines, it would ban any semi-auto pistols with a threaded muzzle — even .22 rimfire pistols. It would also vaguely ban the production of any parts that make semi-autos shoot at a higher rate of fire — i.e. anything short of full auto, such as binary triggers, forced reset triggers, or even short-reset/match triggers. The bill’s text does NOT properly define “designed or functions to accelerate the rate of fire of a semiautomatic firearm”, so bans on parts would presumably be left up to the ATF. And, unlike the Federal 1994-2004 ban, this bill bans private transfers of grandfathered so-called “assault” guns. All of those would then have to be sold through FFLs, with a background check and a Form 4473 put on file.  This legislation is evil. It is aimed at disarming the citizenry of the guns that are most capable of repelling an invasion, or overthrowing a tyrant.

Markup of the bill is scheduled to begin in the House today. According to the Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC), Pelosi & Company are making moves behind closed doors to send H.R. 1808 to a House floor vote next week. This bill will surely sail through the House, but it might be stoppable in the U.S. Senate. Please contact your state’s two U.S. Senators and urge them to do everything in their power to stop the Senate version of this bill. (A Senate bill number has not yet been assigned.) Please urge them to filibuster it, but first add several “killer” amendments.

Some suggested killer amendments:

  • Adding the Hearing Protection Act, removing silencers/suppressors from the NFA.
  • Remove short-barreled rifles and shotguns from the NFA.
  • Implement nationwide reciprocity for concealed carry permits. (Under the Equal Protection clause — just like various drivers’ licenses are recognized in all 50 states, the territories, and DC.)
  • Reverse the Hughes Amendment to FOPA-’86, thereby re-opening the registry for new privately-owned machineguns.
  • Declare a 180-day registration amnesty for all NFA items, with no tax or just a $5 tax on each registration, during that amnesty.
  • Redefine the term “antique firearm” to be any gun or receiver more than 70 years old.

As a fallback, in the event that you hear that “compromise negotiations” are in progress on H.R. 1808 between the Democrats and the RINOs in the Senate, stock up HEAVILY on current configuration ARs —  with pistol grips and threaded muzzles. Also, buy up your lifetime supply of 11+ round magazines and links/belts. And, if it starts to look like the passage of this bill is a certainty, then expend some of your savings or even borrow money from within your family to buy additional ARs and full-capacity magazines for every gun that you own or that you plan to own! I fully expect magazines to triple in price, within a year, if this bill passes in both chambers of congress. Stack them deep!

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Indiana: ‘Good Samaritan’ with a gun stopped Greenwood Park Mall shooting, went against mall’s code of conduct JWR’s Comment:  With an average of less than 300 armed officers per 100,000 citizens, police can’t be everywhere to deter most crime and mass murderers. But a well-armed citizenry can be.

Here is a follow-up at ABC News: Police applaud armed citizen who killed 20-year-old mall shooter.

And some further analysis: Mall Shooting Outcome Devastates the Media Anti-Gun Crusade.

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Andre liked this thought-provoking essay: I Have Nothing To Hide.

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F.J. sent this: How Dangerous Are Flash Floods? Find Out in POV Footage From Capitol Reef NP.

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Reader C.O. recommended this piece, at Redoubt News: Dismantling the Constitution: Police No Longer Have to Honor the Right to Remain Silent.

Continue reading“SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Bad men cannot make good citizens. It is impossible that a nation of infidels or idolaters should be a nation of freemen. It is when a people forget God that tyrants forge their chains. A vitiated state of morals, a corrupted public conscience, is incompatible with freedom. No free government, or the blessings of liberty, can be preserved to any people but by a firm adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, frugality, and virtue; and by a frequent recurrence to fundamental principles. No free government, or the blessings of liberty, can be preserved to any people but by a firm adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, frugality, and virtue; and by a frequent recurrence to fundamental principles.” – Patrick Henry